The real unanswered questions that aren't even posed here. How did a felon father with a
history of alcohol abuse, parole violations with apparently no interest in childrearing get SOLE CUSTODY of a 2-year-old girl? Who was behind this process? Whatever happened to this child' mother? And notice that Daddy had only managed to keep it together for three freaking months before killing (and apparently sexually abusing) the child.
Dad is identified as ROBERT ROBERTSON III.
See the Killer Dads and Custody list for the State of Texas.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/reprieve-for-texas-death-row-inmate-convicted-of-killing-daughter/
Reprieve for death row inmate convicted of killing daughter, 2
Robert Roberson, III
/ CBS Fort Worth
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Attorneys who contended "junk science" was used to send a father to death row for killing his 2-year-old daughter 14 years ago have won a reprieve blocking the Texas inmate's execution set for next week.
Robert Roberson III, 49, was set to die Tuesday for the February 2002 death of his daughter, Nikki Curtis, at his home in Palestine in East Texas. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent his case back to his Anderson County trial court late Thursday to review claims he is innocent of capital murder. There is no timetable for the appeal to be resolved. One judge on the nine-member court, Lawrence Meyers, voted to refuse the reprieve and dismiss the appeal.
Lawyers argued Roberson's conviction was based on "junk science" and "false, misleading and scientifically invalid testimony" and that new scientific evidence establishes he would not have been convicted.
The child had serious head injuries, and Roberson contended she accidentally fell from a bed. Medical staff at a Palestine hospital called police because they considered the injuries suspicious. Physicians who examined her said bruises to her chin, cheek and jaw and a subdural hematoma - bleeding outside her brain but inside her skull - likely were intentional and no accident.
Nikki died the next day, Feb. 1, 2002, and a medical examiner ruled blunt force head injuries as the cause.
Defense attorney Benjamin Wolff told the appeals court that Nikki's death could be attributed to a number of things, such as undiagnosed meningitis, an accidental injury before Roberson began caring for her the day she died, a fall from the bed he didn't see or a fatal congenital condition.
The Anderson County District Attorney's office did not immediately respond to a message left Friday.
According to court records, Nikki had been living with Roberson and his girlfriend, Teddie Cox, for about three months after a court awarded him custody of the child.
Testimony from Cox, who was not the child's mother, showed he had no interest in caring for his daughter, but was her sole caretaker for the first time on Jan. 31, 2002, and was not pleased.
Prosecutors initially said Roberson sexually assaulted the 2-year-old, based on statements from a hospital nurse, but dropped that element of the capital murder charge late in the trial when evidence could not conclusively support it.
"But by then, the damage had been done," Wolff said in Roberson's appeal. "The state used this rank speculation to drive home its view that Robert was not just a poor, mentally impaired father struggling with sobriety, but a deviant - capable of raping and brutally shaking his own daughter to death."
Roberson was a parolee with previous convictions for burglary and theft and parole violations.
At least seven other Texas inmates have executions scheduled for the coming months, including one in July and four in August.
Showing posts with label head injury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label head injury. Show all posts
Monday, June 20, 2016
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Dad abducts infant son from mom and takes him out of state; batters him so badly the baby is left with severe disabilities (Tallapoosa County, Alabama)
See link below for full story. Father JAMES MCINVALE JR. essentially abducted the baby from the mother in Michigan and took him to Alabama. Now Daddy is on trial for severely abusing the baby, who has been left with severe disabilities. Daddy blames his own Daddy. While they squabble, the mother is left to grieve over a baby who is severely brain damaged, with up to 200 seizures a day.
http://www.alexcityoutlook.com/2016/06/14/trial-for-father-accused-of-abusing-his-4-month-old-son-begins/
http://www.alexcityoutlook.com/2016/06/14/trial-for-father-accused-of-abusing-his-4-month-old-son-begins/
Dad in custodial situation body-slams 8-year-old son, causing brain bleed; what happened to boy's mom? (Jennings, Louisiana)
Obviously some sort of custodial situation, since dad's girlfriend is mentioned, who is clearly not the mother.
