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Two women have endangering cases heard
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Judge John Durkin took action in two separate child-endangering cases Friday.
He accepted a plea in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to a fifth-degree felony charge of child endangering by Amber Murphy, 29, and also sentenced Arquwonna Wright, 23, to three years in prison for a child-endangering case that is a second-degree felony.
Wright pleaded guilty in September to injuring her daughter, then 2, on March 13, 2013. Hospital workers called police after the girl was brought in to be treated for severe burns. Prosecutors said the girl had been dipped in very hot water in a bath tub.
That child is in the custody of Wright’s twin sister and her grandmother, said Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Trapp.
Wright’s lawyer, Ed Hartwig, said his client has had mental-health issues in the past and has been treated in the mental-health court. He said that may explain her actions but does not excuse them. He said his client had no intention to harm her daughter but she was reckless when she was injured. He asked Judge Durkin to follow the prosecution’s recommendation of three years in prison.
Under the terms of her plea agreement, prosecutors also promised not to oppose a request for judicial release if Wright makes one.
Judge Durkin said he agreed that mental-health issues were a factor and that Wright did not mean to harm her child, but he added a prison sentence was necessary because of Wright’s past history with other crimes. She will be serving her endangering sentences concurrently with a 13-month sentence she received two months ago from Judge Maureen Sweeney on an arson charge.
“I’m very sorry about what happened to my daughter,” Wright said just before her sentence was handed down. “I do love her. I never meant for anything to happen to her.”
Murphy’s charge comes from a beating her 9-year-old son received from her husband, Tommy Miller, on Dec. 31. The beating was not reported until two days later.
Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa said Murphy faces charges because she knew of abuse against her son but did nothing to stop it.
She also faced a fourth-degree felony charge of child endangering, but that charge was dropped in exchange for her plea.
Prosecutors are recommending probation for her.
Judge Durkin also agreed to reduce her bond to a recognizance bond after a request by her attorney, David Gerchak. She does not have custody of her son, but Trapp said she is allowed to visit him. She had been in the county jail since March.
Tommy Miller’s case is pending. He also is still in custody.