EVERETT, Wash. -- A Puyallup man who admitted to supplying drugs
that killed a 16-year-old girl has been sentenced to more than two
years in prison.
Twenty-one-year-old David Morris pleaded guilty to controlled
substance homicide, a felony, in the overdose death of Danielle
McCarthy, of Puyallup. He admitted he supplied Ecstasy to McCarthy
on New Year's Eve 2006.
Morris appeared in Snohomish County Superior Court on Wednesday.
Before learning his fate he listened to the emotional word of
McCarthy's grieving family members.
"It's like something cut us in half...and everyone can see," said
mother Lisa McCarthy. "they say it gets easier with time. I don't
know who 'they' are. It doesn't get easier. You just get better at
hiding the pain."
Danielle died after a night of partying with her friends more than
two years ago, but several questions remain unanswered. For
instance, it remains a mystery why Morris did not do anything sooner
to help the teen. Danielle was already dead by the time she was
finally rushed to the hospital after taking two tablets of Ecstacy.
"There were so many points along the way when her life could have
been saved," said Judge Ellen Fair on Wednesday.
Danielle's father said he lives with that troubling point every day.
"Danielle is the first thing I think of when I wake up, the last
thing I think about when I go to bed at night. But everything in
between is how she died," said Patrick McCarthy.
After hearing to the painful words of Danielle's parents, Morris
made a tearful apology to the family.
"Not a day goes by when I don't think about what happened and the
loss of Danielle," he said.
Morris was granted an alternative sentence for drug offenders.
In addition to his prison sentence, Morris will be under community
supervision for more than two years and be required to undergo drug
treatment. If he fails to meet all the requirements of treatment,
he'll be sent back to prison to finish out the remainder of his
sentence. Once out of prison, he will also have to serve 30 months
of community service.
Morris, who has been out of custody, was ordered jailed immediately.
He is expected to remain in the Snohomish County Jail in Everett
during the trial of co-defendant Donalydia Huertas. The 18-year-old
woman from Puyallup is expected to go on trial next week.
Prosecutors say Huertas bought the drugs from Morris and gave them
to McCarthy. She is charged with first-degree manslaughter and
controlled substance homicide. She has refused to take the guilty
plea.