Revolting. The MAJORITY of murders in Hamilton County involved child victims. And most of those "alleged" killers were the children's own fathers.
http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20111105/NEWS010701/111060364/Child-killings-take-toll?odyssey=nav%7Chead
Child killings take toll
Horrific cases leave scars on those who deal with aftermath
5:33 AM, Nov. 6, 2011
Written by Kimball Perry
Four of the seven capital murder cases being prosecuted by Hamilton County have children as victims:
Thomas Huge, 46 - Accused in the Sept. 7, 2010, asphyxiation death of his 15-month-old daughter, Kayli Bates, at their Springfield Township home. The child's body also showed evidence of abuse while she was alive. She was living with Huge and her 2-year-old sister because their mother was in prison. His trial is set for Feb. 6.
Lionell Dangerfield, 27 - The son of Christopher Dangerfield (below) is accused of killing 3-month-old Zhi Merah Binford. Dangerfield was the boyfriend of Chania Binford, the girl's mother. The girl died May 30, 2010. His trial is set for Jan. 20.
Christopher Dangerfield, 49 - Father of Christopher Dangerfield (above), he is accused of killing Tyrese Short, his 3½-year-old son, in a Dec. 28, 2010, incident in the child's Walnut Hills home. The boy had been badly burned, had recently broken a leg and told a baby sitter his dad punched him in the stomach. His trial is set for Jan. 20.
Antrone Smith, 29 - Accused of beating or stomping his 2-year-old son, Damarcus Jackson, to death Oct. 21 at the Walnut Hills home they shared with Latricia Jackson and four other children. His trial date has yet to be set.
Hamilton County's Department of Job & Family Services was involved with all four children - placing them in foster car or providing them or their families services - before their deaths.
Note: Two other capital murder cases are pending in Hamilton County, but they are retrials for only the penalty phase. The guilt or innocence is not in question for David Steffen and Rayshawn Johnson. Both were sentenced to death but had their sentences - not their convictions - overturned on appeal.
Little Kayli Bates' life ended when she was smothered to death - at 15 months of age.
Tyrese Short, 3½, and Damarcus Jackson, 2, were beaten to death after suffering through short lives of abuse.
The men accused in their killings are fighting for their lives because they have been charged with murder, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in those cases.
But those men also have something else in common - they fathered the children they are accused of killing.
Of the seven capital murder cases currently being prosecuted in Hamilton County, four have children victims. And three of those four were killed, prosecutors allege, by their fathers.
"It's amazing how many actual fathers are doing this to their own flesh and blood. Most people would do anything to protect their children," Assistant Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier said. "You don't even treat a dog this way. You cannot conceive what these people do to kids."
Robert Shapiro can. He's seen it firsthand for almost 30 years.
Shapiro is director of the Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. There, he and other doctors see two to three children each week with severe injuries from being abused.
"It's frightening, isn't it?" Shapiro asked.
Kayli Bates is alleged to have been killed by 6-foot-2, 250-pound Thomas Huge (pronounced Hu-Gee). Antrone Smith is accused of killing his son Damarcus Jackson. Christopher Dangerfield is accused of the fatal beating of Tyrese Short, one of his sons.
Another of Dangerfield's sons is Lionell Dangerfield, whom prosecutors also are seeking the death penalty against because they allege he killed the fourth child victim - 3-month-old Zhi Merah Binford. She died after being violently shaken, prosecutors allege, by her mother's boyfriend - Lionell Dangerfield.
When an abuse case is reported, authorities start by looking in the child's home.
"It's rare to find a situation where it's not the father or the (mother's) boyfriend," Piepmeier said.
While difficult to comprehend, it happens, and there's no simplistic answer why, said Scott Bresler, director of the University of Cincinnati division of Forensic Psychiatry.
"Most of us come from a home where we are sung to, are tucked in at night and loved," Bresler said.
Many of those accused of killing children have poor coping skills, he said, and often are young and/or immature parents. They can have drug- or alcohol-abuse problems, and mental issues. Some, Bresler said, are just mean.
"There are people who are sadistic and derive satisfaction and, worse, pleasure, from feeling a sense of power that can come from inflicting pain," he said. "The bottom of that barrel is a group of adults who inflict pain."
Parents' personal demons, combined with the pressure to provide for a family in tough economic times, can be a lethal concoction.
That can cause resentment, resulting in pent-up anger and finally an eruption of emotion and violence aimed at the most vulnerable.
"The stress builds and builds and builds and boom, they explode," Bresler said. "These are very disturbing cases to work on. Most people can't fathom what kind of monster this is."
While the Oct. 21 death of Damarcus Jackson has focused the spotlight on the issue, physically abusing children, even to the point of death, isn't a new phenomenon, Bresler and Shapiro agree.
"This is in our presence. All you have to do is go to Children's Hospital and see that this happens. It happens a lot," Bresler said.
In the past year, Shapiro's center evaluated 1,530 children who were thought to be victims of abuse. The center also did 1,424 forensic interviews and 716 medical exams during that time.
Last year, there were six homicides of children in Hamilton County, but Shapiro notes that there weren't six murder cases with child victims prosecuted in Hamilton County last year.
"There's only a criminal case when there's enough evidence" to prosecute, Shapiro said.
"In this field, I don't expect 100 percent success. I don't think it's possible to achieve."
That's because many injuries can't definitively be called intentional when the medical evidence isn't conclusive and the victims have limited verbal skills.
That's frustrating, and takes its toll on Shapiro, the other doctors and workers at the Mayerson Center, and the police, social workers and prosecutor's staff who collaborate on the cases to try to achieve justice for abused - and slain - children.
"It's emotionally a difficult field to work in," Shapiro said.
"Everyone who works in this field has some degree of post-traumatic stress.
"Sadly, there are always going to be children murdered."
Number of child deaths
Hamilton County averaged 8.5 homicides of children a year from 2000 to 2010. A homicide is the killing of another. That doesn't mean there was a criminal case opened as a result of the homicide. The number of child homicides by year:
• 2000 - 9
• 2001 - 12
• 2002 - 3
• 2003 - 7
• 2004 - 5
• 2005 - 10
• 2006 - 17
• 2007 - 11
• 2008 - 4
• 2009 - 9
• 2010 - 6
Source: Hamilton County Family and Children First Council, 2010 Child Fatality Review Report
Total number of those under age 18 in Hamilton County who died from any cause:
• 2006 - 68
• 2007 - 64
• 2008 - 73
• 2009 - 41
• 2010 - 26
Source: Hamilton County Coroner's Office
Where to get help
• If you see warning signs of child abuse, call 513-241-5437.
• Stressed parents can call 211, the United Way of Greater Cincinnati's community and emergency services hot line.
• Go to www.chooseyourpartnercarefully.com or www.doaskdotellus.com for warning signs of child abuse, what to watch for and more information.