Whether Daddy had full custody or shared/joint is not clarified. And Mom's existence has been erased entirely. How did this abuser get access to a child? No answer here. Who gave it to him? No answer here.
Dad is identified as ROBERT D. BOURQUE.
http://www.katc.com/story/32221020/jennings-man-arrested-on-child-abuse-charge
Posted: Jun 14, 2016 4:27 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 14, 2016 4:29 PM EDT
Jennings man arrested on child abuse charge
A Jennings man has been booked in connection with the injury of his child, Jennings Police said.
Robert D. Bourque, 30, of Jennings, was booked with cruelty to a juvenile. As of Tuesday, no bond had been set for his release.
Police were called to Jennings American Legion Hospital Saturday after an eight-year-old child was brought to the hospital with a head wound. His father, identified as Bourque, told police the child fell off a couch and hit his head on a wooden floor.
However, medical personnel reported the child had vomited before his arrival at the hospital and after his arrival, and a CT scan on the child showed a large brain bleed, a spokesman said.
The child was transferred to a Lafayette hospital where a neurosurgeon determined that the child's injuries were not consistent with falling off a couch, the spokesman said.
The child then told investigators that his father was upset with him because he didn't want to play with his dad's girlfriend's daughter. The child told investigators that his father picked him up and body-slammed him onto the floor, the spokesman said. When investigators went back to the father with the child's story, he allegedly confessed what he had done, the spokesman said.
Whether Daddy had full custody or shared/joint is not clarified. And Mom's existence has been erased entirely. How did this abuser get access to a child? No answer here. Who gave it to him? No answer here.
Dad is identified as ROBERT D. BOURQUE.
http://www.katc.com/story/32221020/jennings-man-arrested-on-child-abuse-charge
Posted: Jun 14, 2016 4:27 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 14, 2016 4:29 PM EDT
Jennings man arrested on child abuse charge
A Jennings man has been booked in connection with the injury of his child, Jennings Police said.
Robert D. Bourque, 30, of Jennings, was booked with cruelty to a juvenile. As of Tuesday, no bond had been set for his release.
Police were called to Jennings American Legion Hospital Saturday after an eight-year-old child was brought to the hospital with a head wound. His father, identified as Bourque, told police the child fell off a couch and hit his head on a wooden floor.
However, medical personnel reported the child had vomited before his arrival at the hospital and after his arrival, and a CT scan on the child showed a large brain bleed, a spokesman said.
The child was transferred to a Lafayette hospital where a neurosurgeon determined that the child's injuries were not consistent with falling off a couch, the spokesman said.
The child then told investigators that his father was upset with him because he didn't want to play with his dad's girlfriend's daughter. The child told investigators that his father picked him up and body-slammed him onto the floor, the spokesman said. When investigators went back to the father with the child's story, he allegedly confessed what he had done, the spokesman said.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Baby suffers "brain shift" during visitation with dad, dies in hospital (Staten Island, New York)
Not clear if the visitation was court-ordered custody time. But it doesn't really matter, as young mothers are under tremendous pressure to "involve" the father, even if their relationship didn't survive the pregnancy.
Dad is identified as THEODORE RICKS.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/06/mother_wants_justice_after.html
Mom 'wants justice' after baby's death is ruled homicide
By Maura Grunlund on June 06, 2016 at 8:09 PM, updated June 06, 2016 at 8:15 PM
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Little Morgan Ricks was born premature, but the 3-month-old had been doing well since her birth, the child's mother said Monday.
"Even though she was a premie, she was still gaining her weight," said Shanera Flicklin.
But things suddenly turned tragic on Aug. 30, when the child was found unresponsive in an apartment at 81 Jersey St. in the Richmond Terrace Houses, New Brighton, police said.
The NYPD launched an investigation into Morgan's death after a physician told cops that night that the child had suffered a "brain shift" and bleeding to her brain while in the care of a family member, police said at the time.
Morgan Ricks, a 3-month-old girl hospitalized on Aug. 29, died Friday. A doctor told police she suffered a "brain shift" while in a family member's care on Staten Island, cops said.
