The Stone County jury in the Victoria Dycus murder trial said she should spend 19 years in prison for her part in the first-degree murder of her 4-year-old daughter Skylar Shellstrom.
Judge Tim Weaver concurred with the jury. Around 1:30 this afternoon, the jury came back with a guilty verdict, and then again retired into the jury’s quarters to decide how many years Dycus should serve in state prison.
Victoria Dycus / Image via Stone County Sheriff’s Office
Dycus and her boyfriend at the time, James Hagan Glenn, were charged in December of 2016 with first-degree murder. Dycus’ 4-year-old daughter, Skylar Shellstrom, was pronounced deceased in the emergency room of the Stone County Medical Center in late November 2016.
Shellstom had been brought there by the two along with other members of the family.
The attending physician said he thought death came as the result of a blow or blows to the child’s abdomen.
In the second day of the trial, Dr. Stephen Erickson of the Arkansas State Crime Lab, when giving results of the autopsy of Skylar Shellstrom, said the little girl died of blunt force trauma to the abdomen. He added that the child clearly suffered from “Chronically Battered Child Syndrome.”
We are told Dycus turned down a negotiated plea of guilty along with a 25-year prison sentence.
Today, the sentence in Stone County Circuit Court was guilty as charged and 19 years in the state penitentiary for Victoria Dycus.
Stone County authorities escort Victoria Dycus from the courthouse after her guilty verdict
The trial for her boyfriend at the time, James Hagan Glenn, has been set for August in Stone County Circuit Court. He is also charged with first-degree murder.
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