Madeline Buckley

madeline.buckley@indystar.com

In an unusual move in a sentencing hearing Monday, Owen County Prosecutor Donald VanDerMoere spent most of the proceeding arguing why the case of the brutal killing of a 1-year-old girl was likely doomed if it went to trial.

Of all the evidence collected from the grim Gosport scene where the body of Shaylyn Ammerman was found in March, none contained DNA that matched that of Kyle Parker, 23, who was charged with murder, rape and a slew of other felonies in the girl's death. Of the three people questioned with polygraph machines, two failed.

That left one option: Offer a plea deal.

Owen Circuit Court Judge Lori Thatcher Quillan accepted the agreement after a hearing during which she expressed disgust for Parker, but said the risk that he could walk free was too great if she rejected the deal.

Quillan sentenced him to 60 years in prison, per the agreement. Parker pleaded guilty earlier this month to murder and kidnapping, and will serve 60 years for the murder and 16 for the kidnapping. He will serve the sentences simultaneously. The plea agreement also stipulates that Parker will register as a violent offender, but not as a sex offender.

"Many in this community rightfully wanted him to receive death penalty and life without parole," Quillan said. But she said what she wanted as a citizen is different than her duty as a judge.

Jacob Fish, Parker's defense attorney, echoed the prosecutor in asking the judge to accept the deal, stating, "There are no winners here."

Prosecutors originally sought a sentence of life without parole, but dismissed that enhancement, along with five felonies and a misdemeanor, including the rape and child molestation charges.

Shaylyn's disappearance from her grandparents' Spencer home in March set off a frantic search, with photographs of the blond-haired, blue-eyed toddler distributed across the state. Her father and grandmother last saw her asleep in her crib.

More than 30 hours later, Shaylyn's body was found next to a tree in an isolated, rural patch of land where the White River and Indian Creek meet, just outside of Gosport. Prosecutors quickly filed charges against Parker, who was a friend of one of Shaylyn's family members, and was in the home that night.

The pathologist who examined the body of Shaylyn — who was last seen by family members sleeping in her crib with a Winnie the Pooh blanket — said the slaying was the "worst case of sexual trauma" she had seen in her career.

Indiana law says Parker will serve about 75 percent of his sentence, meaning he will be 67 at his earliest chance for parole. VanDerMoere argued the punishment is a "functional" life sentence, given that, he said, life expectancy in prison is lower than average.

But a fountain of controversy followed in the wake of the plea deal. Protesters stood outside the courthouse — where law enforcement officers flanked every entrance — holding signs that proclaimed, "No Justice." When authorities escorted Parker from the courthouse, people yelled, "Baby Killer."

For the people closest to Shaylyn, though, the deal represented the best police and prosecutors could do.

"He's gone," Shaylyn's grandmother, Tamera Morgan, said after the hearing. "He's off the streets."

Shaylyn's mother, Jessica Stewart, said in court that she was active in the process, and agreed to the deal.

"A year ago, I was able to hug, kiss, feed talk to and dance with my beautiful little girl," Stewart wrote in a letter to the judge. "It's hard to believe that so much can change in one year."

She continued: I believe that the person responsible for the horrific death of my baby girl deserves the maximum penalty, but that is not going to happen. The penalty he is facing now may provide some justice for Shaylyn and keep him from harming anyone else."

​Court documents detailed a horrifying sexual assault and a brutal suffocation death for the child, who family members described as a bubbly girl who loved dancing to music. Parker grabbed Shaylyn from her crib in the middle of the night, court documents said, drove her to Gosport, and brutally raped the girl, before smothering her with a cloth in his vehicle.

Parker eventually agreed to draw a map to lead investigators to Shaylyn's body. Parker's stepfather told police that his stepson confessed the killing to him, court documents said.

Justin Ammerman, Shaylyn's father, spoke at the hearing, and said he wanted a harsher punishment than the plea agreement stipulates, but upon further questioning from prosecutor, says he agrees with plea deal, believing it is the best option available.

"When I heard all the horrible things he did to my precious girl I wanted to die too," Justin Ammerman said.

Parker declined to speak at the hearing, but his mother, Christine Patton, told the court that her family has been harassed, with graffiti sprayed on her home, and lemons and limes thrown at the residence. VanDerMoere appealed to the public to stop the harassment, saying the case would have been weaker without the cooperation of Parker's family.

Justin Ammerman and his mother also reported they have been harassed throughout the past year.

But the father and grandmother said they are relieved Parker will spend decades behind bars.

"We want to know why," Morgan said.

But she added: "I doubt if he even knows why."

Call Star reporter Madeline Buckley at (317) 444-6083. Follow her on Twitter:@Mabuckley88.

More on Shaylyn's death:

Shaylyn's death 'is worst case of sexual trauma'

Shaylyn's father: 'I'm just devastated'

Hackney: Shaylyn’s father tormented on Facebook