On Friday, the city medical examiner ruled the child's death a homicide caused by "abusive head trauma." The determination came nearly 10 months after she died on Sept. 11 at Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton.
Police have yet to make any arrests.
A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said the child was with her father the night of the incident, but could not say if anyone else was in the apartment with them.
A woman at the apartment, who identified herself as a relative of Morgan's father, Theodore Ricks, said Ricks was not at the apartment Monday night.
On Monday, the child's mother tearfully discussed that fateful day.
Flicklin said she dropped Morgan off at the infant's father's home around 3 p.m. Aug. 30.
When she went to pick her up five hours later, "She wasn't responding to me," Flicklin said.
Morgan was stiff when Flicklin picked her up.
Flicklin opened the infant's eyelids and said her pupils were still; she had drool on her face.
"I had to pry her mouth open," the mother said, adding that she called for the ambulance.
Medical staff at Richmond University were able to briefly revive Morgan -- "She opened her eyes, she was crying" -- before the baby slipped into a coma, Flicklin said.
"I just want justice," Flicklin said of the tragedy.
Dad is identified as THEODORE RICKS.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/06/mother_wants_justice_after.html
Mom 'wants justice' after baby's death is ruled homicide
By Maura Grunlund on June 06, 2016 at 8:09 PM, updated June 06, 2016 at 8:15 PM
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Little Morgan Ricks was born premature, but the 3-month-old had been doing well since her birth, the child's mother said Monday.
"Even though she was a premie, she was still gaining her weight," said Shanera Flicklin.
But things suddenly turned tragic on Aug. 30, when the child was found unresponsive in an apartment at 81 Jersey St. in the Richmond Terrace Houses, New Brighton, police said.
The NYPD launched an investigation into Morgan's death after a physician told cops that night that the child had suffered a "brain shift" and bleeding to her brain while in the care of a family member, police said at the time.
Morgan Ricks, a 3-month-old girl hospitalized on Aug. 29, died Friday. A doctor told police she suffered a "brain shift" while in a family member's care on Staten Island, cops said.
On Friday, the city medical examiner ruled the child's death a homicide caused by "abusive head trauma." The determination came nearly 10 months after she died on Sept. 11 at Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton.
Police have yet to make any arrests.
A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said the child was with her father the night of the incident, but could not say if anyone else was in the apartment with them.
A woman at the apartment, who identified herself as a relative of Morgan's father, Theodore Ricks, said Ricks was not at the apartment Monday night.
On Monday, the child's mother tearfully discussed that fateful day.
Flicklin said she dropped Morgan off at the infant's father's home around 3 p.m. Aug. 30.
When she went to pick her up five hours later, "She wasn't responding to me," Flicklin said.
Morgan was stiff when Flicklin picked her up.
Flicklin opened the infant's eyelids and said her pupils were still; she had drool on her face.
"I had to pry her mouth open," the mother said, adding that she called for the ambulance.
Medical staff at Richmond University were able to briefly revive Morgan -- "She opened her eyes, she was crying" -- before the baby slipped into a coma, Flicklin said.
"I just want justice," Flicklin said of the tragedy.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Dad with history of DV assaults 3-year-old son during weekend custody/visitation (Jackson County, Mississippi)
The names sounded vaguely familiar so I looked them up to see if we had posted on them before. Sure enough, dad NATHAN BLAKE MCCRORY has a history of domestic violence and had weekend custody/visitation. Of course, the media "forgot" to tell you about it this time....
See here.
http://www.wapt.com/news/mississippi/jackson-county-father-accused-of-child-abuse/39469942
Jackson County father accused of child abuse
3-year-old’s wounds include suspected cigarette burns, bleeding on brain
UPDATED 2:30 PM CDT May 10, 2016
PASCAGOULA, Miss. —A detective testified 3-year-old Zander Saucier had at least 30 wounds to his body, including suspected cigarette and lighter burns and bleeding on the brain, when he was brought to Singing River Hospital last month.
