Dad is identified as MICHAEL WALSH. At minimum, he had out-of-state visitation. Or he may have had full custody. Notice we are not told the details about how and why this father had access to this child.
http://www.wandtv.com/story/32364452/7-year-old-found-in-lake-in-georgia-could-have-ties-to-champaign
7-year-old found in lake in Georgia could have ties to Champaign
Posted: Jul 03, 2016 1:39 PM EDT
Updated: Jul 05, 2016 5:23 PM EDT
ATLANTA – WANDNews has word from an NBC affiliate near Atlanta, Georgia, that a seven-year-old girl found dead in Lake Allatoona could have ties back here in Central Illinois.
Our partners at WXIA report a seven-year-old was killed this past Sunday or Monday, and police in East Point, Georgia, say they believe her father and his live-in girlfriend had a hand in her death. Authorities tell
WXIA they believe 27-year-old Michael Wash and 30-year-old Lasherae Davis drove 7-year-old Kamaire Wash to the lake and left her in the water.
WXIA reports boaters found a young girl’s body, Wednesday afternoon, that they believe is the missing girl. She had been in the water for around 48 hours.
This story has connections back to Illinois, with WXIA sources saying the girl’s mother is from Champaign, Illinois. WAND News has reached out to the woman believed to be the victim’s mother and will report any further developments.
In the meantime, WXIA reports the father faces charges of aggravated assault, child cruelty and concealing the girl’s death, and his girlfriend could be charged with being a party to the assault and cruelty, along with concealing the child’s death.
East Point Police tell WXIA they are not ready to charge them yet. Both suspects claim they put the girl to bed on Wednesday night, and she was missing with the door left open when they woke up.
Details are still developing in this case, with police not yet ready to confirm where, how and why Kamaire was killed.
The earliest the public will positively know the identity of the child, as well as the cause of death, would be Tuesday, after the Fourth of July holiday.
Showing posts with label drowning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drowning. Show all posts
Monday, July 11, 2016
Friday, October 30, 2015
Custodial dad FINALLY goes to trial for 1994 torture-murder of 17-year-old daughter (Toronto, Canada)
The custodial dad is identified as EVERTON BIDDERSINGH.
There are an amazing number of cases like this. Poor mothers in imporverished countries who lose custody to fathers in the wealthier countries. Fathers who can presumably provide these children with a "better life." And the "better life" turns out to be torture and death.
See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Canada.
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2015/10/28/trial-starts-for-dad-charged-in-daughters-murder-after-body-found-in-suitcase.html
Melonie’s terrible last days unroll in courtroom as her father’s trial begins
The Crown outlines its case against Everton Biddersingh, whose daughter was found burned in a suitcase in 1991.
By:Rosie DiManno
Columnist, Published on Wed Oct 28 2015
Melonie Biddersingh came to Canada from Jamaica in early 1991 with nothing more than a single suitcase.
Whether this was the same suitcase in which her charred remains were found three years later, behind a Vaughan commercial building, is unknown.
The known details are gruesome: 21 healing fractures discovered on autopsy, when that pitiful corpse was examined by a coroner; weight of 50 pounds, far below the normal body index range for a 5-foot-2 teenager, indicating severe malnourishment; an ante-mortem — before death — head contusion that had resulted from trauma or blunt force injury; fluid in the nostrils and bone marrow, indicative of drowning as either a cause of death or major contributing factor — the liquid from a freshwater source, not tap water, perhaps pooling rain.
All of these details were related in a Toronto courtroom Wednesday, as the prosecution laid out its case against Melonie’s biological father.
To the death roll of Randal Dooley and Jeffrey Baldwin, children starved to death and grotesquely mistreated while alive, right in our midst, add now the name of this 17-year-old who lived and died with nobody taking notice.
All but held prisoner, the court was told, in a one-room apartment she shared with her father, her stepmother, two brothers, two half-brothers and, eventually, an infant half-sister for whom she was responsible. When the baby’s diaper needed changing, Melonie would be summoned with a buzzer.
She was not allowed to attend school, though furthering her education — her ambition to one day become a nurse — was the main reason Melonie had been excited about moving to Canada, leaving behind a mother and four other siblings, living in abject poverty in a slum shack.
The harshness of Melonie’s existence was only summarily outlined by Crown Attorney Anna Tenhouse in her opening address to the jury. The details here are all from that address:
At times, the teen was kept in a closet, “hidden from the outside world.”
She was made to shower on the balcony in summer, was at times locked out there as punishment, and forced to use a bucket to relieve herself.
She was called names like “the devil,” told that she’d brought evil to the family.
Made to sleep on a piece of cardboard on the living room floor, though there was a sofa bed nearby.
Had her head placed in the toilet and the toilet flushed, as punishment.
Was kicked and punched about her body, dragged by the hair and stomped upon.
Was at times chained to furniture.
Deprived of food, she became so weak she could no longer hold her baby sister. Enfeebled to the point that her older brother had to help her bathe after the girl urinated or defecated on herself.
That brother, Cleon, was allegedly forced to sell drugs and warned that, if he ever told anyone about it, or about the abuse in their home, “harm would come to him and his family in Jamaica,” Tenhouse told the jury.
Cleon got out by and by, ran away. Melonie’s other brother, Dwayne — 12 when he arrived in Toronto, a year younger than Melonie — died in an accident 17 months later.
Melonie died, court was told, on Sept. 1, 1994. This is not yet evidence. It is the prosecution’s claim.
But the photograph displayed on a screen in the courtroom — that’s evidence.
Blackened, curled into a pathetic heap of limbs, bits of singed hair still visible on the death scalp.
In the front row, Melonie’s mother, Opal Austin, choked on a sob and wept. Melonie’s sister, Racquel Ellis, was overcome: “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”
Who could do this terrible thing?
Melonie’s father, Everton Biddersingh, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His wife, Elaine Biddersingh — Melonie’s stepmother — has also been charged with first-degree murder but will be tried separately next year.
On Aug. 31, 1994, Det. Steven Seabrook, then a constable with the canine unit of York Regional Police, was patrolling in the Highway 7 area when he noticed a plume of black smoke. He tracked it to a spot behind an industrial area. What he saw, at first, were flames a couple of metres high, emanating from a pile close to a garbage bin. At the base of the fire was a tire, largely melted — source of the black smoke, from the burning rubber.
The heat was so intense Seabrook could come no closer than 4 or 5 metres.
Another officer arrived with a fire extinguisher, but that only put the blaze out temporarily. The flames sprung back.
Next came the firefighters, who were able to douse the pyre with water. And then they all saw, amidst the charred heap, a grisly sight.
“At that point, it was obvious to us there was a body lying on the tire, in the fetal position. No flesh on the legs, the head was very black and charred,’’ Seabrook testified yesterday. “I noticed a metal square shape around the body, looked like the frame of a suitcase.’’
The Suitcase Girl, as she became known in the media, once it was determined that the corpse was female.
No name. And no one came forward with information about a missing teenage girl.
Those with long memories may recall, as the years went by, the occasional press conferences as police continued attempts to identify her. The artist’s depiction of how she may have looked. The forensic sculpture of a female head, which triggered no public recognition either.
They never gave up but they never came close to solving the mystery.
Eighteen years would pass, longer than the length and breadth of Melonie’s sad life.
And then, as Tenhouse told court, the secret was exposed, the plotline that police have never revealed. On Dec. 11, 2011, Elaine Biddersingh confessed to her pastor, court heard, that the girl in the suitcase was her step-daughter. The minister took that information to police, and the Toronto Police cold case unit took carriage of the matter.
Opal Austin, living in Jamaica, was contacted. For nearly 20 years she had wondered what had become of her daughter and sought information. Everton Biddersingh told her Melonie had run away to New York.
DNA from the mother was matched to The Suitcase Girl, confirming her identity. She had a name. She claimed her history.
Outside court, Racquel Ellis told reporters: “It’s like the hole of my belly button dropped out. I couldn’t breathe. I had to come out of the courtroom. It’s like my heart was going to stop beating.’’
Everton and Elaine Biddersingh were arrested on March 5, 2012, in Welland, Ont.
Yesterday, the father never appeared to even once glance at the mother of their dead and desecrated daughter.
Melonie.
Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
There are an amazing number of cases like this. Poor mothers in imporverished countries who lose custody to fathers in the wealthier countries. Fathers who can presumably provide these children with a "better life." And the "better life" turns out to be torture and death.
See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Canada.
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2015/10/28/trial-starts-for-dad-charged-in-daughters-murder-after-body-found-in-suitcase.html
Melonie’s terrible last days unroll in courtroom as her father’s trial begins
The Crown outlines its case against Everton Biddersingh, whose daughter was found burned in a suitcase in 1991.
By:Rosie DiManno
Columnist, Published on Wed Oct 28 2015
Melonie Biddersingh came to Canada from Jamaica in early 1991 with nothing more than a single suitcase.
Whether this was the same suitcase in which her charred remains were found three years later, behind a Vaughan commercial building, is unknown.
The known details are gruesome: 21 healing fractures discovered on autopsy, when that pitiful corpse was examined by a coroner; weight of 50 pounds, far below the normal body index range for a 5-foot-2 teenager, indicating severe malnourishment; an ante-mortem — before death — head contusion that had resulted from trauma or blunt force injury; fluid in the nostrils and bone marrow, indicative of drowning as either a cause of death or major contributing factor — the liquid from a freshwater source, not tap water, perhaps pooling rain.
All of these details were related in a Toronto courtroom Wednesday, as the prosecution laid out its case against Melonie’s biological father.
To the death roll of Randal Dooley and Jeffrey Baldwin, children starved to death and grotesquely mistreated while alive, right in our midst, add now the name of this 17-year-old who lived and died with nobody taking notice.
All but held prisoner, the court was told, in a one-room apartment she shared with her father, her stepmother, two brothers, two half-brothers and, eventually, an infant half-sister for whom she was responsible. When the baby’s diaper needed changing, Melonie would be summoned with a buzzer.
She was not allowed to attend school, though furthering her education — her ambition to one day become a nurse — was the main reason Melonie had been excited about moving to Canada, leaving behind a mother and four other siblings, living in abject poverty in a slum shack.
The harshness of Melonie’s existence was only summarily outlined by Crown Attorney Anna Tenhouse in her opening address to the jury. The details here are all from that address:
At times, the teen was kept in a closet, “hidden from the outside world.”
She was made to shower on the balcony in summer, was at times locked out there as punishment, and forced to use a bucket to relieve herself.
She was called names like “the devil,” told that she’d brought evil to the family.
Made to sleep on a piece of cardboard on the living room floor, though there was a sofa bed nearby.
Had her head placed in the toilet and the toilet flushed, as punishment.
Was kicked and punched about her body, dragged by the hair and stomped upon.
Was at times chained to furniture.
Deprived of food, she became so weak she could no longer hold her baby sister. Enfeebled to the point that her older brother had to help her bathe after the girl urinated or defecated on herself.
That brother, Cleon, was allegedly forced to sell drugs and warned that, if he ever told anyone about it, or about the abuse in their home, “harm would come to him and his family in Jamaica,” Tenhouse told the jury.
Cleon got out by and by, ran away. Melonie’s other brother, Dwayne — 12 when he arrived in Toronto, a year younger than Melonie — died in an accident 17 months later.
Melonie died, court was told, on Sept. 1, 1994. This is not yet evidence. It is the prosecution’s claim.
But the photograph displayed on a screen in the courtroom — that’s evidence.
Blackened, curled into a pathetic heap of limbs, bits of singed hair still visible on the death scalp.
In the front row, Melonie’s mother, Opal Austin, choked on a sob and wept. Melonie’s sister, Racquel Ellis, was overcome: “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”
Who could do this terrible thing?
Melonie’s father, Everton Biddersingh, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His wife, Elaine Biddersingh — Melonie’s stepmother — has also been charged with first-degree murder but will be tried separately next year.
On Aug. 31, 1994, Det. Steven Seabrook, then a constable with the canine unit of York Regional Police, was patrolling in the Highway 7 area when he noticed a plume of black smoke. He tracked it to a spot behind an industrial area. What he saw, at first, were flames a couple of metres high, emanating from a pile close to a garbage bin. At the base of the fire was a tire, largely melted — source of the black smoke, from the burning rubber.
The heat was so intense Seabrook could come no closer than 4 or 5 metres.
Another officer arrived with a fire extinguisher, but that only put the blaze out temporarily. The flames sprung back.
Next came the firefighters, who were able to douse the pyre with water. And then they all saw, amidst the charred heap, a grisly sight.
“At that point, it was obvious to us there was a body lying on the tire, in the fetal position. No flesh on the legs, the head was very black and charred,’’ Seabrook testified yesterday. “I noticed a metal square shape around the body, looked like the frame of a suitcase.’’
The Suitcase Girl, as she became known in the media, once it was determined that the corpse was female.
No name. And no one came forward with information about a missing teenage girl.
Those with long memories may recall, as the years went by, the occasional press conferences as police continued attempts to identify her. The artist’s depiction of how she may have looked. The forensic sculpture of a female head, which triggered no public recognition either.
They never gave up but they never came close to solving the mystery.
Eighteen years would pass, longer than the length and breadth of Melonie’s sad life.
And then, as Tenhouse told court, the secret was exposed, the plotline that police have never revealed. On Dec. 11, 2011, Elaine Biddersingh confessed to her pastor, court heard, that the girl in the suitcase was her step-daughter. The minister took that information to police, and the Toronto Police cold case unit took carriage of the matter.
Opal Austin, living in Jamaica, was contacted. For nearly 20 years she had wondered what had become of her daughter and sought information. Everton Biddersingh told her Melonie had run away to New York.
DNA from the mother was matched to The Suitcase Girl, confirming her identity. She had a name. She claimed her history.
