Man gets 2-3 years in MS death case

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) - William Masselink Jr., who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and second-degree adult abuse in the death of Amber Carey, was sentenced Monday afternoon and will spend two to three years in prison.

Carey's family doesn't feel the sentence is severe enough.

The 34-year-old died Feb. 23 after battling multiple sclerosis. She and Masselink, 45, lived together.

The complaint against Masselink was that he did not provide adequate nutritional, physical or medical care or that he purposefully failed to get her medical treatment. He was Carey's state-paid caregiver.

"She was very ill and she became weaker and weaker -- mentally and physically," said Joyce Carey-Lang, Amber's mother.

The Adult Protective Service complaints date back to 2004. Carey's mother filed at least one.

"(Masselink) had so much to hide," Carey-Lang said. "He didn't want to lose the money he was getting paid to take care of her, or the drugs that she was being given for her condition."

But investigators said Carey didn't want to leave. Her family believes that's because she was questioned in front of Masselink and because her condition affected her stability.

"I believe after awhile, a person just gets -- they take someone's mind when someone becomes so weak," Carey-Lang said.

On Nov. 19, 2009, a doctor examined Carey and advised she be placed in a nursing home. After that day, she and Masselink disappeared.

One month later, a judge ruled Carey should be placed under the guardianship of the state. But the pair remained missing, which prompted Grand Haven police and Adult Protective Services to work to find Carey and Masselink.

Investigators received an order to search Carey-Lang's home, and the couple's residence in Grand Haven. But there was no sign of the pair.

Police set up surveillance and finally picked up on a lead: they saw Masselink traveling to and from his parents' house.

In an entry dated Feb. 12, Adult Protective Services wrote a judge declined to rewrite an order allowing police to enter that residence. But the judge said he never received that request, and handed over the court file on the case.

Police say the judge may be splitting hairs -- and that during an informal conversation, they did ask the judge for permission to enter Masselink Sr.'s home, but the judge told them there wasn't enough evidence.

"The detective is the one who told me that," Carey-Lang said. "He said that if we could have got her back in December, when he was trying to get her -- he said there was no doubt in his mind that she would be alive today."

Informal conversations do happen, the judge said, but he doesn't recall one in this case. If police wanted to enter the home, he said, they should have submitted a formal request.

Three days after that entry was made, Marilyn Masselink called 911 from 1425 Woodlawn Commons -- the home where police thought Carey was -- reporting Carey was having difficulty breathing.

An ambulance responded and eight days later, Carey was pronounced dead. A few days before, Carey-Lang got to see her daughter.

"Her teeth had begun to decay," Carey-Lang said. "She had a broken nose. She was just so frail. She looked like she was about 80 years old."

In the end, Masselink thought he loved Carey, and said that in court at his sentencing.

Although Carey's family hasn't found justice, they still hope for change. Watch the video for Leon Hendrix's full report.