Slaying conviction appeal tossed
A federal petition filed by a Greene County man convicted of killing his daughter has been thrown out because he failed to pay a $5 filing fee for the appeal. Chad Willis Wynn, 28, was convicted of third-degree murder for shaking to death his 2 1/2-month-old daughter, Destiny Wynn, on Dec. 15, 2000, in Clarksville, Greene County.
A judge sentenced Wynn to serving 20 to 40 years in prison, and he has unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and sentence several times.
In his latest appeal, filed last week in federal court in Pittsburgh, Wynn claimed that his trial attorney was ineffective because he did not object to photos of Destiny Wynn’s body were introduced at trial.
Wynn also claimed that the judge should have precluded testimony about Chad Wynn’s abusive upbringing and anger-management issues, and that his attorney should have been able to question Wynn’s now-ex-wife about a Web site she ran.
But none of those claims now matter in the face of a ruling from Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan. In the Monday order, the jurist dismissed Wynn’s appeal because he did not pay the filing fee, or ask that he be certified indigent so he did not have to pay.
If Wynn wants to continue with the appeal, Pupo Lenihan indicated he would have to either pay the filing fee or ask the court to consider him indigent within 30 days.
Destiny Wynn died at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh after she was rushed there from a local hospital.
Testimony at Wynn’s trial showed that the baby was likely hit against something or hit with something and violently shaken.
Chad Wynn was the sole caretaker at the time Destiny Wynn was injured, according to testimony.
At trial, Wynn’s attorney intimated that Shanea Wynn, the girl’s mother, injured the baby.