HONESDALE -- A Honesdale man has been sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison for one count of felony strangulation, stemming from a 2019 incident.
On April 15, 2019, Honesdale Boorough Police and Wayne County Detectives conducted an investigation into injuries suffered by a small child at a home on West Street in Honesdale.
Dustin Hazen, 28, was the prime custodian of the 18-month-old victim,who sustained injuries requiring immediate medical attention at Wayne Memorial Hospital.The injuries were noted as multiple contusions, abrasions, and lacerations all over the child’s body, mostly on his face and head.
When Hazen was questioned about what had happened he said “he saw nothing” and “he may have bumped his head on toys in the play pen because that is where he spent most of his time”. In addition to those statements, Hazen also offered several times that “the baby had only thrown up but otherwise he was fine.”
Hazen eventually admitted that he had got mad that the baby had thrown up and that he had strangled the baby. Tragically, the baby died several months after the attack but the autopsy report could not conclusively link the assault by Hazen to the child’s eventual death.
District Attorney Howell expresses his gratitude to law enforcement for giving a voice to this young child who suffered at the hands of the Defendant.