SAHARA DWIGHT - 5 yo (2010) - Roseburg (btwn Medford and Eugene) OR

A 16-year-old boy accused of raping and murdering a 5-year-old Roseburg
girl is set to have his first court appearance on Monday.

Dustin Michael Wallace will be arraigned at 1:15 p.m. Monday in Douglas County
Circuit Court, Douglas County District Attorney Rick Wesenberg said Friday.

Wallace was arrested Friday afternoon in connection to
the death of a 5-year-old girl whom relatives have identified as Sahara
Dwight. Police say they responded to an early morning call Friday from
Sahara's mother, Lydia Dwight.

Lydia Dwight told a 911
dispatcher her daughter was unconscious and not breathing. When
paramedics arrived on scene, they tried to resuscitate the girl but were
not able to.

About noon Friday, Roseburg Police Department
officials announced they had arrested Wallace on suspicion of aggravated
murder, first-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree
unlawful sexual penetration.

He is being held at the Douglas
County Juvenile Detention Center, said Christina McMahan, director of
the Douglas County Juvenile Department. She said she expects a judge to
set his bail at the Monday arraignment.

On Friday afternoon,
Roseburg Police Sgt. Aaron Dunbar said he expects, given Wallace faces
an aggravated murder charge, that the teenager will be held without
bail.

McMahan said Wallace will be prosecuted as an adult. She
said that is because state law requires that juveniles who are 15 or
older and who are accused of Measure 11 crimes (those that are most
serious) be prosecuted as adults.

Despite that, counties have the
option of lodging such offenders in their county jail or their juvenile
facility. Douglas County typically lodges them at the detention center,
McMahan said.

Police have said Wallace was staying at the Elaine
Avenue home where the incident took place. He was among five people in
the residence, all who knew each other, when police arrived. Wallace is
not related to the victim.

On Friday afternoon, Dunbar said
Wallace was staying at the home with his biological father, who is Lydia
Dwight's boyfriend. Dunbar said investigators told him that Wallace
splits his time between staying with his father and with his mother in
Josephine County.

Dunbar declined to provide details of where the
victim was found in the home and whether a weapon was used in the
incident.

At this time, police are not releasing the cause of
death of the victim, although an autopsy is set to be performed.

Asked
if police have heard any motive for the slaying, Dunbar responded, “not
that I'm going to say.”

Although police have not identified the
victim, her uncle, Nathan Meyer, has. On Friday, Roseburg resident Meyer
said he used to baby-sit almost every day for his sister, Lydia Dwight.


He recalled taking 5-year-old Sahara and her two-year-old
brother to places like the river and Wildlife Safari.

He
described his niece as an active, happy, smart little girl who loved to
watch cartoons, ride her scooter and jump on her grandparents'
trampoline.

A teenage boy charged with the rape and murder of a
5-year-old girl told police he suffocated the child after she woke up
while he was sexually abusing her, according to a court document.Dustin
Wallace, 16, told investigators that Sahara Dwight, who was asleep,
jerked away when he started touching her early Friday, according to a
probable cause affidavit filed by Roseburg police Detective Daniel Knott
and released this week.To slow Sahara's struggling, he put his
weight on the girl, placed his hand over her mouth and punched her in
the stomach, Wallace said. He said he then raped the girl after she
stopped moving.The court documents said that after he was done,
he checked the girl's neck for a pulse but found none.The girl's
mother called 911 early Friday to report her daughter was unconscious.
Sahara was pronounced dead at the scene.Wallace lives at the
girl's home with his father and Sahara's mother. He told police that he
entered Sahara's bedroom, which she shared with a brother, after using
the bathroom.Wallace was arrested at the home in Roseburg and
arraigned Monday on charges of rape, murder, sexual abuse and unlawful
penetration. Although Wallace is being tried as an adult, he would not
face the death penalty because he is under 18.Results of the
autopsy performed on the girl have not been released. The affidavit said
blood was found on Sahara's face and lower body.Knott wrote that
the blood on her mouth appeared to be caused by "trauma caused by
pressure being applied to her mouth."Police found a necklace
under the girl's body after it was moved. Knott said it appeared to
match the description of a necklace Wallace said he was missing after
the struggle.Wallace remained held without bail at the Douglas
County Jail. His attorney, Don Scales, was out of his office Wednesday
afternoon and did not immediately return a message.Roseburg is
more than 175 miles south of Portland, Ore.

Roseburg teen indicted in murder, rape of 5-year-old

ROSEBURG, Ore. --After almost four months, a Douglas County Grand Jury has indicted Dustin Michael Wallace, 16, of Roseburg, on murder charges in connection with the death of Sahara Dwight, 5, on July 9.

