A jury has convicted a foster mother on all counts in a Longmont child abuse death trial.
Cassidy Renee Lemmon, 25, was found guilty by a Boulder County jury Monday of three felony counts of child abuse resulting in death.
Lemmon was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of killing her 16-month-old foster child Thomas Boyles.
Sentencing is set for October 30 at 9 a.m.
Lemmon was found guilty on two Class 2 felony counts of child abuse – knowingly/recklessly causing death and a Class 3 felony count of child abuse – negligence causing death.
Lemmon was remanded without bond and will remain in custody until sentencing. She faces a total sentence between 16 to 48 years in state prison.
“This defendant and her co-defendant extinguished the life of a beautiful little boy,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty stated. “We appreciate the jurors who gave up more than two weeks of their summer, worked through evidence and expert testimony, and reached the right verdict. From the beginning of this case, the detectives with the Longmont Police Department and our prosecution team were determined to secure justice for Thomas. They did an outstanding job with this very tragic case.”
Defense attorney Brian Emeson declined further comment Monday as the case is still pending.
At 5:47 p.m. April 22, 2019, Lemmon called 911 and said Boyles was unconscious and not breathing, according to the affidavit.
When first responders arrived on scene, Lemmon was performing CPR on Boyles on his lower torso that was described by some as “a little deep.”
According to the affidavit, forensic pathologist Dr. Meredith Frank determined the boy died as a result of blunt force injuries to the head and trunk. In addition, Frank noted the presence of some healed rib fractures.
On April 24, 2019, Boyles was pronounced dead.
Vincent Ray Johnson was the co-foster parent to Boyles and pleaded guilty in 2021 under the conditions that he would testify against Lemmon and serve a 12-year stipulated sentence.
During her testimony, Lemmon said on the day of the 911 call she witnessed Boyles run into a toy box and fall backwards. Lemmon then said Boyles vomited twice before being found unresponsive.
Lemmon’s attorneys argued that Boyles’ death was a result of his poor health. In their closing statements, they pointed to sepsis, chronic disseminated intravascular coagulation, pneumonia, thrombus, anemia, and herpes in the lungs as causes of his bruising and death.
The prosecutors on the case refuted the argument and said Boyles’ injuries, which included a lacerated liver, broken ribs, injury to the pancreas, spinal fracture and a large subdural hematoma, were too severe to be caused by natural health complications. The prosecutors argued in their closing statements that the jurors only needed common sense and life experience to see that this was a case of child abuse.
Lemmon’s defense pointed to her incorrect CPR and Johnson’s guilty plea of abuse as reasons for Boyles’ broken ribs and injuries. A number of the prosecutors’ expert witnesses said that CPR, performed correctly or incorrectly, can’t cause broken ribs.
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