How Could You? Hall of Shame-Mary Mazalic and Derron Alexis UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Mukilteo, Washington, a 10-year-old adopted girl who has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was placed into foster care one month ago after a store owner “raised concerns with Child Protective Services about a child who came into the business. CPS was told the girl had a gash on her arm and a sunken face, and the outline of her bones were visible. The caller also said a woman with the girl was being “verbally abusive” toward the child.”

This is yet another Washington case that has been suppressed in the Press for a month and no names of the perpetrators or child have been given yet.

You may need a kleenex for the rest of this story. The Mukilteo, Washington woman who was arrested on Wednesday September 14, 2011 “for investigation of assaulting and mistreating” the girl is the girl’s adopted brother’s girlfriend. The girl was living with her adoptive brother and his girlfriend. It is not clear where the adoptive mother lives, but the story says that the adoptive mother had to fly in from New York to visit the girl.

“The girl was admitted to an Everett hospital Aug. 15 weighing 51 pounds — about two-thirds the weight of a healthy child her age. Doctors reported that she was suffering from “severe malnutrition.” She also had multiple bruises, abrasions and scars all over her body, according to court papers.

The girl initially denied being mistreated. Since then, she has told police the woman burned her with cigarettes and beat her with a cord, belt and wire, according to a search warrant released Wednesday.

The woman and her boyfriend have been under investigation for allegedly withholding food from the girl.”

“Detectives with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigation Unit assisted Mukilteo police in serving a search warrant on a home near the 4800 block of 103rd Place W. in Mukilteo on Wednesday morning.

The victim recently provided information while she was in a protected setting that led detectives to conduct a second search of the home to locate additional evidence, Mukilteo police officer Cheol Kang said.

“That provided the probable cause for the search warrant and arrest,” Kang said.

The girl was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and continues to get medical attention, Kang said.

The second search warrant filed Wednesday detailed the investigation since the girl was taken away from the home.

Doctors told investigators that the girl had cigarette burns on her wrist and the tops of her feet. She also had marks all over her stomach and chest that doctors said were likely from some sort of cord, according to the warrant. The girl also had a kidney infection. Doctors concluded that the girl likely was deprived of food and water.”

“The girl’s adoptive mother flew in from New York and visited her at the hospital. She told detectives that the girl didn’t look any different than she normally does. She explained that the girl took medication for fetal alcohol syndrome and that’s why she couldn’t gain weight.

Doctors, however, disagreed with the woman’s statement, saying that fetal alcohol syndrome is not the cause of her malnutrition. They noted that since she’d been hospitalized she rapidly gained weight, detectives wrote in the search warrant.

The girl initially told authorities that she was fed three meals a day and was treated well. She later told a social worker that if she talked, she was told that her brothers would be taken away from her and separated. [Where are those other brothers???]

Then last week the girl allegedly talked to her foster mother and told her she’d been abused by her older brother’s girlfriend.

According to court documents, the girl said the woman burned her with cigarettes, beat her with electrical cords and stifled the girl’s screams by placing a rubber ball in her mouth. She said the woman had tried to drown her in a bathtub and threatened to kill her and dump her body in a lake.

The girl said she was forced to sleep in a bathtub. She also told investigators that she was locked out of the house and forced to sleep in a tent.

Detectives on Wednesday seized extension cords, a tent and a ball from the home.

A Previous Case with the “Family”

The article also talks about a previous case with “the family”, but they again refer to the adopted brother and girlfriend and not the adoptive mother.

“It wasn’t the first time that state Child Protective Services had been called to investigate the family. In 2009, a boy, 16, asked to remain locked up at the Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Everett rather than return to live with the couple.

The boy told authorities he was fed only oatmeal and was beaten with a wooden paddle wrapped in leather if he didn’t follow house rules, according to a search warrant filed in August.

Court documents show that the couple denied the allegations raised in 2009. In a lengthy letter to a Snohomish County Superior Court judge, they admitted putting the boy on a “jail food diet” and making him sleep in a tent in the back yard to discipline him. They called the boy a “habitual liar and chronic runaway,” and detailed their efforts to provide him a stable home.”
   
Mukilteo women arrested after girl, 10, found ‘extremely emaciated,’ bruised and scarred
[Herald 9/14/11 by Eric Stevick and Diana Hefley]

Update: The name and age of the woman arrested is revealed. There is still no information about why the child is not living with the adoptive mother. No word on how many brothers she has and where they used to or currently live.

“A judge on Thursday set bail at $500,000 for a Mukilteo woman accused of assaulting a 10-year-old girl and depriving the underweight child of food.