The Sun Herald reported that the boy's father, Nathan Blake McCrory, 24, is accused of causing the injuries to his son. McCrory was in Jackson County Court on Monday for a preliminary hearing on felony charges of child abuse and one count of marijuana cultivation.
Judge T. Larry Wilson determined there was enough evidence in the case to be bound over to a grand jury for indictment.
Detective Eddie Clark testified at the hearing and talked about some of the other injuries Zander suffered.
McCrory claims the boy suffered the injuries by falling down the stairs.
See here.
http://www.wapt.com/news/mississippi/jackson-county-father-accused-of-child-abuse/39469942
Jackson County father accused of child abuse
3-year-old’s wounds include suspected cigarette burns, bleeding on brain
UPDATED 2:30 PM CDT May 10, 2016
PASCAGOULA, Miss. —A detective testified 3-year-old Zander Saucier had at least 30 wounds to his body, including suspected cigarette and lighter burns and bleeding on the brain, when he was brought to Singing River Hospital last month.
The Sun Herald reported that the boy's father, Nathan Blake McCrory, 24, is accused of causing the injuries to his son. McCrory was in Jackson County Court on Monday for a preliminary hearing on felony charges of child abuse and one count of marijuana cultivation.
Judge T. Larry Wilson determined there was enough evidence in the case to be bound over to a grand jury for indictment.
Detective Eddie Clark testified at the hearing and talked about some of the other injuries Zander suffered.
McCrory claims the boy suffered the injuries by falling down the stairs.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Teen dad who had broken up with baby's mom charged with capital murder in death of infant son (Edinburg, Texas)
Statistically, teen males are the most dangerous persons to have around infants--especially when they have broken up with the mother and are not bonded to her. They really should not have unsupervised custody/visitation rights for this reason. UNNAMED DAD.
http://www.krgv.com/story/31308334/teen-accused-in-sons-death-faces-judge
Teen Accused in Son’s Death Faces Judge
Posted: Feb 24, 2016 8:10 PM EST Updated: Feb 24, 2016 8:10 PM EST
EDINBURG – A 16-year-old charged with capital murder for the death of his infant son faced a judge again on Wednesday.
The teen will remain in juvenile detention until March 15, his next scheduled court appearance date. In the meantime, he’ll undergo a psychiatric evaluation to help decide how the case will proceed.
On Wednesday, new details were revealed about the case. The 16-year-old is only in ninth grade. He apparently had dropped out of school to work full-time to support his child.
The teen father and the 16-year-old mother of the baby broke up soon before the baby's death. The baby was alone with the father at his in-laws’ house, when he was found unresponsive.
The 16-year-old turned himself in, once the preliminary autopsy report revealed blunt force trauma to the baby’s head.
On Monday, the judge kept referring to an apparent confession in the case.
On Wednesday, the defense argued against the alleged confession. They said there are three statements from the teen; none are in his handwriting. Two of those statements were not notarized, and two did not have witnesses. The defense also said one statement was filed by a detaining officer, but the teen was not detained at the time of the statement.
“Confessions require constitutional safeguards,” said Robert Salinas, the teen’s court-appointed attorney. “You should be Mirandized by a judge. You should be reported your constitutional privileges, pursuant to Miranda versus Arizona. There is nothing in those statements that indicate they complied with the requirements of a voluntary accused statement.”
The teen father will turn 17 within the month. Judge Jesse Contreras said that doesn’t really change anything.
The judge expects the district attorney to file a petition to certify the teen as an adult, regardless of when his birthday is.
The baby who died was the teen’s only child.
http://www.krgv.com/story/31308334/teen-accused-in-sons-death-faces-judge
Teen Accused in Son’s Death Faces Judge
Posted: Feb 24, 2016 8:10 PM EST Updated: Feb 24, 2016 8:10 PM EST
EDINBURG – A 16-year-old charged with capital murder for the death of his infant son faced a judge again on Wednesday.
The teen will remain in juvenile detention until March 15, his next scheduled court appearance date. In the meantime, he’ll undergo a psychiatric evaluation to help decide how the case will proceed.
