A new program on May 18 will focus on the history of the Blennerhassett children on Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park. The Hands-On History Kids Day Camp, shown here from 2018, will return for another year in July. (Photo courtesy of Mark Abbott)
Joyce G. Brown
The Women’s Care Center of Parkersburg held its Spring Banquet last Thursday and Friday at Grand Pointe Conference Center in Vienna. (Photo Provided)
Steve Arterburn, the keynote speaker at last Thursday’s portion of the Spring Banquet for the Women’s Care Center. (Photo Provided)
Kailee Perrin, the speaker at last Friday’s Spring Banquet for the Women’s Care Center. Perrin is holding Zakari, son of Sarah Miller. (Photo Provided)
Travis J. Cox
Doris Jean O’Dell Knight
From left, Michael Todorovich, director of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and West Virginia National Guard Adj. Gen. James Hoyer testified Tuesday about the reforms made at the agency. (Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography)
Beulah Mae Pryor
Worthington Elementary School, which was marked for closure and consolidation more than 10 years ago, will be among a handful of schools which the Wood County Board of Education will seek to close in the next year to avoid exhausting the district’s savings in mid 2020-21. (Photo by Michael Erb)
Waverly Elementary School is one of several schools being looked at for closure and consolidation this year by the Wood County Board of Education. Officials say Wood County Schools will exhaust its savings within the next year and a half if schools are not consolidated. (File Photo)
William Schoonover, left, is escorted out of Wood County Circuit Court by a bailiff Tuesday after being sentenced to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder in the 2017 death of 16-month-old Evan Kaije Wright. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
The grandmother and mother of Evan Kaije Wright brought this collage with them Tuesday to the sentencing of William Schoonover, who pleaded guilty in February to a charge of second-degree murder in the boy’s death. They asked that Schoonover be given the maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and Judge Robert Waters did so, also recommending against parole. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
William Schoonover, left, awaits the start of his sentencing hearing Tuesday in Wood County Circuit Court. Also pictured is one of his attorneys, Michele Rusen. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Sharon Kesselring, executive director of the American Red Cross of Northwestern West Virginia, rallies a group of volunteers Tuesday morning for the Sound the Alarm smoke alarm initiative. The goal is 1,500 alarms installed on Tuesday and Saturday when the program involves fire departments in Wood and Wirt counties. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
Volunteers intently listen to instructions before heading into the field Tuesday morning to install smoke alarms in the Red Cross Sound the Alarm campaign. The program saves lives, Sharon Kesselring of the Red Cross said. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
Betty Wheaton listens as she is sentenced to 30 months in prison on Monday in Washington County Common Pleas Court. (Photo by Chad Plauche-Adkins)
Pastor Kevin Gutberlet of the Bethel Lighthouse Baptist Church tells the court how Wheaton’s theft hurt his congregation on Monday in Washington County Common Pleas Court. (Photo by Chad Plauche-Adkins)
Larry S. Wilson
William Schoonover, left, awaits the start of his sentencing hearing Tuesday in Wood County Circuit Court. Also pictured is one of his attorneys, Michele Rusen. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
PARKERSBURG — A Parkersburg man was sentenced to 40 years in prison Tuesday for killing a 16-month-old boy.
Speaking through tears in Wood County Circuit Court, William Schoonover said he wished he could trade his life for that of Evan Kaije Wright, who died in July 2017. The child’s mother, Breana McCartney, was Schoonover’s girlfriend at the time and had left the boy in his care. Despite initially denying any involvement in the child’s injuries, Schoonover eventually told police he shook the boy because he wouldn’t hold still during a diaper change.
“There isn’t a moment that goes by that I don’t miss him and mourn his loss,” he said in a statement in which he apologized to his family, the boy’s and the Parkersburg Police officers who investigated the case. “Every time I look in the mirror, I hate myself.”
Schoonover pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder in the case. On Tuesday, his attorney, Reggie Bailey, asked Judge Robert Waters to consider a sentence of 20 years if he did not grant probation.
McCartney and her mother, Wendy Mason, also addressed the court.
The grandmother and mother of Evan Kaije Wright brought this collage with them Tuesday to the sentencing of William Schoonover, who pleaded guilty in February to a charge of second-degree murder in the boy’s death. They asked that Schoonover be given the maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and Judge Robert Waters did so, also recommending against parole. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
“He didn’t deserve to get killed by William Schoonover,” McCartney said, crying.
“My daughter will never get out of this hell,” Mason said. “I want him to get the maximum sentence because she’s got a life sentence.”
Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure recommended the maximum 40-year sentence, saying Schoonover repeatedly lied to medical personnel about how Evan sustained the injuries.
Schoonover indicated in his statement and the pre-sentencing investigation referenced by the judge and Lefebure that he lied because he was concerned he would not be able to regain custody of his own children.
Lefebure said Schoonover focused more on himself in his statement to the court than on the victim.
William Schoonover, left, is escorted out of Wood County Circuit Court by a bailiff Tuesday after being sentenced to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder in the 2017 death of 16-month-old Evan Kaije Wright. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
“That might be the most narcissistic statement I’ve ever heard from a defendant in the courtroom,” Lefebure said.
Waters agreed.
“I don’t know how many times I heard the word ‘I’ in that statement,” he said.
Waters also recommended that Schoonover not be granted parole.
“In the court’s opinion, he should never be around children again,” he said, citing Schoonover’s apparent anger issues; history of domestic violence, with one conviction for domestic battery; and his delay in seeking medical treatment for Evan Wright.
“He did not tell the truth to the medical team that was trying to save Evan’s life,” Waters said.
Lefebure said doctors indicated the trauma Evan sustained was comparable to being ejected from a vehicle after a head-on collision or having a heavy object dropped on him from a height of four stories.
As part of Schoonover’s plea agreement, a charge of death of a child by a parent, guardian or custodian by child abuse was dismissed.