December 12, 2018 at 4:23 p.m.
Tran gets 15 years in toddler death case
Tran gets 15 years in toddler death case
By Heather Schaefer and Jamie Taylor-
After hearing emotional statements from the family of Avery Edwards and arguments from Oneida County district attorney Mike Schiek and defense counsel Jonas Bednarek, Judge Patrick O'Melia sentenced 30-year-old Ellen Tran to a total of 15 years incarceration in the Wisconsin prison system and 7 years extended supervision.
In pronouncing sentence, O'Melia spoke in blunt terms about the gravity of the offense and the defendant's character, but also stressed that judges cannot be swayed by emotion no matter how tragic the circumstances before them.
Tuesday's hearing began with a short video of moments from Avery Edwards life from birth to the spring of 2017 when he traveled to Rhinelander for a court-ordered visit with his father, Dr. Trung T. Tran, and stepmother, Ellen Tran.
Avery was supposed to spend 30 days in Rhinelander but his stay last only two weeks, until the evening of April 14 when the Oneida County Dispatch Center received a hang-up phone call from the Tran home in Newbold.
According to the criminal complaint and trial testimony, when a dispatcher called back, Ellen reported that Edwards was unresponsive and had stopped breathing after taking a shower.
The toddler died several hours later at a hospital in Marshfield.
Two days later Tran was arrested on suspicion of second-degree reckless homicide. The charge was amended to first-degree reckless homicide following a preliminary hearing June 23, 2017 at which time former Fond Du Lac County medical examiner Doug Kelley testified that Tran's statement that Edwards fell in the shower did not match the injuries found at autopsy.
At trial, Kelley testified the boy died as the result of a diffuse axonal injury - a traumatic brain event.
In his closing argument to the jury, Schiek admitted the state cannot explain precisely how Avery was hurt, but stressed that the boy suffered substantial trauma at the hands of the person who was supposed to be caring for him.
"Something happened in that (bathroom), I wasn't there, you weren't there, the best we can do is piece it together," Schiek said. "Was she holding him by the legs? I don't know. Was she holding him by the arms? Throw him against the wall in the bathroom? I don't know. But all of those bruises are consistent with something like that."
Prosecutors also introduced numerous text messages found on Ellen Tran's phone in which she expressed intense hostility toward both Avery and his mother, Lori Edwards.
After less than two hours of deliberation Oct. 25, the jury came back with a guilty verdict.
Lori Edwards sat in the front row of the courtroom every day of the trial, staring at photos of her bruised and battered son, unable to speak on his behalf.
That changed Tuesday as she spoke for more than hour, pausing to take deep breaths and sip water while reading her victim impact statement. She shared warm memories of her son, his chunky thighs, tiny toes and the squeals that would burst from his little body when they would play his favorite chase game.
Her voice rising at times, she also spoke of the "jagged dagger" of pain that pierces her heart every time she is reminded that her son isn't coming back, the waves of grief that overtake her, Avery's toys growing dusty in a storage unit because she can't bear to part with them and the tiny white box that holds his cremated remains.
Toward the end of her remarks, Edwards addressed Tran directly, staring the other woman straight in the eye.
She accused Ellen and Trung of wanting custody of Avery out of "spite and greed" to keep him away from her and avoid having to pay child support.
She theorized that a "spark of hate" ignited after Ellen learned that "her doctor boyfriend" was expecting a child with his former girlfriend. According to court testimony, Edwards learned she was pregnant with Avery two weeks after ending her relationship with Trung, whom she believes was already involved with Ellen. Approximately two months later, Ellen became pregnant with Trung's child.
In her statement, Edwards said she believes Ellen got pregnant on purpose in order to solidify her relationship with a man she believed could provide her with the "perfect family" she deeply desired. Soon a custody battle ensued and Trung was "devoting his time and thought to fighting me instead of taking care of her," Edwards said. "Why couldn't we just go away. We were making her life miserable. If not for me or my child her life would have been perfect."
Then came a court-ordered visitation that ended with Avery being returned with bruises. Edwards sought a protective order and was granted one, but in February 2017 it was dismissed and a judge ordered Avery to spend 30 days with the Trans.
Edwards said she is tormented by thoughts of what Avery must have suffered in the last weeks of his life. She said she believes Ellen deeply resented having to care for the boy and mistreated him throughout the visit.
"She broke my son before she killed him," Edwards said, citing videos of the boy taken in the days taken prior to his death. "She broke his spirit."
"You just wanted to hurt me, you just wanted to hurt my son," she accused. "For what, because I dated a man before you, because I had a child with the man you were now with?"
She ended her remarks with a plea for the maximum sentence of 40 years incarceration.
"If there's ever a time to give someone a full sentence, give it to the person who kills an innocent child," she said.
Also offering statements were Lori's sister Allison James and her father, Michael Edwards, who shared his own thoughts and read statements on behalf of his wife and another daughter.
Michael Edwards thanked local authorities for their work in investigating his grandson's death.
"I would like to thank the state of Wisconsin, county of Oneida, and community of Rhinelander for their hard work and dedication to justice for Avery," he said. "I have more appreciation for this community than I could ever imagine."
He also recalled the moment his daughter came to him before Avery was to leave for Wisconsin worried that her son would be hurt during the visit.
"I consoled her and told her it wouldn't happen," he said, his voice tight with emotion. "I failed Lori."
After the family statements were complete, Schiek and Bednarek offered brief comments.
"This is a case where it's difficult for the state to come up with any mitigating factors," Schiek said before offering a recommendation of 20 to 25 years incarceration, slightly higher than the 18 to 20 years suggested by the Department of Corrections in a pre-sentence report.
