Western Iowa woman sentenced to 50 years in prison for death of son

By Nick Hytrek - Wcfcourier.com

June 28, 2013

ONAWA, Iowa --- Ashley Cameron was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison in connection with the drowning death of her son.

District Judge Jeffrey Neary in May found Cameron, 25, of Onawa, guilty of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment causing the death of a child for the Feb. 11, 2012, death of her 15-month-old son, Markis Dahms.

Cameron had been charged with first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole, but Neary ruled that she did not intentionally cause Markis' death.

Prosecutors had accused Cameron of holding Markis' head under a running faucet in the bathtub of their Onawa home five or six times until he stopped breathing. Cameron testified during her four-day trial in Monona County District Court that she had left him in the bathtub to get him some shampoo and clean clothes and that when she returned, he was lying face down in the water.

Markis died later that evening at an Onawa hospital.

At trial, Cameron did not challenge the child endangerment charge, admitting that she had left Markis unattended in the bathtub.

Judge finds Onawa, Iowa, mother guilty

By Nick Hytrek - SiouxCityJournal.com

May 18, 2013

ONAWA, Iowa - There was no doubt that Ashley Cameron caused the death of her son.

But her actions the night of Feb. 11, 2012, did not rise to the level of murder, District Judge Jeffrey Neary said Friday.

Neary found Cameron guilty of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment causing the death of a child.

"Ashley Cameron has conceded that she was negligent and as such has committed child endangerment insomuch as she took certain actions which resulted in the death of her son Markis Dahms, but she never intended to cause his death," Neary wrote in his 19-page ruling, filed after he announced his verdict before Cameron in the courtroom.

Cameron, 25, had been charged with first-degree murder, a charge that carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Instead, she faces a five-year sentence for manslaughter and 50 years for child endangerment. Sentencing is scheduled for June 28 in Monona County District Court.

"We were just hoping that murder in the first was off the table. We don't feel she deliberately killed her child," said Mary Agnich, the mother of a woman who is the longtime girlfriend of Cameron's father.

Neary's ruling made it clear that he, too, did not find that the state proved Cameron had intentionally killed her 15-month-old son. Cameron had waived her right to a jury trial, choosing instead to have Neary decide her case.

During a four-day trial last month, prosecutors laid out their case that after Markis vomited repeatedly in the bathtub, Cameron held his head under a running faucet five or six times until he stopped breathing. Cameron give investigators a written statement, introduced as evidence, that said the same.

Cameron testified at trial that she did not hold Markis under the faucet, but that she left the bathroom while he was in the tub and when she returned, he was lying face down in the water and was not breathing.

Neary said that during his deliberations, he reviewed audiotapes of Cameron's interviews with investigators. Cameron did describe to them that she ran water over Markis' head from the faucet, "but not to holding his head under the spigot as one might do to intentionally drown an infant," Neary wrote.

Neary said prosecutors failed to prove Cameron acted with malice aforethought, a key element to proving first- or second-degree murder. Neary said those interviews with police, plus the recording of a hysterical Cameron calling 911 were helpful in determining that malice had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Neary said he could not find Cameron guilty of attempted murder, because the state failed to prove Cameron acted with the specific intent to cause Markis' death. Neary also ruled out voluntary manslaughter because the charge requires the state to prove Cameron's actions "were done solely by reason of sudden, violent and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation."

"There is no factual basis to support this element or any suggestion of provocation ...," Neary wrote.

Instead, Neary said the facts in the case supported a finding of guilty for involuntary manslaughter: Cameron left Markis unattended in the bathtub, she acted "in a manner likely to cause death," and by leaving Markis unattended in the tub, she unintentionally caused his death.

Cameron's attorney, public defender Mike Williams, acknowledged at the beginning of the trial that Cameron was guilty of child endangerment. Neary said the facts presented at trial proved her guilty of that charge.

"Ashley Cameron's actions in leaving Markis unattended in the bathtub with water resulted in the death of Markis Dahms," Neary wrote.

"My assessment of the verdict would be that it seems to comport with what we believed," Williams said after the verdict was announced.

Monona County Attorney Ian McConeghey declined to comment on the verdict other than to say he disagreed with it. He said he would ask Neary to run Cameron's sentences consecutively for a total sentence of 55 years. Neither sentence requires that a minimum length of time be served before Cameron is eligible for parole.

