By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Vader couple accused in the death of a 3-year-old boy they were caring for pleaded not guilty yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court.
Danny and Brenda Wing were charged in early November with homicide by abuse or, in the alternative, first-degree manslaughter; each are charged as either the principal or accomplice.
[1]Jasper Henderling-Warner
The toddler, Jasper Henderling-Warner, died from what the coroner called chronic battered child syndrome.
Jasper died on Oct. 5, an evening when Brenda Wing called 911 to their home and said he wasn’t breathing. His 21-year-old mother had allowed the couple to care for her son for a period of time described by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office as several months while she was homeless, traveling and looking for work.
The Wings gave conflicting accounts to detectives of the child’s final weekend.
Their trials were scheduled for the week of Jan. 26, before separate judges.
Danny A. Wing, 26, is represented by Todd Pascoe, a defense lawyer from Vancouver, Wash. Brenda A. Wing, 27, is represented by Seattle-based attorney John Crowley.
Ordinarily, a person has a right to be arraigned within 14 days, but they waived that right while they worked out hiring their lawyers.
The remain held in the Lewis County Jail, on bails set at $500,000 and $200,000 respectively.
•••
For background, read:
• “Defendants in Vader toddler death case postpone arraignments again” from Thursday December 4, 2014, here [2]
• RCW 9A.32.055: Homicide by abuse, here [3]
• RCW 9A.32.060: Manslaughter in the first degree, here [4]