Woman Sentenced to Time Served in Death of Boy, 2

Eve Wingfield, who spent 21 months in prison after being wrongfully convicted in the death of 2-year-old Lance Helms, made what is expected to be her final court appearance in the case Friday.

Wingfield was released last year after a Los Angeles Police Department reinvestigation found evidence that pointed to David Helms--her former boyfriend and Lance’s father--who was later charged with child endangerment and murder.

“I’m pleased that Eve finally is going to be able to put this behind her and get on with her life,” said her lawyer, Michael E. Goodman. But he criticized prosecutors’ insistence that Wingfield plead guilty to a lesser charge.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t express a deep disappointment in the district attorney’s handling of this case,” he said. “It seems like this was about expediency all along.”

Under a previously arranged deal, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Michael Hoff sentenced Wingfield, 25, to the two years she has already served after she pleaded no contest to neglect.

Wingfield, who was charged with murder shortly after Lance’s death April 6, 1995, was initially sentenced to 10 years in prison on the advice of a public defender who persuaded her to plead guilty to child endangerment.

The lawyer made the recommendation based on testimony by county Medical Examiner James K. Ribe indicating that Lance had died of a beating 30 to 60 minutes after he had been in Wingfield’s care.

But when LAPD detectives reopened the case, they found that Ribe’s testimony was erroneous. Ribe revised the time of the fatal blows to a period when Lance was being watched by his father and Wingfield was out of the apartment.

Goodman said he understood Wingfield’s decision to accept the deal and avoid a second trial.

“In spite of her innocence, it’s a difficult choice to turn down a plea . . . with no jail time compared to going through a murder trial with the possibility of being sentenced to life in prison,” he said. “This is what makes the lack of justice in this case even more egregious.”