"The board of parole can let her out whenever they see fit," McConeghey said.

Evidence shows Onawa, Iowa, mother not guilty of killing son

ONAWA, Iowa | It's reasonably possible that Markis Dahms suffered a seizure that led to his drowning in a bathtub, his mother's attorney said in court documents filed Wednesday.

Public Defender Mike Williams said the testimony of Markis' mother, Ashley Cameron, and other relatives and acquaintances gives the judge adequate evidence to find that the toddler could have had a seizure after Cameron left the bathroom and that Cameron did not hold the boy's head under a running water faucet, as prosecutors claim happened.

Cameron, 25, is charged in Monona County District Court with first-degree murder and child endangerment for the Feb. 11, 2012, drowning in their Onawa home.

Cameron waived her right to a jury trial, and evidence was presented at trial last week to District Judge Jeffrey Neary, who will decide her case.

Investigators testified that Cameron admitted to holding Markis' head under a running faucet in the tub five or six times until he drowned. A medical examiner also said that scenario also explained the large amount of water found inside Markis during the autopsy.

Williams said several witnesses testified that Markis had been seen involuntarily arching his back, exhibiting a type of seizure.

"The Defendant submits that the Court would be well within its right to find that there is a reasonable possibility that while Markis was in the bath and unattended, he may have suffered a seizure and ingestion of water into his lungs, causing him to perish," Williams wrote in his 13-page statement, submitted in writing rather than orally during the trial, a common practice in bench trials. The state gave an oral closing argument.

Williams also disputed the prosecution's suggestion that Cameron's differing versions of what happened the night of Markis' death was a sign of guilt. Williams reiterated the trial testimony of psychiatrist Dr. Rodney Dean, who has diagnosed Cameron with pervasive development disorder, a condition that can cause people to communicate impulsively and made Cameron more likely to adjust her story when investigators presented her with new facts.

Cameron testified that she left the bathroom while Markis was in the tub to get him clean clothes and shampoo, and when she returned, he was lying face down in the water.

Prosecutors have until Tuesday to file a rebuttal to Williams' closing statements. Once the rebuttal is filed, Neary will consider the case.

If found guilty of first-degree murder, Cameron would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Onawa, Iowa, mother accused of murder denies holding son under water

ONAWA, Iowa - Ashley Cameron stared straight back into her attorney's face as he asked the question at the heart of the murder case against her.

"At any point did you hold Markis' head under the spigot like we have heard testified about?" lawyer Mike Williams asked.

As she squinted slightly, Cameron answered emphatically, without hesitation, "No."

Cameron, 25, is charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment for the Feb. 11, 2012, drowning of her 15-month-old son in their Onawa home.

Cameron took the stand in her own defense Friday in Monona County District Court and explained what happened the night Markis died.

While she ran a bath for Markis and his older sister, Markis vomited, Cameron said. She wiped his mouth with a towel, took his soiled clothes off of him and put him in the tub, where her 2 1/2-year-old daughter was already playing. Cameron said she took a cup and used it to run water over Markis' head to wash away the vomit.

Cameron said she then left the bathroom to get Markis some shampoo and clothes. She may have been gone a minute or two, she said, when she heard her daughter cry out.

"I went back in the bathroom, and Markis was face down in the water," Cameron said.

She grabbed him from the tub, helped her daughter out, then carried Markis to the living room and performed CPR. She stopped to call a friend, who told her to call 911.

After being told later at the hospital that her son was dead, Cameron said, she was an emotional mess and couldn't remember what she told police who questioned her. In the course of three interviews in a five-day period, Cameron gave several versions of what happened.

Cameron said investigors kept presenting her with different scenarios, and every time she'd give an explanation, they'd tell her it didn't fit and tell her something else.

"It seemed like they were more focused on what they had rather than what I said," she said.

During cross examination, Assistant Iowa Attorney General Susan Krisko had Cameron read aloud in court a written statement she gave to investigators five days after Markis' death. In it, she said she put Markis' face under the running faucet to wash his mouth out after he vomited. He kept vomiting, and she held his face under the running water five or six times.

"So you did say you held him under the faucet five or six times," Krisko asked.

"Yes," Cameron said.