In his statement, Bednarek stressed his client's lack of a criminal record and other positive characteristics and reiterated that judges are not to craft sentences based on emotion.
Given her chance to speak, Tran read a prepared statement.
"I am terribly saddened by the death of Avery," she said through sobs, the first visible emotion she has shown through the legal process. "I pray that God be with his family. I am truly sorry that I was not able to do more to protect Avery and keep him safe. I am sorry that his family has suffered such a great loss and I wish there was something that I could do to ease their pain. Avery's sister loved him very much. She and Andrew (her son from a previous relationship) were always trying to play with him. He really was a special little boy. I accept the Court's sentence as part of God's plan. I have faith in Him. I believe He will be there for me; and when I feel that I don't have the strength to go on, He will carry me."
Tran also asked the court to consider her children (Andrew and the 3-year-old daughter she had with Tran) when pronouncing sentence.
"I hope you will consider my kids when imposing my sentence because they will also suffer without their mother," she said.
Before announcing his decision, O'Melia stressed that he must sentence defendants as individuals, not the crimes for which they are convicted, and that he cannot sentence someone based on sympathy or empathy. He also disagreed with Schiek's assessment that there are few mitigating factors in Tran's favor, citing her lack of criminal record and work history, but was blunt in discussing her behavior and attitude toward her stepson and his mother.
Avery, he said, "would have been safer if he was just left on someone's doorstep. A stranger would have taken better care of Avery," the judge said, noting that the boy was so young he did not have the option of calling 911 or running away.
"You should have given him the same things you gave your own children," he told Tran. "Frankly, all (Avery) needed was to be held, to be fed, to be played with, the same things you provided to your own children."
"I wish, I really wish, as does everybody else, that you and your husband had just let Avery live with someone who loved him. That's all," the judge said. "For 500 bucks a month, he's gone and you wouldn't have deal with the difficulty of raising a child that wasn't yours or the difficulty or embarrassment, if you will, of this split family. You should have just not pursued it, but for whatever reason, vanity, the money, vindictiveness, jealousy, whatever it may have been, you just couldn't let it go."
Addressing the Edwards family, O'Melia noted that no sentence can bring Avery back or make them whole again.
"I wish there was some magic way to get you all back to where you were, but that just can't happen," he said.
A few hours after the sentence was announced, Lori Edwards posted a statement on Facebook expressing her feelings about the outcome of the case.
"Ellen Tran was sentenced to 22 years. 15 years in prison and 7 years on probation," she wrote. "That is not nearly what I expected or believe was enough for taking my son's life. But I am ok with it. And here is why. For one, this is something that is and was out of my control. I gave my impact statement today and that felt so incredibly good to get all of that out and to look at her and tell her all the things that I did. I will be posting that later for anyone who wants to read it. Also, I know the judge heard what I said. He repeated a lot of what I said. So he does know exactly the type of woman that she is. I do realize that there are so many regulations that he has to go by to make sentencing. I understand that just as how I understand how a lot of this goes. How it has taken so much time to get to this point. But then there's the fact that those 15 years that she was sentenced, she will have to pull every single one of them. There is no possibility of early release in this state. Its called truth in sentencing. She will, without a doubt, spend 15 years in prison. 15 long hard years in a prison that will not be easy. It's a hard tough prison. I feel confident that she will get some jailhouse justice while there. Then IF AND WHEN she makes it out, she will still have 7 years of probation. Probation that she will be ordered to spend here in Wisconsin. She may have the opportunity to request to have that moved to another state but that's no guarantee it will even be approved as that state will have accept her where she requests. Prison will age her more than 15 years. And her children will be grown. She will not have the opportunity to raise them. Others that she looks to for support will more than likely no longer be around. She will have no one to turn to. Her children will undoubtedly look into why their mother is in prison and will learn the truth. HER LIFE IS OVER. And that I can live with. I can now try my best to live my life and honor Avery's life. I can try my best to live a life that he would be proud of and know that one day I will be reunited with him and hopefully he can be proud of the way that I handled and did all I could do. And be proud of my unwillingness to hold anger and hate in my heart."
On behalf of the Tri-County Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, executive director Shellie Holmes offered the following comments on the resolution of the Tran case.
"Ellen's sentence of a total of 22 years wasn't exactly what we expected but we accept the Judge's decision and his reasoning," she wrote. "There is nothing that can bring Avery back or reverse all of Lori's pain and heartache that is a parent's worst nightmare. But we can be grateful for so many things. Ellen Tran will be incarcerated for 15 years without the privilege of raising her own children; without any of the amenities or luxuries of life that she appeared to be accustomed to. Her aging 15 years in prison will be much harder than if she were on the outside. She will experience true hardship and loss of freedom that she could never imagine. There are consequences to your choices and your actions, Ellen, as Lori said in her victim impact statement. Ellen's life will never be the same, even if the judge had imposed a longer sentence. In a way, she actually does have a life sentence. She will always be a convicted felon, a murderer, and that will follow her forever. She will not be able to get any kind of a professional license or get the kind of job she was trained for. She will not have holidays with her family, she will not be present for anything in her children's or her parent's lives for a very long time."
"Ellen Tran is going to prison for 15 years and Lori Edwards and her family are OK with the sentence," she added. "As a community, let's all support her in this last piece of the story. Rather than criticize our legal or judicial system, let's follow Lori's lead and accept the outcome, knowing that everyone involved did the absolute best for Avery."
Tri-County's full statement is published on Page 4.
Dr. Tran is also facing charges in connection with Avery's death. He is accused of failure to act to prevent bodily harm to a child, a class H felony, and child neglect resulting in death, a class D felony. His next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 31 years in prison.
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