Foster mom takes deal in murder case

Ben Aguirre Jr.

Oakland Tribune

FREMONT -- A foster mother who along with her husband had been charged with killing a 2-year-old boy in 2004 has accepted a plea deal and will testify against her husband at trial, a prosecutor said this week.

Fremont resident Sherrie Corder, 42, has pleaded guilty to a charge of endangering a child and will be sentenced to four or six years in state prison.

The sentence will be served at the conclusion of her husband's trial, Deputy District Attorney Mark Melton said.

Corder and her husband, Terry, also 42, were charged in October 2004 with murder after foster child Dylan James George was beaten to death in their care.

Terry Corder is scheduled to face trial in October, the prosecutor said.

Melton and defense attorney William Linehan, who represents Sherrie Corder, said

there had been discussions for several months about a possible plea agreement. The two sides met last month at the Hayward Hall of Justice, and Corder accepted the offer, they said.

"After a full evaluation of the case, we in the district attorney's office formed the opinion that her primary criminal action was failing to obtain medical attention for Dylan," Melton said. "It was going to be difficult to hold her accountable for murder."

In exchange for the lesser charge, Sherrie Corder must tell the truth during her husband's murder trial.

"It's all predicated on her telling what happened that day," the prosecutor said. If she fails to do so, she would face trial along with her husband.

The Corders have been held at Santa Rita county jail inDublin without bail since October 2004, when the couple was arrested just days after Dylan died in a bed at Children's Hospital Oakland.

If the sentencing judge decides to send Sherrie Corder to prison for four years, she would be instantly eligible for parole because of the time she has already served, Melton said. If she's sentenced to six years, she'd have to serve at least an additional year.

Her husband faces at least 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

During the preliminary examination held in 2005, testimony revealed that Terry Corder kicked and punched Dylan several times during a drunken tirade inside the couple's Lahana Way home.

After the incident, Dylan was given a bath and put to bed.

According to testimony, Sherrie Corder checked on Dylan throughout the night, but called police in the morning when she noticed the toddler was blue in the face and not breathing.

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

The Corders ran a day care business out of their home and fostered many children. They have three biological daughters, including a 5-year-old who witnessed Dylan being beaten. She is expected to testify at trial.

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.