Mother Gets 2-Year Term for Neglect of Child

A Sun Valley woman who left her deaf and blind 4-year-old daughter unattended in a converted garage agreed to plead guilty to a felony count of child endangerment and will serve two years in state prison, a deputy district attorney said Thursday.

Paula Lynn Dever, 23, had originally pleaded guilty to the charge in April but decided last month to go to trial after learning that she could receive a six-year sentence in state prison.

Wednesday, however, Dever decided to re-enter a guilty plea and accept a two-year sentence from San Fernando Court Commissioner Donald W. Pike, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth Barshop said.

Dever was arrested Feb. 6, one month after police found her daughter, Melanie Woods, choking on her own mucus and gasping for air in an unheated garage, according to court records. The girl, who requires constant care, is mentally retarded, epileptic and has multiple sclerosis, records showed.

Police said had entered the garage during a narcotics investigation. Dever, her daughter and Dever’s boyfriend lived there, the court records showed.

The girl, who weighed only 17 pounds when she was found, was treated for malnutrition and dehydration at a local hospital, a probation report said. She now lives with her grandmother.