Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 28-year-old Heather Schoepflin of Delevan has been sentenced by Marilla Town Justice David Wyzykowski to one year in jail.

On March 10, 2017, at a mobile home park on Hemstreet Road in the Town of Marilla, the defendant failed to seek medical care for her 2-year-old son. The toddler, Ethan Bigham, suffered visible bruising and other injuries while under the care of his babysitter Devon VanDerWege.

In May 2018, VanDerWege received a determinate sentence of 20 years in prison for the crime of Manslaughter in the First Degree.

Schoepflin pleaded guilty to one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class “A” misdemeanor, in August 2018. She pleaded guilty, as charged, to the highest sustainable count.

“This defendant could have sought medical care for her little boy, but chose to ignore the visible injuries he had suffered. I hope that everyone affected by this tragedy feels that justice has been served by Ms. Schoepflin receiving the maximum possible sentence for this crime,” said Erie County District Attorney John Flynn.

DA Flynn commends the investigative work of Detectives Cully Ferrick, Jon Hanna, Christian Parisi, and Jack Graham of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Anthony M. Rossi of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau.