BEAUTIFUL SKYLA VILLANUEVA - 3 yo - Pittsford/ Hillsdale MI

A Hillsdale County man accused of murdering his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter will stand trial in late January, according to the Hillsdale Daily.

James David Campbell's trial will start on Jan. 24 in Circuit Court and is expected to last four days, the newspaper reported. He faces murder, torture and first-degree child abuse charges.

His lawyers have sought to throw out the torture charge, the Hillsdale Daily reported.

Campbell, 29 is accused of killing Beautiful Skyla Villanueva,
the daughter of his girlfriend, Ashley Renee Ferguson. Beautiful died
on June 10 at Hillsdale Community Health Center. Police were told she
had
fallen down the stairs in the home near Pittsford she shared with
Campbell and her mother, but an investigation showed signs of abuse,
Michigan State Police have reported.

Ferguson is also facing
felony charges. She is
accused of being an accessory after the fact and with third-degree child
abuse stemming from an incident weeks before her daughter's death.

She is expected in Circuit Court on Aug. 29 for a pretrial hearing, according to court records.

Campbell’s
lawyer, Barry Poulson, suggested in an earlier court hearing that
Ferguson is responsible for Beautiful's death. Campbell says he did not
kill Beautiful, which leaves only one
other adult in or around the home at the time, Poulson said.


http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2011/08/trial_for_hillsdale_county_man.html

A Hillsdale County mother charged in connection to her 3-year-old
daughter’s death pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice today.
Hillsdale
County Circuit Judge Michael R. Smith will sentence Ashley Ferguson on
Oct. 10, according to court records. She could face up to five years in
prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
Ferguson had been charged with
third-degree child abuse and being an accessory after the fact following
the death of Beautiful Skyla Villanueva. Beautiful died June 10 at
Hillsdale Community Health Center of abusive head trauma, according to
police. The child abuse charge stemmed from an incident weeks before
Beautiful's death.
During their investigation, police were told
Beautiful fell down stairs at Ferguson’s Pittsford home. Later, police
determined that Beautiful had been abused; Ferguson had known and lied
about it.
Ferguson’s father, Scott Ferguson, said his daughter was
coerced into lying to police. He said James David Campbell, Ashley
Ferguson’s boyfriend, told his daughter to lie.
Campbell, 29, is
charged with murder, torture and first-degree child abuse in Beautiful’s
death. His trial is scheduled to start Jan. 24.
Ashley Ferguson’s
attorney, Roderick Dunham, did not know if his client would testify
against Campbell. Dunham would not comment further on the plea
arrangement.
In July, Hillsdale County Prosecutor Neal Brady said
he hoped Ashley Ferguson would testify against Campbell. Brady could not
be reached for comment this evening.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2011/08/mother_charged_with_felonies_i.html

A Hillsdale County man’s plea to torturing his girlfriend’s 3-year-old
daughter will avoid a trial his lawyer described as “beyond graphic.”

James David Campbell, 29, pleaded guilty Monday to torture, domestic violence and resisting, obstructing and assaulting a police officer, said his attorney Barry Poulson.

“It’s
probably better for all who remain living to have this resolved without
a trial,” Poulson said Tuesday. “It’s just an ugly thing.”

Campbell was accused of killing Beautiful Skyla Villanueva,
the 3-year-old daughter of his girlfriend Ashley Ferguson. Beautiful
died June 10 at Hillsdale Community Health Center. An investigation
showed signs of abuse, Michigan State Police reported.

Murder and
first degree child abuse charges will be dismissed when Hillsdale
County Circuit Judge Michael Smith sentences Campbell on Oct. 24.

He
could get life in prison on the torture charge. He also pleaded guilty
to resisting, obstructing and assaulting a police officer and domestic
violence, both felonies, said Hillsdale County Prosecutor Neal Brady.

“He’s
going to go away for a long time, and he deserves it,” Brady said,
noting the torture conviction is akin to pleading to second-degree
murder.

Campbell admitted Monday to biting Beautiful dozens of
times but said he did not cause other abusive injuries found on the
child, Poulson said. Beautiful had a broken arm caused by someone
grabbing and pulling it and scalding burns on her right arm from a hot
liquid. The child’s death was not his fault, Campbell told the judge.

“He did not cause the killing blows,” Poulson said, indicating someone else could have inflicted them.

Beautiful
died of abusive head trauma, according to a pathology report. State
police investigators said her head struck up against something or was
struck by something.
Campbell also admitted to shoving his girlfriend
and shoving and spitting in the face of a state trooper on the day
police came to investigate Beautiful’s death.

Poulson said
Campbell changed his mind several times about whether to take a plea
arrangement offered by the prosecutor’s office or take the case to
trial. Campbell’s trial was scheduled to start Jan. 24 and would have
lasted days, Poulson said.

Convincing a jury beyond a reasonable
doubt that Campbell killed Beautiful could have been difficult, Brady
said. Photographs Brady planned to show of Beautiful’s bruised and
abused body might have turned members of a jury against him, but they
could have acquitted him or convicted him of a lesser crime, landing him
in prison for a maximum of only 15 years.

No one witnessed the
blows to the head that investigators believe killed the child. Ferguson,
who would have testified against Campbell, had made conflicting
statements and might not have been the best person to put on the stand,
Brady said.

Ferguson pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and
admitted lying to police about what happened to her daughter. She is to
be sentenced Oct. 10.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2011/09/guilty_plea_to_torture_avoids.html

Such a beautiful little girl murdered by an animal. I wish he got the death penalty. I found a picture of her with her obituary at the following link. So precious.

http://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1185518&fh_id=13177

Hillsdale, Mich. —


Ashley Renee Ferguson was sentenced to 2-5 years in prison after
pleading guilty to obstruction of justice in the case of her 3-year-old
daughter’s death.
“That sentence is totally inadequate,” said Hillsdale County Circuit
Court Judge Michael Smith in court Monday morning. “You violated the
most basic maternal instinct — protect your children.”
Ferguson’s daughter, Beautiful Skyla Villanueva, was found dead on June
10 in the home of Ferguson and her boyfriend James David Campbell.
Villanueva died from a traumatic blow to the head, and had multiple
injuries all over her body.
Ferguson was charged with third-degree child abuse and accessory to a
felony after the fact but these charges were dismissed when she pleaded
guilty to obstruction of justice and agreed to cooperate with the court
regarding the trial against Campbell, who was charged with homicide,
torture and first-degree child abuse.
“I’m prepared for my punishment,” Ferguson told Judge Smith.
For the complete story, see the Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011 edition of the
Hillsdale Daily News or visit
http://hillsdaledailynews.mi.newsmemory.com/.

Obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice is Ferguson’s first felony charge, punishable
with up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. Ferguson has
multiple misdemeanors on her record, with some charges occurring while
she was on bond. Smith said local incarceration would be an inadequate
sentence, so she was taken into custody until she can be transported to
prison.
http://www.hillsdale.net/breaking/x663897542/Ferguson-gets-prison-time-for-part-in-her-3-year-old-daughter-s-death