[1]Casey Henderling and Nikki Warner quickly leave the courtroom after talking with the judge about the cremation of their dead toddler.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – It took less than 10 minutes for a judge to help the parents of a toddler whose body has been stored at the county morgue for months to come to agreement today about which funeral home can be called to handle his cremation.
Three-year-old Jasper Henderling-Warner died Oct. 5 from what the coroner calls battered child syndrome and is the victim in an ongoing criminal case involving a couple who had taken him into their Vader home.
[2]Jasper Henderling-Warner
Jasper’s unmarried parents initially agreed to have the child cremated at Steele Chapel in Longview, and the services have been paid for, according to Lewis County Civil Attorney David Fine. But the mother Nikki Warner changed her mind and told the coroner she wanted him taken care of by a funeral home in Battleground where she would hold the memorial service.
At the end of January, Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod was notified he no longer had to hold Jasper for a possible second autopsy for the criminal case. Two weeks later, after failing to get the parents to agree on the same mortuary, McLeod filed a request in Lewis County Superior Court, asking for a judge to intervene.
Warner and Casey Henderling sat next to each other this afternoon, in front of Judge James Lawler.
Warner told the judge what she wanted, and told him she had custodial rights before her son’s death.
“As I understand it, we’re not talking about the memorial service here, only the cremation,” Lawler said.
“You still agree the ashes are to be divided between you, right?” the judge asked.
Both answered affirmatively.
Lawler told the two parents he was only trying to understand what difference it makes where the cremation takes place.
“I’m not trying to twist your arm,” he said. “Just trying to understand. Make sure you understand.”
Warner agreed they could use the funeral home in Longview.
Coroner McLeod indicated he would phone Steele Chapel within the next 10 minutes and arrange for the child’s body to be picked up.
The Vader couple accused in the death both remain held in the Lewis County Jail.
Danny A. Wing, 26, has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. His wife Brenda Wing, 27, awaits trial. She is charged with homicide by abuse or, in the alternative, first-degree manslaughter, as either the principal or accomplice.
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For background, read “Toddler’s body still at morgue more than five months after death” from Wednesday March 18, 2015, here [3]