Dylan Schumaker, a person known for crying in the courtroom and the video posted on YouTube became a viral video. The question arises here that why he was in a courtroom? Dylan Schumaker Springville teenager, born in 1997, was left with his girlfriend’s toddler son.
The incident happened on March 19, 2013 night when Schumaker was babysitting Austin and his 3 months old brother. Schumaker was only 16 years old when he killed the little boy and none of the boys he was babysitting that night while his girlfriend was working at Springville restaurant.
Defendant Testified Occurred
During Dylan Schumaker’s trial in court, Schumaker cried and apologized to the victim’s mother, Juror that he did not mean to kill Austin. Ashlee, who convicted him for the murder, did not accept his apology, either the Supreme Court. Teenager found guilty and was sentenced to a maximum punishment of a life sentence of 25 years. M. William Boller, state Supreme Court Justice, who granted an American teenager a sentence of 25 years said that the hearing was heart-wrenching.
He was of the view that no matter you are only 16 years of age you still know what is right or wrong. Boller added that Dylan Schumaker was well aware of the consequence while hitting the toddler.
The Court Proceeding
The whole incident was described by the witnesses. The reason for the toddler’s death was head whipping violently and repeatedly punching. It leads to ruptured blood vessels causing internal brain bleeding. Dylan Schumaker was questioned by the judge during trial that whether he was not intended to kill Austin or thought that repeatedly hitting will not produce such a result. Dylan Schumaker told that all he can do now is to cry only and to feel sorry for what he has done.
The conversation of Schumaker was also cited including the messages he sent to his girlfriend while babysitting Austin and his brother. In that conversation, it was noticed texts about selling drugs to his friends and setting up a sex date with a girl. The judge shared that the crime committed by Schumaker was so much painful for various people that he received 13 letters from different people sharing how the incident affected them. The grandfather of Austin, Michael Smith, how the incident decimated their lives as they were not expecting it. He requested the court to consider the feeling of the family while convicting Schumaker.
Reasonable Doubt
The attorney of Schumaker, Terranova, agreed to the viewpoint of Smith and added this may not happen if the Smith family had not thrown out Ashlee and her children to their house ending up staying at Schumaker’s place. Schumaker shared that his doctor prescribed him medicine for mental health issues, but he was not taking it.
Terranova requested the court that a sentence of 15 years would be reasonable for Schumaker, considering his tough childhood and inability to babysit children. The judge was worried that how to protect the community and ensure that it will not happen again if Schumaker is out of prison after 15 years. The attorney argued that it is not easy to predict the future but his client is not a serial killer.
Schumaker told that he offered Ashlee and her children to stay at his place because he does not want to repeat what his father did with his mother, not being there with her. He apologized to Ashlee and started crying that he was never intended to hurt or kill Austin but I do not know why I did not reach out to anyone for help. Schumaker shared with the court that he did not have a good childhood life with his family but I am thankful to my family who is part of this court sentencing.
While sharing that what happened that day, Schumaker shared that when the toddler spits out the food, he slapped the toddler’s face and punched him. He added that while changing his diaper when the boy tried to get up, he slammed his head on the floor. Later, he placed a pillow over the boy’s head back and punched him repeatedly as he was fearful that Austin will wake up his baby brother.
The Medical Report And Evidence
After the medical assessment, the medical examiner opined that the injuries of the child were not due to a fall and slip, but due to multiple child’s injuries in the head. The other evidence (including text messages) highlighted that around 5:00 PM Austin was initially injured and inflicted further injuries over a time span of several hours that evening.
The medical examiner established that the reason behind the death of the boy was diffuse axonal injury leading toward no prolonged survival and he died. The evidence underlined that there were breaks in hitting Austin while he was sending messages. Around 5:00 PM he shared with his girlfriend, that Austin fell down but after several hours he was texting a different young woman and also found another person to sell synthetic marihuana. Thus, the evidence highlighted while hitting the toddler, 16 years old Schumaker was busy in other commercial and social activities as well.
Jury Verdict
After the court trial, Dylan Schumaker was convicted and given a teenager sentenced to life of 25 years in 2014 for attempting to murder his girlfriend’s son in 2013.
The Appellate Court
In February 2016, the Appellate court agreed to reduce the life sentence of Dylan Schumaker. The court modified his sentence to a period of 18 years means that he can apply for parole after serving 18 years in prison. However, even he is released, he will be kept in close supervision of the state for the rest of his life.
The court agreed that the life sentence given to the young boy was unduly harsh keeping in view his young age as well as lack of any prior criminal convictions or no parental guidance. They also added that he had mental issues that were neglected during the court decision.
A Fake News
Fake news spread with a claim that showcasing viral video of Schumaker that an American teenager killed a Muslim refugee who raped his sister and the murderer is life sentenced. The news story is actually using the footage from the viral video portraying Schumaker, who was convicted for killing his girlfriend son. The video does not include the Muslim refugee killed by a teenage killer.
