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Thread: Edward Berges Sentenced in 2012 CO Slaying of 2-year-old Evelyn Molnar

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    Edward Berges Sentenced in 2012 CO Slaying of 2-year-old Evelyn Molnar

    9/18/12

    RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A Colorado man has pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of a 2-year-old Rapid City girl.

    Twenty-three-year-old Edward Berges is accused of killing the girl last month after her mother left the child with him.

    Berges is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, aggravated child abuse and aggravated infant battery. The murder charge carries a mandatory life sentence.

    Rapid City police found the girl Aug. 15 after they got a call about a medical emergency. The child was taken to a Rapid City hospital, and then flown to Sanford Children's Hospital in Sioux Falls, where she died.

    Police have said Berges is the boyfriend of the girl's mother.

    Capt. Marty Graves with the Pennington County Sheriff's Department tells KOTA TV (http://bit.ly/QzZLoV ) that the girl died of blunt force trauma.

    Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/C...#ixzz26rTaZSjp

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    There was grief on both sides of the courtroom Thursday when Circuit Judge Robert Mandel sentenced 24-year-old Edward Berges to 34 years in prison for killing his girlfriend's daughter a year ago.

    Berges pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in May, admitting that in a moment of frustration he struck 2-year-old Evelyn Molnar in the head on Aug. 15, 2012. The toddler died the next day at a Sioux Falls hospital.

    An autopsy revealed that the child suffered a blow to the front of her head and a simultaneous injury to the back of her head.

    Berges sat woodenly throughout the sentencing, staring straight ahead, allowing only a few, brief flickers of emotion to cross his face.

    Pennington County Deputy State's Attorney Ryan Ryder complied with the plea agreement by asking Mandel for a 37-year sentence. He said he would not oppose the suspension of seven of those years.

    Berges took out his stress and frustration on a defenseless child, Ryder said.

    "I believe a 37-year sentence is appropriate," Ryder said.

    Since this was a crime of violence, Berges will have to serve at least 50 percent of his sentence, making him eligible for parole about the time the victim would have turned 18, he said.

    "She has lost her life and he should not be free before the length of her childhood," Ryder said.

    The victim's mother and grandmother both took the stand during the sentencing.

    "I'm hurt, alone and very much broken," the child's mother, Nicole Randall, said addressing Berges. "You took my baby away...my child."

    Randall tearfully forgave Berges, "not just for you, but for myself so we can move ahead."

    Randall's mother, Lisa Berry, was not so forgiving. Berry said she was "hurt, bitter and angry." Her granddaughter was buried on Aug. 23, 2013. His actions have forever deprived her of the child's hugs and kisses, she said.

    "You took your stress and made a fist," Berry said, directing her pain at Berges. "She couldn't fight back."

    Berges' attorney, Dana Hanna, requested a 20-year sentence, asserting that his client is unique among people who commit violent crimes.

    "Before this thing happened, he was a completely law-abiding citizen," Hanna said.

    Berges came to Rapid City last May after graduating from college with a history degree. Circumstances forced him to give up his dream of becoming a Naval officer. He was $40,000 in debt and working as a night motel auditor, but he was trying to make a home with Randall and her daughter, Hanna said.

    "For a moment in his life, he gave into his temper, when he couldn't make the child stop screaming," Hanna said.

    Several members of Berges' family were also in the courtroom. His parents and three aunts pleaded for leniency for the son and nephew they described as "a caring, generous person with a big heart."

    "Both families are losing in this situation," Berges' aunt, Shannon Magana, said. Berges is her daughter's godfather.

    http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/loc...cf65cc7be.html

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