On Wednesday, new details were revealed about the case. The 16-year-old is only in ninth grade. He apparently had dropped out of school to work full-time to support his child.
The teen father and the 16-year-old mother of the baby broke up soon before the baby's death. The baby was alone with the father at his in-laws’ house, when he was found unresponsive.
The 16-year-old turned himself in, once the preliminary autopsy report revealed blunt force trauma to the baby’s head.
On Monday, the judge kept referring to an apparent confession in the case.
On Wednesday, the defense argued against the alleged confession. They said there are three statements from the teen; none are in his handwriting. Two of those statements were not notarized, and two did not have witnesses. The defense also said one statement was filed by a detaining officer, but the teen was not detained at the time of the statement.
“Confessions require constitutional safeguards,” said Robert Salinas, the teen’s court-appointed attorney. “You should be Mirandized by a judge. You should be reported your constitutional privileges, pursuant to Miranda versus Arizona. There is nothing in those statements that indicate they complied with the requirements of a voluntary accused statement.”
The teen father will turn 17 within the month. Judge Jesse Contreras said that doesn’t really change anything.
The judge expects the district attorney to file a petition to certify the teen as an adult, regardless of when his birthday is.
The baby who died was the teen’s only child.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
"Primary caretaker" dad pleads guilty to involutary manslaughter in death of 3-month-old son; threw baby into because he was "frustrated" (Macon, Georgia)
Dad is identified as RICHARD ALLEN HICKS.
http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article38849418.html
Macon father sentenced to prison in infant son’s 2012 death
Richard Allen Hicks, 28, of Macon, pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter in the 2012 death of his infant son, Desmond.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison followed by two years on probation.
By AMY LEIGH WOMACK
A little more than two years after Richard Allen Hicks was injured in a grenade attack in Iraq, he was charged with murder in the death of his 3-month-old son.
Hicks had served about five years in the U.S. Army.
After receiving the purple heart and other awards, he was honorably discharged in July 2011, his lawyer, Mark Beberman said during a Monday hearing in Bibb County Superior Court.
After finding it difficult to land a job, Hicks became the primary caregiver for his three children.
July 14, 2012, the mother of his youngest child, 3-month-old Desmond, came home and found the boy seemingly asleep on Hicks’ chest, said prosecutor Kevin Ströberg.
“She picked up Desmond and he wasn’t responsive. He wasn’t breathing,” Ströberg said.
After an unsuccessful attempt to revive the child by CPR, he was rushed to a local hospital where doctors discovered he had a fractured skull and a brain bleed.
The boy’s ribs also were fractured, Ströberg said.
Desmond was declared brain dead two days later, Ströberg said.
Hicks, 28, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Monday as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison followed by two years on probation.
Once released, Hicks also must complete Bibb County’s Veterans Court program as a condition of his probation.
Ströberg said Hicks initially denied knowing his son was ill, but later admitted he threw him into a bassinet after becoming “frustrated” by the child’s crying.
The injuries Desmond suffered couldn’t have been the result of an accident unless he’d “fallen from a height of two stories,” Ströberg said.
Had the case gone to trial, Beberman said he would have argued that Desmond’s death was an accident and his client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The boy’s head struck a plastic music box attached to the bassinet, likely causing a slow brain bleed, he said.
Children suffering such an injury have been known to cry at first, but then get quiet and go to sleep and show no outward signs that something’s wrong as the brain swells, Beberman said.
There’s a good chance the rib injuries are a result of the CPR attempt, he said.
Hicks has been held at the county jail since his July 16, 2012, arrest, according to jail records.
http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article38849418.html
Macon father sentenced to prison in infant son’s 2012 death
Richard Allen Hicks, 28, of Macon, pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter in the 2012 death of his infant son, Desmond.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison followed by two years on probation.
By AMY LEIGH WOMACK
A little more than two years after Richard Allen Hicks was injured in a grenade attack in Iraq, he was charged with murder in the death of his 3-month-old son.
Hicks had served about five years in the U.S. Army.
After receiving the purple heart and other awards, he was honorably discharged in July 2011, his lawyer, Mark Beberman said during a Monday hearing in Bibb County Superior Court.
