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Syracuse
November 28, 2013
The prosecution of Jevon Wameling in the death of his baby was delayed for months partly because the New York State Police ignored his requests for a lawyer during an interview, Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said Wednesday.
During the September interview, state police successfully pressed Wameling into telling them where he had placed the remains of his 9-month-old son, Levon.
But the information came at a cost to investigators: None of what was discovered either in the interview or because of it could be used in court.
That meant the remains of baby Levon, who was found in the Mohawk River by a state dive team on Sept. 6, did little to help prosecutors charge Wameling, McNamara said. It would be almost three months later before Wameling was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday.
“The autopsy, the interview, the admission, baby Levon’s body — none of it was good,” McNamara said. “We have to start all over again and prove this case without what happened at the end.”
It turned out to be Wameling himself who provided the crucial break that allowed authorities to connect him to the baby’s remains, McNamara said.
Levon Wameling’s remains were found in the Mohawk River.Provided Photo
On Nov. 14, Wameling wrote a letter to the Utica Observer-Dispatch from jail — where he was being held on burglary charges — in which he admitted to lying about the baby’s disappearance.
While never saying what he did with the body, Wameling said he found the child dead in his sleep. Prosecutors were amazed.
“We all kind of wonder” why Wameling made the statement, McNamara said. “It got us the body in the water” — and, ultimately, the prosecutions’ manslaughter case against Wameling.
Appearing in Oneida County Court on Wednesday, Wameling, 27, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the second-degree. He will receive a 7-½ to 15 year sentence on Jan. 30, 2014 under an agreement with prosecutors.
Wameling also admitted to putting the baby’s remains in a bag and then in the river, according to McNamara. Still, authorities had no chance of bringing a murder charge against Wameling, McNamara said.