Throughout the four days of trial, Williams has raised the possibility that Markis had a seizure, which caused him to arch his back and fall under the water while Cameron was out of the bathroom. Cameron testified that she believed her son periodically had seizures because he would arch his back uncontrollably at times. She did not have a doctor examine him for that condition, she said.

Deputy Iowa State Medical Examiner Dennis Klein, who performed Markis' autopsy, testified Tuesday that Markis did have two areas of scarring on his brain that were caused by older incidents, and possibly even occurred during his birth. Those areas may have caused seizures, Klein said, but there was no evidence from examining his brain that he had ever had one.

In his closing arguments after Cameron testified, Monona County Attorney Ian McConeghey said this was not a case about seizures.

"The simple fact of this case that we cannot get around is the defendant held Markis' face under the cold water spigot," he said.

Cameron wrote it down for police, told relatives and friends and even demonstrated to an Iowa Department of Human Services investigator how she did it, McConeghey said. It's the only one of her stories that explains why at least 550 milliliters, more than 5 cups, of water was either suctioned from Markis' airway or found inside his body by first responders, doctors and the medical examiner.

"This is the central fact of the case," McConeghey said. "We have not heard any good explanation why Markis had this much water in him other than the fact the defendant held him under the faucet."

At the conclusion of McConeghey's statement, Williams told District Judge Jeffrey Neary he would file a written closing statement, a common practice in bench trials. Cameron has waived her right to a jury trial, and Neary will decide her case.

Williams will file his closing remarks by Tuesday, and the state must file its rebuttal by May 7.

Once he receives those filings, Neary must rule within 60 days or explain to the Iowa Supreme Court why he will not be able to do so in that time period.

If found guilty as charged, Cameron would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Witnesses: Accused Onawa, Iowa, killer has history of lying

ONAWA, Iowa - While growing up, Ashley Cameron's solution to handling stressful situations often was to make up stories.

"She didn't know how to handle certain situations, so a way for her to handle them would be to lie," her father, Kent Cameron, said during the third day of Ashley Cameron's murder trial.

Cameron, 25, is charged in Monona County District Court with first-degree murder and child endangerment for the Feb. 11, 2012, death of her 15-month-old son, Markis Dahms, who drowned in the bathtub of their Onawa home, in the 600 block of 12th Street.

Tina Rose, who has been Kent Cameron's girlfriend since Ashley Cameron was 13 years old, said she noticed early on that the girl had trouble in social situations or when confronted.

"I noticed a distinct pattern over the years of lying when she was afraid over very minor things like who ate the Pop Tarts," Rose said.

On Wednesday, a psychiatrist testified that he had diagnosed Ashley Cameron with pervasive developmental disorder, a hereditary condition marked by slow social and communication skills development. Lying is one way many with the condition cope, Dr. Rodney Dean said, and a person with the disorder may be more likely to make up stories when facing stressful situations, although he said he couldn't say it played any role in the different versions Cameron told about the events leading to her son's death.

Previous trial testimony has showed that Cameron first told investigators that Markis vomited, and while she was washing him in the tub, he turned blue, arched his back and fell under the water for a second. Other versions included that his older sister, who was in the tub with him, dunked or held him under the water or poured water over his head. Cameron said she had poured water over his head before giving a final version that she held Markis' face under the running faucet to rinse his mouth after he vomited. He kept vomiting, and she held his face under the running water five or six times, the final time after he had turned blue.

A medical examiner testified that final scenario was the only plausible one because it's the only explanation for the significant amount of water suctioned from Markis' airway during medical treatment and found in his stomach during his autopsy.

Cameron's attorney, public defender Mike Williams, has said it was possible Markis had a seizure that led him to fall backward and under the water in the tub when Cameron left the room. Rose testified that one time Markis arched his back almost uncontrollably while she held him. His body seemed to arch on its own with no effort from Markis, Rose said.

"I asked Ashley what is he doing, and she said, 'I don't know, he does it all the time,'" Rose said.

Kent Cameron said he saw it happen, too, and he and Rose both witnessed Markis arch his back a second time that day while lying on a couch.

Markis was never seen by a doctor for the back arching, but Rose said she called the hospital after his death and spoke anonymously with a pediatrician about the toddler's symptoms. She was told those symptoms matched a seizure disorder.

On Tuesday, Deputy Iowa State Medical Examiner Dennis Klein testified that two areas of scarring were found on Markis' brain but that they were old injuries and could have occurred during childbirth. He said it was possible that those scars could have caused seizures but that it was not possible to determine whether Markis had had a seizure around the time he died.

