Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Friday, May 09, 2008
Mom sent to prison for fracturing 2-year-old’s skull
The mother of a 2-year-old child was sent to prison for four years Thursday for repeatedly slamming the girl's head onto a floor, leaving her with a skull fracture.
Heather D. Lewis, 22, of Stoughton, still faces two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment in Jefferson County for allegedly shaking another daughter on two occasions while living in Fort Atkinson in late 2006 and early 2007.
"I can't figure out, I don't understand why you did what you did," Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser said. "It's beyond my comprehension."
Lewis pleaded no contest in February to causing great bodily harm by child abuse. In addition to the prison time, Lewis also will be on extended supervision for five years after her release. Moeser ordered that while on supervision, Lewis is not to be the caregiver for any child and that she is not to have contact with her own children unless approved in writing by the family court and her supervision agent, among other conditions.
According to a criminal complaint, Lewis told police that on May 7, 2007, she became angry with the girl while trying to position her on the sofa for a photograph. She pushed the girl off the couch, then threw her down onto the floor, slamming her head on the floor three or four times. She didn't seek medical treatment for the girl for two days.
"I can't argue that I've been the best person in the world," Lewis said to Moeser before she was sentenced. "All I can say is that what you do with me is up to you. I would just like to know how my kids are doing."
Assistant District Attorney Robert Kaiser argued for a slightly longer prison sentence. He said the things she has been accused or convicted of doing to her children are likely just the tip of the iceberg.
"This is an extreme case of child abuse and lack of care," Kaiser said. "Children have died from less."
Kaiser also accused Lewis of trying to minimize what she did, lying on various points and blaming others for her actions.
"This defendant can't stop lying," Kaiser said. "The plethora of disagreements that were placed before the court in the (pre-sentence report) are either nit-picky or untrue. There is not an ounce of English that this woman says in this courtroom that you should accept."
Lewis' attorney, Eric Schulenburg, took issue with what he said were Kaiser's attempts to "trash" Lewis as "worthless."
"She is not worthless," he said. "She is trying to come to the conclusion that she can't have children in her life, not even her own."
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