Dad pleads guilty in fatal neglect

Erica D. Johnson

Monday, Jan. 26, 2004 | 9:26 a.m.

The Henderson man charged in the death of his 18-month-old daughter and the abuse and neglect of his other four children claims he was not home enough to witness the deplorable conditions in which his children were living.

During a court hearing on Friday, Demone Tisdale, 21, told District Judge Donald Mosley that Sophia Mendoza, 20, his live-in girlfriend and the children's mother, was the primary caretaker.

"Because of my being in and out of the house ... I wasn't paying attention to things going in the house," Tisdale said.

Tisdale pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder, one count of felony child abuse and neglect and three gross misdemeanor counts of child abuse and neglect.

He faces a sentence of 10 to 25 years in prison or 10 years to life in prison on the second-degree murder charge when he is sentenced March 3, his attorney, Robert Amundson, said.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors will not object to concurrent sentences on the other four counts. Mendoza is set to stand trial on identical charges Feb. 14.

Tisdale appeared to accept minimal responsibility when asked by Mosley to explain what he did to warrant his guilty plea.

"I failed to seek medical treatment," he said, referring to the second-degree murder charge for the death of his daughter, Sierra. Then he added, "I wasn't always at the house ... I wasn't paying attention to things going in the house."

When asked what conditions led to the malnutrition of the other children, Tisdale responded, "I guess the living environment."

Sierra Tisdale was found dead in the bedroom of the couple's home in October. Suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, she had been dead about three days before she was found, according to an autopsy report.

Sierra's twin brother, Jacob, was found vomiting and having breathing difficulty. The couple's other three children -- a 3-year-old, a 2-year-old and a 5-month-old -- also showed signs of neglect, including malnutrition and dehydration.

Tisdale's claims of ignorance surprised Chief Deputy District Attorney Vickie Monroe.

"This is the first time I've ever heard of this," she said. "The conditions were deplorable and it was real obvious the babies were starving," she said.

Amundson, Tisdale's lawyer, said, "They were ignoring the conditions in the house. They were just two parents not doing their duties ... This was an unintentional killing,"

Outside court, Amundson said Mendoza often kicked his client out of the house, leaving Mendoza to care for the children alone.

Tisdale's mother, Irma McKinney, who found the children in the house and called police, said her son didn't know about the children's failing health in part because the couple had an "on-and-off" relationship and her son was rarely home.

"He didn't know," McKinney said. "(Mendoza) just wasn't willing to help with the kids."

Mendoza's attorney, Phil Kohn of the county's special public defender's office, declined to comment on Tisdale's allegations regarding his client. "We'll (respond) in trial," he said.

Monroe said the children's health had been declining over a period of weeks or months.

Sierra weighed 10 pounds when she was taken to the coroner's office. Jacob Tisdale weighed 12 pounds when he was brought into the emergency room. By the time Jacob received medical attention, his heart rate was accelerated, his kidneys were giving out, his genitals had been burned by soiled diapers and he was unresponsive.

During a preliminary hearing, a Metro Police detective testified that in an interview, Mendoza told him that she checked on Sierra on Sept. 29, and then left her in a bedroom and did not check on her again until Oct. 1.