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 web posted September 11, 2007 Below: Devin Watson arriving at the Edgefield County Courthouse  EDGEFIELD – Mary
Christina Dey, 21, and Devin
Antoine Watson, 26, were sentenced on Monday in the Edgefield County
Courthouse by Judge Doyet A. Early to 25 and 30 years respectively in
the homicide by child abuse of their 13-month old son Darrell Watson in
August of 2003. Judge Early, often times stating his disbelief in the
brutality of the killing, challenged defense attorneys’ attempts to
mitigate fault for their respective clients in the case. “You got the
wrong judge,” Early said.Below: Mary Dey at the time of her arrest  Mary Dey’s defense
attorney David Miller told Judge Early that Mary Dey
was a mere child of 15 when Devin Watson, then a 20-year-old man, took
advantage of her and impregnated her. Watson, it turned out, had done
the same thing prior to Mary Dey when he impregnated another
15-year-old girl in Florida which ended in an abortion and Mr. Watson
pleading guilty to child abuse. The original charge was a lewd and
lascivious act on a minor but was reduced in a plea agreement. Watson
was given probation in the case but ended up serving eight months in
jail after
failing to abide by the terms of his probation.Mr. Miller told the court that Dey admitted her guilt in the case because she did little to help young Darrell escape the abuse he was subjected to at the hands of Mr. Watson. Assistant Solicitor Ervin May told the court that young Darrell had bruises over his entire body, puncture wounds on his hands and feet, multiple burns, multiple fractures “at various stages of healing” and the fractured skull, which proved to be the fatal injury. May told the court that the skull fracture, “basically split the skull in two,” and ran from above the eye to the base of the skull in the back. Autopsy photos were also submitted to the court showing the extent of the deadly injury. Judge Early placed those pictures before him as he heard testimony in both sentencing hearings and referred to them often as the attorneys would try to lessen their client’s participation in the killing. Mr. Miller asked Judge Early to be merciful to his client asking for a 15 year sentence and allowed Mary Dey to address the court before sentencing. Dey tearfully told the court, “I’m sorry” saying “I was so caught up in trying to work two jobs,” and that she was pregnant with the couple’s second child. “I should have done something, but I didn’t. I accept responsibility.” Dey’s second child was born while she was in custody and was given up for adoption. Dey’s stepfather also addressed the court and begged for mercy asking for the court to “give my daughter back to me.” Judge Early told Ms. Dey that she was already given a break by having the murder charge against her dropped in exchange for the plea agreement. If found guilty of the murder Dey would have faced life in prison. Early said, “The poor child ends up with his skull fractured. I am going to show you some mercy,” and then handed down the sentence of 25 years in prison. Dey was then removed from the courtroom as she broke down in tears. After a short break Judge Early called the court back to order and asked for Devin Watson to be brought in for his hearing. As the second hearing began attorney Andy Anderson told the court there were many factors in the case and that Watson did not deny guilt in the case, saying Mary Dey was “the primary aggressor” in the abuse. Anderson said that he never believed this was a death penalty case. “I feel we are in the right place here today.” Anderson, along will co-council Jim Brown, began bringing forth a pair of expert witnesses to discuss how Mr. Watson’s upbringing in a home full of abuse contributed to his not reporting the matter to law enforcement in an effort to save young Darrell. They pointed to Mr. Watson’s childhood as proof he did not understand that abuse was not abnormal. “He (Watson) survived his abuse – this child did not,” Judge Early said. Judge Early said, “As I try to talk to you I am looking at the picture of this baby with his brain squashed out,” and was clearly unmoved by the often times feeble attempts by defense attorneys to claim Watson was more of a victim in the case than an active participant. Attorney Anderson suggested Judge Early turn the photos over during the hearing which was ignored, and in fact, Judge Early would often times display them to the open court. “I should not have accepted the plea on Ms. Dey or your client,” Judge Early stated and insinuated the two parents deserved to be in prison for life, or worse. Watson’s defense team continued to try to lessen the case against Mr. Watson stating that while Ms. Dey and the baby were in Pennsylvania she was investigated for child abuse, however, she was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Penn. Department of Youth Services. As one of the “expert witnesses” tried to say that Mr. Watson was a victim as a result of a “culture of abuse and poverty” Judge Early buried his head in his hands, clearly unmoved by the claim. Judge Early stated he could not understand why Mr. Watson did not intercede to protect his own son if he was not an active participant. “I would not treat a stray dog like that,” Early said, “Bless his (young Darrell) little heart.” Mr. Watson spoke before his sentencing and said, “I did all I could… I’m sorry”. With that Judge Early stated it was “incomprehensible something like this can take place today,” and that “the State” has already given Mr. Watson a “break” by removing a chance of the death penalty. “You are sentenced to 30 years” in the State Correctional system Judge Early said adding Mr. Watson could be eligible for parole after serving 25 years. Mr. Watson did not show any signs of emotion when the sentence was handed down. When asked after the hearings why the state would remove the death penalty for Mr. Watson in an exchange for a plea Solicitor Donnie Myers said, “Because I couldn’t give both of them the death penalty.” Ms. Dey was only 17 at the time of the killing. “I couldn’t risk the chance that he (Watson) might be found not guilty and I wanted to get as much time for both of them as possible.” Mr. Myers also said that in order to prove a death penalty case, “we would have to prove who had their hands on his head when he was killed – and we couldn’t do that.” Autopsy reports indicated that the fatal blow was from one of two acts, either holding the baby by his feet and smashing his head into a padded surface “such as the padded arm of a chair,” Mr. Mays said, “or by placing the head on the carpeted floor and applying pressure” equal to a fall from a one story building, crushing the skull. For all
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