GUILTY NY - Brooke Stagles, 3, beaten to death, Rochester, 13 Nov 2016

At every turn, every safeguard that could or should have protected the life of young Brook Stagles failed her.

Her mother and mother’s family were unable to secure custody of the girl in the weeks before her death on Nov. 14, 2016.

Her father’s family either didn’t notice or turned a blind eye to abuse allegedly going on under the roof of their home on Albemarle Street. And Brook’s father, Michael Stagles, either participated in abuse so significant that his 3-year-old daughter was bruised from head to toe, or allowed his girlfriend to inflict such injuries on Brook that the girl ultimately died of complications from a part of her intestines popping like a balloon.

The nonjury trial outlined a litany of failures and missed opportunities that could have potentially saved Brook’s life. One pediatrician testified that a ruptured bowel typically isn’t fatal if repaired quickly. But Brook languished for days after her injury, and infection overtook her 37-pound body as her father and Bell failed to get her medical attention. Bystanders who recognized the girl was gravely ill did not take the extra step of getting her a doctor’s care themselves.

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JusticeWillBeServed said:

Little Girl Lost: The questions left behind by Brook Stagles death

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2017/09/23/little-girl-lost-questions-left-behind-brook-stagles-death/685670001/

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His trial was set to begin Monday morning in Monroe County Court, but was delayed to Nov. 13 due to scheduling conflicts.

Michael Stagles is also considering a bench trial, rather than a jury trial, and is expected to let the the court know which he will select next week.

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As Monroe County Court Judge Christopher Ciaccio handed down his verdict in the murder case of Erica Bell on Friday morning, the only sounds in the packed courtroom were the sobs of Brook Stagles’ family.

Calling Bell “supremely selfish, concerned with her own self-preservation,” Ciaccio convicted the 25-year-old of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in connection with Brook’s death on Nov. 14, 2016.

Bell faces a sentence of up to 25 years to life in prison on the second-degree murder conviction and 5 to 25 years in prison on the first-degree manslaughter conviction. Those sentences would be served concurrently. Sentencing will be Nov. 8.

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Ciaccio said Bell's attempts to hide Brook's injuries from others, coupled with her active obstruction of getting the child any medical attention evinced an "utter disregard for human life" and that the evidence showed she had a "wicked, evil or inhuman" state of mind.

Ciaccio said he did not believe any of Bell's testimony. The later phone calls recanting her previous statements only showed that Bell had taken the time to concoct a story that would shift blame to someone else.

Her earlier statements of guilt were "unscripted, unflitered and related the truth," he said, noting that in none of the calls did Bell show any remorse or contrition that Brook was dead.

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JusticeWillBeServed said:

Judge: Erica Bell had 'wicked, evil or inhuman' state of mind

http://www.democratandchronicle.com...t-expected-erica-bell-murder-trial/712102001/

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Michael Stagles pleaded guilty Friday to criminally negligent homicide in the death of his 3-year-old daughter, Brook Stagles.

Stagles' release was revoked and he was taken into custody after the hearing. Sentencing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Dec. 6. He faces a sentence of up to four years in prison, with a minimum of 1⅓. years.

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In a victim impact statement before Monroe County Court Judge Christopher Ciaccio on Wednesday, Brook’s maternal grandfather John Geer described his family’s confusion, horror and fear after being summoned to Rochester General Hospital the night before Brook died.

“Nobody should ever hold a dying child in their arms,” Geer said.

Geer said his daughter Ashlee — Brook’s mother — lay beside Brook’s tiny body and spoke soothing words of comfort to her lifeless form for nearly an hour after she had died. The girl’s injuries had been too severe for pediatric surgeons to fix.

“I wouldn’t wish that on anybody,” he said. “So many people have been traumatized by all of this.”

Geer’s comments came just before Ciaccio handed down the maximum sentence to Bell, a 25-year-old heroin addict from Spencerport who was convicted in September of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter for Brook's death.

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A Rochester father who admitted he failed to get medical attention for his critically ill daughter was sentenced Wednesday in Monroe County court to the maximum of up to four years in prison.

He will be considered for parole after serving one and one-third years, although he has already served nearly eight months while awaiting trial.

At Michael Stagles' sentencing, Monroe County Court Judge Christopher Ciaccio said he would try his hardest to ensure Stagles serves a full four years.

"In a sense, I think you got away with murder," Ciaccio said to Stagles during the sentencing.

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