Tyler Jamison choked, smothered, squeezed, and bounced his infant daughter, SJ., on multiple occasions, in an attempt to stop the baby's crying.
Jamison fractured his daughter's ribs, bruised much of her body, and caused her severe
brain damage. As a result of the horrific acts, S.J. is now blind. A feeding tube sustains
her. She is "nonresponsive."
In a case that engenders many tears, a jury found Tyler Jamison guilty on two counts of first degree assault ofa child for assaulting S.J. on or about April 5, 2010...
Jamison later told law enforcement officers, "[T]here
were times where he would be tired from staying up all night playing video with his
friends and that he could just not figure out how to get her [S.1.] to stop crying and that's
why he started doing these things." Report ofProceedings (RP) at 906. "These things"
included pressing his fingernails on S.1.'s throat. RP at 880. He noticed that after
applying pressure for 15 seconds, S.1. turned pale. By late March, Jamison stopped using
fmgernails on S.1.' s throat because of cuts caused to the throat. Jamison switched to
smashing S.1.'s nose and covering her mouth until she turned pale.
On some occasions, Tyler Jamison squeezed S.1. ,tightly until she stopped crying...
On the morning of April 5, Tyler Jamison repeatedly choked, smothered,
squeezed, and bounced his infant daughter S.1., because ofher crying. S.1.'s eyes went
different directions after her smothering. The left eye looked straight ahead and the right eye looked up. When S.1. shut her eyes, they popped back to normal. S.1. began a
swimming motion with both of her arms that did not stop for the rest ofthe morning. S.1.
encountered problems breathing, so Jamison bounced S.J. on the couch in an attempt
revive her. S.1. struck her head on the arm ofthe couch at least twice. In order to revive
S.1., Jamison also placed her on his thighs, laid her on her back, and poked her in the
chest. Jamison pressed down hard enough to actually feel in between her ribs so he could help get S.J.'s "breath out." S.J. began a sipping sound and became unresponsive...
Detectives Burbridge and Gallion next interviewed Jamison. He told the detectives he suspected his mother of abusing SJ., and repeatedly denied hurting SJ...
SJ.'s tragic condition has not improved since April 2010. SJ. lives "essentially in
a vegetative state." As of September 17, fluid had replaced much of SJ.'s
brain tissue. Her brain lost the ability to "control hormones." At 10 months old, SJ. showed signs of puberty, including growing of breasts. SJ. cannot swallow. A feeding tube sustains her. SJ.'s gag reflex no longer functions to protect her airways.
She is blind. She will never recover...
The trial court imposed an exceptional sentence of 180 months'
confinement on each count and ordered the sentences to run consecutively under RCW 9.94A.589(1)(b), for a total sentence of 30 years.
