Jury finds Handy guilty of criminally negligent homicide
A Millsboro day care provider has been found guilty on charges of criminally negligent homicide in the case of a 10-month-old boy who died at her day care in January 2015.
Valorie Handy, 52, was originally charged with murder by abuse or neglect, but she was convicted of a lesser charge, one of four offenses the jury was permitted to consider. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for nine hours before returning its verdict Dec. 2 in the death of Charles “Trey” Laws III.
The jury considered three lesser charges, with criminally negligent homicide carrying the least severe penalty. Handy faces a maximum of eight years in prison, but there is no mandatory prison time. Handy remains free on bond and is scheduled to be sentenced by Delaware Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves in January. No date has been selected.
Outside the Sussex County courthouse in Georgetown, the boy’s father, Charles Laws Jr. and his wife, Carlita, were visibly relieved. When asked how the family took the verdict, Laws said, “A lot better now. God is good. It’s been a long two years for us. A lot of sleepless nights. Justice was served.”
The Laws, surrounded by their extended family, said while Handy was not convicted of first-degree murder by abuse, the guilty verdict on the lesser charge at least means that Handy will no longer operate a day care.
“Of course we want more, but just the fact that other kids won’t be harmed is a victory for us,” Charles Laws said.
Handy did not appear in front of the assembled media, but her attorneys, Daniel Strumpf and Gary Traynor, said she was heartbroken by the verdict. Keeping with Judge T. Henley Graves’ edict of no audible reactions to the verdict in the courtroom, neither side broke down or reacted when the verdict was read. Traynor said he plans to appeal the verdict.
Strumpf said the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide is a step above an accident, meaning Handy acted in a negligent manner, but not a reckless manner. The top charges under the jury’s consideration - first-degree murder by abuse and manslaughter - required the jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Handy acted in a reckless manner to cause Trey’s death. The lesser charges - second-degree murder by abuse and criminally negligent homicide - required only that the jury find Handy acted in a negligent manner.
“We agree with them that Valorie is not guilty as charged. She was found not guilty of the charge the state of Delaware brought against her and the two lesser included offenses. We’re disappointed they found her guilty of that charge. She is heartbroken and inconsolable,” Traynor said.
If she had been convicted of first-degree murder by abuse, Handy could have faced a life sentence, with a mandatory 15 years. Prior to trial, Handy had been offered a plea of criminally negligent homicide, but she turned it down. Traynor said Handy maintains her innocence. Handy declined to testify in court, as is her constitutional right, although two police interviews with Handy were played during the trial.
Trey’s death was ruled a homicide by diphenhydramine intoxication by Delaware Medical Examiner Dr. Gary Collins. Dipenhydramine is the active ingredient in the antihistamine Benadryl, which was found, along with a generic equivalent, in Handy’s home. Prosecutor Melanie Withers, in her final summation Nov. 30, speculated that Trey was fed diphenhydramine by Handy to get the boy to go to sleep, as he was not known as a long napper. However, police did not collect milk and food items, including apple sauce Handy allegedly fed the boy, from the day care.
The Laws both testified during the nearly three-week trial that also saw dozens of witnesses and more than 110 pieces of evidence - 90 by the prosecution alone. Charles said while it was difficult to go through the pain of losing their firstborn son, they were happy to have some sort of closure.
“It’s hard. It’s always going to be hard. Today, I feel a lot better than I have since the day he passed. I feel like a weight has been lifted off. Our mindset has always been, ‘What did I do wrong?’ ‘What could I have done better?’ Or ‘Should we have gone there in the first place?’ There’s so many things as a father that ran through my mind. But the family has some closure now,” Charles said.