UPDATE: After Pleading Guilty To The 1st Degree Murder & Rape Of His Girlfriend's 2 Year Old Son Chayson Colley, Jake J. Musga Is Sentenced To 50 Years To Life In Prison

April 3, 2013

A Tacoma man claiming his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son was a rambunctious child who bruised easily has been charged with murdering and raping the toddler.

The child died Saturday after Jake Joseph Musga, 19, babysat him for a girlfriend he met in rehab, according to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and first-degree rape today in Pierce County Superior Court and is being held in jail on $2 million bail.

An autopsy revealed that at the child’s time of death, the toddler had a blood alcohol level of .12 and “injuries too numerous to count,” including injuries consistent with the penetration of an object, according to court papers.

Charging papers say Musga told police that he was babysitting the toddler for his girlfriend while she went out to celebrate her birthday. Musga said the child had sustained accidental injuries on March 28 and seemed to be getting more bruised and withdrawn on Friday.

While responsible for watching the toddler Friday night, Musga told police he had a drink with vodka in it that the child may have consumed while he briefly stepped out of the room. Musga said later that night, the child fell out of bed and only realized when putting his hand on the toddler’s chest that he wasn’t breathing.

Someone who saw Musga out in the apartment lobby crying and holding the child called 911, court papers say, but it was too late to save his life.

Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said Musga is facing 22-30 years for the murder charge and 10-14 years for the rape charge. But Lindquist says, given the vulnerability of the victim, he may end up asking for an exceptional sentence that could put Musga away for life.

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TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A 19-year-old man has been charged in Tacoma, Wash., with first-degree murder and child rape in the death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old son.

Pierce County prosecutors say Jake Musga was arraigned Wednesday and a not guilty plea was entered for him. Bail was set at $2 million.

Court documents say Musga was babysitting Chayson Colley when he sought help early Saturday after finding the child not breathing.

The News Tribune reports that at a hospital where the boy died, doctors found the child had bleeding in his brain and stomach, a collapsed lung and a blood-alcohol level of .12. That's higher than the legal limit for drivers in Washington.

Detectives say Musga told them Chayson was a rambunctious boy who bruised easily. Court documents say Musga also said the boy might have gotten hold of a vodka-cola drink the man made for himself last Friday night.

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Yet another bf babysitting. These dumb girls are bringing in these idiots into their lives and trusting them. Makes me sick!

September 9, 2013

TACOMA, WA – Today Jake J. Musga, 19, pleaded guilty to Murder in the First Degree and Rape of a Child in the First Degree in the death of his girlfriend's two-year-old son, C.C. His guilty plea also acknowledged the crimes warrant an exceptional sentence. The defendant's standard range sentence is 22 years to life, but the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office will be asking the judge to sentence the defendant to 60 years to life. The court set the sentencing hearing for November 21, 2013.

"Nothing shocks the conscience more than the murder of a child," said Prosecutor Mark Lindquist. "We are asking the court for the functional equivalent of a life-sentence."

On March 30, 2013, at approximately 4:00 a.m., a 911 caller reported that the defendant was in the lobby of the Commencement Terrace apartment complex holding a badly bruised young boy who was not breathing. A witness called 911. Tacoma Police and Fire responded to the apartment complex and transported C.C. to a trauma center. Medical staff noted C.C. was in "major shock" and his condition was "catastrophically bad." Bruised from head to toe, the child had a blood alcohol level of 0.12. He showed no significant brain activity, and was pronounced dead later that day.

As part of his plea, the defendant admitted he murdered the 2-year old boy because he was mad the child had urinated on him. An autopsy revealed that C.C. suffered injuries too numerous to count, but there were specific fatal blows to the head and torso. The Medical Examiner stated the injuries were consistent with abuse. C.C. also suffered significant internal and external injuries to the rectum consistent with penetration by an object.

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November 21, 2013

Those seeking to understand why Jake Musga did what he did to 2-year-old Chayson Colley in a Tacoma apartment earlier this year left Pierce County Superior Court on Thursday unsatisfied.

