Jury Finds Stacy Guilty Of NeglectA jury found Jammy Stacy guilty of Level 3 felony child neglect Thursday in Kosciusko Superior Court I.
Stacy, 43, of Elkhart, was convicted of Level 3 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury that is punishable by three to 17 years in prison. Superior Court I Judge David Cates will sentence her at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 31.
The conviction is the third in the five-person case stemming from a March 2, 2018, report of a 2-year-old boy named Vincent being severely abused and injured with broken bones literally from head to toe, bleeding on his brain and severe malnutrition that caused his body to grow facial hair in reaction.
Rune Springer, the boy’s mother, and Travis Tillotson, the boy’s stepfather, were both convicted of Level 6 felony neglect of a dependent earlier this year through plea agreements.
Springer – who by all admissions was unfit to be a mother – had dropped Vincent off into the care of Stacy in October 2017 at Stacy’s Etna Green trailer home. On March 2, 2018, Stacy and Stacy’s mother, Annette Priestley, 60, of White Pigeon, Mich., showed up at Springer’s Nappanee home and dropped Vincent off, telling Springer to not call police otherwise they’re “all going to jail.”
Springer and Tillotson waited nearly 24 hours before calling for help, which is why prosecutors charged them with the Level 6 neglect. Police determined that neither Springer nor Tillotson caused the injuries to Vincent.
Vincent spent a week in the intensive care unit at Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne where he was treated for malnutrition. Today, he is adopted and doing well, according to court testimony, despite having permanent facial disfigurement and still being unable to lift his arms above his shoulders.
Stacy contended throughout the trial that she would have gotten Vincent medical help for the injuries he sustained under her watch for five months if he had been her child. She claimed ignorance as to being able to take him to a hospital since she wasn’t the legal guardian.
Kosciusko County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz told jurors she didn’t take him for medical help because she knew she’d get in trouble.
Throughout the three-day trial, jurors heard testimony from doctors and were shown disturbing videos found on Stacy’s cell phone where she was berating the very injured child.
“All of this evidence came from Jammy Stacy,” Voelz said Thursday. “We still didn’t know the full extent of the hell this child suffered. Vincent needlessly suffered during those five months he stayed with Jammy Stacy,” he said, likening Vincent “being passed around the trailer park like a stray cat.”
Stacy’s attorney, Mari Duerring, told jurors that none of Vincent’s injuries rose to the level of serious bodily injury and asked them to rather consider a lesser Level 6 simple neglect charge for her client.
Duerring tried to point the finger at Springer at times, supposing that perhaps some of Vincent’s injuries occurred while in the care of Springer for those 24 hours before Springer called police.
“This trial is not about Rune Springer,” Voelz said. “This trial is about Jammy Stacy ... and how dare she come into court today and try to blame Rune when all along before she tried to blame Vincent.”
After 1 hour and 40 minutes, the jurors decided Stacy’s guilt. Stacy began to shake upon the verdict being read, and despite her attorney’s request for bail until her sentencing, Cates remanded her to the custody of the Kosciusko County sheriff.
In the lobby outside of the courtroom, members of Stacy’s family – including her co-defendant mother – were crying and yelling about how it wasn’t fair.
Priestley is facing the same Level 3 felony neglect of a dependent charge resulting in serious bodily injury charge and her jury trial date has yet to be set.
Fayette Robinette, 60, of 9462 N. Ind. 19, Etna Green, is facing the same charge as well and is scheduled to appear for a two-day jury trial Oct. 13-14.
