Jury selection to begin in case tied to child's death

Francis Scarcella, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·2 min read

Apr. 12—SUNBURY — Jury selection was scheduled to begin this morning for a Sunbury woman accused of lying to authorities about her knowledge in the death of 3-year-old Arabella Parker.

Opening statements and testimony in the trial for Christy Willis, 51, who will appear in Northumberland County Court this morning, is slated to begin Wednesday.

Willis is accused of providing false and misleading statements to state police about Arabella, who state troopers say was beaten to death in October 2019 by Jahrid Burgess, 20, of Port Trevorton.

Arabella died Nov. 22, 2019, after spending 44 days at Geisinger Medical Center, in Danville.

Willis is Burgess's mother.

Through her attorney, William Cannon, Burgess attempted last month to get her $200,000 cash bail reduced but was denied by Northumberland County President Judge Charles Saylor.

Willis is also seeking a change of venue claiming coverage of the case by The Daily Item means she won't be able to get a fair trial in the county.

Saylor ruled a change of venue would not be discussed until after jury selection begins.

Willis has been incarcerated since Oct. 30, 2019. She spent 140 days in jail before the Supreme Court and Commonwealth Court ruled that because of COVID-19, all Rule 600 cases would be put on hold because no trials were permitted during the pandemic. Rule 600 is a law that affords a defendant the right to a trial within 180 days of their arrest.

Troopers say Burgess beat Arabella Parker so badly she needed to have part of her brain removed. The 3-year-old died several weeks later.

Arresting Trooper Brian Siebert said Willis lied in two different interviews, saying she was sitting at a kitchen table and Arabella was eating a sandwich before falling to the ground and having a seizure. Willis told troopers Arabella began to gasp for air, according to court documents.

Later during the interview, Willis told troopers she was not at the residence when Arabella began to have seizures, according to troopers.

Troopers listened to a 911 call from Willis to Northumberland County 911 and said she sounded, "cool, calm and collected," with no sense of urgency, according to court documents. District Attorney Tony Matulewicz said if Willis would have acted more quickly, Arabella may have had a chance to recover from her injuries.

Burgess is set for a court appearance on April 27 and Arabella's mother, Samantha Delcamp, 25, also of Trevorton, is set to appear before Saylor on April 23.

Burgess and Delcamp both face homicide charges. Matulewicz said Delcamp knew about the abuse and never reported it. Delcamp is charged as an accomplice.