Mary Mazalic, 34, also was prohibited from being around children.

Mazalic is being held on suspicion of first degree assault of a child. She was arrested Wednesday for investigation of assaulting and mistreating the girl who was emaciated when she was removed from her home in August.”

“The girl lived with her older brother and Mazalic, his girlfriend.”

“In asking for the half million dollar bail, deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul said the possibility of a long prison term if Mazalic is convicted could give her incentive to flee. Paul also said the suspect could intimidate witnesses, including other children.

Seattle attorney David Marshall, who specializes in child abuse defense cases, said Mazalic has no felony record and has lived in the community for many years, so wasn’t likely to disappear.

“This is her home,” he said.

He also said that his client is disabled and has medical needs that would be better met outside of jail. He did not elaborate on her condition during the bail hearing in Everett District Court.

Mazalic could face a minimum sentence of eight to 10 years in prison if she is convicted of a first-degree assault of a child charge.

Doctors told investigators that the girl had cigarette burns on her wrist and the tops of her feet. Marks all over her stomach and chest were likely from some sort of cord, according to court records. The girl also had a kidney infection. Doctors concluded that the girl likely was deprived of food and water.

The girl has gained about 20 pounds since she was removed from the home a month ago, Paul said.”

$500,000 bail for suspect in assault of child
[Herald 9/15/11 by Eric Stevick]

Update 2: “Mary Mazalic is being held on $500,000 bail. Snohomish County prosecutors expect to charge her with first-degree assault and criminal mistreatment of a child on Monday.”

“According to police, the investigation began on Aug. 15 when state Child Protective Services (CPS) received a report of possible abuse from a caller who said that the child was emaciated, had a sunken face and a gash on her arm, and was with a woman who was verbally abusive.

Because it was after hours, CPS asked Mukilteo police to perform a welfare check on the girl, who was living with her older brother and Mazalic, his girlfriend.

The girl and Mazalic were not home, but the officer returned later.

According to a document of probable cause filed in Everett District Court, the girl initially told police that she was fed three meals a day and was treated well, but obvious wounds on her body — which included bruises and what appeared to be a bite mark — belied her words.

She was taken into protective custody and admitted into an Everett-area hospital, where she spent several weeks recovering from her injuries, according to court documents.

Physicians told police that the girl had “severe malnutrition” and a kidney infection, and that she was covered with bruises, abrasions, scars and ulcers, and had cigarette burns on her feet and wrist, and “whip cord” marks all over her abdomen and chest.

In addition, medical records indicate the girl repeatedly asked for food, even while eating, court documents say.

The girl weighed 51 pounds, police said, compared with a normal weight for her age of 88 pounds.

The girl has gained about 20 pounds since she was removed from the home.”

New York Connection

“CPS spokeswoman Sherry Hill said the girl has been adopted by a family that lives in New York, but had been residing with her adoptive brother and his girlfriend Mazalic in Washington for about a year.”

“Hill said that state law prohibits her from disclosing information about any case unless a child has been found to be fatally or seriously injured. She did say that the agency had “no other prior contact” with Mazalic and her boyfriend in connection with the 10-year-old girl.

She said social workers are working with their counterparts in New York to determine whether the girl can be returned safely to her family in New York.”

Girl starved, beaten; Mukilteo woman arrested
[The Seattle Times 9/16/11 by Christine Clarridge]

Update 3: This article wrongly calls the girl Mazalic’s daughter and fails to mention that she was adopted in New York.

“According to the statement of probable cause, the girl was suffering from severe malnutrition, had cigarette burns and “whip cord” injuries all over her body and was suffering from an advanced case of urinary tract infection when she was taken into protective custody in August.

Authorities were alerted to the case by a store clerk who’d seen Mazalic with a girl whom she described as rail-thin with a gash in her arm. Officers took the girl into protective custody after interviewing both the child and Mazalic, and conferring with Child Protective Services.

Mazalic has been taking care of the girl for the past year, investigators said, and during that time, allegedly abused her in a number of ways.

The woman often made the girl take off her clothes, then beat her with extension cords, a belt and even a piece of wire, all while gagging the girl with a squeeze ball or a sock to keep her from screaming, detectives said. These beating usually took place in the garage or the basement of the home, they said.

Mazalic often threatened to kill the girl, and even made at least one attempt to do so.

She tried to drown the girl by holding her under water in the bathtub, the document said, and held a knife to the girl’s throat and told her, “I’m going to kill you” to “show her she ‘wasn’t kidding.'” Mazalic told the girl she’d kill her and dump her body in a lake, and added, “I’ve done it before and would do it again.”