Neither Musga nor his attorneys nor prosecutors nor the judge nor Musga himself were able to explain why the 19-year-old man beat and beat and beat his live-in girlfriend's son until the boy's skin was covered with bruises and his brain and internal organs were injured beyond repair.

Of course, what possible reason could Musga have had for killing a toddler who looked up to him as a daddy figure?

Musga told investigators he "lost it" after Chayson urinated on him as he changed the boy's diaper on March 29, but Judge Bryan Chushcoff said Thursday Musga's reaction exceeded a person's capacity to understand.

Musga, who previously pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Chayson's death, also admitted he sexually assaulted the child and pleaded to first-degree child rape as well.

"It is strange to have the number of blows that must have rained down on this child in a short amount of time," Chushcoff said during Musga's sentencing hearing. "Whatever anger motivated Mr. Musga was not abated for hours and hours. Chayson, of course, was too young to understand all this. But he certainly would have understood fear. He certainly would have understood pain, and he certainly understood that this was not stopping."

For that, Chushcoff said, Musga deserved a sentence above the standard range of 21 years, nine months to 29 years, 11 months in prison. The judge imposed one: 50 years to life.

Musga must serve most of the 50 years before being eligible to ask the state's Indeterminate Sentence Review Board to release him from prison. That board could keep him incarcerated forever if its members decide he's not ready to rejoin society at that point.

It was a long sentence for a young man, but deputy prosecutors Angelica Williams and Jared Ausuerer had asked for more. They wanted 60 years to life.

Williams called what happened to Chayson "an atrocious crime" that was tantamount to torture and said Musga deserved "each and every minute" of her recommended sentence.

She displayed a PowerPoint presentation during her argument. It include photographs of the boy's battered body and the bloody scene inside the apartment where he was beaten.

"Chayson Colley literally was beaten from head to toe," Williams said.

The boy's grandmothers - Bobbye Jones and Cathy Colley - took turns addressing Chushcoff. They described their grandson as a loving mischievous boy who loved to run and play trucks and carve pumpkins.

"He was the star of our family," said Cathy Colley, who asked for a sentence of 120 years.

Laura Colley, Chayson's mother, then addressed the court. Colley met Musga in a substance-abuse rehabilitation program last year, and they moved in together in February upon leaving the program.

Musga, who was unemployed, looked after Chayson while Colley worked. She planned to leave her son with Musga overnight for the first time March 29 so she could go out to celebrate her birthday.

"My life has been forever changed by Jake Musga," she told Chushcoff. "He took my son, who was the best part of me."

Laura Colley said her son seemed to love Musga.

"Jake had always promised to protect us no matter what the cost," she said. "To give Chayson the father that he had always deserved. Chayson trusted Jake, and that night Jake betrayed that trust."

Musga's mother, Janet, then read a letter from her family into the record.

"Nothing like this should have happened to any of our families," Janet Musga said. "We, the Musga family, would like to say we're extremely sorry, and we would like to ask you for forgiveness and mercy for Jake's actions."

The defendant's attorney, Richard Warner, spoke on Musga's behalf.

Warner said Musga deserved a standard-range sentence of 25 years to life. Musga, who said he was drinking the night of the attack and blacked out, has gotten sober and is a different person, the attorney said.

"There are no excuses, your honor, but Mr. Musga does want to take responsibility," Warner said. "We would like the court to give him the opportunity to one day show he has learned from this horrific mistake."

Musga then stood up to speak for himself.

He said he knew no words from him would bring peace to those who loved Chayson but that he felt compelled to try.

"Chayson's was an innocent life that was taken away," he said. "I just want everyone to know how truly sorry I am. I would trade my life for his back without hesitation."

He went on.

"I don't know why I thought I could take care of a young child when I can barely take care of myself. Mixing alcohol and baby-sitting was completely irresponsible of me, especially when I am not even old enough to drink," Musga said. "I did things I'd never do with a sober mind, but it did happen and the damage is done. It seems like a nightmare that never ends, and I know it must be worse for the families."

He then asked for forgiveness.

Chushcoff, as is customary, had the last word.

"Certainly, when one is intoxicated one is putting not only oneself at risk but anyone having to deal with them," the judge said. "That was a choice he made."


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The judge said it ALL!!