Dad charged in murder of 6-month-old son; mom had filed for child support three days before (Genesee County, Michigan)

The experts know this is the case, but it's not politically correct to say it out loud. You know why there's been a huge jump in child abuse fatalities since the economy tanked? It's not general parental frustration. It's moms sucking it up and taking low-paying service jobs at places like McDonald's, while the deadbeat felon dads--who are waaay too cool to work at, like, a job--have got themselves appointed "stay-at-home" daddies.

This is the result. These young, violent, and volatile men can't handle the "disrespect" that a crying infant causes, so they beat them up and kill them.

Dad LENSLEY MARTIN, JR. is the THIRD DAD IN THIS MICHIGAN COUNTY to kill an infant this year.

And notice that Daddy's aggravation was probably also roused by the fact that Mom was trying to get child support out of his lazy @$$.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2011/10/young_father_charged_in_death.html

Young father charged in death of 6-month-old third in Genesee County to be charged with murder in death of child

Published: Wednesday, October 05, 2011, 6:45 PM
By David Harris | Flint Journal The Flint Journal

MT. MORRIS TWP. — A young child dead. A young father charged with murder.

It’s become a chillingly familiar refrain this year.

Lensley E. Martin Jr., 18, became the third young father accused of killing a child under 3 in Genesee County this year when he was arraigned Wednesday on murder and child abuse charges in the Sept. 29 death of his 6-month-old son, Lensley Martin III.

Township police said they were called to a home on W. Cass Avenue near Summit about 11 a.m. that morning for a baby not breathing. Lensley was pronounced dead at a local hospital and the Genesee County Medical Examiner later ruled the death suspicious, police said.

Krystal Watson said she was at her home Sept. 29 on W. Cass Avenue in Mt. Morris Township when Martin came banging on her door, asking for a phone so he could call 911.

The man told her his baby was not breathing across the street. Watson, who said she has some CPR training, went over to the home and administered CPR but said she couldn’t resuscitate the boy.

"There was no hope for him," she said.

Hours after Martin was ordered held without bond in the Genesee County Jail in the death, funeral services were held for the baby.

Court records Wednesday did not indicate an attorney had been appointed for Martin.

The death came three days after the boy’s mother had filed a Sept. 26 court action to establish Martin’s paternity and begin collection of child support, according to court records.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton declined comment on specifics of the allegations against Martin.

Martin joins two other young Genesee County fathers who face murder charges in their child’s death.

Deangelo J. Henderson, 19, is charged with murder in the alleged shaking death of his 4-month-old daughter, Nahari, on Jan. 16 in Flint.

In July, Donovan Haynes, 20, was charged with murder in the death of his 2-year-old daughter Ti’Airra Woodward. Police said Haynes told them he bit and beat the girl because she had wet herself.

The director of a Flint-based advocacy center for abused children said teenage parents who abuse children may face more stress in their lives than others their age.

“You may still be trying to go to school, you’re trying to find a job, going to doctor’s appointments, these are extra (stress-levels) that can lead to abuse,” said Weiss Advocacy Center Director Jonquil Bertschi.

Bertschi said instances of violence are sometimes higher when involving younger men.

“One thing that has been shown is — with shaken baby cases at least — it’s normally younger people that are perpetrators and normally younger males that are perpetrators,” Bertschi said.

Cases of child abuse and neglect in Genesee County were twice the national average in 2009, with 20.6 of every 1,000 children compared to nine in every 1,000 children nationwide, said Bertschi.

Factors increasing the possibility of child abuse have increased, said Bertschi, including an evaluation of basic child care and the economy.

While working with children on a daily basis that have suffered sexual or physical abuse, witnessed a murder or hoping to find a place to live, Bertschi said stories like Lensley’s death still shake her to the core.

“They are awful,” she said. “You think you’ve heard the worst and then something else comes up and you say ‘oh my God’.”