[1]Danny Wing, in red, appears before Judge Andrew Toynbee
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Danny A. Wing was back in court in Chehalis this morning after winning an appeal that allows him to take back his guilty pleas in the death of a 3-year-old boy he and his wife were caring for.
Wing was sentenced to almost 35 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter and third-degree child assault following the Oct. 5, 2014 death of Jasper Henderling-Warner.
The family, with three children of their own and from the Vancouver area, had been living in Vader about two weeks when the Wings called 911 to say the toddler was unconscious and not breathing. The coroner concluded Jasper died of chronic battered child syndrome.
[2]Jasper Henderling-Warner
In February of this year, a division of the Washington State Court of Appeals concluded Wing’s plea was premised on an incorrect offender score for the third degree assault of a child conviction, rendering the plea involuntary. At the time, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said if Wing withdrew his plea, prosecutors would take the case to trial.
Wing, now 29, appeared in Lewis County Superior Court this morning, represented by Vancouver attorney Sean Downs.
Representing the state before Judge Andrew Toynbee were Lewis County senior deputy prosecutors Will Halstead and Sara Beigh. Jasper’s mother, flanked by supporters, was in the audience.
The hearing was brief, and a longer hearing was set for 2 p.m. this Friday, to determine what happens next, according to Beigh.
Wing’s wife, Brenda A. Wing, was convicted and sentenced similarly to her husband, and won an appeal on the exact same issue.
Beigh said she’s not sure when Brenda Wing will be brought back to Lewis County Superior Court, as she has petitioned for review by the Washington State Supreme Court on part of the appeal she lost.
Danny Wing also had petitioned for review but the higher court declined to do so, according to Beigh.
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For background, read “Appeals court reverses conviction in Vader child death” from Friday March 3, 2017, here [3]