Ashley Cameron

Background

Ashley Cameron was a 25-year-old woman from Onawa, Iowa. She was the mother of Markis Dahms, a 15-month-old boy who drowned in a bathtub in their Onawa home.

Kent Cameron, Ashley Cameron’s father, testified during her trial. Tina Rose, Kent Cameron’s girlfriend since Ashley Cameron was 13 years old, also testified. Dr. Rodney Dean diagnosed Cameron with pervasive development disorder and testified about her mental health condition.

The offence

Ashley Cameron was charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment for the death of her 15-month-old son, Markis Dahms, on Feb. 11, 2012.

During the trial, prosecutors laid out their case that Cameron held Markis’ head under a running faucet in the bathtub of their Onawa home five or six times until he stopped breathing. Cameron testified that she did not hold Markis under the faucet, but that she 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.

The defence disputed prosecutors’ account and suggested a possible seizure. Public defender Mike Williams said it was possible Markis suffered a seizure that led him to drown in the bathtub while Cameron left the bathroom, and that Cameron did not hold the boy’s head under a running water faucet. Williams also acknowledged that Cameron was guilty of child endangerment, admitting she left Markis unattended in the bathtub.

Investigation

Investigators 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 evidence in the case.

Assistant Onawa Police Chief Jim Fouts testified 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 medical examiner findings of significant amounts of water found inside Markis during an autopsy.

Fouts said that when Cameron was confronted with those findings, she told investigators she held Markis’ face under the cold water faucet in the tub to wash his face and mouth after he vomited. Fouts said she held his face under the running water five or six times, with the final time after Markis turned blue. After giving that final version, Fouts said Cameron sat back in her chair and “thanked us for getting her to tell the truth and that she felt relieved.”

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Daniel Dawson testified about interviews with Cameron. Dawson said in a third interview that Cameron told him Markis vomited in the tub and she put his head under the running faucet to wash him off and wash out his mouth. Dawson said Cameron kept holding his head under the running water five or six times, and that the final time was after Markis turned blue. Dawson said that account best matched the evidence in the case. Dawson testified that Cameron also gave other versions, including that her 2 1/2-year-old daughter was in the tub with Markis and had pushed him under a couple of times, and that she poured “a few cups of water over Markis’ head to clean him off.”

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

District Judge Jeffrey Neary later stated that during deliberations he reviewed audiotapes of Cameron’s interviews with investigators and that Cameron described 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,” as Neary wrote.

Dr. Mary Groda-Lewis attended to Markis in the emergency room. Paramedics tried to insert a tube into Markis’ airway, but the amount of water, vomit, and particulates inside his body prevented them from getting a tube into his mouth. Paramedic Ronald Freeman testified that “Water was coming out like a fountain, just oozing out and down his neck,” and that 200 milliliters—about 2 cups—of fluid was suctioned out of the toddler in the ambulance, and that more fluid soaked the sheet beneath him.

Freeman testified “You should not normally get that much water out of someone that small.”

Groda-Lewis said additional fluid was suctioned from Markis once he arrived at the hospital. Klein said another 200 ml of water was found in Markis’ stomach during the autopsy.

In opening statements, Monona County Attorney Ian McConeghey said, “There is no legitimate, lawful purpose for holding a baby's face under the water that many times,” and also said Cameron did just that. Williams argued, “Because Ashley was not in there, we really don't know what happened,” and said the case was about child endangerment, not murder.

Groda-Lewis testified that when she told Cameron in the hospital that there was nothing more they could do to save Markis, Cameron sank to the floor, started crying, and said, “that people are going to accuse her of killing her child.”

District Judge Neary ruled during Wednesday’s proceedings that he would not consider statements attributed to Markis’ sister, ruling 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.

Arrest

Ashley Cameron was charged with first-degree murder on April 18, 2012. She remained in Monona County Jail on $1 million cash bail for the murder charge.

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. An autopsy conducted by the state medical examiner determined that Markis drowned and that the manner of death was a homicide.