The emaciated girl told investigators she was made to sleep in the bathtub in the basement of the home “hundreds of times,” as well as in a tent in the backyard. When she was forced to sleep outdoors, she was not always given a pillow or a blanket, and the doors to the house were locked, she said.

The girl added she could not tell detectives how she’d gotten each of her scars and burns as there had been more beatings than she could count over a long period of time.

While being questioned by police, the girl asked for something to eat, and was given bags of pretzels and popcorn to eat. She then asked for a hot sandwich, detectives said.

Doctors at Providence Hospital in Everett who examined the girl said she “was repeatedly asking for something to eat.” They added she was likely deprived of not only food, but also water at home.

“She spent two weeks in the hospital, because the doctors were so concerned that her body would shut down if she ate food without it being in a controlled setting,” said the prosecutor. “It’s a very serious case. The girl was in very bad shape when she was finally taken away.”

The girl, who weighed 51 pounds when she was brought to the hospital, has gained approximately 20 pounds in the past month, the prosecutor said Thursday. She has been placed in a foster home.”

Comments in this article indicate that the 16-year-old boy previously abused in this home IS the biological brother of this girl. Another comment indicates that she has a younger brother. No word on where either of these boys are yet and no word on the adoptive parents’ role in all of this.

“Mazalic has an issue with anger and a history of abusing children, according to prosecutors. A man who was previously in Mazalic’s care as a teen told investigators he was beaten with a leather-wrapped wooden paddle by the woman’s boyfriend when he did not follow orders at home. He added he was only fed oatmeal at the home, seven days a week.

Prosecutors added they believe someone has already tried to intimidate potential witnesses in the case.

Mazalic is currently caring for no other children and has no job. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday.”

Charged: Woman accused of starving, beating daughter
[KOMO news 9/19/11 by Martha Kang]

Update 4: “When Child Protective Services investigators came to the home of Mary Mazalic in Mukilteo last month, they noted that almost everyone there appeared to be well-fed: Mazalic herself, her boyfriend Derron, and even their dog, who looked “significantly overweight.”

The only person who didn’t look well fed was a 10-year-old adopted girl, who weighed less than 50 pounds, trembled constantly, and was covered in signs of horrific abuse.”

“The girl was adopted by Mazalic’s boyfriend’s mother and given to them for caretaking.

That caretaking allegedly involved starving the girl, beating her with cords, forcing her to sleep in a bathtub or outside, burning her with cigarettes, putting soap in her food when she ate, making her wear soiled diapers on her head, and threatening to kill her and dump her body in a lake.

Police were tipped off to the situation after Mazalic came into a store with the child in tow to buy a bathing suit for a vacation.

Two women who worked at the store noticed that N.A. look emaciated, and was trembling. Her face was sunken, and she did not appear to have any muscle on her body. One clerk noticed that N.A. was shaking the entire time she was in the store, and that N.A. followed the defendant around “like a puppy.” They noticed that N.A. had a fresh-looking gash on one of her wrists. he two clerks engaged the defendant in conversation, learning that she was going on a cruise, but that N.A. was not allowed to go. The defendant told the clerks that N.A. was a “bad kid.”

After being removed from Mazalic’s home by CPS and put in a hospital, the girl gained some 20 pounds.

Doctors found cigarette burns on her feet and buttocks. They found welts on her stomach and chest from beatings with cords and whips. And they found skin scaling that appeared to be from forcing the girl to wear dirty diapers.

The girl told police that Mazalic wanted to leave scars on her so when she went to a “group home,” people would know she “how bad she is.”

Mazalic is described by investigators as a pathological liar and an opiate addict.

It turns out that another child may have been abused by Mazalic and her boyfriend as well. That child, who has since been sent to juvenile jail, told police that he’d rather stay in jail than go back to the home where he was routinely abused.

Mazalic is currently being held on $500,000 bail. If convicted she’ll face a minimum of eight-and-a-half years in prison.

Her boyfriend has not been charged with any crime yet.”

