A Longmont woman who was found guilty of abusing and killing her 16-month-old foster child was sentenced to 40 years in prison Wednesday.
Cassidy Lemmon, 25, was found guilty by a Boulder County jury in July on two Class 2 felony counts of child abuse – knowingly/recklessly causing death and a Class 3 felony count of child abuse – negligence causing death.
Lemmon received 40 years for each of the two counts child abuse, but both sentences will run concurrently. The two counts will also run concurrently with a 15-year sentence for the child abuse – negligence causing death charge.
Boulder County Chief Trial Deputy District Attorney Fred Johnson requested the maximum sentence of 48 years. Lemmon’s defense attorney Brian Emeson requested the sentence on the lower end of range, the minimum being 20 years.
Emeson stated in court that the pre-sentence investigation recommended 30 years.
Lemmon spoke in front of Boulder District Court Judge Keith Collins Wednesday and said she wondered what life would be like if Boyles was still around.
“I loved Thomas with all my heart,” Lemmon stated. “Thomas, I love you, we all love you, I don’t know why life went this way. You will never be forgotten.”
Before sentencing Lemmon, Collins said he had been left questioning since the trial why Thomas had to die and how broken someone had to be to commit such “heinous acts.”
Collins said he did not sentence Lemmon to a maximum sentence because the mitigation showed how broken of a woman she was. More specifically, Collins pointed to abuse she endured in her childhood and her victimization from domestic violence.
“Violence is generational, it’s cyclical,” Collins said. “It gets passed from one generation to the next and I hope with my sentence it will be the last of this generation passing on violence.”
Collins also said that if the photos of Boyle’s injuries that were presented in court were put into a time lapse, it would be telling of what happened.
“I challenge you to find a day or three days where a bruise isn’t visible on him,” Collins said to Lemmon. “We see all these other bruises slowly over the time, you can see the life being sucked out of Thomas.”
‘She was so numb, so broken’
Following the sentence, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty released a statement.
“This defendant extinguished the life of a beautiful little boy,” Dougherty stated. “From the beginning of this case, the members of the Longmont Police Department and our prosecution team were determined to secure justice for Thomas. They did an outstanding job with this very tragic case; but for the incredibly hard work and skill of the detectives and the prosecution team, led by prosecutors Christine Rinke and Fred Johnson, this outcome would not have been possible. We are glad that the judge imposed this lengthy sentence for abusing and killing little Thomas.”
Johnson said one of the most aggravating factors of the case is that Lemmon lied throughout the investigation and trial, including when she was under oath. Johnson also pointed to the pattern of abuse that Lemmon committed and described it as “egregious” and “targeted.”
Johnson brought up three witnesses to address the court, one being Elizabeth Baumgarten who was the foster mother to Boyles prior to him being moved into Lemmon’s home.
“Thomas is not Cassidy’s only victim,” Baumgarten said. “This has been the hardest and deepest pain we have ever experienced. I wish I could’ve protected him beyond my home and I wish he could’ve been adopted by us if that’s what he needed. I think of what could’ve been, what should’ve been and then I think of what actually happened.”
Baumgarten, a nurse, said she had seen heartbreaking things in her life but had “never encountered this level of evil.”
Emeson said the sentencing should not be made based on emotions or passions but facts and information of the case. Emeson said the defense respected the jury’s verdict but said there was evidence on both sides of the case.
Emeson also highlighted Lemmon’s struggles with mental illness and said she contemplated suicide after the death of Boyles.
“She not emotionless,” Emeson said. “She was so numb, so broken.”
He continued, “She tried to avoid anything that would unearth the pain.”
Boyles’ death
At 5:47 p.m. April 22, 2019, Lemmon called 911 and said Boyles was unconscious and not breathing, according to the affidavit.
When first responders arrived on scene, Lemmon was performing CPR on Boyles on his lower torso that was described by some as “a little deep.”
According to the affidavit, forensic pathologist Dr. Meredith Frank determined the boy died as a result of blunt force injuries to the head and trunk. In addition, Frank noted the presence of some healed rib fractures.
On April 24, 2019, Boyles was pronounced dead.
Vincent Ray Johnson was the co-foster parent to Boyles and pleaded guilty in 2021 under the conditions that he would testify against Lemmon and serve a 12-year stipulated sentence.
During her testimony, Lemmon said on the day of the 911 call she witnessed Boyles run into a toy box and fall backwards. Lemmon then said Boyles vomited twice before being found unresponsive.
Lemmon’s attorneys argued that Boyles’ death was a result of his poor health. In their closing statements, they pointed to sepsis, chronic disseminated intravascular coagulation, pneumonia, thrombus, anemia, and herpes in the lungs as causes of his bruising and death.
The prosecutors on the case refuted the argument and said Boyles’ injuries, which included a lacerated liver, broken ribs, injury to the pancreas, spinal fracture and a large subdural hematoma, were too severe to be caused by natural health complications. The prosecutors argued in their closing statements that the jurors only needed common sense and life experience to see that this was a case of child abuse.
Lemmon’s defense pointed to her incorrect CPR and Johnson’s guilty plea of abuse as reasons for Boyles’ broken ribs and injuries. A number of the prosecutors’ expert witnesses said that CPR, performed correctly or incorrectly, can’t cause broken ribs.
