Babysitter Who Admitted Killing Infant Receives 3 Years Probation
Megan Martzen is free on three years probation after admitting to killing a 17-month-old child in 2009. Ella VanLeeuwen was in Martzen's care when she was injured; Martzen claimed that Ella fell from her bed and she was unable to help, and Ella died from her injuries three days later.
Martzen was arrested and charged with murder and the assault of a child resulting in death. She spent 52 days in jail and faced anywhere from 25 years to life in prison if found guilty of murder. Jurors could not reach a unanimous decision at the conclusion of her trial in February, and a mistrial was decreed.
Prosecutors insisted they would retry Martzen, but defense attorney Jeff Hammerschmidt stated that prosecutors should rethink their strategy given that the jury voted 10-2 for "not guilty" on the charge of murder and 8-4 "not guilty" on the child abuse charge.
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One month later, Martzen pleaded no contest to felony involuntary manslaughter in addition for no additional jail time. She received three years on probation, 250 hours of community service and must pay several fines before she is completely free of the judicial system.
The decision greatly upset the VanLeeuwen family, who felt that Martzen got off too lightly and should have serve 79 years and 7 months in jail, which is the average female life span minus 17 months, in honor of Ella's death.
"As a family, we have had opportunity stolen from us," Ella's father, Todd, told the The Fresno Bee.
"My heart breaks every moment of every day," Danielle VanLeeuwen, Ella's mother, added.
Yet Martzen's family insists that she never would have knowingly contributed to Ella's death and feels intense remorse for her actions.
In 2010, Martzen gave birth to a son, Maverick, who was nearly taken away by the Fresno County Child Protective Services. The organization allowed Martzen's husband to take custody of the child instead.
"Megan loves children. She always has," her mother, April Roque, told The Bee. "She has the mommy instincts."