Starving, Burning, and Beating 10-Year-Old Adopted Girl
[Seattle Weekly 9/20/11 by Curtis Cartier]

The complaint available here adds the following:

• The girl was adopted in 2008 by Genevieve in New York. She is developmentally delayed and may have FAS.
• The adoptive mother made an arrangement with her son to take care of the girl one year ago in exchange for money to take care of her.
• She had completed the 4th grade in New York, but Washington schools were not informed of that or that she needed special education so they placed her in the 4th grade. The subsequently found out that she needed special education.
• When CPS investigated, the girl’s bed had no sheets and only a blanket and a few pillows and the room smelled “heavily of urine.”
• They found a health form from NY from March 2010. She had only gained 2 pounds since then.
• She told the hospital that she wanted a Big Mac and had watched Mazalic eat one but she was never allowed to have one. When told she could have one, she said to not spend any money on her and to write it down since so she didn’t get in trouble from  her “mom” (Mazalic).
• When  a nurse rubbed lotion on her skin, she told her to write down what she gives her because her “mom” (Mazalic) needed to know.
• She had pyeloneprhitis, a serious kidney infection that ascended from a urinary tract infection.
• She missed 36 days of school and when she stole food from the school and did not receive a suspension, Mazalic gave her a “suspension.”
• She told her foster mother that Mazalic would put soap in her food and that the beatings occurred when her brother was at work.
• She was beaten with an orange extension cord, a brown extension cord, a black belt and a piece of wire the thickness of a pencil with “red things” on the end of it.
• She was forced to wear diapers due to peeing on the carpet that needed replacing. Mazalic forced her to wear a soiled diaper on her head and had a photograph taken to humiliate her.
• She would go for an entire day without food while Mazalic and her brother ate in front of her. When company was over, she would be allowed to eat.
• Sometimes, she was forced to eat “jail food”, oatmeal.
• If she lied, Mazalic made her “gargle and swallow full mouths of dish soap and shampoo.”
• Mazalic would listen to her call Genevieve, her adoptive mother, in New York so that she would not report what was happening.
• Her brother works for an airline and Mazalic has “liberal flight privileges” which is why her bail is set so high.

Update 5/June 28, 2012:  A search of Snohomish County Washington public court case records finds that originally a trial was set for February 10, 2012 but now it has been delayed until September 14, 2012. Competency exams and hearings occurred in early 2012.

 

 

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update 6/April through October 2012: ” State doctors recently concluded that a Mukilteo woman suspected of starving and beating a girl in her care can assist with her own defense.
Mary Mazalic was hostile, tearful and “an unreliable source of personal information,” but she doesn’t suffer from a major psychiatric illness that would prevent her from helping her attorney, the doctors wrote. She also understands the nature of the allegations against her, court papers said.
A judge on Tuesday set Mazalic’s trial for next month. Her attorney, Max Harrison told the judge that he’ll likely need more time to prepare. Mazalic, 35, is charged with first-degree assault of a child and first-degree criminal mistreatment. If convicted, she faces more than a decade in prison.
Prosecutors allege that Mazalic repeatedly beat, starved and burned her boyfriend’s younger sister. The 10-year-old came to live with the couple in 2010.
Harrison had raised questions about Mazalic’s competency. She refused to cooperate with doctors who tried to evaluate her in the county jail. At her attorney’s request, she was moved to Western State Hospital late last month.
A few days before she left, she sent a letter to Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Eric Lucas, expressing frustration with the delay in her case. She asked to be allowed to return home,where she could work on her case, or immediately be sent to the state hospital.
“… Here I sit several months later waiting over a month to go to Western and being treated like a mutt because this is how we treat our innocent! Right? I would hate to see how we treat our guilty if this is how we treat our innocent,” Mazalic wrote.
Mazalic asked the judge to “take a stand for us.”
The Mukilteo woman came to the attention of authorities in August after concerned shop workers reported that Mazalic was with a girl who appeared emaciated. The clerks said that the girl shook the entire time she followed Mazalic around the store.
The girl weighed about 51 pounds when Child Protective Services asked police to remove her from the home. That’s about two-thirds the weight of a healthy child her age. Doctors also reported that the girl had what appeared to be cigarette burns on the tops of her feet. She also had injuries that appeared to be consistent with being whipped with a cord.
The girl told authorities that she was beaten with an extension cord and a ball or sock was stuffed in her mouth to stifle her screams, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul wrote in court papers.
She also said that often she was forced to go without food. Mazalic allegedly would eat in front of her and when she complained of being hungry, Mazalic would say “too bad,” Paul wrote.
Police noted that Mazalic, her boyfriend and their dog appeared well-fed. ”

Woman accused in starving case competent for trial

[Herald Net 4/17/12 by Diana Hefley]

“A Mukilteo woman accused of starving and torturing a 10-year-old girl is facing more legal trouble as her trial nears.

Mary Mazalic now is accused of trying to persuade her boyfriend to hide evidence and to not talk to authorities. Mazalic, 35, has denied abusing the girl.

She already was facing two felony criminal charges based on allegations that she beat and starved the girl, who is her boyfriend’s sister. The girl started living with them in 2010.

