Teenage girlfriend accuses dad of beating 2-year-old son to death during his visitation (Staten Island, New York)

We started reporting on this case just recently. Now it seems that Daddy's teenage girlfriend is saying she didn't abuse her boyfriend's 2-year-old son and kill him. That Dad DARRELL TAYLOR had been beating him before he left the child with her and headed off to work. While these two accuse and counter-accuse each other, we avoid the real question: why should a father get child visitation if all he does is dump the kid off on somebody else (nearly always another woman, it seems)? Why not just leave the children with their mothers and let them stick to their usual routine? That way you avoid the girlfriend/caretaker-of-the-week syndrome.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/11/26/2010-11-26_teen_babysitter_cuffed_in_death_of_si_tot_2.html?r=news

Teen baby-sitter cuffed in death of Staten Island 2-year-old Josiah Taylor; dad may also be charged
BY Jonathan Lemire
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, November 26th 2010, 4:00 AM

The Staten Island teenager who was baby-sitting her boyfriend's 2-year-old son when he died was arrested Thursday - and the child's father also could face charges, police sources said.

Josiah Taylor stopped breathing Tuesday afternoon and could not be revived after he was taken from the Mosel Ave. home of Cynthia Dubois to Staten Island University Hospital North.

Dubois, 18, admitted she shook Josiah but claims she did so only after the child stopped breathing, police said.

The city medical examiner ruled Josiah's death a homicide. Dubois, who was initially arrested for endangering the welfare of a child, could face additional charges, the police sources said.

The autopsy also revealed that Josiah had suffered injuries over an extended period of time.

Dubois blamed the boy's father, her boyfriend, whom she claimed had been beating the child, the sources said. Police were questioning the dad, 28-year-old Darrell Taylor, late yesterday.

Taylor told cops he was at work when the toddler lost consciousness, but investigators are trying to determine whether he - or another adult - previously injured the child, the sources said.

Dubois is to be arraigned today in Staten Island Criminal Court.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/11/26/2010-11-26_teen_babysitter_cuffed_in_death_of_si_tot_2.html#ixzz16naYCbp2