Outside court, Racquel Ellis told reporters: “It’s like the hole of my belly button dropped out. I couldn’t breathe. I had to come out of the courtroom. It’s like my heart was going to stop beating.’’
Everton and Elaine Biddersingh were arrested on March 5, 2012, in Welland, Ont.
Yesterday, the father never appeared to even once glance at the mother of their dead and desecrated daughter.
Melonie.
Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Dad charged in drowning death of 3-month-old daughter (Lubbock, Texas)
Dad is identified as MICHAEL LIVESAY.
http://www.kcbd.com/story/30202255/lubbock-father-indicted-charged-in-drowning-death-of-3-month-old-daughter
Lubbock father indicted, charged in drowning death of 3-month-old daughter
Posted: Oct 06, 2015 9:00 PM EST Updated: Oct 06, 2015 9:00 PM EST
By KCBD Staff
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - 27-year-old Michael Livesay has been indicted on felony charges of injury to a child after the drowning death of his daughter Vera.
Emergency crews were called out to the 6100 block of 37th Street just after 10:45 a.m. on Sept. 23 in reference to a possible drowning. The infant was taken by ambulance to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
According to the arrest warrant, Livesay says he woke up with his daughter at 8 a.m. Wednesday and around 8:45 a.m. placed her in the bathtub in a bathtub seat before turning the water on.
Livesay says he scooted the infant toward the drain so the water was on her feet.
Livesay says he left the bathroom with the water still running. He says he then sat on the couch in the living room around 9 a.m. but fell asleep while Vera was alone in the bathtub. Around 9:15 a.m., Livesay woke up and realized Vera was still in the bathtub.
Livesay says he found his daughter face down in the bathtub full of water. He says the bathtub was two inches from overflowing. He grabbed Vera and ran to a neighbor's house, but says no one would help call 911. So, he ran back to his house and performed CPR on Vera for five minutes.
Livesay then called 911. Livesay told investigators at the scene that he had smoked marijuana on Tuesday. Livesay says this was the second time he had accidentally left Vera in the bathtub. The previous incident happened on September 18. He says the incident on Friday happened because he went to make coffee and had a towel stopping the drain. He says he saw the bathtub seat begin to rise in the water and got Vera out.
No other children were home at the time.
http://www.kcbd.com/story/30202255/lubbock-father-indicted-charged-in-drowning-death-of-3-month-old-daughter
Lubbock father indicted, charged in drowning death of 3-month-old daughter
Posted: Oct 06, 2015 9:00 PM EST Updated: Oct 06, 2015 9:00 PM EST
By KCBD Staff
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - 27-year-old Michael Livesay has been indicted on felony charges of injury to a child after the drowning death of his daughter Vera.
Emergency crews were called out to the 6100 block of 37th Street just after 10:45 a.m. on Sept. 23 in reference to a possible drowning. The infant was taken by ambulance to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
According to the arrest warrant, Livesay says he woke up with his daughter at 8 a.m. Wednesday and around 8:45 a.m. placed her in the bathtub in a bathtub seat before turning the water on.
Livesay says he scooted the infant toward the drain so the water was on her feet.
Livesay says he left the bathroom with the water still running. He says he then sat on the couch in the living room around 9 a.m. but fell asleep while Vera was alone in the bathtub. Around 9:15 a.m., Livesay woke up and realized Vera was still in the bathtub.
Livesay says he found his daughter face down in the bathtub full of water. He says the bathtub was two inches from overflowing. He grabbed Vera and ran to a neighbor's house, but says no one would help call 911. So, he ran back to his house and performed CPR on Vera for five minutes.
Livesay then called 911. Livesay told investigators at the scene that he had smoked marijuana on Tuesday. Livesay says this was the second time he had accidentally left Vera in the bathtub. The previous incident happened on September 18. He says the incident on Friday happened because he went to make coffee and had a towel stopping the drain. He says he saw the bathtub seat begin to rise in the water and got Vera out.
No other children were home at the time.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Mom blamed for "allowing" violent pedophiliac father to live with her; father now charged with murdering 3-year-old daughter (Raleigh, North Carolina)
So a mother with three kids under seven is blamed by the authorities for "failing" to keep the kids safe from their homicidal, suicidal, (allegedly) mentally ill father who has also admitted to having pedophiliac fantasies.
They order her to take lots of (useless) classes and get an (often useless) order of protection, but apparently do nothing to get him off the streets or out of the home, and do nothing to actually support of her. He should have been thrown in a mental hospital a long time ago, but no. Blame Mom for trying to cope with this violent man alone.
Dad is identified as ALAN TYSHEEN EUGENE LASSITER.
Contrast with the custodial father in the post below, who dumped his kid on a girlfriend with suicidal, self-cutting, drug addiction issues. He does nothing to intervene, despite previous CPS concerns, and isn't blamed at all much less arrested.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article37403967.html
Wake report: Mother allowed ‘homicidal’ father to remain with family
Mother of children never sought protective order
Wake County social workers developed ‘safety plan’
Father was not supposed to have contact with children
By Anne Blythe and Thomasi McDonald
RALEIGH
A man accused of trying to drown his children had been living with them and their mother in Durham for nearly six months despite Wake County Human Services recommendations that he have no contact with them.
Alan Tysheen Eugene Lassiter, the 29-year-old father of three, is in Central Prison now, accused of one count of first-degree murder in the drowning death of his 3-year-old daughter and two charges of attempted murder related to an incident in Durham on Sept. 21.
On that Sunday evening, police said Lassiter threw Calista, 3, and her 5-year-old sister Bethany into a pond at the Audubon Lake apartments, near The Streets at Southpoint.
Police said Lassiter called 911 just after 9 p.m. and said Child Protective Services was trying to take his children. The caller told the dispatcher he had tried to get help because he was dealing with “pedophilia things” and “sexual desires,” but that the agency turned its back on him.
Lassiter’s 7-year-old son, Alan Lassiter Jr., was at the pond but got away.
Off-duty Durham County Sheriff’s Deputy David Earp, who lives at the apartment complex, pulled the girls from the pond. Calista was unconscious and died at the hospital two days later.
Wake County Human Services acknowledged on Friday that it was conducting internal reviews and an investigation into its involvement with the Lassiter family.
Though the work of Child Protective Services typically is kept confidential, state law allows the disclosure of information in the event of a child’s death.
Wake County Human Services became involved with the Lassiter family on Feb. 8, when a report of alleged neglect of Calista and her siblings came to the office.
Alan Lassiter, according to the report, was having suicidal and homicidal thoughts, which included harming the children.
Human Services workers began an immediate assessment of the situation, which included meeting with the three children and their mother, Ashley Ivey Lassiter. Not only did the assessors learn that Alan Lassiter was having suicidal, homicidal and inappropriate sexual thoughts about his children, they also learned that he had been involuntarily committed at WakeBrook Crisis Stabilization Center.
After his discharge on Feb. 16, just eight days after the first report to Wake County Human Services, Alan Lassister reportedly went to Durham to live with family.
On Feb. 20, the Durham County Department of Social Services assisted Wake County by interviewing Lassister. Under the “safety plan” put in place, Lassister agreed to continue getting mental health treatment and have no contact with his children until cleared by Wake County Social Services.
By March 17, the case for neglect had been substantiated by Wake County assessors, and the family was referred to Child Protective In-Home Services, according to the report released Friday.
Both parents were required to participate in classes, counseling and treatment programs in an attempt to make the home safe for the children. Alan Lassister was required to take anger management classes as well as get mental health treatment, and he sought help finding work.
Ashley Lassiter was required to get counseling and training in parenting skills.
Between March 17 and Sept. 18, Wake County Human Services workers had multiple meetings with the family. Alan Lassiter, according to the report, was not getting mental health treatment as regularly as recommended, and they did not think he was in good enough shape to have contact with his children.
Ashley Lassister had been advised to obtain a domestic violence restraining order but did not follow through with that recommendation, the report states.
The report contends that Ashley Lassiter told the social worker that Alan Lassiter no longer lived with the family and that she did not think the court order was necessary.
But after the drowning incident, Wake County Human Services workers discovered that Alan Lassiter had been living with the children and their mother since April. The report also states that their investigation showed that the children’s mother allowed Alan Lassister “to take the children to Durham,” but does not specify when or where.
Wake County Human Services workers obtained a court order to place the surviving children in county custody after the fatal incident. According to the report released Friday by Lisa Cauley, the Child Welfare Division director with Wake County Human Services, the boy and girl remain in county custody.
They order her to take lots of (useless) classes and get an (often useless) order of protection, but apparently do nothing to get him off the streets or out of the home, and do nothing to actually support of her. He should have been thrown in a mental hospital a long time ago, but no. Blame Mom for trying to cope with this violent man alone.
Dad is identified as ALAN TYSHEEN EUGENE LASSITER.
Contrast with the custodial father in the post below, who dumped his kid on a girlfriend with suicidal, self-cutting, drug addiction issues. He does nothing to intervene, despite previous CPS concerns, and isn't blamed at all much less arrested.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article37403967.html
Wake report: Mother allowed ‘homicidal’ father to remain with family
Mother of children never sought protective order
Wake County social workers developed ‘safety plan’
Father was not supposed to have contact with children
By Anne Blythe and Thomasi McDonald
RALEIGH
A man accused of trying to drown his children had been living with them and their mother in Durham for nearly six months despite Wake County Human Services recommendations that he have no contact with them.
Alan Tysheen Eugene Lassiter, the 29-year-old father of three, is in Central Prison now, accused of one count of first-degree murder in the drowning death of his 3-year-old daughter and two charges of attempted murder related to an incident in Durham on Sept. 21.
On that Sunday evening, police said Lassiter threw Calista, 3, and her 5-year-old sister Bethany into a pond at the Audubon Lake apartments, near The Streets at Southpoint.
Police said Lassiter called 911 just after 9 p.m. and said Child Protective Services was trying to take his children. The caller told the dispatcher he had tried to get help because he was dealing with “pedophilia things” and “sexual desires,” but that the agency turned its back on him.
Lassiter’s 7-year-old son, Alan Lassiter Jr., was at the pond but got away.
Off-duty Durham County Sheriff’s Deputy David Earp, who lives at the apartment complex, pulled the girls from the pond. Calista was unconscious and died at the hospital two days later.
Wake County Human Services acknowledged on Friday that it was conducting internal reviews and an investigation into its involvement with the Lassiter family.
Though the work of Child Protective Services typically is kept confidential, state law allows the disclosure of information in the event of a child’s death.
Wake County Human Services became involved with the Lassiter family on Feb. 8, when a report of alleged neglect of Calista and her siblings came to the office.
Alan Lassiter, according to the report, was having suicidal and homicidal thoughts, which included harming the children.
Human Services workers began an immediate assessment of the situation, which included meeting with the three children and their mother, Ashley Ivey Lassiter. Not only did the assessors learn that Alan Lassiter was having suicidal, homicidal and inappropriate sexual thoughts about his children, they also learned that he had been involuntarily committed at WakeBrook Crisis Stabilization Center.
After his discharge on Feb. 16, just eight days after the first report to Wake County Human Services, Alan Lassister reportedly went to Durham to live with family.
On Feb. 20, the Durham County Department of Social Services assisted Wake County by interviewing Lassister. Under the “safety plan” put in place, Lassister agreed to continue getting mental health treatment and have no contact with his children until cleared by Wake County Social Services.
By March 17, the case for neglect had been substantiated by Wake County assessors, and the family was referred to Child Protective In-Home Services, according to the report released Friday.
Both parents were required to participate in classes, counseling and treatment programs in an attempt to make the home safe for the children. Alan Lassister was required to take anger management classes as well as get mental health treatment, and he sought help finding work.
Ashley Lassiter was required to get counseling and training in parenting skills.
Between March 17 and Sept. 18, Wake County Human Services workers had multiple meetings with the family. Alan Lassiter, according to the report, was not getting mental health treatment as regularly as recommended, and they did not think he was in good enough shape to have contact with his children.
Ashley Lassister had been advised to obtain a domestic violence restraining order but did not follow through with that recommendation, the report states.
The report contends that Ashley Lassiter told the social worker that Alan Lassiter no longer lived with the family and that she did not think the court order was necessary.
But after the drowning incident, Wake County Human Services workers discovered that Alan Lassiter had been living with the children and their mother since April. The report also states that their investigation showed that the children’s mother allowed Alan Lassister “to take the children to Durham,” but does not specify when or where.
Wake County Human Services workers obtained a court order to place the surviving children in county custody after the fatal incident. According to the report released Friday by Lisa Cauley, the Child Welfare Division director with Wake County Human Services, the boy and girl remain in county custody.
Dad gets ONE year sentence in death of 13-month-old son despite prior felony convictions (Cullman, Alabama)
Under aged mother, but no acknowledgement in the article of that.
Dad is identified as B.J. BRYANT.
http://www.cullmantimes.com/news/father-pleads-guilty-to-aggravated-child-abuse-in--month/article_1af1a550-68c2-11e5-aa2d-b7c4bb6e680f.html
Father pleads guilty to aggravated child abuse in 13-month-old son’s death
B.J. Bryant pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse in connection with the drowning death of his 13-month-old son and was given a one-year sentence.
Posted: Friday, October 2, 2015 5:00 am
Staff report
A Cullman father pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse in connection with the drowning death of his 13-month-old son and was given a one-year sentence.
B.J. Bryant, 24, will be on supervised probation for five years. Two other charges of criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter were dismissed, according to an order filed by Cullman County Circuit Judge Martha Williams Thursday. Bryant will be required to testify against the child’s mother, Justina Freeman, 20, who is facing the same three charges.
The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office arrested Bryant and Freeman in 2013 after an 11-month investigation into the death of their son Blakelee Jayce Bryant.
The child was found unresponsive at the couple’s home May 21, 2012 after being in the bathtub. He was rushed to Cullman Regional Medical Center and then flown to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. He was put on life support and died May 26, 2012.
Former Chief Deputy Max Bartlett told The Cullman Times in 2013 the conditions of the scene and the home indicated Blakelee had been severely neglected, and the couple was charged. Bryant was 21 years old and Freeman 17 at the time of their child’s death.
According to Williams’ order, Bryant had a prior felony conviction and has 42 days to appeal his conviction on the aggravated child abuse charge.
Freeman was scheduled to appear in court September 24 before presiding Circuit Court Judge Greg Nicholas. It’s not clear the status of the case.
Dad is identified as B.J. BRYANT.
http://www.cullmantimes.com/news/father-pleads-guilty-to-aggravated-child-abuse-in--month/article_1af1a550-68c2-11e5-aa2d-b7c4bb6e680f.html
Father pleads guilty to aggravated child abuse in 13-month-old son’s death
B.J. Bryant pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse in connection with the drowning death of his 13-month-old son and was given a one-year sentence.
Posted: Friday, October 2, 2015 5:00 am
Staff report
A Cullman father pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse in connection with the drowning death of his 13-month-old son and was given a one-year sentence.
B.J. Bryant, 24, will be on supervised probation for five years. Two other charges of criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter were dismissed, according to an order filed by Cullman County Circuit Judge Martha Williams Thursday. Bryant will be required to testify against the child’s mother, Justina Freeman, 20, who is facing the same three charges.
The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office arrested Bryant and Freeman in 2013 after an 11-month investigation into the death of their son Blakelee Jayce Bryant.
The child was found unresponsive at the couple’s home May 21, 2012 after being in the bathtub. He was rushed to Cullman Regional Medical Center and then flown to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. He was put on life support and died May 26, 2012.
Former Chief Deputy Max Bartlett told The Cullman Times in 2013 the conditions of the scene and the home indicated Blakelee had been severely neglected, and the couple was charged. Bryant was 21 years old and Freeman 17 at the time of their child’s death.
According to Williams’ order, Bryant had a prior felony conviction and has 42 days to appeal his conviction on the aggravated child abuse charge.
Freeman was scheduled to appear in court September 24 before presiding Circuit Court Judge Greg Nicholas. It’s not clear the status of the case.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Dad with history of DV facing 1st-degree murder charge in drowning death of 3-year-old daughter; attempted murder for 5- and 7-year olds (Durham, North Carolina)
Dad is identified as ALAN LASSITER.
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5929467-father-accused-of-trying-to-drown-kids-facing-murder-charge-after-child-dies/
Sep 24, 2015
Father accused of trying to drown kids facing murder charge after child dies
DURHAM COUNTY JAIL, NYT
Alan Lassiter, who called 911 and said he had tried to drown his daughters, has been charged after one of the children died
Hamilton Spectator
By Emery P. Dalesio
DURHAM, N.C. A North Carolina man accused of trying to drown his children in a pond at an apartment complex is facing a first-degree murder charge after his 3-year-old daughter died, police said Thursday.
Durham Police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said Alan Tysheen Lassiter is now charged with first-degree murder in the death of 3-year-old Calista Lassiter, who died at a hospital Wednesday.
It was three days ago that, according to police, Alan Lassiter tried to drown the girl and her sister in a pond at an apartment complex. Michael said the child was entirely underwater when an off-duty sheriff's deputy pulled her from the pond Sunday night.
Prior to the girl's death, the elder Lassiter was charged with three counts of attempted murder for trying to kill the three children. The 5-year-old who was floating in the pond crying has been released from the hospital, police said. The 7-year-old boy got away from his father and ran for help, they said.
Lassiter is jailed on $2 million bond and is awaiting a court hearing next month.
On Sunday night, Lassiter flagged down passers-by at the Audubon Lake apartments and told them he thought his son had been kidnapped and needed help finding him, apartment complex manager Sylvia Scott said Tuesday.
It wasn't until later that Lassiter told Scott and a 911 operator that he'd thrown his 3- and 5-year-old daughters in the pond, Scott said. The girls were pulled from about 5 feet of water by Durham County Sheriff's Deputy David Earp, who lives nearby.
Lassiter, 29, lived in Raleigh and apparently wound up at the apartment complex randomly, according to Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez.
Court records show Lassiter and his wife had a rocky start to their marriage six years ago.
Ashley Ivey sought a domestic violence protection order and signed a statement May 15, 2009, that said Lassiter "threatened to throw hot oil in my face and cut my hair off."
"He also threatened to take my son from me for a long time," the statement said. "All this started because I didn't want to marry him."
Ivey added that "things of this nature" had also happened previously.
Ivey voluntarily dismissed her complaint four days later.
Less than two weeks after that, Ivey and Lassiter were married.
The Associated Press
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5929467-father-accused-of-trying-to-drown-kids-facing-murder-charge-after-child-dies/
Sep 24, 2015
Father accused of trying to drown kids facing murder charge after child dies
DURHAM COUNTY JAIL, NYT
Alan Lassiter, who called 911 and said he had tried to drown his daughters, has been charged after one of the children died
Hamilton Spectator
By Emery P. Dalesio
DURHAM, N.C. A North Carolina man accused of trying to drown his children in a pond at an apartment complex is facing a first-degree murder charge after his 3-year-old daughter died, police said Thursday.
Durham Police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said Alan Tysheen Lassiter is now charged with first-degree murder in the death of 3-year-old Calista Lassiter, who died at a hospital Wednesday.
It was three days ago that, according to police, Alan Lassiter tried to drown the girl and her sister in a pond at an apartment complex. Michael said the child was entirely underwater when an off-duty sheriff's deputy pulled her from the pond Sunday night.
Prior to the girl's death, the elder Lassiter was charged with three counts of attempted murder for trying to kill the three children. The 5-year-old who was floating in the pond crying has been released from the hospital, police said. The 7-year-old boy got away from his father and ran for help, they said.
Lassiter is jailed on $2 million bond and is awaiting a court hearing next month.
On Sunday night, Lassiter flagged down passers-by at the Audubon Lake apartments and told them he thought his son had been kidnapped and needed help finding him, apartment complex manager Sylvia Scott said Tuesday.
It wasn't until later that Lassiter told Scott and a 911 operator that he'd thrown his 3- and 5-year-old daughters in the pond, Scott said. The girls were pulled from about 5 feet of water by Durham County Sheriff's Deputy David Earp, who lives nearby.
Lassiter, 29, lived in Raleigh and apparently wound up at the apartment complex randomly, according to Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez.
Court records show Lassiter and his wife had a rocky start to their marriage six years ago.
Ashley Ivey sought a domestic violence protection order and signed a statement May 15, 2009, that said Lassiter "threatened to throw hot oil in my face and cut my hair off."
"He also threatened to take my son from me for a long time," the statement said. "All this started because I didn't want to marry him."
Ivey added that "things of this nature" had also happened previously.
Ivey voluntarily dismissed her complaint four days later.
Less than two weeks after that, Ivey and Lassiter were married.
The Associated Press
Monday, August 17, 2015
What drives a dad to murder his sons? (Australia)
We've reported on killer dad ROBERT FARQUHARSON before.
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/what-drives-a-dad-to-murder-his-sons/story-fnu2q5nu-1227475281984
What drives a dad to murder his sons?
This story was published: 10 days ago August 08, 2015 12:16PM
NO ONE saw it coming. To friends and family Robert Farquharson was “poor Rob”, a short, chubby, unassuming and not overly bright country bloke who moped around the small Victorian town of Winchelsea after his wife left him.
Farquharson had appeared to be coping with the separation and getting on with his life. Then his car veered off the highway near town into a large dam, 10 years ago this Father’s Day. He escaped unhurt but his sons, Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2, drowned.
When it emerged that this was no accident, friends and family were stunned. Even his estranged wife, Cindy Gambino, refused to believe that the seemingly meek and mild Farquharson was capable of murder.
It wasn’t until Farquharson’s second trial, which again found him guilty, that Cindy finally accepted that Farquharson had intentionally killed all of their children. Some Winchelsea locals still believe it was a tragic accident.
We all struggle to understand when someone who appears “normal” commits such a cold-blooded act. Robert Farquharson was the archetypal country bumpkin who worked as a labourer with the local council, volunteered at the local school and enjoyed hanging out with children.
The idea of his leaving his boys to drown was incomprehensible. But when you consider Farquharson’s personality disorder and background, it is not so surprising.
The youngest of four children, Farquharson was small for his age and grew up protected by siblings and his late mother, Faye. Genetic factors also appear to have contributed to his developing an avoidant personality disorder (AvPD).
An AvPD is a pervasive pattern of behaviour characterised by social inhibition and lack of social confidence, feelings of inadequacy and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation.
Farquharson couldn’t cope with adult responsibility. He mocked and antagonised his family, publicly lost his temper when he could not work machinery or tools, and let Cindy do most of the work and make most of the decisions. He used her as a protective shield.
When Cindy asked him to leave, Farquharson moved in with his father, seeking sympathy from many locals and blaming her for the marriage breakdown.
Outwardly he was moving on, but inwardly Farquharson seethed. Due to his AvPD he chose to be dependent on Cindy, but this also made him resentful. When she befriended another man, his rage quietly grew to the point where he plotted one of the world’s worst cases of family violence.
As this terrible tragedy showed, domestic violence is complex and many factors can contribute. Personality disorders often play a significant role and most people don’t realise how dangerous some people with one of these entrenched behaviour patterns can be.
Gerard Baden-Clay is another classic case of a murderer with a personality disorder. The Brisbane real estate agent appeared to be the perfect husband, father and small businessman — until he killed his wife, Allison, in April, 2012.
A great-grandson of Scouts founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell, Baden-Clay was president of the Kenmore Chamber of Commerce, ran Scout groups, supported the local school’s chaplaincy program and doted on his three daughters.
He actively promoted an image of himself as a successful and upstanding businessman, but it was far removed from the reality of his life. When Baden-Clay was charged with Allison’s murder, most Australians were stunned. But they shouldn’t have been.
Privately, Baden-Clay had spent years deliberately chipping away at Allison’s confidence, cheating with multiple women, big-noting himself in business and borrowing big money from friends when his franchise began to fail and incur massive debts.
His narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) meant he felt justified in fabricating a false image and doing or taking what he wanted, even if it hurt others.
An NPD is a pervasive pattern of behaviour characterised by an excessive need for admiration, inflated views of oneself not backed up by reality, exploitation of others, a strong sense of entitlement and marked arrogance.
Baden-Clay displayed these characteristics and was not as clever as he thought. His story that Allison had wandered off overnight, ending up in a creek 13 kilometres away, was unconvincing and he was convicted of her murder in 2014.
Yesterday lawyers for Baden-Clay argued that his conviction for the murder of his wife should be quashed on the grounds it was ‘unreasonable’. The three judges will give a written judgment, expected within three months.
Simon Gittany also had a false exterior masking something much more sinister — in his case an anti-social personality disorder (ASPD). An ASPD is a pervasive pattern of behaviour characterised by a disregard for and violation of the rights of other people coupled with a lack of remorse.
In public Gittany played the loving partner of his Canadian fiancee, Lisa Harnum. But he had a long criminal record for assault, theft and drug-dealing. He secretly spied on Lisa, controlled her every move and alienated her from her friends and her family in Canada.
When Lisa tried to leave in July, 2011, Gittany threw her from the balcony of their fifteenth floor Sydney CBD apartment and claimed she had suddenly climbed over. Judge Lucy McCallum disagreed and found him guilty of murder.
These perpetrators all had a personality disorder and their dysfunctional pattern of behaviour towards their partners was rigid, lacking in empathy and focused only on their own needs. In each case the results were deadly.
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/what-drives-a-dad-to-murder-his-sons/story-fnu2q5nu-1227475281984
What drives a dad to murder his sons?
This story was published: 10 days ago August 08, 2015 12:16PM
NO ONE saw it coming. To friends and family Robert Farquharson was “poor Rob”, a short, chubby, unassuming and not overly bright country bloke who moped around the small Victorian town of Winchelsea after his wife left him.
Farquharson had appeared to be coping with the separation and getting on with his life. Then his car veered off the highway near town into a large dam, 10 years ago this Father’s Day. He escaped unhurt but his sons, Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2, drowned.
When it emerged that this was no accident, friends and family were stunned. Even his estranged wife, Cindy Gambino, refused to believe that the seemingly meek and mild Farquharson was capable of murder.
It wasn’t until Farquharson’s second trial, which again found him guilty, that Cindy finally accepted that Farquharson had intentionally killed all of their children. Some Winchelsea locals still believe it was a tragic accident.
We all struggle to understand when someone who appears “normal” commits such a cold-blooded act. Robert Farquharson was the archetypal country bumpkin who worked as a labourer with the local council, volunteered at the local school and enjoyed hanging out with children.
The idea of his leaving his boys to drown was incomprehensible. But when you consider Farquharson’s personality disorder and background, it is not so surprising.
The youngest of four children, Farquharson was small for his age and grew up protected by siblings and his late mother, Faye. Genetic factors also appear to have contributed to his developing an avoidant personality disorder (AvPD).
An AvPD is a pervasive pattern of behaviour characterised by social inhibition and lack of social confidence, feelings of inadequacy and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation.
Farquharson couldn’t cope with adult responsibility. He mocked and antagonised his family, publicly lost his temper when he could not work machinery or tools, and let Cindy do most of the work and make most of the decisions. He used her as a protective shield.
When Cindy asked him to leave, Farquharson moved in with his father, seeking sympathy from many locals and blaming her for the marriage breakdown.
Outwardly he was moving on, but inwardly Farquharson seethed. Due to his AvPD he chose to be dependent on Cindy, but this also made him resentful. When she befriended another man, his rage quietly grew to the point where he plotted one of the world’s worst cases of family violence.
As this terrible tragedy showed, domestic violence is complex and many factors can contribute. Personality disorders often play a significant role and most people don’t realise how dangerous some people with one of these entrenched behaviour patterns can be.
Gerard Baden-Clay is another classic case of a murderer with a personality disorder. The Brisbane real estate agent appeared to be the perfect husband, father and small businessman — until he killed his wife, Allison, in April, 2012.
A great-grandson of Scouts founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell, Baden-Clay was president of the Kenmore Chamber of Commerce, ran Scout groups, supported the local school’s chaplaincy program and doted on his three daughters.
He actively promoted an image of himself as a successful and upstanding businessman, but it was far removed from the reality of his life. When Baden-Clay was charged with Allison’s murder, most Australians were stunned. But they shouldn’t have been.
Privately, Baden-Clay had spent years deliberately chipping away at Allison’s confidence, cheating with multiple women, big-noting himself in business and borrowing big money from friends when his franchise began to fail and incur massive debts.
His narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) meant he felt justified in fabricating a false image and doing or taking what he wanted, even if it hurt others.
An NPD is a pervasive pattern of behaviour characterised by an excessive need for admiration, inflated views of oneself not backed up by reality, exploitation of others, a strong sense of entitlement and marked arrogance.
Baden-Clay displayed these characteristics and was not as clever as he thought. His story that Allison had wandered off overnight, ending up in a creek 13 kilometres away, was unconvincing and he was convicted of her murder in 2014.
Yesterday lawyers for Baden-Clay argued that his conviction for the murder of his wife should be quashed on the grounds it was ‘unreasonable’. The three judges will give a written judgment, expected within three months.
Simon Gittany also had a false exterior masking something much more sinister — in his case an anti-social personality disorder (ASPD). An ASPD is a pervasive pattern of behaviour characterised by a disregard for and violation of the rights of other people coupled with a lack of remorse.
In public Gittany played the loving partner of his Canadian fiancee, Lisa Harnum. But he had a long criminal record for assault, theft and drug-dealing. He secretly spied on Lisa, controlled her every move and alienated her from her friends and her family in Canada.
When Lisa tried to leave in July, 2011, Gittany threw her from the balcony of their fifteenth floor Sydney CBD apartment and claimed she had suddenly climbed over. Judge Lucy McCallum disagreed and found him guilty of murder.
These perpetrators all had a personality disorder and their dysfunctional pattern of behaviour towards their partners was rigid, lacking in empathy and focused only on their own needs. In each case the results were deadly.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Dad stops lifeguards from rescuing drowning daughter (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
UNNAMED DAD
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/reports/news/a37833/dubai-girl-drowns-dishonour/
10 August, 2015 @ 11:58 AM
Dad stops his daughter being saved from drowning so she wouldn't 'dishonour' him
"[He] considered that if these men touched his daughter, then this would dishonour her."
By Zara Kenyon
A man stopped lifeguards from rescuing his drowning daughter on a beach in Dubai, as he didn't want 'strange men' touching her because, he said, it would 'dishonour her'. As the father grappled with those who were trying to save the 20-year-old, the woman lost her life in the heartbreaking and disturbing incident.
Lt. Col Ahmed Burqibah, deputy director of Dubai Police's Search and Rescue Department described the scene to Emirates 24/7.
He said:"This is one of the incidents which I cannot forget. It shocked me and many others who were involved in the case." The Asian father took his wife and kids to the beach for picnic and fun. The kids were swimming in the beach when suddenly, the 20-year-old girl started drowning and screaming for help.
But, instead of calling for help or running in to rescue her, the woman's father became violent with two lifeguards who tried to save her life.
"'Two rescue men were at the beach, and they rushed to help the girl. However, there was one obstacle which prevented them from reaching the girl and helping her.
"This obstacle was the belief of this Asian man who considered that if these men touched his daughter, then this would dishonour her. It cost him the life of his daughter."
Tragically, by the time the lifeguards fought off the woman's father she had passed away - a fate that the father allegedly said he preferred over having 'strange men' touch her.
"The father was a tall and strong man. He started pulling and preventing the rescue men and got violent with them.
"He told them that he prefers his daughter being dead than being touched by a strange man.
"She died unfortunately, at a time when she had a chance to live, especially that the rescue men were so close to her to pull her out of the water."
The father was later arrested and prosecuted.
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/reports/news/a37833/dubai-girl-drowns-dishonour/
10 August, 2015 @ 11:58 AM
Dad stops his daughter being saved from drowning so she wouldn't 'dishonour' him
"[He] considered that if these men touched his daughter, then this would dishonour her."
By Zara Kenyon
A man stopped lifeguards from rescuing his drowning daughter on a beach in Dubai, as he didn't want 'strange men' touching her because, he said, it would 'dishonour her'. As the father grappled with those who were trying to save the 20-year-old, the woman lost her life in the heartbreaking and disturbing incident.
Lt. Col Ahmed Burqibah, deputy director of Dubai Police's Search and Rescue Department described the scene to Emirates 24/7.
He said:"This is one of the incidents which I cannot forget. It shocked me and many others who were involved in the case." The Asian father took his wife and kids to the beach for picnic and fun. The kids were swimming in the beach when suddenly, the 20-year-old girl started drowning and screaming for help.
But, instead of calling for help or running in to rescue her, the woman's father became violent with two lifeguards who tried to save her life.
"'Two rescue men were at the beach, and they rushed to help the girl. However, there was one obstacle which prevented them from reaching the girl and helping her.
"This obstacle was the belief of this Asian man who considered that if these men touched his daughter, then this would dishonour her. It cost him the life of his daughter."
Tragically, by the time the lifeguards fought off the woman's father she had passed away - a fate that the father allegedly said he preferred over having 'strange men' touch her.
"The father was a tall and strong man. He started pulling and preventing the rescue men and got violent with them.
"He told them that he prefers his daughter being dead than being touched by a strange man.
"She died unfortunately, at a time when she had a chance to live, especially that the rescue men were so close to her to pull her out of the water."
The father was later arrested and prosecuted.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Custodial dad admits killing 10-year-old son, sentenced to 40 years in prison (Hennepin County, Minnesota)
My heart goes out to the mother of this little boy, who lost custody when he was just five.
As the second wife of PIERRE COLLINS reported abuse, it's a near certainty the mother experienced it as well.
http://www.startribune.com/pierre-collins-to-plead-guilty-in-murder-of-his-10-year-old-son-barway/320476792/
Pierre Collins admits killing 10-year-old son, is sentenced to 40 years in prison
Barway’s dad, who had denied involvement, draws 40-year sentence.
By Karen Zamora Star Tribune August 3, 2015 — 9:01pm
Hours before 10-year-old Barway Collins was reported missing, his enraged father punched him until he was unconscious, duct-taped his body and threw him into the Mississippi River.
“I killed my son,” Pierre Collins said Monday in Hennepin County District Court, describing his actions on March 18 outside their Crystal apartment building after the boy had been dropped off by his school van. “I hit him and he fell.”
#After months of insisting that he had nothing to do with the boy’s disappearance and death, Collins, 33, pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder before a packed and emotional courtroom. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Barway Collins’ body was found in a stretch of the river in the north metro on April 11. His death, the almost-two-week search for his body and the charges against his father have been a confusing, wrenching experience for the Twin Cities’ large Liberian-American community. Monday’s plea negates the need for a trial that had been set for January.
Collins, who originally had faced first-degree murder charges, was given a longer sentence than is called for by state guidelines because Barway was vulnerable and because hiding his body was particularly cruel, said Hennepin County Judge Tanya Bransford.
His “actions caused great pain … to the whole community,” she said. “It is unimaginable that a parent would kill their own child.”
Collins’ confession of how he became angry with his son, beat him, then dumped him into the river drew gasps and cries from courtroom observers, including Yamah Collins, Barway’s stepmother; Louise Karluah, Barway’s birth mother, who traveled from Liberia after his death, and Pierre Collins’ former wife, Jennifer Beaver, the mother of four of his children.
All three women took care of Barway at some point. Karluah and relatives cared for him in Liberia before he was sent at age 5 to the United States to join his father, who had emigrated. Beaver cared for Barway during her marriage to Collins, but was unable to get custody of him when they divorced. She is the mother of two children with Collins, who also adopted her two children from a previous relationship. Yamah, Collins’ current wife, the mother of two other children, cared for Barway most recently.
At one point, Karluah fell from her chair in shock and grief. She later was escorted into a hallway before returning to make an unplanned victim-impact statement. She was unable to speak clearly, so a friend, Victoria Peabody, took the stand to say they are both “broken and lost.”
“I went to Mr. Collins’ house and prayed with him,” Peabody said. “I just feel so dirty because I held his hand. … Louise is so lost.”
Karluah said she forgives Collins and is relieved that he pleaded guilty. She said that if Collins hadn’t wanted their son, he should have sent him back to his native Liberia. “It’s not right. Not feeling good right now. … I’ve been praying for justice,” Karluah said. “Barway is a very special child to me.”
Yamah Collins and Beaver separately embraced Karluah before and after the hearing.
Beaver, who has alleged that Collins abused her and their children, said she cannot forgive him.
“Just hearing him say that he murdered my son — how could you do that?” Beaver said after the hearing. “So you mean to tell me you beat him so bad and you duct-taped him and threw him in the water like nothing?”
#Yamah Collins, who had stood by Pierre’s side since Barway’s disappearance, shook her head and walked away when asked if she would continue to support him.
‘We found justice for Barway’
In confessing to Barway’s murder, Collins told the judge that he became angry with the boy when he misbehaved as he played outside after arriving home from school. “I was really mad at him,” Collins said. “I hit him … he fell. He wasn’t responding, so I took him to the water. … I intended to kill my son.”
Collins said he was fearful because he knew he would be in trouble, so he taped the boy’s arms and legs and threw him into the river in an attempt to hide the body.
He also asked for sympathy, saying, “I want everybody in the community to forgive me.” But afterward, some of his family members said they were dismayed that it took him so long to tell the truth and disappointed by the plea deal.
County Attorney Mike Freeman said after the hearing that Barway’s body remained underwater until he was found 26 days later by volunteer searchers. Authorities have not been able to establish an exact cause of death.
The guilty plea brings “some justice for Barway’s family,” Freeman said.
“The last thing we know that Barway Collins said is, ‘There’s my dad,’ ” Freeman said, referring to video footage of Barway taken in his school van. “And he said it in a voice of being excited to see the person he loved. He’s gone. None of us can explain or comprehend how a father could kill his son. We don’t know exactly what happened … [but] there’s some justice for Barway’s family and for little Barway, as well.”
Crystal Police Chief Stephanie Revering, who joined Freeman at the news conference, said Monday was the “culmination of our search for justice for Barway Collins.” Crystal police, with help from other agencies, searched for the boy for weeks “hoping to bring him home safe, but knowing that someone close to him was likely responsible for his disappearance,” she said. #“We can never bring him back,” Revering said. “But today we can finally close this case knowing that we found justice for Barway.”
As the second wife of PIERRE COLLINS reported abuse, it's a near certainty the mother experienced it as well.
http://www.startribune.com/pierre-collins-to-plead-guilty-in-murder-of-his-10-year-old-son-barway/320476792/
Pierre Collins admits killing 10-year-old son, is sentenced to 40 years in prison
Barway’s dad, who had denied involvement, draws 40-year sentence.
By Karen Zamora Star Tribune August 3, 2015 — 9:01pm
Hours before 10-year-old Barway Collins was reported missing, his enraged father punched him until he was unconscious, duct-taped his body and threw him into the Mississippi River.
“I killed my son,” Pierre Collins said Monday in Hennepin County District Court, describing his actions on March 18 outside their Crystal apartment building after the boy had been dropped off by his school van. “I hit him and he fell.”
#After months of insisting that he had nothing to do with the boy’s disappearance and death, Collins, 33, pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder before a packed and emotional courtroom. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Barway Collins’ body was found in a stretch of the river in the north metro on April 11. His death, the almost-two-week search for his body and the charges against his father have been a confusing, wrenching experience for the Twin Cities’ large Liberian-American community. Monday’s plea negates the need for a trial that had been set for January.
Collins, who originally had faced first-degree murder charges, was given a longer sentence than is called for by state guidelines because Barway was vulnerable and because hiding his body was particularly cruel, said Hennepin County Judge Tanya Bransford.
His “actions caused great pain … to the whole community,” she said. “It is unimaginable that a parent would kill their own child.”
Collins’ confession of how he became angry with his son, beat him, then dumped him into the river drew gasps and cries from courtroom observers, including Yamah Collins, Barway’s stepmother; Louise Karluah, Barway’s birth mother, who traveled from Liberia after his death, and Pierre Collins’ former wife, Jennifer Beaver, the mother of four of his children.
All three women took care of Barway at some point. Karluah and relatives cared for him in Liberia before he was sent at age 5 to the United States to join his father, who had emigrated. Beaver cared for Barway during her marriage to Collins, but was unable to get custody of him when they divorced. She is the mother of two children with Collins, who also adopted her two children from a previous relationship. Yamah, Collins’ current wife, the mother of two other children, cared for Barway most recently.
At one point, Karluah fell from her chair in shock and grief. She later was escorted into a hallway before returning to make an unplanned victim-impact statement. She was unable to speak clearly, so a friend, Victoria Peabody, took the stand to say they are both “broken and lost.”
“I went to Mr. Collins’ house and prayed with him,” Peabody said. “I just feel so dirty because I held his hand. … Louise is so lost.”
