Dad who killed 17-month-old daughter had previous record of child abuse (Bossier City, Louisiana)

LANCE THAMM is another one of those "frustrated" daddies who killed the baby for crying. But notice that this guy is a two-time loser. He severely injured a 12-month-old son back in 2003. Yet just five years after that, Daddy is "babysitting" when he obviously never should have been allowed around kids again.

By the way. The case of murdered child Celeste Lowe? This involved custodial dad WESLEY LOWE, another man who NEVER should have received custody. See our previous post here:

http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2011/02/death-of-child-at-hands-of-father-step.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2011/02/missed-opportunities-with-murdered-5.html

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20110727/NEWS03/107270336/Isabella-Thamm-not-first-victim-Lance-Thamm?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

Isabella Thamm not first victim of Lance Thamm
6:20 AM, Jul. 27, 2011

Written by Alison Bath

Isabella Thamm was just 17 months old when she died.

On a January morning in 2008, her 34-year-old father — aggravated by her crying — took Isabella's head and slammed it into a doorjamb at the family's Bossier City apartment, according to court records.

Isabella suffered severe head trauma and died four days later.

Her father, Lance Thamm, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in November and was sentenced to life in prison.

"I don't know," said Thamm, during a 2008 interview with police, of why he injured his daughter. "I was just really frustrated."

Isabella is one of at least 201 Louisiana children who have died in the last six years of abuse or neglect.

Nationwide, Louisiana ranks in the top 12 states in the country for child abuse deaths, the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths reports.

In the same year Isabella died, 35 other children throughout the state also were killed by abusers or died of neglect. Five of those children, including 6-year-old She'Je'Berne Small, lived in the four-parish area near Shreveport-Bossier City. So far this year, one local child — 5-year-old Celeste Lowe — has died as a result of suspected abuse.

Her step-mother, Catherine Murray Lowe, remains jailed in Bossier Parish charged with first-degree murder.

As it turns out, Isabella wasn't the first child Lance Thamm hurt.

In 2003, Thamm was living in Texas with Isabella's mother, Vanessa Ferris, when he severely injured the couple's 12-month-old son by squeezing and throwing him.

The boy suffered a broken collar bone and ribs, and spinal injuries.

Thamm was convicted of injuring a child and sentenced to two years in prison. The couple lost custody of their son, who was placed in the care of an aunt.

Yet five years later Thamm again was taking care of a child while her mother was away.

Read more about Isabella's story and those of other Louisiana abused children online.

As part of an ongoing investigation into child abuse.

The Times is featuring slideshow presentations about some of the children who have died of abuse or neglect.