Fayette County judge grants mother new trial in daughter’s death
Garrett Neese
A Uniontown woman who spent close to a decade in prison after the death of her 23-month-old daughter will receive a new trial.
Andrea Dusha, 35, was sentenced to nine to 19 years in prison after pleading no contest to third-degree murder in 2018. Dusha and Michael Wright Jr., 41, were both charged after police said their daughter Lydia weighed 10 pounds when she died of malnutrition and dehydration in 2016.
Dusha’s attorneys had argued for either dismissing the charges or a new trial in light of findings that Lydia’s weight had been significantly higher than the 10 pounds originally reported by forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht.
That weight, which Wecht later acknowledged was incorrect after a review by another pathologist, had been key to prosecutors’ cases against both parents.
Wright, who was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 15 to 40 years in prison, was granted a new trial in 2023, but the state attorney general’s office ultimately dismissed the third-degree murder charge. In exchange, Wright, formerly of Waynesburg, pleaded guilty to charges of child endangerment and reckless endangerment. The 41-year-old was sentenced to 3 ½ to 7 years in prison, but immediately released since he had been jailed for more than eight years.
The Fayette County district attorney’s office – not the state attorney general’s office – is handling Dusha’s case. County prosecutors have previously said they will not agree to dismiss the murder charge in her case because she acknowledged her role in the child’s death when she pleaded no contest.
At Tuesday’s appeal hearing, Dusha’s attorneys said the evidence they planned to introduce were essentially the same pieces that had led to Wright’s reduced sentence.
Fayette County Judge Linda Cordaro, who had also granted the new trial to Wright, said she didn’t see how she could rule differently in Dusha’s case without contradicting herself.
Dusha’s attorney Rob Perkins said there had not been any discussion with the district attorney’s office about whether they would accept a plea to a lesser charge. A message seeking comment from Assistant District Attorney Melinda Delarose was not returned.
Perkins said Tuesday’s ruling was a “necessary step in the right direction” toward clearing Dusha’s name.
“She’s gone through hell,” he said. “She’s served 10 years in state prison. She’s innocent of homicide, so there’s a lot of emotions. But she’s in a good mental space. She’s home now. She’s able to see her sons and trying to reestablish her life after 10 years, where she didn’t have the opportunity to be outside and be with her family.”
Outside the courthouse after Dusha’s hearing, Wright said he was working on reuniting his family, supporting Dusha, a Clarksville native, through her legal situation and finding forgiveness for people who had believed negative reports about him.
“Andrea and I just never had an opportunity to fight for ourselves correctly in Fayette County,” he said. “But now we are. Now you see what has happened. I’m free. She’s free.”
When Wright was asked about other evidence presented during his trial, such as the lack of doctor’s visits after her first four months, his attorney said he would not discuss specific details, citing the pending trial in Dusha’s case.
Wright said while they may have made mistakes as parents, none of them were criminal.
“We weren’t doing drugs, we weren’t doing crime,” he said. “We were parents doing what we’re supposed to do, and the system failed us. It can happen to anybody. It can happen to you.”