Foster mother freed under June plea deal

Ben Aguirre Jr

Oakland Tribune

HAYWARD -- One of two foster parents charged with murder in the 2004 death of a 2-year-old toddler was released from jail Wednesday, but she was ordered to return to court in January to testify against her husband.

Sherrie Corder, 42, of Fremont appeared at the Hayward Hall of Justice on Wednesday and Judge Michael Gaffey ordered that she be released on her own recognizance pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement.

Corder was expected to be released Wednesday night from Santa Rita county jail in Dublin, where she had been incarcerated since her arrest less than a week after the toddler's death.

Sherrie Corder and her husband, Terry, both were charged with murder in October 2004 after foster child Dylan James George, for whom they had been caring, died as a result of blunt trauma to the head.

The foster mother accepted an agreement in June and pleaded guilty to a single count of child endangerment, a crime that will send her to prison for four or six years, prosecutors said. As part of the agreement, she must testify truthfully against her husband, whose trial is slated to begin Jan. 8.

If she complies with the terms of the agreement, she will be sentenced at the end of her husband's trial. If she receives the four-year term, she automatically would be eligible for parole because of the time served, prosecutors said.

The Corders, who have three daughters, ran a day care out of their home in Fremont and were state-certified foster parents.

In October 2004 they were caring for Dylan, whose biological parents live in Hayward.

During the preliminary hearing, held in 2005, the Corders' youngest daughter, who was 5 at the time, testified that her father kicked and punched Dylan several times during a drunken tirade on Oct. 2, 2004. After the incident, Dylan was given a bath and put to bed.

Sherrie Corder told police that she checked on Dylan throughout the night, but only called for help when she noticed the toddler was blue in the face and not breathing the next morning, according to testimony.

Initially, she tried to cover up for her husband and told police that Dylan fell in the bathtub the night before, police said. She later rescinded that statement and told authorities that her husband beat Dylan, prosecutors said.

Staff writer Ben Aguirre Jr. covers police and the courts for The Argus. He can be reached at (510) 353-7011 or baguirre@angnewspapers.com.