Cameron has waived her right to a jury trial, and District Judge Jeffrey Neary will decide her case. If found guilty as charged, Cameron would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Because of other court commitments, Thursday's testimony ended after about two hours. The trial will resume at 11 a.m. Friday.

Psychiatrist: Mental health condition could affect mother accused of murder

ONAWA, Iowa | Anxiety caused by her son's death could have exacerbated Ashley Cameron's mental health condition that makes it hard for her to communicate with others, her psychiatrist testified Wednesday.

Dr. Rodney Dean said Cameron has pervasive development disorder, a hereditary condition he likened to autism in which people have difficulties developing social and communication skills, are physically clumsy and have academic problems.

Dean said he has also diagnosed Cameron with post traumatic stress disorder, likely caused by the death of her son, Markis Dahms, who drowned Feb. 11, 2012, in the bathtub in their Onawa home.

Cameron, 25, is charged in Monona County District Court with first-degree murder and child endangerment for the 15-month-old's death.

Testifying from his Sioux City office via telephone, Dean, the first witness called by the defense, said Cameron has given him different versions of what happened to Markis.

"She has difficulty giving me a cohesive story," Dean said.

Her development disorder, which Dean first diagnosed during a single session with Cameron when she was 14, makes her prone to fill in her previous stories with newly learned facts and that she is more likely than someone without the disorder to try to explain her situation in a way that would make people see her in the best light. But that situation kept shifting during their meetings, Dean said.

"She did communicate to me that she understood she could have handled the situation in a better or more appropriate way," Dean said.

Dean's experience with Cameron's changing stories was similar to testimony given during the opening day of the trial Tuesday.

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Daniel Dawson had testified that Cameron changed her account of the events leading up to Markis' death several times during interviews before giving a version that most closely supported the facts in the case.

Assistant Onawa Police Chief Jim Fouts supported that testimony Wednesday, saying that Cameron first said Markis had vomited in the bathtub, turned blue and fallen backward under the water for a second. Other versions included Markis' 2 1/2-year-old sister dunking or holding him under the water, pouring glasses of water over his head and Cameron herself pouring water over Markis.

Fouts said none of those stories supported the medical examiner's findings of significant amounts of water found inside Markis during an autopsy. Medical personnel also testified previously that they suctioned significant amounts of water out of Markis' mouth the night he died.

Fouts said the medical examiner did not believe any of the scenarios Cameron gave would have caused Markis to swallow so much water. When confronted with that opinion, Fouts said Cameron told investigators that she had held Markis' face under the cold water faucet in the tub to wash his face and mouth after he vomited. He continued to vomit, and she held his face under the running water five or six times, the final time after he had turned blue, Fouts said.

After Cameron gave that final version, Fouts said, she sat back in her chair and "thanked us for getting her to tell the truth and that she felt relieved."

Dean testified that he was never asked by law enforcement or anyone else to question Cameron about the drowning but that she volunteered the information. Dean said his only role was to treat her medical condition.

Under prosecution cross-examination from Assistant Iowa Attorney General Susan Krisko, Dean said Cameron does not suffer from the communication problems that many with her condition experience. The condition only increases the chances that she may adjust or change her story to agree with someone.

"But you can't say Ashley Cameron's diagnosis had any effect on any of her past interviews (with investigators), can you?" Krisko asked.

"That's correct," Dean said.

District Judge Jeffrey Neary ruled during Wednesday's proceedings that he would not consider statements attributed to Markis' sister. A nurse at Burgess Health Center and an Iowa Department of Human Services child abuse investigator both testified earlier in the day that the girl had made statements, both of which included profanities, that implied Markis got in trouble with his mother the night of his death because he vomited.

Neary ruled that he couldn't determine "that these are anything of value to anything in this case" and that he would not use them when deciding his verdict.

Cameron has waived her right to a jury trial, and Neary will decide her case. If found guilty of first-degree murder, Cameron would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Excessive water inside toddler hindered emergency care

ONAWA, Iowa - As Markis Dahms was transported to the Onawa hospital by ambulance, paramedics tried to get a tube into his airway to help him begin breathing again.

But the amount of water, vomit and particulates inside his little body prevented them from getting a tube into his mouth.

