Life term given in infant’s death

Erica D. Johnson

Wednesday, May 21, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.

After deliberating for four days, a jury on Tuesday decided that the former Nellis Air Force Base airman convicted of killing an infant nearly six years ago should get a life sentence.

Jurors sentenced Brandon Parish to life in prison with parole possible after 20 years in the beating death of 20-month-old Samantha Storm. Parish had been dating the child's mother, Dawn Mathiasen, 26.

The same jury last week convicted Parish of a single count of first-degree murder by child abuse in the infant's April 1997 death.

Parish, 24, appeared nervous when the verdict was read. He will be formally sentenced before District Judge Valorie Vega on July 8.

Authorities said Parish violently shook Samantha and threw her against a hard, solid object while baby-sitting her at his Nellis dormitory. She had skull fractures and intercranial bleeding.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Lisa Luzaich said she had hoped jurors would have decided on a harsher verdict.

"We were still hoping for life without (parole)," she said. "We believe that would have been the appropriate sentence."

Jurors chose the sentence over life without parole or a 50-year sentence with parole possible after 20 years. Jurors declined to comment after the verdict was read.

During the trial, Luzaich and Chief Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon presented a mountain of evidence against Parish.

They said the child had suffered several non-accidental injuries in the weeks leading up to her death, including bruises and broken bones while left alone with Parish.

But defense attorney David Schieck maintained that no one saw his client abuse the child and that Mathiasen could have been the abuser. He said Mathiasen couldn't be trusted because she initially lied to police and day-care workers in an effort to protect Parish.

Mathiasen, who testified at the trial, is serving a six-to 15-year sentence for failing to follow police orders to keep Samantha away from Parish after prior allegations of abuse.

Tuesday's verdict marked the second time a jury sentenced Parish to life with parole after 20 years.

Another jury convicted Parish of first-degree murder and handed down an identical sentence in 1998, but the Nevada Supreme Court overturned that conviction, citing faulty jury instructions.

After the verdict was read, Vega commended jurors on what she said were obviously thoughtful deliberations.

"I do a minimum of 40 sentences each week," she said. "You now have some insight into how difficult that task is."