Here are the six child homicide cases on South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley's desk

Jun. 29—PIERRE, S.D. — A cache of six child homicide cases are on South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley's desk this month.

Jackley told the Mitchell Republic that he doesn't remember in his 10-plus years of working as South Dakota's Attorney General ever seeing this number of child homicide cases at one time.

"It caused concerted pause," Jackley said.

The victims in each case were either injured by a parent, a family member or someone entrusted to care for the child. In all of the cases, the children were younger than 3 years old, according to Jackley.

The homicides occurred between 2015 and 2022, and the cases are in varying stages of prosecution.

Jackley said he wanted to take this opportunity to encourage the public to identify acts of child abuse and stop them before they escalate to acts of violence.

"The Attorney General's Office, local law enforcement, and local prosecutors continue to be vigilant in dealing with child homicide cases," Jackley said in a press release. "We encourage parents and those entrusted with the care of children to report suspicious activity that may be harmful to children and to remember that all children are precious and need to be protected."

Below are updates on five of the six cases. The sixth case is still being investigated in Brown County, but the arrest has not yet been made, South Dakota Attorney General's Office Communications Director Tony Mangan wrote in an email to the Mitchell Republic.

Shawn Delancey

Since his arrest on charges of murdering a child, and subsequent plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Shawn Delancey has requested a laundry list of relief materials.

The motion, filed on June 8, includes: requests for the prosecution to provide law enforcement reports, criminal procedure material, a production of the evidence of the case, a sequestering of the state's witnesses, a change of court venue, a motion to suppress the defendant's prior criminal history, a motion to suppress the use of photographs of himself and no jail clothing or shackles for Delancey.

Delancey was charged with murder of a child he was babysitting.

According to an arrest affidavit, Delancey violently shook the child, a 3-year-old, which resulted in life-threatening injuries, eventually leading to the child's death. Delancey is being charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and abuse/cruelty to a minor.

In May, Delancey pleaded not guilty to the counts by reason of insanity.

The requested witnesses included a pediatric medical expert, an autism expert and an expert psychiatric witness to ascertain the intelligence and mental state of Delancey. The defense estimated each expert would have an initial budget of $10,000.

The state's response to Shawn Delancey's motion requesting discovery of materials in the case was mixed. It had no objection besides a protective order to the law enforcement reports and production/preservation of evidence. The state did object to the request for change of venue, citing that the defendant failed to establish there was "prejudice in the minds of the county residents sufficient to raise a reasonable apprehension that the accused will not receive a fair and impartial trial."

The state also did not object to the defense's request for pediatric medical and autism experts.

Upon receiving the state's response to the requests, Delancey's defense filed a resistance, saying the state's motions "does not cite any authority which trumps the defendant's constitutional and statutory rights."

Presiding Judge Chris Giles tentatively set a jury trial for Delancey on Aug. 7.

Amanda Jean Walder

Amanda Jean Walder, who was arrested in connection with the death of a 17-month-old child at her in-home day care last July, has pleaded down from four charges to a single charge of manslaughter in the first degree, a Class C felony that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and/or a fine of $50,000.

When she was first arrested, Walder pleaded not guilty to the charges. She said she found the child with a severe head injury, one a forensic expert later found to have likely been caused by a violent shaking movement.

During an interview with a Division of Criminal Investigation agent, the agent told Walder that her version of the events did not add up.

To plead down to a single charge, Walder provided a statement of factual basis to the court, including an interview she had with investigators. Walder's guilty plea was "free and voluntary," the defense said in the statement.

In the statement, Walder admitted she had grown frustrated with the child, that she "reached [her] point" numerous times that day.

The state agreed to dismiss the murder, manslaughter and abuse/cruelty to a minor under 7 years old charges, and capped Walder's sentence at 50 years, with 20 years suspended "under conditions the Court deems appropriate."

Amanda Rose Hernandez

Amanda Rose Hernandez was charged with second-degree murder in connection to the death of her daughter in August 2019.

Since then, Hernandez has been in an ongoing legal battle with the state of South Dakota over the facts of the case. She alleges that she wasn't the one that inflicted harm on her child, but rather it was her 10-year-old son.

Hernandez was indicted on two counts of manslaughter in the first degree, one count of second degree murder, and a count of aggravated assault and abuse of/or cruelty to a minor.

Phillip Austin Delaney

Delaney is being charged with two counts of first degree manslaughter, second degree murder and aggravated battery of an infant. He was booked last September and pleaded not guilty. Delaney's defense counsel motioned to appoint a forensic pathologist.

The state filed a motion to compel written reports of any physical or mental examinations and of scientific tests or experiments made in connection with Delaney's case.

"When it comes to scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge, matters already get complicated enough," the state's motion read. " We should at least be playing on a level playing field."

Little of this case has been made publicly available due to a protective order regarding discovery motion made by the defense and signed by presiding Circuit Court Judge David Knoff to limit the sharing of materials relevant to the case to only be available to the defense counsel, an investigator or an expert witness.

Joseph Patterson

Joseph Patterson submitted a habeas corpus motion claiming that he received ineffective counsel, and that new scientific evidence about head trauma in children was not available at the time he was tried and convicted of second degree murder, first degree manslaughter and aggravated battery of 2-year-old Tyrese Ruffin in 2015. He was sentenced to life in prison for the second degree murder.

Circuit Court Judge John Pekas denied both claims of the request, saying Patterson did not meet the standard for claiming ineffective counsel, and that there was no new scientific evidence that would have affected Patterson's innocence.

"This defendant received a fair trial, was provided effective counsel, was convicted by a Lincoln County jury, and that verdict was upheld by the South Dakota Supreme Court," said Jackley, who was acting Attorney General when the Division of Criminal of Investigation and the Sioux Falls Police Department were actively investigating this case.