Karluah said she forgives Collins and is relieved that he pleaded guilty. She said that if Collins hadn’t wanted their son, he should have sent him back to his native Liberia. “It’s not right. Not feeling good right now. … I’ve been praying for justice,” Karluah said. “Barway is a very special child to me.”
Yamah Collins and Beaver separately embraced Karluah before and after the hearing.
Beaver, who has alleged that Collins abused her and their children, said she cannot forgive him.
“Just hearing him say that he murdered my son — how could you do that?” Beaver said after the hearing. “So you mean to tell me you beat him so bad and you duct-taped him and threw him in the water like nothing?”
#Yamah Collins, who had stood by Pierre’s side since Barway’s disappearance, shook her head and walked away when asked if she would continue to support him.
‘We found justice for Barway’
In confessing to Barway’s murder, Collins told the judge that he became angry with the boy when he misbehaved as he played outside after arriving home from school. “I was really mad at him,” Collins said. “I hit him … he fell. He wasn’t responding, so I took him to the water. … I intended to kill my son.”
Collins said he was fearful because he knew he would be in trouble, so he taped the boy’s arms and legs and threw him into the river in an attempt to hide the body.
He also asked for sympathy, saying, “I want everybody in the community to forgive me.” But afterward, some of his family members said they were dismayed that it took him so long to tell the truth and disappointed by the plea deal.
County Attorney Mike Freeman said after the hearing that Barway’s body remained underwater until he was found 26 days later by volunteer searchers. Authorities have not been able to establish an exact cause of death.
The guilty plea brings “some justice for Barway’s family,” Freeman said.
“The last thing we know that Barway Collins said is, ‘There’s my dad,’ ” Freeman said, referring to video footage of Barway taken in his school van. “And he said it in a voice of being excited to see the person he loved. He’s gone. None of us can explain or comprehend how a father could kill his son. We don’t know exactly what happened … [but] there’s some justice for Barway’s family and for little Barway, as well.”
Crystal Police Chief Stephanie Revering, who joined Freeman at the news conference, said Monday was the “culmination of our search for justice for Barway Collins.” Crystal police, with help from other agencies, searched for the boy for weeks “hoping to bring him home safe, but knowing that someone close to him was likely responsible for his disappearance,” she said. #“We can never bring him back,” Revering said. “But today we can finally close this case knowing that we found justice for Barway.”
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Dad charged with murder in death of 2-year-old son (Memphis, Tennessee)
Dad is identified as MARTERRIUS HITE.
http://wreg.com/2015/07/16/father-of-child-found-dead-charged-with-murder-child-abuse/
Father of child found dead charged with murder & child abuse
Posted 1:25 pm, July 16, 2015, by George Brown, Updated at 07:06pm, July 16, 2015
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Police have charged a man with murdering his 2-year-old son.
Marterrius Hite told police Monday he found his son Deandre Davis floating in a bathtub.
The child later died at the hospital.
Investigators noticed ‘multiple cuts and bruising covering the entire body of the 2 year old victim.’
Police say Hite told them he grabbed his son ‘by the neck and popped him several times with a belt on his stomach and legs.’
He said he later found the boy in the tub.
The medical examiner ruled Davis died due to blunt force trauma to his head and stomach area which caused massive internal injuries as well as brain hemorrhaging.
Hite is charged with four counts of aggravated child abuse, four counts of first degree murder and violation of the seat belt law.
He will appear in court on Friday.
http://wreg.com/2015/07/16/father-of-child-found-dead-charged-with-murder-child-abuse/
Father of child found dead charged with murder & child abuse
Posted 1:25 pm, July 16, 2015, by George Brown, Updated at 07:06pm, July 16, 2015
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Police have charged a man with murdering his 2-year-old son.
Marterrius Hite told police Monday he found his son Deandre Davis floating in a bathtub.
The child later died at the hospital.
Investigators noticed ‘multiple cuts and bruising covering the entire body of the 2 year old victim.’
Police say Hite told them he grabbed his son ‘by the neck and popped him several times with a belt on his stomach and legs.’
He said he later found the boy in the tub.
The medical examiner ruled Davis died due to blunt force trauma to his head and stomach area which caused massive internal injuries as well as brain hemorrhaging.
Hite is charged with four counts of aggravated child abuse, four counts of first degree murder and violation of the seat belt law.
He will appear in court on Friday.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Dad pleads not guilty to murder charges in death of 6-month-old son (Benton, Kentucky)
The "babysitting" dad is identified as JOHN MIKULICH IV. No mention of a mother in the home.
http://www.lex18.com/story/28981071/hardin-father-pleads-not-guilty-in-death-of-6-month-old-son
Hardin father pleads not guilty in death of 6-month-old son
BENTON, Ky. (AP) - A Hardin father has pleaded not guilty in the death of his 6-month-old son.
The Paducah Sun (http://bit.ly/1F3BGER) reports 30-year-old John Mikulich IV pleaded not guilty Monday on a wanton murder charge after his son died at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville.
Mikulich was arrested March 14 after Marshall authorities found the baby floating in a bathtub. The child survived for 11 days in a coma before being taken off life support.
At a preliminary hearing, Marshall County sheriff's detective Matt Hillbrecht testified that Mikulich had been under the influence of some type of drug while watching the baby and his 2-year-old brother.
Hillbrecht says Mikulich changed his story several times when explaining why the baby was in the bathtub.
The charge of wanton murder carries a possible life sentence.
http://www.lex18.com/story/28981071/hardin-father-pleads-not-guilty-in-death-of-6-month-old-son
Hardin father pleads not guilty in death of 6-month-old son
BENTON, Ky. (AP) - A Hardin father has pleaded not guilty in the death of his 6-month-old son.
The Paducah Sun (http://bit.ly/1F3BGER) reports 30-year-old John Mikulich IV pleaded not guilty Monday on a wanton murder charge after his son died at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville.
Mikulich was arrested March 14 after Marshall authorities found the baby floating in a bathtub. The child survived for 11 days in a coma before being taken off life support.
At a preliminary hearing, Marshall County sheriff's detective Matt Hillbrecht testified that Mikulich had been under the influence of some type of drug while watching the baby and his 2-year-old brother.
Hillbrecht says Mikulich changed his story several times when explaining why the baby was in the bathtub.
The charge of wanton murder carries a possible life sentence.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
The little girl thrown off the bridge by her custodial dad? She was afraid of water (St. Petersburg, Florida)
This is a pretty comprehensive picture of how an abusive custodial father operates--though the reporter fails to connect all the dots. For that matter, even the women who have been his victims haven't really processed all the sh** he pulled on them.
Some observations:
1) The reporters falls for a common pitfall here, in labeling the relationship between the parents as "tumultuous." There is no evidence here that the mother was ever violent. There was no mutual violence. It was the father who inflicted violence on the mother, such as hitting her on the head with a cinder block.
2) In fact, the mother has been accused of nothing but petty crimes for the most part, except for the child neglect. But all this is pretty dubious given the father's outrageous ability to LIE AND CON and accuse OTHERS of wrongdoing. Classic narcissistic behavior, in that he projects onto others his own abusive motives. He seems most likely to do this to women, but it appears he has also faked injuries at a local restaurant, and appeared to be found of randomly suing people for injury. That makes Daddy's accusation of domestic violence against the mother pretty dubious.
3) Unfortunately, the fathers rights people have brainwashed the judiciary into believing mothers are the liars. On the contrary, research shows that fathers lie just as often if not more so.
4) Victims are often confused and think they have experienced a "Jeckyll and Hyde" personality. In fact, JOHN JONCHUCK comes across a classic psychopath. He's able to fake being nice and charming as long as it get him what he wants and the victim is compliant. If the victim is no longer offering him what he wants, he turns on her. It's also a "walking on eggshells" technique that leaves victims nervous and off-kilter--all the better to control them.
5) Both the mother and the friends desperately want to believe that this guy really loved his daughter despite the way he treated them. I'm sorry ladies. That's not how these guys work. The daughter was showing classic trauma bonding behavior. She knew--instinctively--that she had to cater to Daddy and flatter him with affection to stay safe. Who knows what set Daddy off. Maybe he was just pissed off for getting caught speeding. But the little girl paid for that with her life. And in the way she was afraid of most.
A TRULY SICK BASTARD THIS FATHER WAS. SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOCKED UP AGES AGO.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article5603850.html
Friend: Florida girl thrown from bridge hated water
By TAMARA LUSH - Associated Press 01/08/2015 2:19 PM | Updated: 01/08/2015 2:19 PM
Tampa Bay Times
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Phoebe Jonchuck, the 5-year-old girl who police say was thrown from a bridge Thursday by her father, had long curly hair, a wide smile and loved princesses. She hated baths and water, making her death even more gut-wrenching.
Her parents, John Jonchuck and Michelle Kerr, were together for six tumultuous years, and police were called numerous times for domestic violence-related complaints. Both had arrest records.
An attorney who had represented Jonchuck in the past reported him to police and child welfare workers on Wednesday, though it wasn't immediately clear why. Jonchuck had custody of Phoebe.
"I always saw him as a good dad," Kerr said. "She would always say, 'I love you daddy.' She loved her dad."
Jonchuck was arrested shortly after he threw his daughter and was in jail facing a first-degree murder charge, police said.
Just after midnight Wednesday, police saw Jonchuck's Chrysler PT Cruiser going about 100 mph toward the Sunshine Skyway bridge. By the time an officer caught up with him, Jonchuck had pulled over on the approach span to the bridge.
Jonchuck got out and started toward the officer, who pulled his weapon. Then Jonchuck grabbed Phoebe from the back seat and "held her face to his chest" as he carried her to the railing, St. Petersburg police Chief Anthony Holloway said.
It wasn't clear whether Phoebe was alive, though the officer said he "thought he heard the child scream" before Jonchuck threw her into Tampa Bay about 60 feet below, Holloway said.
Phoebe's body was recovered in the dark, early morning hours about a mile from the bridge. Rescue crews tried to revive her. She was pronounced dead at 2:44 a.m. An autopsy is pending.
Police records said Jonchuck, 25, was separated from Phoebe's 29-year-old mother and the two had a rocky relationship, with Jonchuck requesting a restraining order against her as recently as last month. Police said the request was denied. Jonchuck and Phoebe lived with his dad in Tampa.
Linda Mattos, the owner of a daycare that looked after Phoebe, said Jonchuck and Phoebe were homeless in 2013. Jonchuck had a back injury and didn't work, so Mattos allowed them to stay at her house for about six months, until Jonchuck started to pick fights with her.
When she asked him to leave, he tried to get revenge, Mattos said, by calling child protective services.
"He was very revengeful," she said. "He tried to ruin me."
It was a claim that Kerr echoed.
She said she last saw her daughter and Jonchuck on Christmas Eve. They had a nice evening together and then he called child protective services on her and made false abuse allegations, she said.
"He does the Jekyll and Hyde. It's just something that goes on in his head, he just wasn't wired right," she said.
And yet, Kerr said that she never imagined Jonchuck would hurt Phoebe.
Both she and Jonchuck had several run-ins with authorities. At one point, Jonchuck filed for a restraining order against Kerr, while Kerr said he struck her in the head with a cinder block. Since 2008, Jonchuck has been charged with domestic battery six times according to court records. In every case, the charges were dropped or never pursued by the alleged victim.
She has an arrest record consisting of child neglect, petty theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, among other charges.
Jonchuck's first court hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Jail records didn't list the name of Jonchuck's attorney.
Genevieve Torres, Jonchuck's lawyer on a paternity suit, reported him to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Children and Families on Wednesday, said her legal assistant, Kyrsten Malcolm, who wouldn't elaborate. Police confirmed the report but didn't say what it was about.
Mattos said that Jonchuck had back problems following a fall at an area restaurant, after which he sued the chain and received a cash settlement.
"He never really finished anything completely. He seemed to be the kind of person who had accidents and sued people," she said.
But he doted on his daughter, both Kerr and Mattos said.
"She was a very smart little girl who loved princesses and who loved to color. She hated the water and she didn't know how to swim," Mattos said, choking up. "That's what bothered me the most this morning because I knew how much she hated the water. She wouldn't even take a bath."
--- AP Researcher Jennifer Farrar contributed to this report.
Some observations:
1) The reporters falls for a common pitfall here, in labeling the relationship between the parents as "tumultuous." There is no evidence here that the mother was ever violent. There was no mutual violence. It was the father who inflicted violence on the mother, such as hitting her on the head with a cinder block.
2) In fact, the mother has been accused of nothing but petty crimes for the most part, except for the child neglect. But all this is pretty dubious given the father's outrageous ability to LIE AND CON and accuse OTHERS of wrongdoing. Classic narcissistic behavior, in that he projects onto others his own abusive motives. He seems most likely to do this to women, but it appears he has also faked injuries at a local restaurant, and appeared to be found of randomly suing people for injury. That makes Daddy's accusation of domestic violence against the mother pretty dubious.
3) Unfortunately, the fathers rights people have brainwashed the judiciary into believing mothers are the liars. On the contrary, research shows that fathers lie just as often if not more so.
4) Victims are often confused and think they have experienced a "Jeckyll and Hyde" personality. In fact, JOHN JONCHUCK comes across a classic psychopath. He's able to fake being nice and charming as long as it get him what he wants and the victim is compliant. If the victim is no longer offering him what he wants, he turns on her. It's also a "walking on eggshells" technique that leaves victims nervous and off-kilter--all the better to control them.
5) Both the mother and the friends desperately want to believe that this guy really loved his daughter despite the way he treated them. I'm sorry ladies. That's not how these guys work. The daughter was showing classic trauma bonding behavior. She knew--instinctively--that she had to cater to Daddy and flatter him with affection to stay safe. Who knows what set Daddy off. Maybe he was just pissed off for getting caught speeding. But the little girl paid for that with her life. And in the way she was afraid of most.
