Mom takes plea deal in girl's death
Lorrie Thomas.
FLINT -- The following is a message from Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton:
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announced today that Lorrie Mae Thomas has pleaded no contest in Genesee County Circuit Court to charges related to the homicide of her 9-year-old daughter, Shylae Thomas.
Thomas, 40, of Flint, plead to Involuntary Manslaughter, a 15-year felony, and four additional felonies and one misdemeanor. The body of Shylae, a quadriplegic, was found by police in the early morning hours of April 22, 2009 in a storage facility in Vienna Township, near Mt. Morris just north of the City of Flint.
The Court accepted Thomas’ no contest plea, which is treated the same as a guilty plea or a conviction for sentencing purposes, to the following charges:
Count 1: Involuntary Manslaughter
Felony: 15 years and/or $7,500 fine
Count 2: Child Abuse – Second Degree
Felony: 4 years
Count 3: Tampering with Evidence – Criminal Case Punishable By More Than 10 Years
Felony: 10 years and/or $20,000
Count 4: Fraud – Welfare – Over $500
Felony: 4 Years and/or $5,000
Count 5: Fraud – Welfare (Failure to Inform) - $500 or More
Felony: 4 Years and/or $5,000
Count 6: Dead Bodies – Removing Without Medical Examiner Permission
Misdemeanor: 1 Year and/or $500
Thomas’ plea was accepted by the court based on findings in the autopsy report and testimony from the preliminary examination. Shylae had suffered from severe neglect which resulted in chronic malnutrition.
Lorrie Thomas is the sister of Shylae’s biological mother and Thomas adopted Shylae as a toddler. Due to her mental and physical disabilities, which included the need to be fed through an attached feeding tube, Shylae was totally dependent upon the care of Thomas and other members of the household.
The police investigation began Tuesday, April 21, 2009 when they were contacted by the Michigan Department of Human Services who had received a report that same day of a missing child. When police responded to the scene of the report, they discovered that Shylae Thomas was not present and a story of her whereabouts was given by her adopted mother, Lorrie Thomas.
Eventually, later that evening, the police investigation led to the Stor & Lock Storage Facility on N. Saginaw Rd. in Vienna Twp., north of Flint where the police found the body of Shylae wrapped in a black garbage bag which was stuffed into a plastic bin and kept inside a storage unit. Mothballs were placed on top of the garbage bag in an apparent attempt to mask the odors of the dead body.
“Although we cannot turn back the hands of time on this or any other crime, the court system has allowed us the opportunity to see that justice was served in this case through a plea to a homicide by the defendant,” said Prosecutor Leyton.
“There are certainly no winners in this situation. I am only gratified in knowing that we, as a community, were able to give Shylae’s life the respect it deserved in a court of law,” he said.
“Shylae had a real rough go in life given the tragic circumstances that led to her mental and physical disabilities,” he said. “For her to suffer the severe neglect she endured while alive and then to be stored away in a plastic bin without any sense of human dignity is beyond comprehension,” Prosecutor Leyton had previously commented.
He had also noted that Lorrie Thomas’ actions following the death of Shylae were deplorable on many levels.
“She hid the body in a storage unit and she continued to cash welfare checks intended for the benefit of Shylae even though she had died,” Prosecutor Leyton said.
Prosecutor Leyton commended the work of his staff and members of the Flint City Police and Genesee County Sheriff’s Department for their quick response at the outset and their tireless and determined efforts from beginning to end on this case.