Parkland man sentenced in connection to domestic violence call, assault of deputies
A man accused of assaulting a sibling, sheriff’s deputies and a police dog at his Parkland home has been sentenced.
A Pierce County jury convicted 23-year-old Demecies Dayton Craver of two counts of third-degree assault and one count of harming a police dog, fourth-degree assault and violating a no-contact order last month.
Superior Court Judge Diana Lynn Kiesel sentenced Craver to a year in prison for the first three charges and a year in the Pierce County Jail for the others Friday.
He’s already served that time but was ordered held without bail pending sentencing in a separate case.
Police responded to Craver’s home Dec. 21, 2019 after his mother reported that he assaulted his 6-year-old, developmentally delayed sister.
Charging papers alleged he was under the influence of a drug, shoved the girl, took a bottle of soda from her, called her stupid and followed her and their mother as the mother called 911, The News Tribune reported.
“Upon arrival, the defendant’s mother answered the door and explained that the defendant had assaulted his sister and gone to the mother’s bedroom to attempt to retrieve a shotgun she keeps under her bed,” the declaration for determination of probable cause said. “The defendant then appeared at the door and both deputies attempted to take the defendant into custody.”
Deputies used Tasers, pepper spray, hair holds and a neck restraint as they struggled with Craver, charging papers said.
The deputies called for help, and 25-year-old Pierce County sheriff’s Deputy Cooper Dyson fatally crashed his patrol car on his way to the scene as he responded.
When a deputy with a police dog arrived at Craver’s home, K-9 Zepp jumped on Craver’s chest and Craver put Zepp in a headlock and laid on top of him, charging papers said.
Craver’s mother wrote the court to ask for leniency on her son’s behalf, explaining that he’d never been mean to his sister before that day and that he’s taken responsibility for his actions.
The mother described how Craver has helped raise his sister and how the family has missed spending time with him.
He’s a loving brother, the letter said, who worked nights when he was 21 so that he could care for his sister during the day. He helped with household projects and expenses, and once built a fire pit to roast marshmallows with his sister. She constantly asks about her brother and when he’s coming home, their mother told the court.
Craver is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in his separate case, in which jurors convicted him of third-degree assault and felony harassment. Charging papers in that case accused him of choking a woman in his home in September 2019.
She also wrote the court last year, asking that Craver get counseling for past trauma, that he not serve further jail time, and that “he deserves another opportunity in life just not with me.”