A TRULY SICK BASTARD THIS FATHER WAS. SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOCKED UP AGES AGO.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article5603850.html
Friend: Florida girl thrown from bridge hated water
By TAMARA LUSH - Associated Press 01/08/2015 2:19 PM | Updated: 01/08/2015 2:19 PM
Tampa Bay Times
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Phoebe Jonchuck, the 5-year-old girl who police say was thrown from a bridge Thursday by her father, had long curly hair, a wide smile and loved princesses. She hated baths and water, making her death even more gut-wrenching.
Her parents, John Jonchuck and Michelle Kerr, were together for six tumultuous years, and police were called numerous times for domestic violence-related complaints. Both had arrest records.
An attorney who had represented Jonchuck in the past reported him to police and child welfare workers on Wednesday, though it wasn't immediately clear why. Jonchuck had custody of Phoebe.
"I always saw him as a good dad," Kerr said. "She would always say, 'I love you daddy.' She loved her dad."
Jonchuck was arrested shortly after he threw his daughter and was in jail facing a first-degree murder charge, police said.
Just after midnight Wednesday, police saw Jonchuck's Chrysler PT Cruiser going about 100 mph toward the Sunshine Skyway bridge. By the time an officer caught up with him, Jonchuck had pulled over on the approach span to the bridge.
Jonchuck got out and started toward the officer, who pulled his weapon. Then Jonchuck grabbed Phoebe from the back seat and "held her face to his chest" as he carried her to the railing, St. Petersburg police Chief Anthony Holloway said.
It wasn't clear whether Phoebe was alive, though the officer said he "thought he heard the child scream" before Jonchuck threw her into Tampa Bay about 60 feet below, Holloway said.
Phoebe's body was recovered in the dark, early morning hours about a mile from the bridge. Rescue crews tried to revive her. She was pronounced dead at 2:44 a.m. An autopsy is pending.
Police records said Jonchuck, 25, was separated from Phoebe's 29-year-old mother and the two had a rocky relationship, with Jonchuck requesting a restraining order against her as recently as last month. Police said the request was denied. Jonchuck and Phoebe lived with his dad in Tampa.
Linda Mattos, the owner of a daycare that looked after Phoebe, said Jonchuck and Phoebe were homeless in 2013. Jonchuck had a back injury and didn't work, so Mattos allowed them to stay at her house for about six months, until Jonchuck started to pick fights with her.
When she asked him to leave, he tried to get revenge, Mattos said, by calling child protective services.
"He was very revengeful," she said. "He tried to ruin me."
It was a claim that Kerr echoed.
She said she last saw her daughter and Jonchuck on Christmas Eve. They had a nice evening together and then he called child protective services on her and made false abuse allegations, she said.
"He does the Jekyll and Hyde. It's just something that goes on in his head, he just wasn't wired right," she said.
And yet, Kerr said that she never imagined Jonchuck would hurt Phoebe.
Both she and Jonchuck had several run-ins with authorities. At one point, Jonchuck filed for a restraining order against Kerr, while Kerr said he struck her in the head with a cinder block. Since 2008, Jonchuck has been charged with domestic battery six times according to court records. In every case, the charges were dropped or never pursued by the alleged victim.
She has an arrest record consisting of child neglect, petty theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, among other charges.
Jonchuck's first court hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Jail records didn't list the name of Jonchuck's attorney.
Genevieve Torres, Jonchuck's lawyer on a paternity suit, reported him to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Children and Families on Wednesday, said her legal assistant, Kyrsten Malcolm, who wouldn't elaborate. Police confirmed the report but didn't say what it was about.
Mattos said that Jonchuck had back problems following a fall at an area restaurant, after which he sued the chain and received a cash settlement.
"He never really finished anything completely. He seemed to be the kind of person who had accidents and sued people," she said.
But he doted on his daughter, both Kerr and Mattos said.
"She was a very smart little girl who loved princesses and who loved to color. She hated the water and she didn't know how to swim," Mattos said, choking up. "That's what bothered me the most this morning because I knew how much she hated the water. She wouldn't even take a bath."
--- AP Researcher Jennifer Farrar contributed to this report.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Dad charged with capital murder in death of 15-month-old son during court-ordered visitation NOW charged in murder of former girlfriend more than ten years before (Montgomery County, Maryland)
An update to the killer dads and custody list.
We knew that dad JOAQUIN S. RAMS had been charged with capital murder in the death of his 15-month-old son during court-ordered visitation--despite heroic efforts on the part of the protective mother.
But we missed that this same man was subsequently charged in November 2013 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend more than ten years before.
Another one of those cases with abundant evidence of judicial corruption/incompetence/collusion.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-cost-of-the-slow-investigations-of-joaquin-s-rams/2013/11/09/ec3d1d2c-473d-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html
The cost of the slow investigations of Joaquin S. Rams
By Editorial Board
November 9, 2013
A DECADE AFTER a 22-year-old Manassas woman was found fatally shot, the ex-boyfriend police long considered a suspect was charged with her murder. Whether Joaquin S. Rams is responsible for the death of Shawn Katrina Mason is a question that will be decided in court. But there are other questions that need to be addressed by authorities in Virginia and Maryland who came into contact with Mr. Rams.
Could they have shown more diligence or urgency in investigations of Mr. Rams? Why wasn’t more heed paid to warnings about him? And could there have been a different outcome for the 15-month-old son Mr. Rams is accused of killing more than 10 years after Ms. Mason’s death?
A Prince William grand jury Monday indicted Mr. Rams on murder and other charges in the March 2003 death of Ms. Mason. Mr. Rams already is awaiting trial on capital murder in connection with the October 2012 death of his 15-month-old son, Prince McLeod Rams, in a case that has come to highlight concerns about how family court protects children. Prosecutors say Mr. Rams drowned the toddler during a court-ordered unsupervised visit opposed by his mother. His alleged motive was more than $500,000 he had taken out in life insurance on the boy. Insurance was also cited as a possible motive in Ms. Mason’s death and a grand jury has reopened an investigation into the 2008 death of Mr. Rams’s mother that was ruled a suicide. Attorneys for Mr. Rams, who has pleaded innocent in the case involving his son, declined comment.
“It doesn’t feel like true justice when it ends up that justice can only be served at the expense of an innocent child,” Hera McLeod, Prince’s mother, said of the indictment that came too late to help her son. Her anguish is understandable. As she was waging a desperate battle in Montgomery County Circuit Court during the spring and summer of 2012 with Mr. Rams over custody and visits, she got little help — was even at odds — with authorities. Virginia officials didn’t heed her call to take action against Mr. Rams; most incredibly, as we have written before, they chose to make her subject of questionable prosecution in a case involving Mr. Rams (charges were dismissed at trial.). Citing the absence of charges against Mr. Rams, a Montgomery County judge dismissed as “a lot of smoke” the troubling issues that surrounded him during proceedings that exposed weaknesses in a system that should safeguard children.
Prince William Commonwealth Attorney Paul B. Ebert defended his office’s actions and stressed the complexities of investigations. He told The Post’s Jeremy Borden that the crimes that Mr. Rams allegedly committed are “extremely cold and unusual.” No doubt Mr. Ebert is correct about the difficulties, and he should be credited for the attention now being paid to these events. But it’s hard not to ask at what price.
We knew that dad JOAQUIN S. RAMS had been charged with capital murder in the death of his 15-month-old son during court-ordered visitation--despite heroic efforts on the part of the protective mother.
But we missed that this same man was subsequently charged in November 2013 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend more than ten years before.
Another one of those cases with abundant evidence of judicial corruption/incompetence/collusion.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-cost-of-the-slow-investigations-of-joaquin-s-rams/2013/11/09/ec3d1d2c-473d-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html
The cost of the slow investigations of Joaquin S. Rams
By Editorial Board
November 9, 2013
A DECADE AFTER a 22-year-old Manassas woman was found fatally shot, the ex-boyfriend police long considered a suspect was charged with her murder. Whether Joaquin S. Rams is responsible for the death of Shawn Katrina Mason is a question that will be decided in court. But there are other questions that need to be addressed by authorities in Virginia and Maryland who came into contact with Mr. Rams.
Could they have shown more diligence or urgency in investigations of Mr. Rams? Why wasn’t more heed paid to warnings about him? And could there have been a different outcome for the 15-month-old son Mr. Rams is accused of killing more than 10 years after Ms. Mason’s death?
A Prince William grand jury Monday indicted Mr. Rams on murder and other charges in the March 2003 death of Ms. Mason. Mr. Rams already is awaiting trial on capital murder in connection with the October 2012 death of his 15-month-old son, Prince McLeod Rams, in a case that has come to highlight concerns about how family court protects children. Prosecutors say Mr. Rams drowned the toddler during a court-ordered unsupervised visit opposed by his mother. His alleged motive was more than $500,000 he had taken out in life insurance on the boy. Insurance was also cited as a possible motive in Ms. Mason’s death and a grand jury has reopened an investigation into the 2008 death of Mr. Rams’s mother that was ruled a suicide. Attorneys for Mr. Rams, who has pleaded innocent in the case involving his son, declined comment.
“It doesn’t feel like true justice when it ends up that justice can only be served at the expense of an innocent child,” Hera McLeod, Prince’s mother, said of the indictment that came too late to help her son. Her anguish is understandable. As she was waging a desperate battle in Montgomery County Circuit Court during the spring and summer of 2012 with Mr. Rams over custody and visits, she got little help — was even at odds — with authorities. Virginia officials didn’t heed her call to take action against Mr. Rams; most incredibly, as we have written before, they chose to make her subject of questionable prosecution in a case involving Mr. Rams (charges were dismissed at trial.). Citing the absence of charges against Mr. Rams, a Montgomery County judge dismissed as “a lot of smoke” the troubling issues that surrounded him during proceedings that exposed weaknesses in a system that should safeguard children.
Prince William Commonwealth Attorney Paul B. Ebert defended his office’s actions and stressed the complexities of investigations. He told The Post’s Jeremy Borden that the crimes that Mr. Rams allegedly committed are “extremely cold and unusual.” No doubt Mr. Ebert is correct about the difficulties, and he should be credited for the attention now being paid to these events. But it’s hard not to ask at what price.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Dad with shared custody finally indicted on 2nd-degree murder charges for 2011 drowning death of 3-year-old son (Syracuse, New York)
Update to the killer dads and custody lists. Though it has taken three years, dad MARCEL WASHINGTON was finally indicted on 2nd-degree murder charges earlier this year.
What is not reported here (of course), is that Dad had a criminal record in addition to all his alleged mental illness/religious obsession issues--and was awarded shared custody anyway. The little boy's drowning death occurred during Dad's weekend parenting time.
See one of our prior posts here.
http://drvitelli.typepad.com/providentia/2014/03/syracuse-man-indicted-in-exorcism-murder-of-three-year-old.html
March 18, 2014
Syracuse Man Indicted in Exorcism Murder of Three-Year Old
When police in Syracuse, New York discoverd the body of three-year old Ameen Washington on November 5, 2011, they didn't have to look far to find their main suspect. The boy's father, 28-year-old Marcel Washington openly admitted killing Ameen in an attempt to exorcise the "Shatan" or devil that he believed was possessing him.
According to family members, Washington had been showing increasingly erratic behaviour in the weeks leading up to Ameen's death. His mother described her son reporting deeply paranoid ideas such as believing that people were whispering about him and his sisters felt he was acting "out of character". Even his girlfriend, Enida Ibrahimovic, who had been dating him for several months prior to the killing reported that he was acting in a bizarre manner. Still, nobody would have believed that he posed a risk to his son. "It all just happened so fast," said a cousin, "People who knew him are in total disbelief."
Despite these clues, he showed no indication of posing any risk to his son and was seen as a caring father. Still, on November 5, Washington reportedly placed his son in a cold shower and demanded to know if Ameen "worshipped only God." After hearing his son say "no", he then placed his face under water for ten minutes. In the statement Washington provided to police, Ameen's struggling convinced him that "Shatan" was resisting and he continued holding him under water until the struggling stopped.
When he removed Ameen from the shower, he saw foam coming out of the boy's mouth and he laid him on the bed until the foam finished draining out. When Washington noticed that Ameen had no pulse, he believed that he was still alive because "the pulse of the Shatan is very hard to track." Though he fled after realizing his son was dead, he subsequenty turned himself into police with his sister at his side. During the lengthy police interrogation that followed, he While he was arrested shortly afterward, he was emotionally upset at times as he described his reasons for attempting to exorcise his son. He also voiced little remorse for Ameen's death stating that "his child was better off dead than living with a devil inside of him."
A self-professed Muslim, Washington reported seeking guidance from the local religious community over his concerns about his son being possessed. He also claimed that Ameen was acting in a bizarre fashion and that a community elder told him to take the boy to the local Mosque where he could be treated by prayer.
While Washington was arrested in 2011, he was only indicted for second-degree murder last month due to the delay in completing a psychiatric assessment. While his defense attorney has declined to provide the results of his assessment, the question surrouunding Marcel Washington's mental state at the time of his son's death are likely to dominate the trial. In the meantime, family members continue to grieve over Ameen's death and openly wonder whether they could have done anything to prevent it.
What is not reported here (of course), is that Dad had a criminal record in addition to all his alleged mental illness/religious obsession issues--and was awarded shared custody anyway. The little boy's drowning death occurred during Dad's weekend parenting time.
See one of our prior posts here.
http://drvitelli.typepad.com/providentia/2014/03/syracuse-man-indicted-in-exorcism-murder-of-three-year-old.html
March 18, 2014
Syracuse Man Indicted in Exorcism Murder of Three-Year Old
When police in Syracuse, New York discoverd the body of three-year old Ameen Washington on November 5, 2011, they didn't have to look far to find their main suspect. The boy's father, 28-year-old Marcel Washington openly admitted killing Ameen in an attempt to exorcise the "Shatan" or devil that he believed was possessing him.