The girl was removed from the couple’s house last year after a shop owner called authorities to report that a customer had brought an emaciated girl into the business.

Once Mukilteo police rescued the girl, medical staff discovered that she weighed just 51 pounds — about two-thirds the weight of a healthy child her age. She also had sores on her hands and feet, likely caused from being burned by lit cigarettes.

The child later told authorities that Mazalic beat her while her brother was at work.

She had whip marks across her chest and stomach, and she told investigators that Mazalic would beat her with an extension cord and stuffed a ball or sock in her mouth to stifle her screams.
The girl said the beatings would go on for so long that Mazalic would need to take a break.

Mazalic allegedly threatened to kill the girl and forced her to sleep in a bathtub and take cold showers.

The girl also told investigators that she was forced to go without food even as Mazalic ate fast food hamburgers in front of her.

There was some indication last week that Mazalic might plead guilty to criminal mistreatment and first-degree assault of a child.

During a brief court hearing Friday, her attorney said his client wasn’t going to plead guilty.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul then added a witness tampering charge to those Mazalic already faces.

The tampering charge came after Mazalic was overheard on the jailhouse telephone, where most conversations are monitored, coaching her boyfriend to hide the ball the girl mentioned to investigators. She also told him to not answer questions from police, according to prosecutors.

No charges have been filed against her boyfriend.

Mazalic on Monday pleaded not guilty to the amended charges.

Her defense attorney earlier this year raised questions about whether Mazalic was competent to stand trial.

State doctors concluded that although Mazalic was hostile, tearful and “an unreliable source of personal information,” she doesn’t suffer from a major psychiatric illness that would prevent her from helping her attorney.

Trial is scheduled to begin next week. Mazalic faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.

The girl, now 11, remains in foster care. She gained 13 pounds during the two weeks she was hospitalized last year and her physical health has continued to improve, officials said.”

Woman accused of trying to have abuse evidence hidden

[Herald Net 9/10/12 by Diana Hefley]

“For nearly two hours on Thursday, an 11-year-old girl sat in front of a jury and explained how she was repeatedly beaten with electrical cords and a wooden spoon, and forced to eat soap, sleep in a bathtub, and starved for days on end.

She’d been told that she was a bad girl, deserving to be punished because she lied and stole.

“I was the worst kid on earth,” the girl said, offering an explanation for why she wasn’t being fed.

Her voice was steady as she talked about the year she lived in Mukilteo with her brother and his girlfriend, Mary Mazalic. The pink bow in her curly hair bobbed up and down as she nodded at the prosecutor’s questions. She smiled at her new foster parents seated in the gallery. Her brow furrowed when she glanced at Mazalic across the courtroom.

She proudly announced that she weighs 70 pounds now. She likes her new school, and math. Her favorite color is pink. She has a best friend, and thinks that she didn’t have any friends at her old school because she “was probably the only brown girl there, most like.”

Jurors were told that the girl had been a foster child and later adopted by a couple in New York. They were unhappy that she was put in special education classes, and they decided to send her to Washington to live with their son and his girlfriend, Mazalic.

The girl testified that at first she was happy in the couple’s Mukilteo home. Then the abuse started.

She said Mazalic threatened her with a gun and a knife. She wet her pants because she wasn’t allowed to leave her room. Then she was forced to wear a diaper. She said she was locked outside and told to sleep in a tent. Sometimes she tried to fight back, but Mazalic was stronger and the beatings would get worse.

She testified that she stole food from other students in her class because she was hungry. She described the dry oatmeal she was given at home, a meal Mazalic called “jail food.”

The girl told jurors that there were times when she thought she was going to die. She remembered feeling weak and not being able to move around much.

She recalled that there were days she no longer wanted to live “because I didn’t want to feel any more of the beatings,” the child said.

Thursday marked the first day of testimony in the case against Mazalic, 35. She is accused of torturing and starving the girl. Prosecutors also allege that she tried to get her boyfriend to hide evidence and told him to refuse to cooperate with police.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul told the jury that Mazalic isolated the girl, kept her out of school and told lies about the child that affected the way others treated her. The girl weighed 51 pounds when she was removed from Mazalic’s home. She had whip marks across her body and what appeared to be cigarette burns on her feet and buttocks.

“The evidence will show that there are no excuses for what Mary did to (the child) and what she didn’t do for (her),” Paul said in opening statements.

The defendant’s attorney, Max Harrison, chose to wait on giving an opening statement.

During the police investigation, Mazalic told detectives that the girl was not being abused, and that she was “thin, but eats well,” according to court papers.

