Few details emerge about suspect, victim, family

By Jennifer Nitson
Gazette-Times reporter

Few details have emerged surrounding the death of a Corvallis toddler.

Shawn Wesley Field, 33, has been charged with murder in the death of Karla "Karly" Isabelle Ruth Sheehan.

"There's still more work on some of the details and the investigation, and we want to make sure we can hold Mr. Fields accountable," said Corvallis Police Capt. Ron Noble. "In a homicide case, we're extremely thorough. We're talking abut charging somebody and sending them to prison for life."

Police have not disclosed exactly what caused 3-year-old Karly's death Friday afternoon. An autopsy showed the girl died from head injuries and brain trauma, Noble said.

Father John Henderson of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Corvallis said the girl's father is a member of St. Mary's, and often brought Karly, his only child, to Mass with him. The girl was baptized at the church. Her funeral will take place at St. Mary's at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Field is Karly's mother's boyfriend. He has been charged in Benton County Circuit Court with two counts each of murder and endangering the welfare of a minor; and one count of manufacture and delivery of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school. He is being held without bail in the Benton County jail.

Field has no criminal history, according to the state's judicial computer database. Police said he lived with his 9-year-old daughter in a rented duplex at 2652 N.W. Aspen St. and that Karly and her mother moved in last fall.

According to the Oregon State University registrar's office, Field is a senior in business administration. He was not enrolled for spring term at OSU, but had signed up for summer and fall-term courses. The OSU Web site shows Field made the honor roll in the liberal arts department in 1999.

Field's neighbor at the duplex, Naomi Hirsch, said said her next-door neighbor moved in about a year ago. She guessed that there might be drug activity, but she said she never had any evidence that made her call the police.

Hirsch said she heard arguing through the wall that separated his part of the duplex from hers, but the arguments never seemed violent, so she ignored them.

Now, hearing that a child has died, Hirsch said she wishes she had paid closer attention to the goings-on next door

"It's the responsibility of the neighbor. If there's something going on, I should report it," she said.

Karly's mother, whose name along with the girl's father's name has not been disclosed by police, called 911 shortly before 2 p.m. Friday to report that her child was having trouble breathing.

She performed CPR on the child until a Corvallis police officer arrived. The officer then attempted CPR on the child. She was taken to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Police reported finding marijuana growing in the home but have not disclosed how many plants or what paraphernalia might have been found.

Social workers from the state Department of Human Services and Corvallis police had been called for welfare checks on Karly a couple times in the last two years at different addresses, Noble said, but no evidence of abuse was found.

Note: Karla "Karly" Isabelle Ruth Sheehan's name was incorrectly noted in Tuesday's front-page story. The newspaper

regrets the error.

Gazette-Times reporters Theresa Hogue and Carol Reeves

contributed to this report.