Mount Vernon man pleads guilty to manslaughter, abuse of minor in 2023 death of 3-year-old boy
Sep. 12—MITCHELL — A Mount Vernon man pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Sept. 11, to charges of abuse of or cruelty to a minor and second-degree manslaughter related to the death of a 3-year-old boy in 2023.
Shawn Delancey, 36, pleaded guilty to the two charges as part of a plea agreement in front of First Circuit Court Judge Chris Giles in Mitchell. Delancey will be sentenced in December.
The maximum penalty for abuse or cruelty to a minor, a Class 3 felony, is 15 years in the state penitentiary and a $30,000 fine. A Class 4 felony carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in the state penitentiary and a $20,000 fine.
According to court documents, prosecutors agreed to the recommendation that the sentences be served concurrently, or at the same time.
In the plea agreement, Delancey admitted that he did shake and recklessly cause the traumatic brain injury and death of 3-year-old Mahlon Pollard, of Letcher, on March 14, 2023.
In an affidavit from April 2023, law enforcement authorities said Delancey was babysitting the boy at Delancey's house. The child was upset and acting out, Delancey said, so he attempted to give the child a bath. When the child continued to be upset, Delancey said he was frustrated and grabbed the child by his chest and shook him violently to calm him down. The boy later died at a Sioux Falls hospital as a result of the injuries.
Assistant attorneys general Lindsey Quasney and Alexis Tracy from the South Dakota Attorney General's Office and Davison County Deputy State's Attorney Bob O'Keefe represented the county in the plea agreement. Delancey is represented by Mitchell defense attorneys Chris Nipe and Zach Flood.
In May 2023, Delancey had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity against second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter charges. A jury trial was previously scheduled for December.