Trial

Ashley Cameron waived her right to a jury trial, choosing instead to have District Judge Jeffrey Neary decide her case. The trial was held in Monona County District Court.

Evidence and testimony

Prosecutors presented evidence that Cameron held Markis’ head under a running faucet in the bathtub five or six times until he stopped breathing. Cameron testified about events during the trial, stating she ran a bath for Markis and his older sister, wiped his mouth with a towel, took his soiled clothes off, and put him in the tub. Cameron testified she took a cup and used it to run water over Markis’ head to wash away vomit. She said she then left the bathroom to get shampoo and clothes and that when she returned Markis was “face down in the water.” She said she grabbed him from the tub, helped her daughter out, carried Markis to the living room, and performed CPR. She said she stopped to call a friend, who told her to call 911. Cameron said after being told later at the hospital that her son was dead, she was an emotional mess and couldn’t remember what she told police in earlier questioning.

Assistant Iowa Attorney General Susan Krisko asked Cameron to confirm what she had read aloud from a written statement she gave to investigators five days after Markis’ death. The written statement said Cameron held Markis’ face under the running faucet to wash his mouth out after he vomited, and that he kept vomiting and she held his face under the running water five or six times. Cameron agreed that she had held him under the faucet five or six times.

Deputy Iowa State Medical Examiner Dennis Klein testified on autopsy evidence, including that there were two areas of scarring on Markis’ brain caused by older incidents and possibly occurring during childbirth, and that it was not possible to determine whether Markis had a seizure around the time he died.

Psychiatrist Dr. Rodney Dean testified that Cameron had pervasive development disorder. Dean testified from his Sioux City office via telephone and said Cameron had given different versions of what happened to Markis and that she had difficulty giving him a cohesive story. Dean testified: “She has difficulty giving me a cohesive story.” Dean also testified: “She did communicate to me that she understood she could have handled the situation in a better or more appropriate way.”

Assistant on cross-examination, Susan Krisko asked whether Cameron’s diagnosis affected past interviews. Dean answered, “That's correct.”

Kent Cameron testified about Ashley Cameron’s coping mechanisms when stressed, saying, “She didn't know how to handle certain situations, so a way for her to handle them would be to lie,” and also testified about lying being part of handling stressful situations. Tina Rose testified about a pattern of lying when afraid over minor things like “who ate the Pop Tarts.”

“At any point did you hold Markis' head under the spigot like we have heard testified about?” — Mike Williams, Cameron’s attorney
“No.” — Ashley Cameron

Judge’s rulings during trial

District Judge Jeffrey Neary ruled he would not consider statements attributed to Markis’ sister.

Sentencing

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

Neary ruled that Cameron did not intentionally cause Markis’ death. Neary found prosecutors failed to prove Cameron acted with malice aforethought, a key element for first- or second-degree murder. 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.” Neary wrote: “There is no factual basis to support this element or any suggestion of provocation ...,”

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

Neary also wrote: “Ashley Cameron's actions in leaving Markis unattended in the bathtub with water resulted in the death of Markis Dahms,” and he said the verdict comported with what the defence believed, according to Mike Williams.

Monona County Attorney Ian McConeghey said in connection with the verdict that he disagreed with it and said he would ask Neary to run Cameron’s sentences consecutively for a total sentence of 55 years. Neither sentence required a minimum time before Cameron would be eligible for parole, and McConeghey said, “The board of parole can let her out whenever they see fit.”

Ashley Cameron was sentenced to 50 years in prison on June 27, 2013 in connection with Markis’ death. Sentencing was scheduled for June 28 in Monona County District Court, and the article reporting the sentencing noted she was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison.

Appeals

No appeals were described in the provided material.

Outcome

District Judge Jeffrey Neary found Ashley Cameron 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. Neary found she did not intentionally cause Markis’ death, and Cameron’s sentence involved 50 years for child endangerment along with a five-year sentence for manslaughter, as described in connection with Neary’s findings.