Dad charged with murder in death of 18-month-old daughter (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Dad DAVID CHAMBERS is now being charged with murder in the death of his 18-month-old daughter, who died from severe head trauma.

Note all the children that have been dying in the Cincinnati area, and how many involve dads (highlighted in bold). Probably unemployed, caretaking dads, given how bad the economy still is in Ohio. And all those head trauma/shaken baby injuries? Studies show the majority of perpetrators are dads followed by boyfriends.

http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/New-Charges-Against-Father-of-Murdered-Toddler/7ESZj25M30mrLv9s8Lj-0w.cspx

New Charges Against Father of Murdered Toddler

Last Update: 5:35 pm

A man whose 18 month old daughter died after suffering severe head trauma now faces new, upgraded charges.

The Adams County prosecutor filed murder charges late Friday afternoon against 21 year old David Chambers. Chambers was arrested Wednesday night at the hospital where his daughter Lakaylee was being treated. She died on Thursday.

Lakaylee was flown to Children's Hospital on Tuesday from Manchester in Adams County. Paramedics were called to a home in the 900 block of Cemetery Street around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday for a report of a child having seizures after falling down some stairs. When rescue crews arrived, they found the girl had severe head trauma. She was unconscious and not breathing, but paramedics were able to revive her.

Investigators now believe the child may have suffered her injuries as the results of abuse.

Chambers was originally charged with child endangering but that charge has now been dropped in favor of the new, more serious charge. A judge set Chamber's bond this afternoon at one million dollars. He's held in the Adams County jail.

In the meantime, a funeral for Lakaylee has been set for Monday at the Wilson Funeral Home in Manchester. Visitation will be held from 12-2 p.m. and the funeral will follow. A fund has also been set up to help with those expenses at the First State Bank in Manchester.

More severe child abuse cases at Cincinnati Children's Hospital

It's been a tragic week for local children. Two are dead and another seriously injured. The suspects in all three cases are the parents.

All over the country, people are blaming the bad economy on an increase in child abuse. So what's going on here?

Local 12's Joe Webb spoke with workers at Children's Hospital today, where many of the children injured in these cases go for treatment.

Doctors are seeing a lot of abuse patients. They want prevention. Some other just want justice.

James Lyons is facing a murder charge for whatever led to his son Jaden's death last weekend. David Chambers was originally charged with child endangering in the death of his 18-month daughter Lakaylee. Bradley Bisher and Heather Childress face child endangering charges for injuries to 15-month-old Louella Childress.

At Children's Hospitals Mayerson Center, Dr. Kathi Makoroff hasn't run the numbers but know they're seeing more serious injuries. "We've seen an increase in the number of children with broken bones. Lots of broken bones. Lots of bruises all over the body. Our number of children with abusive head trauma is up from last year," says Dr. Makoroff.

Laura Keel knows all about abusive head trauma. Seven years ago her son Austin was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. The suspect, the boy's father was never charged because of a lack of evidence. She says Austin has the brain function of a six-month-old. "It's not just that these children are injured and then a year or two from now their lives are normal his whole. He'll be like this the rest of his life," says Laura.

Watching the events of this week, Laura just hopes for justice. "There's not a stiff enough penalty for these people out here abusing kids. My son's serving a lifetime sentence right now."

By far, most of the abusers in these cases are family members, acquaintance or caregivers. Doctors say because of that, prevention is key and is possible. They suggest that every time you leave your child with someone, you specifically let them know, if the child starts crying and can't be consoled, walk away, leave the child alone, don't get angry and most importantly give them permission to call you to come get the child if that's the case.

The Children's Hospital in Columbus released information earlier this month that shows fatalities from child abuse more than doubled last year. There were five fatal abuse cases in 2007 and 12 in 2008. Child abuse head trauma - which includes shaken baby injuries - jumped from 24 to 43. Overall abuse cases went up 27 percent between 2007 and 2008. They're up another 15 percent through July of this year.