Jurors on Thursday heard from the two store clerks, Tia Harris and April Christofferson, who first alerted authorities in August 2011 that they were concerned about a child who came into a Lynnwood store. Mazalic had brought the girl with her while searching for a plus-size bathing suit.

The women noticed that the girl appeared emaciated and trembled. They became more suspicious after hearing Mazalic berate the child.

Christofferson broke down in tears on the witness stand as she explained how Mazalic spoke to the girl.
“I felt it was abusive,” she said.

She also testified about Mazalic calling her the next day, asking her why she’d called Child Protective Services.
The pediatrician who treated the girl during her two-week hospital stay also testified Thursday. He said it was clear from looking at the girl that she was suffering from severe malnutrition. Without enough calories, her body had shed nearly all its fat and begun feeding on her muscles for energy. Her cheeks were sunken in. The muscles around her temples, which help people chew, were wasted away. That gave her head a caved-in look. Her ribs were clearly visible and her limbs were abnormally thin.

He explained that medical staff had to slowly build up the girl’s caloric intake because her body was not used to food. Too many calories at once could have created complications, including death.

The girl gained more than 10 pounds during her hospital stay.

She was preoccupied with food, a common symptom of someone who has been starving, he said.

“She was always asking about her next meal and when she could eat more than we were offering,” the pediatrician said.

Alleged abuser’s trial begins; jury hears of girl’s agony

[Herald Net 9/20/12 by Diana Hefley]

“A Mukilteo woman faces decades in prison after a jury on Thursday convicted her of child abuse following a week-long trial that included graphic testimony about how a 10-year-old girl was tortured and starved for months.

Mary Mazalic, 35, was led away in handcuffs as her attorney Max Harrison thanked her for behaving in court.

Meanwhile, the girl’s foster family thanked Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul for her work on behalf of the child.

Jurors deliberated for about three hours on Thursday before reaching a verdict.

Mazalic was convicted of first-degree assault of child, criminal mistreatment and witness tampering. Jurors also concluded that the child abuse crimes were deliberately cruel, the victim was particularly vulnerable and Mazalic had abused her position of trust. Proving those aggravating factors will allow the state to seek a sentence above the standard range.

The prosecutor said she plans to ask for a 30-year prison stay for Mazalic at sentencing, scheduled for Nov. 29.

During days of testimony jurors learned that the girl had a rough start in life.

She was placed in foster care as an infant and diagnosed with special needs. Then, in 2010, she was sent away from her home, her adoptive mother and young brothers. She was placed in Washington with an older adoptive brother and Mazalic, his girlfriend. Here, she struggled in a new school, where she was enrolled in a mainstream class, despite having been in special education at her former elementary school.

Jurors were told that Mazalic made the girl’s life worse.

Paul alleged that Mazalic for months tortured the child, whipping her with cords and burning her with lit cigarettes. The prosecutor said Mazalic starved the girl until she was “skin and bones.”

The child weighed about 51 pounds when she was rescued from Mazalic’s home in 2011. Two sales associates at a Lynnwood clothing store became concerned about the girl’s welfare after Mazalic brought the child into the store during a shopping trip. They said it was clear to them that the girl was emaciated.

The prosecutor told jurors that Mazalic isolated the girl, failed to get her proper medical treatment and manipulated other adults in the girl’s life to believe that the child was a “monster,” a liar and a thief.

The prosecutor on Thursday read from a letter Mazalic wrote to the girl. Police found the letter in a notebook during a search of the home. In the letter, Mazalic berated the girl, warning her that if she continued to steal she would end up living under a bridge “with strange men who will do bad things to you.”

The girl was forced to sleep in a bathtub. She urinated in her clothes because she believed she would be beaten if she left her bedroom, Paul said. Mazalic was accused of stuffing a ball in the girl’s mouth to stifle her screams while she was whipped. Jurors were told that the ball was a sex toy associated with bondage practices.

The girl was humiliated and threatened, the prosecutor said.

Last week in a courtroom full of strangers, the girl, now 11, testified that there were times that she wanted to die so the pain would end.

Parents can lose their tempers, Paul told jurors Thursday during closing arguments. It takes something more, though, to do what Mazalic did to the child, she said.

“It takes a person who doesn’t love a child,” Paul said.

Harrison argued on Thursday that his client tried to be a good parent, but wasn’t up for the job, especially for a child with special needs. Admittedly, he said, Mazalic was ill-equipped for parenthood and made some bad choices. He argued, however, that the prosecutor failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mazalic was responsible for the girl’s injuries or that his client intentionally withheld food from the child.

