The Marshall County man who admitted to beating his girlfriend’s toddler to death with a hairbrush last September because she wet the bed received a maximum sentence for murder this morning in Marshall Superior Court. Judge Robert O. Bowen told Shane Weedling the only factor in his favor was his guilty plea in connection with Serenity Wilson’s murder last year in a Plymouth motel room.
He cited Weedling’s extensive prior criminal record, his violation of the child’s trust, refusal to seek medical treatment for her and total lack of concern for her safety beginning to end before sentencing him to 65 years in prison. Barring any sentence modification, he will have to serve at least 48.75 years if he earns maximum good time credit.
Evidence presented during the hearing indicates Weedling spanked Serenity with a hairbrush on multiple occasions, including the date of her death. He described her in a police interview as being “limp as a rag” when he got done punishing her for wetting the bed while watching a movie and sent his girlfriend, Krysti Lavanway, a Facebook message advising the child was “beat up” and that “the more time goes on, the more she gets beat.” Lavanway was at work when the incident occurred. Court records indicate she came home a few hours later but did not immediately take Serenity to the hospital.
Lavanway was previously sentenced to 35 years in prison for neglect of a dependent resulting in death. Autopsy results submitted as evidence indicate Serenity was beaten so severely her left eye hemorrhaged and her left retina became detached. She sustained at least 10 blows to her head, and a blow to her chest was hard enough to likely collapse her left lung.
Marshall County Prosecuting Attorney Nelson Chipman says this case hit him hard, in part because he’s got a granddaughter who is Serenity’s age.
“I’ll always remember Serenity, and I never met her. I went to the autopsy, I never met her in life. Just how fragile that is and how, you know, he’s not a big brute of a man but he’s still a man that just kept going and going,” Chipman told reporters after the proceedings.
Serenity’s grandmother, Deb Blacklaw, and father Cody Wilson both testified during the sentencing hearing. Both described her as a happy, loving little girl. Weedling did not testify.
Wilson says nothing Weedling could have said would have eased his mind. During his testimony, Wilson called Weedling’s actions “completely monstrous and unforgiveable” and accused him of having no sympathy or remorse.
Blacklaw recalled buying Serenity a toy tractor at a garage sale and said the child was thrilled with the ride-on toy. She still looks for Serenity everywhere and says she has a difficult time when she sees children her age out in public.
“I was hoping for him to look us in the eye and say ‘I’m sorry, and I will stand up and take the punishment I had coming to me.’ But for me, getting through this was looking behind every little rock or tree to make sure that she’s not ever coming back. Ever. But I would look for her. I still look for her,” Blacklaw said.
Even though Weedling entered a guilty plea, he still has a right to appeal his sentence since it was left to the judge’s discretion.
