Baby sitter arrested in death of PT toddler
By Barney Burke
Leader Staff Writer
A 13-year-old baby sitter has been arrested in the death of a 19-month-old girl from Port Townsend.
Freya Melody Hazel Garden died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after being taken there Sunday evening, Jan. 16. She is the daughter of Morningstar Garden, 27, of Port Townsend.
Authorities have not identified the baby sitter, who made her first appearance in King County Juvenile Court on Jan. 18. She is from the Suquamish area,
Prosecutor Christine Herrman said, although a friend of the Garden family said that the baby sitter might have ties to Jefferson County.
No charges have been filed, but a second hearing has been set for 9 a.m. this Friday, Jan. 21 in King County Juvenile Court.
The victim, her 5-year-old sister, her mother and the mother's 31-year-old boyfriend, Gracian Cline, had gone to Seattle for the weekend to celebrate the 70th birthday of Cline's father, according to a family spokeswoman.
The family brought the baby sitter along for the trip to have her watch over the younger children on Saturday night, the spokeswoman said.
Much of the Seattle Police Department report has been redacted, but it said that firefighters were called to the 5200 block of 23rd Avenue SW in Seattle at 6:40 p.m. Sunday evening. According to the report, Garden was "on the floor, unconscious and unresponsive" when they arrived and "there were no adults at the scene."
The police report said that a fire lieutenant called the mother's cell phone, and then she returned to the scene. The mother and Cline had gone to a store at Westwood Village around 5 p.m., the report said. Cline told police that he owned the home, but he and his wife are in the process of a divorce. He also told police that the victim was on a strict diet because of food allergies.
The police report indicates that the victim had "battle signs behind her ears and under her eyes" along with "bruising to the cheeks, forehead, and a possible broken right shoulder."
Following an autopsy, the King County Medical Examiner's Office released a statement Jan. 18 saying that the cause of Garden's death was "pending further investigation."
Court appearance
The 13-year-old defendant appeared Tuesday before Judge Patricia H. Clark.
Her parents asked the judge to release her to their custody. "I'd like you to release her back home with us so we can take care of her, nourish her as a family," the father said.
"I want to go home," the defendant told the judge.
"I know you do, but today you're going to stay," Judge Clark responded.
The defendant was wearing a blue juvenile detention jumpsuit. She appeared a little nervous if not overwhelmed by the situation, but looked the judge in the eye as she answered questions. She is described as being of slight build, wearing glasses and having shoulder-length sandy blonde hair.
Prosecutor Christine Herrman told Judge Clark that the girl denied the allegations when she met with staff in a juvenile detention facility. She "appears to have no connection to her role, and was detached and denying responsibility," Herrman said.
Herrman also said that the baby sitter allegedly suffers from manic depression and is being treated with lithium.
Public Defender Simme Baer said in court that the baby sitter is on "two medications that she takes three times a day." She has no previous criminal history, Baer added. "She does well in school," said Baer. "She's a wonderful daughter [and] a wonderful sister to her two siblings."
"She is not manic depressive, she has ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]," her father told the judge.
After the hearing, Prosecutor Herrman said her office hasn't yet decided what charges might be filed against the baby sitter because the investigation hasn't been completed.
Port Townsend police cordoned off the Garden home on Hastings Avenue on Monday morning after being informed of the death. Apparently, no crime occurred at that location, police said.
(Leader contributing writer Casey McNerthney helped with this story. Contact Barney Burke at
[email protected].)