“Mary’s sin here is being blind to the condition of the child and what that meant,” Harrison said.

He reminded jurors that the child testified that her brother had hit her and forced her to exercise for long stretches of time as a form of punishment. He could be responsible for the child’s injuries and severe weight loss, Harrison said.

“(Mazalic) cared about the child,” he said. “The idea that she didn’t love the child or didn’t try simply isn’t true.”

Harrison urged the jury to consider the facts carefully and not be swayed by emotional testimony or the photographs taken of the girl at the hospital in 2011.

Jurors were shown some of those pictures again on Thursday.

In them, the girl’s ribs are clearly visible under her skin. Scars and whip marks stretch across her body. Jurors are told the round scars are where the fourth-grader was burned with cigarettes.”

Woman convicted in girl’s torture, starvation

[Herald Net 9/27/12 by Diana Hefley]

The Washington Court public records state that she was convicted on 1st degree assault with a special verdict of deliberate cruelty; 1st degree criminal mistreatment with a special verdict of deliberate cruelty and tampering with witness.

Update 7: Mary was sentenced to the maximum-30 years. I still do not understand why the adoptive parent has not been charged with anything like abandonment. She continued to collect money and sent the disabled daughter off to her son and this crazy woman.

“The now-11-year-old victim sat in the courtroom Thursday as Mary Mazalic was sentenced to 30 years.

Jurors said they thought the case was so horrendous they allowed the judge to impose more than the maximum jail time for the crime.

The victim’s abuse ended two years ago, when clerks in Mukilteo were so shocked by her thin appearance, they called police.

Prosecutors said Mazalic tortured the girl, who was Mazalic’s boyfriend’s adopted sister, in the Mukilteo home where they all lived.

The girl was adopted in New York but was later sent to live in Mukilteo by her adoptive mother, who continued to collect state payments for her care.

Investigators said the girl was beaten with cords and wires, burned with cigarettes and weighed  51 pounds when she was removed from the home.

The victim’s new foster mother spoke during the sentencing, calling what happened to the girl barbaric.

“You belittled her, you humiliated her and you tortured her,” said Jenger Avellaneda. “Her scars on her body, they won’t ever heal and she deserves justice.”

During the sentencing, the judge said Mazalic made the victim’s life a “living hell.”

Mazalic’s boyfriend has also been charged with abuse.

His trial is set for next year.”

Woman sentenced to 30 years in shocking child abuse case

[KIRO TV 9/30/12]

Update 8: “The girl wrapped her arms around the deputy prosecutor and squeezed.

A jury had confirmed on Tuesday what the pair knew was the truth all along — the girl’s adoptive brother abused and mistreated the child when he should have protected her.

It only took jurors three hours to convict Derron Alexis, 44. The former airplane mechanic denied being responsible for the girl’s condition when the 10-year-old was rescued from his home in 2011.She weighed just 51 pounds.

Her body had lost nearly all its fat and had started metabolizing her muscles for energy. She had scars from being whipped with electrical cords and burned with lit cigarettes. She was kept in diapers and forced to sleep in a bathtub.

The girl alleged that Alexis forced her to stay in a dog crate so he could sleep.The man testified Monday that he never wanted his adoptive sister to live with him and his former girlfriend Mary Mazalic. His mother sent the girl, then 9, to Washington because she didn’t want the child in special education classes.

Mazalic was convicted last year of abusing the girl. She is serving 30 years in prison.

Alexis faces years behind bars. The jury, which convicted him of first-degree criminal mistreatment and unlawful imprisonment, also found that Alexis committed the crimes under aggravating circumstance. They agreed that the girl was particularly vulnerable and Alexis abused his position of trust as the girl’s caregiver.

That verdict leaves the door open for the judge to go beyond the standard range set by the state sentencing guidelines commission. Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul declined to discuss any sentencing recommendation.

She said she needed to put more thought into what she believes is just punishment for the defendant.Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne on Tuesday insisted that Alexis be jailed.

The defendant had been free on his own recognizance during the trial. Wynne is expected to sentence the man next month.Alexis didn’t seem to react to the jury’s verdict. Before he was handcuffed, he made a hasty phone call to his mother.

“Guilty on both counts,” he said. “No bail.”The New York woman testified on her son’s behalf Tuesday. She adopted the girl and her two young brothers in 2003. She told jurors that she brought the girl to Washington because she didn’t believe the teachers in New York when they insisted that the girl needed to be in special education classes.

