CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A St. Albans man will be sentenced in January after his 5-month-old baby was found unresponsive with methamphetamine in his system in June.
David Mallo, 27, pleaded guilty to three counts of child neglect and one count of being in possession of a controlled substance. He went before Judge Maryclaire Akers Wednesday for the plea hearing.
Akers gave him one final chance to back out of the plea.
David Mallo
“Once you’re done today, there’s really no going back, do you understand that?” Akers asked Mallo Wednesday. “Are you fully prepared to plead guilty today sir?”
Mallo said he was fully prepared to plead guilty to the one felony offense of child neglect and the three misdemeanor charges, which could be up to 11 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
He explained what happened that day on June 21 when police responded to the situation at a residence along Coal River Road in the St. Albans area.
“I messed up, but I was doing my best, taking care of three children as a single father,” Mallo said to Judge Akers. “I had some people come over to the house and I ended up relapsing.”
Mallo claimed that he took a nap and when he woke up he found his then 5-month-old son suffering from what he at the time believed to be a heat stroke, but was later determined to be a reaction to ingesting meth.
His son was first taken to CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital with a temperature of 105, and tested positive for the meth. Mallo said he was put on a ventilator and life flighted to Cabell-Huntington Hospital, but has since fully recovered.
Due to the state of the child, officers went to Mallo’s home for further investigation. They asked Mallo to perform a series of field sobriety tests to which he failed, showing clear evidence of impairment. They then located the suspected meth.
The misdemeanor charges were in relation to his two other children being in a potentially unsafe environment.
Akers clarified that all of the child neglect charges are related to all three of his children, and they would have been three felony charges, but were dropped to just one.
“Now, he is pleading guilty to the one felony, but he is not pleading guilty to the felonies for the other two, he’s pleading guilty to the lesser-included misdemeanors,” she said.
Mallo’s attorney, Bryan Escue argued Wednesday that his client has found placement in a rehabilitation facility and asked the court to allow him to post some kind of bond and order him to go to rehab.
Escue said Mallo’s parental rights are at stake and asked the court to show mercy in order to get his rights back.
“He didn’t argue about letting the state say what they want to say because he is taking full responsibility,” Escue said. “He had a drug problem, he was the only parent that these children had because the mother was an addict and gone.”
Mallo’s bond is currently set at $100,000. The state prosecuting attorney said that bond has also been consolidated with a bond from another previous offense which Mallo had against him involving being a prohibited person with a firearm.
Due to this, Akers rejected his request to go to rehab at this time.
“Mr. Escue I understand your arguments I just don’t think at this time I’m going to reduce the bond,” Akers said.
Mallo was convicted of Child Neglect Causing Serious Bodily Injury, two Counts of Child Neglect Creating a Substantial Risk of Bodily Injury, and Simple Possession of a Controlled Substance.
Mallo will be sentenced on Jan. 8 at 1:30 p.m.