Man convicted 3 times in death of girl vows to win on fourth appeal

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - A Baltimore City man convicted three times in the death of his girlfriend’s daughter vowed to win on a fourth appeal Monday.

“I will be back on appeal,” Erik Stoddard, 27, told Circuit Judge Kaye Allison, who sentenced him to 40 years in prison.

Stoddard was convicted in May of child abuse resulting in death and involuntary manslaughter in the beating death of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter, Calen Dirubbo.

At Monday’s sentencing, both Stoddard and the young girl’s mother proclaimed his innocence, but several family members and prosecutor Julie Drake asked Allison to give him a maximum sentence.

“In this courthouse, we deal with far too many killings, and too many of them look the same,” the judge said. “The killing in this case looks like no other.”

On June 15, 2002, Calen Dirubbo was pronounced dead at her home in Northeast Baltimore, prosecutors said. Calen died as a result of multiple beatings, and the fatal blow severed her bowel, according to prosecutors, who said they proved Stoddard — who lived with Calen and her mother — was the only adult with the girl when the fatal blow occurred.

Stoddard was twice convicted of second-degree murder. But after each conviction, judges intervened — agreeing with Stoddard’s attorney’s arguments that technical violations voided his convictions.

Drake said Calen’s mother, who was never charged, did nothing to stop the abuse.

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com

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