Woman appeals sentence in death of child

AUGUSTA – A former social worker convicted in the death of her 5-year-old foster daughter is appealing her sentence for a second time to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Sally Schofield’s lawyer filed an application for appeal on Thursday and said he hopes to learn within two weeks whether the justices will allow the appeal.

Schofield was convicted of manslaughter in the asphyxiation death of Logan Marr on Jan. 31, 2001. The girl died after Schofield bound her with duct tape and left her alone in the basement of her Chelsea home during a disciplinary time out.

The judge sentenced Schofield to a total of 28 years, with eight of those years suspended. But the state’s highest court last year threw out the sentence, ruling that the judge couldn’t sentence her to more than 20 years without a jury’s finding that the crime was especially heinous.

At Schofield’s resentencing hearing on Oct. 28, Superior Court Justice Thomas Delahanty sentenced her to 20 years in prison and suspended three years, for a total of 17 years.

Jed Davis said he plans to argue that the 17-year sentence is excessive for manslaughter, especially for a defendant who had no criminal record. He said Delahanty has imposed lesser sentences in manslaughter cases where there was evidence of a long history of abuse.

“There is no other child manslaughter case I have found where there has been a sentence anywhere like this,” Davis said.

Deputy Attorney General William Stokes said that Schofield’s crime was horrendous and that the punishment is appropriate.

“The state’s position is that, frankly, she deserved a 30-year sentence, which is what we originally asked for,” Stokes said.