Boy, 16, to stand trial as an adult in rape, murder of 5-year-old girl
ROSEBURG, Ore. -- After almost four months, a Douglas County Grand Jury has indicted Dustin Michael Wallace, 16, of Roseburg, on murder charges in connection with the death of Sahara Dwight, 5, on July 9.

Wallace was indicted Thursday, by the grand jury on six counts of aggravated murder and rape, among other charges, in connection with the death of Dwight.

Wallace was arrested after the girl was found unconscious at a duplex on Elane Street in west Roseburg, and EMT's were not able to revive her.

Attorney Don Scales was appointed to represent Wallace.

Even though he is 16, will be tried as an adult and is being held in the Douglas County Jail.

Boy, 16, accused of rape, murder of 5-year-old pleads not guilty


Dustin Wallace,
16, of Oklahoma, has pleaded not guilty to the alleged rape and murder
of Sahara Dwight, 5, of Roseburg last July. A trial date has been set
for next year.


Mar 14, 2011



ROSEBURG, Ore. -- Dustin Wallace, 16, of Oklahoma, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Sahara Dwight, 5, of Roseburg last July. A trial date has been set for next year.

Wallace appeared in court Monday morning and entered pleas of not guilty to six counts of aggravated murder, rape and other sex crimes in connection with the incident that happened in July of 2010 at a residence at 937 W. Elaine Ave., just south of the St. Joseph's Catholic Church off Harvard Avenue. The residence is in the HADCO low-income housing project.

Wallace had been staying at the house, where his father was living with the mother of the victim. The judge set a trial date for February 7, 2012, and Wallace gave up his right to a speedy trial.

Defense attorneys say they had been waiting for the state's evidence to be turned over to them. Prosecutors say the case officer's report is ready and they planned to turn it over today.

They say its not unusual for it to take this long to process because of the backlog in the crime lab.

Wallace has been in custody for eight months and will remain there until the trial.

Police originally arrested Wallace on charges of Aggravated Murder, First Degree Rape, First Degree Sexual Abuse and First Degree Unlawful Sexual Penetration.

According to the Roseburg Police Department, just before 5 a.m. that day, officers and EMTs responded to a call about a girl who wasn't conscious or breathing.

Police said that paramedics attempted to resuscitate the child but were unable to revive her. She was declared deceased at the residence.

Funeral notice with picture....
http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20100713/OBITS/100719950

Poster's Note: Brought the obit here as after awhile they get archived and you cannot view them without a fee.


Sahara Grace Dwight
July, 13 2010

Sahara Grace Dwight was carried home in the arms of angels on Friday,
July 9, 2010. She was five years old. She was born on March 11, 2005 in
Roseburg, Oregon. Sahara was a precious princess who enriched the lives
of everyone she encountered. Her smile lit up our hearts. She loved
ballet and now she dances with angels. She loved her garden, swimming
with her mommy and brother and playing with her friends at Head Start.
She is survived by, her mother, Lydia Meyer Dwight and her fiancé Carl;
her father, Tyler Dwight and his fiancée Simone, her brother, Ethan
Dwight and her best friends, Megan, Ada, Taya, Sierra, Sierra, Christian
and Danny. She also leaves her grandparents, Terry and Janet Meyer;
Cindy and Mike Young and Steven W. Dwight. Great grandparents are Rocky
and Delores Smallwood and Doris Raines. Sahara's aunts and uncles
include Hannah Crook and her husband Eric; Isaac Meyer and his wife
Debra; Nathan Meyer; Gabriel Meyer and his wife Sara; Tabatha Dwight;
Bradley Trask; Tison Dwight and his wife Lyndsey; Steven Dwight II and
Austin and Alex Shattenkerk.

Memorial services will be held at
11:00 am, Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at the Garden Valley Christian
Assembly with Curt Crook and Tim Lawrence officiating. Private interment
will be at the Eden Cemetery. A Sahara Dwight Memorial Fund has been
established at any branch of the US Banks. Sahara had a beautiful life
surrounded by love. She left us to soon, but the light of her life was
not diminished by her death, for "There are those of whom this world is
not worthy". She is now perfect. The family invites you to view
Sahara's memorial webpage at www.taylorsfamilychapel.com.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Roseburg murder trial of Dustin Wallace delayed
HEATHER MORSE


Accused killer Dustin Wallace, 17, speaks with his attorney, Medford's Don Scales, after a hearing at the Douglas County Courthouse Wednesday. Wallace's trial date was moved from February to June 12.


An Oklahoma teenager accused of raping and murdering a 5-year-old Roseburg girl in July 2010 agreed Wednesday to have his trial delayed by several months so his attorneys and prosecutors can continue preparing their cases.

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http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20110908/NEWS/110909831