Hayesville mom whose 8-year-old son shot 4-year-old sister gets 6 months in jail

Mark Caudill
Mansfield News Journal
Alyssa Edwards

ASHLAND - Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Ron Forsthoefel didn't want to let Alyssa Edwards off with probation.

"There's got to be consequences for your actions," he told her Monday before sentencing her to 180 days in jail. The judge did grant her work release privileges.

Edwards is the Hayesville mother whose 8-year-old son shot his 4-year-old sister while she was at work on March 3.

Edwards, 28, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of endangering children. One was a third-degree felony, the other a first-degree misdemeanor. 

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors dismissed a third-degree felony charge of tampering with evidence.

What was the maximum sentence? 

Edwards could have gotten up to three years in prison.

For the first time in her case, Edwards addressed the court.

"I'm so sorry for what I've done and what horrible decisions I've made," she said. "I've torn my family from my husband. I've put undue suffering and pain on my children.

"I just want to make it better."

What happened? 

The shooting happened at the home of Edwards and her husband Bryan. The 8-year-old got a .22-caliber rifle and shot his sister four times. She was struck in the leg, arm and abdomen.

The boy contacted his mother at work. Edwards came home, cleaned the girl's wounds, bandaged them and went back to work for an hour.

"Had that gun been properly secured, we wouldn't be here," Forsthoefel said. "More egregious is you saw the injuries and left her to go back to work. That's why you're here."

Her reason for not reporting it right away 

Edwards said she delayed reporting the incident because she feared the family's guns would be taken away.

Her husband was under the impression the children were with a babysitter.

One bullet struck the girl in the pelvic area and nicked her bladder, causing urine to leak from a wound. 

The girl spent two hours in surgery and seven days in the hospital. She has since recovered "remarkably well," an investigator previously said.

In April, Edwards and her husband entered pleas of admission in Ashland County Juvenile Court, agreeing their children were "dependent and/or neglected."

The children have been in the temporary custody of Job and Family Services, but the goal is to reunite the family.

Defense attorney Donald Wick told Forsthoefel that his client had no prior record. He said Edwards was trying to balance her duties as a wife and mother.

"She readily admits she made some horrific mistakes in judgment," Wick said. 

Wick said Edwards gave in to her kids' wishes not to go to a babysitter. He said she came home as soon as she learned of the incident.

Wick said she finished her hour of work to receive her paycheck.

'There has to be some accountability' 

The defense attorney said Edwards has the support of her employer and her family and has gone through parenting classes and mental health counseling. Wick asked the judge to give her probation.

Assistant Prosecutor Victor Perez did not make a sentencing recommendation, instead deferring to the court.

"There's some healing that has to occur in the family, but I can't consider this like some (low-level felony) drug possession case," Forsthoefel said. "There has to be some accountability."

In addition to the jail term, the judge sentenced Edwards to three years of probation and 25 hours of community service. Forsthoefel also said no guns or ammunition would be permitted in the family home and fined her $500.

Wick asked the judge if Edwards could have 48 hours to turn herself in so that she could make arrangements at work.

Perez balked.

"Judge, we were scheduled for sentencing today," the assistant prosecutor said.

Forsthoefel agreed, saying Edwards knew she might be incarcerated. He denied Wick's request.

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

Twitter: @MNJCaudill