State Supreme Court upholds death sentence for child murderer

NORTHUMBERLAND - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a death penalty sentence entered against convicted child murderer Brent Michael Sherwood during a jury trial held in 2007, Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Rosini announced Tuesday.

In the trial held in April and early may 2007, Sherwood was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children for the beating death of 4-year-old Marlee Reed on Dec. 7, 2004, in Northumberland.

Sherwood was found alone with the victim who subsequently died from her injuries. A medical expert who testified at the trial indicated that the injuries Reed suffered were similar to what were seen in children who were ejected from an automobile traveling at 65 miles an hour.

After the penalty phase of the trial, a jury found the existence of two aggravating circumstances, that the victim was a child under 12 years of age and the killing was committed by means of torture. The jury found no mitigating circumstance. Under Pennsylvania law, the jury sentenced the defendant to death.

Death penalty cases are reviewed directly by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. On appeal to the state Supreme Court, Sherwood claimed there was insufficient evidence to sustain the conviction, the verdict of first-degree murder was against the weight of the evidence, the trial court erred in admitting prior assaults on the child by the defendant into evidence, that his confession and the evidence seized on search warrants should have been suppressed, that there was no evidence of torture and that his trial attorney was ineffective.

In a lengthy opinion authored by Madam Justice Jane Cutler Greenspan, the court discussed each of the issues and found no error that would require reversal.

The opinion did not discuss ineffective assistance of counsel as the opinion noted that the court had previously held that this issue must be raised in a Port Conviction Relief Petition rather than on direct appeal.

The arresting officers were Detective Edward Cope of Northumberland and Cpl. Richard Bramhall of the state police. Rosini commended the extensive and thorough investigation by both officers and the assistance they provided in preparing and presenting the evidence and witnesses at the trial.

Rosini noted that this was the first appellate review of the defendant's trial and verdict.

"Death penalty cases are the subject of intensive scrutiny by the appellate courts," said Rosini. "The defendants here can now petition the United State Supreme Court for review of the case. Additionally, as the Supreme Court noted in its opinion, there is a separate procedure to raise issues pertaining to whether the defendant's attorney provided effective assistance at the trial."

Rosini added that the death of Marlee Rose Reed had a significant and profound impact on all the parties involved in the case.

"The vicious beating of this child and the manner in which she died is something everyone involved in the investigation and prosecution of this case will never forget," said Rosini. "For many of us, it is a motivation to work to prevent this type of case from happening again in the future. Marlee's grandparents and Biker's Against Child Abuse have worked hard to keep the community aware of this problem and to help prevent and assist victim's abuse."