The woman continued to be paid $800 a month by the state of New York to care for the girl. She sent Mazalic $350 a month. Meanwhile, the state of Washington paid Alexis to be Mazalic’s full-time caregiver. Mazalic claimed to have various health conditions, including diabetes and epilepsy. Her caseworker was told that Mazalic slept 18 hours a day and needed help with everyday tasks, including cooking and bathing.

The caseworker was never told that Alexis worked outside of the home or that a child was living there.Alexis testified that the girl was Mazalic’s responsibility and he never witnessed any abuse. He said he didn’t spend much time with the child, although he initially told police that he made sure she ate.

The girl’s adoptive mother testified that the child was always skinny. She also said the girl didn’t appear in poor health when she visited her at the hospital. She claimed that the girl ran up to her and was excited to see her.Doctors testified that not only was the girl severely malnourished but that she had a dangerous infection that left untreated could have been fatal.

She spent two weeks in the hospital. Jurors learned that the girl’s adoptive mother, Alexis and Mazalic went on a five-day cruise days after the girl was removed by Child Protective Services and hospitalized.

The New York woman had five adoptive children and received more than $50,000 a year from the state. The girl’s brothers continue to live with the New York woman. She is fighting to regain custody of the girl.The child, now 12, stood with her foster parents on Tuesday. They quietly spoke with her as Alexis was handcuffed.

They blocked her view of the man as he was led out.The girl smiled at Mukilteo police detective Lance Smith at the front of the courtroom. He’s the cop who built the case that sent her abusers to prison.”

Adoptive brother convicted of abusing, starving girl [Herald net 11/5/13 By Diana Hefley]

“The girl was in his home for less than a year and left emaciated, scarred and broken. The Mukilteo man’s actions against the girl and also his failures to act on her behalf earned him 12 1/2 years in prison.

A Snohomish County judge on Monday handed down the sentence to Derron Alexis, agreeing with prosecutors that the defendant deserved an exceptional sentence for his egregious actions.

His adopted sister weighed just 51 pounds when she was rescued from his home in 2011. Her body had lost nearly all its fat and started metabolizing her muscles for energy. She had eaten dog food to ease her hunger pains.

She had an untreated urinary tract infection and an open wound. She was unable to walk upright and trembled. She was afraid to tell anyone what she had endured.

A jury last month convicted Alexis, 44, of first-degree criminal mistreatment and unlawful imprisonment. They also found that Alexis committed the crimes under aggravating circumstances, including that the victim was particularly vulnerable.

The girl “was sent 3,000 miles from her home, away from the family she cared so much about, away from anyone who could stand up for her. If any child was vulnerable to abuse, it was this child,” deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul wrote.

The jury’s verdict left the door open for Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne to go beyond a standard range set by the state sentencing guidelines commission.

Paul asked for 15 years, the maximum under the law. She said on Monday that in many ways Alexis was more culpable than his former girlfriend Mary Mazalic.

Mazalic also was convicted of abusing the girl. The girl testified that Mazalic whipped her with electrical cords, forced her to sleep outside and burned her with lit cigarettes.

Mazalic is serving 30 years in prison.She was the girl’s primary caregiver. Alexis worked full-time outside of the home as an airplane mechanic, even though he also was being paid by the state to be Mazalic’s caretaker.

“He knew more than anyone the depravity of Mary Mazalic,” Paul said. “He knew she was unable to care for herself let alone a child.

“The girl’s foster parents, who are working toward adopting her, also asked the judge for the maximum sentence. While she is thriving in their home, the girl, now 13, will always carry with her the memories of being neglected, starved and abused, they said.

Alexis on Monday maintained that he wasn’t responsible for the girl’s care. He testified at trial that he never wanted her in his home because he didn’t know anything about raising a child. His elderly mother, the girl’s adoptive parent, sent the child to Washington because she didn’t want her in special education classes.

She and Mazalic made arrangements about the girl’s care, he said.”How can I fix a problem when I wasn’t told of it?” he said MondayAlexis said his only failure was that somehow the girl didn’t feel comfortable talking to him about “issues.

“He plans to appeal his conviction.Everett defense attorney Tom Cox urged the judge not to impose an exceptional sentence.

“There is no argument that he should have done more to protect (the girl) from Mary Mazalic, but there is debate about how much he really understood what was going on at the home,” Cox wrote.

His client didn’t have any prior felony criminal history and has led a productive life, the lawyer said.Wynne found, however, that Alexis was an active participant in the crimes against the girl.”This was not a case where a child was merely undernourished. She was starved,” Wynne said. “No child in this country should be in that condition, especially in a home where there was plenty of food.”

Man sentenced to 12 years for starving, mistreating girl [Herald Net 12/2/13 By Diana Hefley]