According to family members, Washington had been showing increasingly erratic behaviour in the weeks leading up to Ameen's death. His mother described her son reporting deeply paranoid ideas such as believing that people were whispering about him and his sisters felt he was acting "out of character". Even his girlfriend, Enida Ibrahimovic, who had been dating him for several months prior to the killing reported that he was acting in a bizarre manner. Still, nobody would have believed that he posed a risk to his son. "It all just happened so fast," said a cousin, "People who knew him are in total disbelief."
Despite these clues, he showed no indication of posing any risk to his son and was seen as a caring father. Still, on November 5, Washington reportedly placed his son in a cold shower and demanded to know if Ameen "worshipped only God." After hearing his son say "no", he then placed his face under water for ten minutes. In the statement Washington provided to police, Ameen's struggling convinced him that "Shatan" was resisting and he continued holding him under water until the struggling stopped.
When he removed Ameen from the shower, he saw foam coming out of the boy's mouth and he laid him on the bed until the foam finished draining out. When Washington noticed that Ameen had no pulse, he believed that he was still alive because "the pulse of the Shatan is very hard to track." Though he fled after realizing his son was dead, he subsequenty turned himself into police with his sister at his side. During the lengthy police interrogation that followed, he While he was arrested shortly afterward, he was emotionally upset at times as he described his reasons for attempting to exorcise his son. He also voiced little remorse for Ameen's death stating that "his child was better off dead than living with a devil inside of him."
A self-professed Muslim, Washington reported seeking guidance from the local religious community over his concerns about his son being possessed. He also claimed that Ameen was acting in a bizarre fashion and that a community elder told him to take the boy to the local Mosque where he could be treated by prayer.
While Washington was arrested in 2011, he was only indicted for second-degree murder last month due to the delay in completing a psychiatric assessment. While his defense attorney has declined to provide the results of his assessment, the question surrouunding Marcel Washington's mental state at the time of his son's death are likely to dominate the trial. In the meantime, family members continue to grieve over Ameen's death and openly wonder whether they could have done anything to prevent it.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Dad convicted of involuntary manslaughter in death of 4-year-old son; why did father who was wanted on rape and kidnapping charges have access/possession of a child? (Reynoldsburg, Ohio)
Update to the killer dads and custody list.
As often happens, the background is obscure. Previous articles reported that the father was wanted on "unrelated" rape and kidnapping charges and was a suspect in what was then believed to be the "suspicious" drowning of son. The father did not live with the mother, but had been "staying with various girlfriends." The custody arrangements have never been clarified in the media. But a criminal father clearly established access to the child somehow, and the authorities apparently never intervened.
See our previous posts here.
Dad is identified as ALFRED A. HILL.
http://ohianews.com/reynoldsburg-man-sentenced-in-4-year-old-sons-death/
Reynoldsburg man sentenced in 4-year-old son’s death
Posted on October 1, 2014
A 28-year-old Reynoldsburg man was sentenced today to nine years in prison for killing his 4-year-old son in 2012. Alfred A. Hill entered an Alford plea to one count of involuntary manslaughter. That means he didn’t admit guilt but conceded that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David E. Cain imposed the sentence, which was recommended by the prosecution and defense as part of a plea agreement. Hill’s son, also named Alfred Hill, was found unconscious by paramedics at his paternal aunt’s apartment on 1229 Bay Tree Court in Reynoldsburg on the morning of July 12, 2012. He died at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Assistant County Prosecutor Jennifer Rausch said the father struck the child in the chest, stopping his heart.
As often happens, the background is obscure. Previous articles reported that the father was wanted on "unrelated" rape and kidnapping charges and was a suspect in what was then believed to be the "suspicious" drowning of son. The father did not live with the mother, but had been "staying with various girlfriends." The custody arrangements have never been clarified in the media. But a criminal father clearly established access to the child somehow, and the authorities apparently never intervened.
See our previous posts here.
Dad is identified as ALFRED A. HILL.
http://ohianews.com/reynoldsburg-man-sentenced-in-4-year-old-sons-death/
Reynoldsburg man sentenced in 4-year-old son’s death
Posted on October 1, 2014
A 28-year-old Reynoldsburg man was sentenced today to nine years in prison for killing his 4-year-old son in 2012. Alfred A. Hill entered an Alford plea to one count of involuntary manslaughter. That means he didn’t admit guilt but conceded that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David E. Cain imposed the sentence, which was recommended by the prosecution and defense as part of a plea agreement. Hill’s son, also named Alfred Hill, was found unconscious by paramedics at his paternal aunt’s apartment on 1229 Bay Tree Court in Reynoldsburg on the morning of July 12, 2012. He died at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Assistant County Prosecutor Jennifer Rausch said the father struck the child in the chest, stopping his heart.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Police: Dad let baby drown while he was arranging drug deal (San Antonio, Texas)
I wonder if this was a custody/visitation situation. Notice the reference to the father's apartment, not the family's apartment. At any rate, it seems Mom was working while dad was drowning kids and dealing drugs. In other words, another useless deadbeat dad who was "involved" when he shouldn't have been.
Dad is identified as ROMEO ALEXANDER DUNCAN.
http://www.foxsanantonio.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/sapd-baby-drowned-while-dad-arranged-drug-deal-4725.shtml#.U6rqiNfD9Yc
SAPD: Baby drowned while dad arranged drug deal
Updated: Tuesday, June 24 2014, 08:49 PM CDT
By JENNIFER SAUCEDO
A San Antonio father is behind bars, charged in connection to his infant daughter's death.
On June 2, police responded to Romeo Alexander Duncan's apartment on Bentley, in north east San Antonio.
When officers arrived Rubi Lynn Duncan not breathing. Rubi Lynn later died at a hospital, just ten days shy of her first birthday.
According to an arrest affidavit, Duncan said he had been giving his daughter a bath and left the room for a few seconds to get her clothes. When he returned, she was under water.
Investigators said Duncan kept changing his story and later admitted he had never called 911.
Duncan was arrested when officers say they found a bag in the restroom with cocaine, crystal meth and heroin.
"It appears that the suspect was actually engaged in drug dealing at the time of the baby's death," said Sgt. Javier Salazar, S.A.P.D.
Police said 39 minutes passed from the time Duncan had text his daughter's mother that something was wrong with the baby.
Investigators say during that time, Duncan had sent 14 text messages, including one message asking someone to come to the apartment to get and hold the drugs for him, before police arrived.
Duncan, 21, is facing charges of injury to a child by omission. He's in the Bexar County Jail on a $150,000.00 bond.
Dad is identified as ROMEO ALEXANDER DUNCAN.
http://www.foxsanantonio.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/sapd-baby-drowned-while-dad-arranged-drug-deal-4725.shtml#.U6rqiNfD9Yc
SAPD: Baby drowned while dad arranged drug deal
Updated: Tuesday, June 24 2014, 08:49 PM CDT
By JENNIFER SAUCEDO
A San Antonio father is behind bars, charged in connection to his infant daughter's death.
On June 2, police responded to Romeo Alexander Duncan's apartment on Bentley, in north east San Antonio.
When officers arrived Rubi Lynn Duncan not breathing. Rubi Lynn later died at a hospital, just ten days shy of her first birthday.
According to an arrest affidavit, Duncan said he had been giving his daughter a bath and left the room for a few seconds to get her clothes. When he returned, she was under water.
Investigators said Duncan kept changing his story and later admitted he had never called 911.
Duncan was arrested when officers say they found a bag in the restroom with cocaine, crystal meth and heroin.
"It appears that the suspect was actually engaged in drug dealing at the time of the baby's death," said Sgt. Javier Salazar, S.A.P.D.
Police said 39 minutes passed from the time Duncan had text his daughter's mother that something was wrong with the baby.
Investigators say during that time, Duncan had sent 14 text messages, including one message asking someone to come to the apartment to get and hold the drugs for him, before police arrived.
Duncan, 21, is facing charges of injury to a child by omission. He's in the Bexar County Jail on a $150,000.00 bond.
Dad accused of letting 2-year-old son drown while dad played video games (Anson, Texas)
Dad is identified as AUSTIN GARRETT.
http://www.ktxs.com/news/updated-father-of-2yearold-arrested-for-anson-drowning/26643828
Father of 2-year-old arrested for Anson drowning
By Elizabeth Weiss, Crime/Courts Reporter
POSTED: 5:39 PM Jun 24 2014 UPDATED 12 mins
Anson father facing charges in his son's drowning
ANSON, Texas - Austin Garrett, the father of the 2-year-old who drowned earlier this month, has been charged with abandoning/endangering a child.
According to the Anson Police Department, the investigation revealed that Garrett, 20, purposely left his son Brendyn outside while playing PlayStation video games with his younger brother.
Once the child arrived at Anson General Hospital, the child failed to respond to CPR and was pronounced dead at 1:55 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4.
Garrett's bond has been set at $75,000. He will be prosecuted by the Jones County District Attorney’s Office after the investigation is complete.
Below is the news release, in its entirety, from the Anson Police Department:
Anson Police DepartmentPress Release
On June 4, 2014 at approximately 1:22 PM the Anson Police Department was dispatched to 2031 CR 380 in Anson. Dispatch advised a two year old child was drowning. Upon arrival EMS transported the child to the Anson General Hospital. Upon arrival the child did not respond to CPR. Brendyn Garrett was pronounced deceased at 1:55 PM.
The Anson Police Department initatied an investigation into the drowning. Our investigation revealed the father of Brendyn purposely left the child outside while playing a video game on PlayStation with his little brother. Austin Garrett has been charged and arrested for the criminal offense of Abandoning/Endangering a Child, a 2nd Degree Felony. Bond has been set at $75,000.00. Our investigation has been completed, and turned over to the Jones County District Attorney's Office for prosecution.
http://www.ktxs.com/news/updated-father-of-2yearold-arrested-for-anson-drowning/26643828
Father of 2-year-old arrested for Anson drowning
By Elizabeth Weiss, Crime/Courts Reporter
POSTED: 5:39 PM Jun 24 2014 UPDATED 12 mins
Anson father facing charges in his son's drowning
ANSON, Texas - Austin Garrett, the father of the 2-year-old who drowned earlier this month, has been charged with abandoning/endangering a child.
According to the Anson Police Department, the investigation revealed that Garrett, 20, purposely left his son Brendyn outside while playing PlayStation video games with his younger brother.
Once the child arrived at Anson General Hospital, the child failed to respond to CPR and was pronounced dead at 1:55 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4.
Garrett's bond has been set at $75,000. He will be prosecuted by the Jones County District Attorney’s Office after the investigation is complete.
Below is the news release, in its entirety, from the Anson Police Department:
Anson Police DepartmentPress Release
On June 4, 2014 at approximately 1:22 PM the Anson Police Department was dispatched to 2031 CR 380 in Anson. Dispatch advised a two year old child was drowning. Upon arrival EMS transported the child to the Anson General Hospital. Upon arrival the child did not respond to CPR. Brendyn Garrett was pronounced deceased at 1:55 PM.
The Anson Police Department initatied an investigation into the drowning. Our investigation revealed the father of Brendyn purposely left the child outside while playing a video game on PlayStation with his little brother. Austin Garrett has been charged and arrested for the criminal offense of Abandoning/Endangering a Child, a 2nd Degree Felony. Bond has been set at $75,000.00. Our investigation has been completed, and turned over to the Jones County District Attorney's Office for prosecution.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Dad who murdered 2-year-old daughter by throwing her off bridge during his visitation gets life in prison (Freehold, New Jersey)
Good riddance to dad ARTHUR MORGAN III, a father who NEVER should have been allowed access to this little girl. This is the fall-out of the fathers rights movement, that every sperm donor slime ball must have his "rights" no matter who gets killed.
http://www.wltx.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/28/father-sentenced-throwing-daughter-in-stream/9670985/
Man Who Tossed Daughter to Her Death Gets Life
Kathleen Hopkins, The Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
12:29 p.m. EDT May 28, 2014
FREEHOLD, N.J. — A judge on Wednesday ordered Arthur E. Morgan III to spend the rest of his life in prison, with no chance of being released on parole, for cutting his baby daughter's life short at age 2½ by tossing her into a stream to die in 2011.
State law dictated that Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci impose a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole on Morgan for the murder of Tierra Morgan-Glover because the victim was a child — a factor that that would have qualified Morgan for execution before New Jersey abolished the death penalty in 2007. Speaking to Morgan, Mellaci said if New Jersey still had the death penalty, "you would be candidate No. 1."
But the fact that the child was Morgan's own daughter made the crime that much more unspeakable. And the way he accomplished the killing made it seem even more horrific — he strapped the child into her pink-flowered car seat, tethered a five-pound metal car jack to the seat, threw the contraption into a stream in Shark River Park in Wall and left the crying child to die in the murky water as he drove away to a liquor store.
Before the sentence, Morgan argued he had been unfairly portrayed in the media and by the court.
Mellaci was not moved, calling this one the saddest cases he has ever been involved in. "There are no mitigating factors here," Mellaci said.
Morgan, 29, who was homeless at the time of the murder but whose last known address was in Eatontown, stood trial before Mellaci earlier this year.
The jury convicted Morgan of the intentional murder of Tierra, who lived with her mother in Lakehurst, dismissing defense attorneys' arguments that the defendant's judgment was clouded, and that he simply placed his child in the stream to "let God decide her fate.''
The jury also convicted Morgan of child endangerment and interfering with the baby's custody by failing to return her to her mother on Nov. 21, 2011, the day she was murdered.
Morgan flashed a smile when the jury foreman announced the panel's verdict on April 3. And, he winked at prosecutors as he was being led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, donning one of the typically flashy suits he wore to court each day during the trial.