"Water was coming out like a fountain, just oozing out and down his neck," paramedic Ronald Freeman testified Tuesday.

Freeman said that 200 milliliters -- about 2 cups -- of fluid was suctioned out of the toddler in the ambulance, and more that wasn't measured soaked the sheet beneath him.

"You should not normally get that much water out of someone that small," Freeman said during the first day of testimony in the trial of Markis' mother, Ashley Cameron.

Cameron, 25, of Onawa, is charged in Monona County District Court with first-degree murder and child endangerment for the Feb. 11, 2012, death of her 15-month-old son. An autopsy found that Markis had drowned in the bathtub at Cameron's home in the 600 block of 12th Street. She has waived her right to a jury trial, and her case is being decided by District Judge Jeffrey Neary.

Dr. Mary Groda-Lewis, who attended to Markis in the emergency room that night, said an additional 150 ml of fluid was sucked from Markis once he arrived at the hospital.

Deputy Iowa State Medical Examiner Dennis Klein said he found another 200 ml of water in Markis' stomach during the autopsy.

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Daniel Dawson testified that during a third interview with Cameron, she said Markis had vomited in the tub and she put his head under the running faucet to wash him off and wash out his mouth. He kept vomiting, she said, so she kept holding his head under the running water. This happened five or six times, she told Dawson, the final time after Markis had turned blue.

Dawson said that account best matched the evidence in the case. Cameron, he said, had given other versions of what happened and she seemed to be "floating out" different versions to see what he would believe. Cameron first said that Markis vomited in the tub, raised his arms up, his face turned blue and he fell back in the water. Cameron later told Dawson that her 2 1/2-year-old daughter was in the tub with Markis and had pushed him under a couple of times. Cameron also said that she herself had poured a few cups of water over Markis' head to clean him off.

Dawson said that after Cameron told her the final version about holding Markis' head under the faucet, she told him that "she was glad the truth finally came out."

Klein said that version made the most sense, because it was the only scenario that accounted for the large amount of water found inside Markis' body. He would not have ingested so much water under any of Cameron's other accounts, Klein said.

During his opening statements, public defender Mike Williams said he was not disputing that Markis drowned, but said Cameron wasn't in the bathroom when it happened. Cameron may be guilty of child endangerment, he said, but not murder.

"Because Ashley was not in there, we really don't know what happened," Williams said.

Williams said Markis may have had a seizure, and autopsy findings showed scar tissue on his brain that may have caused seizures. Klein testified that he couldn't say for sure if Markis had a seizure at the time of his drowning, and that two areas of scar tissue found while studying his brain were from older incidents and could have occurred during his birth. Even if Markis did have a seizure in the bathtub the night of his death, it didn't explain the amount of water found in his stomach, Klein said.

Groda-Lewis and Dr. Shannon Kennedy, who both examined Markis during regular check-ups after his birth, said Cameron never mentioned any concerns about seizures.

Groda-Lewis said she did have concerns about Cameron's mental health. At times, Cameron had more than the usual stress a single mother living by herself with two children experiences. Cameron had a troubled relationship with the children's father and she also was very concerned about what people thought about her as a mother and a person. When she told Cameron in the hospital that there was nothing more they could do to save Markis, Groda-Lewis said Cameron sank to the floor, started crying and said "that people are going to accuse her of killing her child."

Monona County Attorney Ian McConeghey said in his opening statement that Cameron did just that.

"There is no legitimate, lawful purpose for holding a baby's face under the water that many times," McConeghey said.

If found guilty as charged, Cameron would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Onawa woman charged with murder for the death of her 15-month-old son

ONAWA, Iowa -- A 25-year-old Onawa woman was charged with first-degree murder Wednesday for the death of her 15-month-old son, who drowned in a bathtub.

According to a press release from the Onawa Police Department, Ashley Cameron remains in Monona County Jail on $1 million cash bail for the murder charge.

An investigation began after officers responded to a 911 call for a child who was not breathing at a home in the 600 block of 12th Street on Feb. 11, police said. The child, Markis Dahms, had just been in the bathtub, police said.

An autopsy conducted by the state medical examiner determined that Dahms drowned and that the manner of death was a homicide, police said.

Additional details about the drowning or the investigation were not immediately available.

A home phone number was not listed for Cameron, and it was not clear if she has an attorney.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation assisted with the investigation.