Step accused of killing daughter of custodial dad; why is daddy's history in this being covered up? (Benton, Louisiana)

Perfect examples of three well-known Dastardly Dad axioms: 1) Daddy's custodial status will be conveniently "forgotten" by the time the case goes to trial; 2) There will not be a single word about the circumstances that led to Daddy getting or keeping custody; and 3) And it will all be blamed on a woman if possible.

Read our posts from last February, and you'll learn about all the local corruption/incompetence that allowed dad WESLEY LOWE to gain/retain custody despite a history of domestic violence.

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.ktbs.com/news/29453345/detail.html

Plea offered to woman accused of killing step-daughter

POSTED: 2:55 pm CDT October 11, 2011
UPDATED: 6:31 pm CDT October 11, 2011

BENTON -- Charges against Catherine Lowe, the Bossier Parish woman accused of beating her 5-year-old step-daughter to death, were reduced Tuesday from first-degree to second-degree murder. And prosecutors presented a plea offer: Plead guilty to manslaughter and be sentenced to 40 years in prison.

The move by prosecutors comes six months after they decided not to seek a death sentence against the 34-year-old Lowe, saying there was more circumstantial than direct evidence linking her to Celeste Lowe's death.

Lowe, of Elm Grove, was rearraigned Tuesday in Bossier District Court and again denied causing Celeste's death. If she refuses the plea offer, her trial will be Feb. 13. She faces life in prison without parole if convicted of second-degree murder.

Her husband, Wesley, is charged with negligent homicide and faces trial along with his wife. Prosecutors say he he didn't get help for his daughter soon enough when he saw she had been injured.

Celeste, a kindergarten student at Elm Grove, suffered horrific injuries in a beating at home this past January, prosecutors said.

Marvin said the child's injuries were inflicted the afternoon before she died. Her father came home from work that evening, ate supper and was called back to work in the gas fields. He returned home in the middle of the night to find Celeste asleep at the foot of his bed -- which was out of the ordinary, Marvin said.

When the family woke the following morning, Celeste was so weak she could not walk on her own but wasn't taken to the doctor, Marvin said.

Investigators said Lowe took Celeste to the day care center where she worked, and co-workers said the child needed medical attention. Lowe took Celeste home, where the father saw his daughter's condition and took her to the hospital, investigators said. Celeste died before she got to the hospital.