But on Wednesday, Morgan, a man who was said to have spent much of his earnings on Prada and Gucci clothing and accessories while he was living in his 1995 Cadillac Deville, was instead clad in a jail uniform as he stood before Mellaci to learn his fate.
During his trial, his attorneys, Deputy Public Defender Jeffrey Coghlan and Deputy Assistant Public Defender Ryan Moriarty, unsuccessfully tried to convince the jury that Morgan was distraught over how Tierra's mother was raising the child and that he simply placed Tierra in a stream in Shark River Park in Wall to let God decide her fate.
In arguing that Morgan should be convicted of the lesser crime of manslaughter rather than murder, the defense attorneys suggested Morgan wasn't thinking clearly because he was beleaguered by his own homelessness, lack of sleep and loss of a job.
But First Assistant Prosecutor Marc LeMieux and Assistant Prosecutor Jordan Williams argued that Morgan planned the crime, pawning items beforehand and making arrangements to escape to California. They portrayed Morgan as a narcissistic, manipulative and controlling man who killed his daughter to get back at her mother, Imani Benton, for breaking off an engagement.
In stark contrast to the defense attorneys' portrayal of Morgan as a man worried about his baby, the prosecutors pointed out that Morgan bought expensive, designer clothing for himself rather than providing a home for the daughter he claimed to have so much concern for.
Morgan picked up Tierra from her mother on the afternoon of Nov. 21, 2011, saying he was going to take the girl to see "Happy Feet II," a film about dancing penguins. Instead, he brought her to Shark River Park, strapped her into her car seat, tethered the metal car jack to the seat and tossed the contraption from a bridge about 17 feet below into the stream.
He later would tell authorities that Tierra was still crying when he turned and walked away, leaving her in the stream to die.
Teenagers found Tierra's body in the stream, still strapped in the car seat, the following day, after Benton reported her daughter missing when Morgan failed to bring her home the night before. The child was wearing her bright pink pea coat that her mother dressed her in the day before.
As Tierra was taking her last breaths, Morgan met up with a friend, went to a liquor store and had some drinks before escaping to San Diego, where he was captured on Nov. 29, 2011, following a nationwide manhunt.
Being questioned by investigators following his capture, Morgan told them he had tethered the car jack to Tierra's car seat to weigh her down "like a ball and chain.''
Testimony at the trial included Benton's account of a letter Morgan had written to her from the San Diego jail after his capture in which he suggested the case be turned into a television movie.
"We're famous, infamous," Benton testified that Morgan had written in the letter. "Don't just let anyone play me in the TV movie.''
http://www.wltx.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/28/father-sentenced-throwing-daughter-in-stream/9670985/
Man Who Tossed Daughter to Her Death Gets Life
Kathleen Hopkins, The Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
12:29 p.m. EDT May 28, 2014
FREEHOLD, N.J. — A judge on Wednesday ordered Arthur E. Morgan III to spend the rest of his life in prison, with no chance of being released on parole, for cutting his baby daughter's life short at age 2½ by tossing her into a stream to die in 2011.
State law dictated that Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci impose a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole on Morgan for the murder of Tierra Morgan-Glover because the victim was a child — a factor that that would have qualified Morgan for execution before New Jersey abolished the death penalty in 2007. Speaking to Morgan, Mellaci said if New Jersey still had the death penalty, "you would be candidate No. 1."
But the fact that the child was Morgan's own daughter made the crime that much more unspeakable. And the way he accomplished the killing made it seem even more horrific — he strapped the child into her pink-flowered car seat, tethered a five-pound metal car jack to the seat, threw the contraption into a stream in Shark River Park in Wall and left the crying child to die in the murky water as he drove away to a liquor store.
Before the sentence, Morgan argued he had been unfairly portrayed in the media and by the court.
Mellaci was not moved, calling this one the saddest cases he has ever been involved in. "There are no mitigating factors here," Mellaci said.
Morgan, 29, who was homeless at the time of the murder but whose last known address was in Eatontown, stood trial before Mellaci earlier this year.
The jury convicted Morgan of the intentional murder of Tierra, who lived with her mother in Lakehurst, dismissing defense attorneys' arguments that the defendant's judgment was clouded, and that he simply placed his child in the stream to "let God decide her fate.''
The jury also convicted Morgan of child endangerment and interfering with the baby's custody by failing to return her to her mother on Nov. 21, 2011, the day she was murdered.
Morgan flashed a smile when the jury foreman announced the panel's verdict on April 3. And, he winked at prosecutors as he was being led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, donning one of the typically flashy suits he wore to court each day during the trial.
But on Wednesday, Morgan, a man who was said to have spent much of his earnings on Prada and Gucci clothing and accessories while he was living in his 1995 Cadillac Deville, was instead clad in a jail uniform as he stood before Mellaci to learn his fate.
During his trial, his attorneys, Deputy Public Defender Jeffrey Coghlan and Deputy Assistant Public Defender Ryan Moriarty, unsuccessfully tried to convince the jury that Morgan was distraught over how Tierra's mother was raising the child and that he simply placed Tierra in a stream in Shark River Park in Wall to let God decide her fate.
In arguing that Morgan should be convicted of the lesser crime of manslaughter rather than murder, the defense attorneys suggested Morgan wasn't thinking clearly because he was beleaguered by his own homelessness, lack of sleep and loss of a job.
But First Assistant Prosecutor Marc LeMieux and Assistant Prosecutor Jordan Williams argued that Morgan planned the crime, pawning items beforehand and making arrangements to escape to California. They portrayed Morgan as a narcissistic, manipulative and controlling man who killed his daughter to get back at her mother, Imani Benton, for breaking off an engagement.
In stark contrast to the defense attorneys' portrayal of Morgan as a man worried about his baby, the prosecutors pointed out that Morgan bought expensive, designer clothing for himself rather than providing a home for the daughter he claimed to have so much concern for.
Morgan picked up Tierra from her mother on the afternoon of Nov. 21, 2011, saying he was going to take the girl to see "Happy Feet II," a film about dancing penguins. Instead, he brought her to Shark River Park, strapped her into her car seat, tethered the metal car jack to the seat and tossed the contraption from a bridge about 17 feet below into the stream.
He later would tell authorities that Tierra was still crying when he turned and walked away, leaving her in the stream to die.
Teenagers found Tierra's body in the stream, still strapped in the car seat, the following day, after Benton reported her daughter missing when Morgan failed to bring her home the night before. The child was wearing her bright pink pea coat that her mother dressed her in the day before.
As Tierra was taking her last breaths, Morgan met up with a friend, went to a liquor store and had some drinks before escaping to San Diego, where he was captured on Nov. 29, 2011, following a nationwide manhunt.
Being questioned by investigators following his capture, Morgan told them he had tethered the car jack to Tierra's car seat to weigh her down "like a ball and chain.''
Testimony at the trial included Benton's account of a letter Morgan had written to her from the San Diego jail after his capture in which he suggested the case be turned into a television movie.
"We're famous, infamous," Benton testified that Morgan had written in the letter. "Don't just let anyone play me in the TV movie.''
Friday, May 16, 2014
Dad with violent criminal history charged with abusing 27-day-old infant daughter; baby almost drowned in her own blood (Auckland, New Zealand)
Once again, we see an odd omission: there is absolutely no mention of the baby's mother.
We know UNNAMED DAD was alone with the baby in "their home" when this sicko piece of sh** STUCK HIS FINGERS DOWN HER THROAT, and caused her to ALMOST DROWN IN HER OWN BLOOD. We know that he broke her ribs.
And we know the maternal grandmother now has custody.
So what happened to Mom? It's as if she had never existed. Makes me wonder if this father with a violent criminal history either physically harmed her, and/or took the baby away from her.
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/552734/20140516/auckland-new-zealand-newborn-injury-child-abuse.htm#.U3ZZP9fD9Yd
Auckland Dad 'Breaks Ribs' of Newborn Daughter
By Reissa Su | May 16, 2014 4:53 PM EST
An Auckland man is currently facing charges for injuring his newborn baby. The father had stuck his finger down her throat.
The 27-day-old baby almost drowned in her own blood from the injury.
The incident occurred in February 2013 when the dad was alone with his daughter in their home in Auckland, New Zealand. Doctors feared at first that they wouldn't be able to revive the child since the wound was heavily bleeding. The baby's father, whose identity will remain anonymous to protect the baby's privacy, was found guilty by the High Court at Auckland. The injury was most likely caused by his finger when he jammed it in the baby's throat.
According to reports, x-rays of the baby taken from the Starship Children's Hospital revealed the newborn also suffered from broken ribs which the father had caused when he tried to squeeze her. The father continued to plead he was innocent during his sentencing in the High Court on May 16.
The man was sentenced to 6 and ½ years in prison for the charge of wounding with reckless disregard and another charge for injuring with reckless disregard.
His daughter has recovered from the injuries and now under the care of her maternal grandmother. Crown Prosecutor Tiffany Cooper said the baby's throat had "quickly filled" with blood after the incident. Cooper said her life was "put in the balance."
Defense Atty. Kelly-Ann Stoikoff said her client would carry out his sentence despite protesting his innocence. She said he wanted to start his life again once he left jail and plans to be a part of his daughter's life.
In the sentence, Lang said the child's life was at risk because she was drowning in her own blood. He told the man that by injuring her, he had abused his position as the caregiver of his daughter.
According to reports, Lang was appalled by the man's actions. He said he was "left at a loss" on how a father could treat his baby. The judge remained unimpressed with the man's criminal history with five convictions for aggravated robbery in 2009 and other charges of violent offenses.
We know UNNAMED DAD was alone with the baby in "their home" when this sicko piece of sh** STUCK HIS FINGERS DOWN HER THROAT, and caused her to ALMOST DROWN IN HER OWN BLOOD. We know that he broke her ribs.
And we know the maternal grandmother now has custody.
So what happened to Mom? It's as if she had never existed. Makes me wonder if this father with a violent criminal history either physically harmed her, and/or took the baby away from her.
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/552734/20140516/auckland-new-zealand-newborn-injury-child-abuse.htm#.U3ZZP9fD9Yd
Auckland Dad 'Breaks Ribs' of Newborn Daughter
By Reissa Su | May 16, 2014 4:53 PM EST
An Auckland man is currently facing charges for injuring his newborn baby. The father had stuck his finger down her throat.
The 27-day-old baby almost drowned in her own blood from the injury.
The incident occurred in February 2013 when the dad was alone with his daughter in their home in Auckland, New Zealand. Doctors feared at first that they wouldn't be able to revive the child since the wound was heavily bleeding. The baby's father, whose identity will remain anonymous to protect the baby's privacy, was found guilty by the High Court at Auckland. The injury was most likely caused by his finger when he jammed it in the baby's throat.
According to reports, x-rays of the baby taken from the Starship Children's Hospital revealed the newborn also suffered from broken ribs which the father had caused when he tried to squeeze her. The father continued to plead he was innocent during his sentencing in the High Court on May 16.
The man was sentenced to 6 and ½ years in prison for the charge of wounding with reckless disregard and another charge for injuring with reckless disregard.
His daughter has recovered from the injuries and now under the care of her maternal grandmother. Crown Prosecutor Tiffany Cooper said the baby's throat had "quickly filled" with blood after the incident. Cooper said her life was "put in the balance."
Defense Atty. Kelly-Ann Stoikoff said her client would carry out his sentence despite protesting his innocence. She said he wanted to start his life again once he left jail and plans to be a part of his daughter's life.
In the sentence, Lang said the child's life was at risk because she was drowning in her own blood. He told the man that by injuring her, he had abused his position as the caregiver of his daughter.
According to reports, Lang was appalled by the man's actions. He said he was "left at a loss" on how a father could treat his baby. The judge remained unimpressed with the man's criminal history with five convictions for aggravated robbery in 2009 and other charges of violent offenses.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Dad charged with murder for 1-year-old son's drowning death (Houston, Texas)
Dad is identified as ENRIQUE ALBERTO MACHADO.
http://news92fm.com/433244/father-charged-with-felony-murder-for-the-death-of-his-1-year-old-son/
Father Charged with Murder in 1-Year-Old Son’s Drowning Death
Apr 29, 2014 By News 92 FM
(HOUSTON) — A Houston dad is charged with murder for allegedly drowning his son in a bathtub.
According to the court documents, truck driver Enrique Alberto Machado, 37, was possibly intoxicated when his 1-year-old son died Saturday.
Machado told Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies he had six beers with friends after returning from Colorado and fell asleep in the bathroom, and he repeated many times that he was responsible for everything.
The child’s mother told deputies she went into the bathroom and found baby Carlos Machado floating face-up under the water, and her boyfriend was still asleep next to the tub.
The baby was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital-West Houston Campus where he was pronounced dead at 11:46 a.m.
A medical examiner ruled the boy’s death a drowning homicide.
http://news92fm.com/433244/father-charged-with-felony-murder-for-the-death-of-his-1-year-old-son/
Father Charged with Murder in 1-Year-Old Son’s Drowning Death
Apr 29, 2014 By News 92 FM
(HOUSTON) — A Houston dad is charged with murder for allegedly drowning his son in a bathtub.
According to the court documents, truck driver Enrique Alberto Machado, 37, was possibly intoxicated when his 1-year-old son died Saturday.
Machado told Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies he had six beers with friends after returning from Colorado and fell asleep in the bathroom, and he repeated many times that he was responsible for everything.
The child’s mother told deputies she went into the bathroom and found baby Carlos Machado floating face-up under the water, and her boyfriend was still asleep next to the tub.
The baby was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital-West Houston Campus where he was pronounced dead at 11:46 a.m.
A medical examiner ruled the boy’s death a drowning homicide.
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