After finding it difficult to land a job, Hicks became the primary caregiver for his three children.
July 14, 2012, the mother of his youngest child, 3-month-old Desmond, came home and found the boy seemingly asleep on Hicks’ chest, said prosecutor Kevin Ströberg.
“She picked up Desmond and he wasn’t responsive. He wasn’t breathing,” Ströberg said.
After an unsuccessful attempt to revive the child by CPR, he was rushed to a local hospital where doctors discovered he had a fractured skull and a brain bleed.
The boy’s ribs also were fractured, Ströberg said.
Desmond was declared brain dead two days later, Ströberg said.
Hicks, 28, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Monday as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison followed by two years on probation.
Once released, Hicks also must complete Bibb County’s Veterans Court program as a condition of his probation.
Ströberg said Hicks initially denied knowing his son was ill, but later admitted he threw him into a bassinet after becoming “frustrated” by the child’s crying.
The injuries Desmond suffered couldn’t have been the result of an accident unless he’d “fallen from a height of two stories,” Ströberg said.
Had the case gone to trial, Beberman said he would have argued that Desmond’s death was an accident and his client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The boy’s head struck a plastic music box attached to the bassinet, likely causing a slow brain bleed, he said.
Children suffering such an injury have been known to cry at first, but then get quiet and go to sleep and show no outward signs that something’s wrong as the brain swells, Beberman said.
There’s a good chance the rib injuries are a result of the CPR attempt, he said.
Hicks has been held at the county jail since his July 16, 2012, arrest, according to jail records.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Dad charged in death of 3-month-old son (Lincoln County, Missouri)
Dad is identified as STEVE SCHNELL.
http://www.kmov.com/story/30221895/man-charged-with-child-abuse-after-shaking-baby
Baby dies after father allegedly shakes him
Posted: Oct 08, 2015 10:25 PM EST Updated: Oct 09, 2015 9:49 PM EST
By Christina Santiago
LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo. (KMOV.com) - Investigators said they believe a Moscow Mills man is responsible for injuries that put a newborn in the hospital. That child was on life support, but died a day later.
Steve Schnell, 25, is charged with child abuse. He told deputies his three-month-old son was choking so he patted the boy on the back and shook him to revive him. Doctors said injuries were more likely from the baby being shaken.
The baby boy had bleeding in the brain and detached retinas.
http://www.kmov.com/story/30221895/man-charged-with-child-abuse-after-shaking-baby
Baby dies after father allegedly shakes him
Posted: Oct 08, 2015 10:25 PM EST Updated: Oct 09, 2015 9:49 PM EST
By Christina Santiago
LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo. (KMOV.com) - Investigators said they believe a Moscow Mills man is responsible for injuries that put a newborn in the hospital. That child was on life support, but died a day later.
Steve Schnell, 25, is charged with child abuse. He told deputies his three-month-old son was choking so he patted the boy on the back and shook him to revive him. Doctors said injuries were more likely from the baby being shaken.
The baby boy had bleeding in the brain and detached retinas.
Dad sentenced for 2nd-degree murder of 4-month-old daughter (Columbus Junction, Iowa)
Dad is identified as OSCAR JIMINEZ.
http://www.ourquadcities.com/news/father-who-killed-baby-sentenced
Father who killed baby sentenced
Published 10/09 2015 04:36PM Updated 10/09 2015 04:36PM
WAPELLO, Iowa
A Columbus Junction father who caused the death of his baby girl learned his fate today.
In January four-month-old Marleen Jimenez of Columbus Junction, Iowa, died from severe head trauma at the University of Iowa Hospital.
The child's father, Oscar Jimenez, was arrested the day after the injured child was brought to the hospital. He later pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder and multiple acts of child endangerment.
On Friday a Louisa County judge sentenced Jimenez to 50 years in prison on both counts, to run consecutively.
http://www.ourquadcities.com/news/father-who-killed-baby-sentenced
Father who killed baby sentenced
Published 10/09 2015 04:36PM Updated 10/09 2015 04:36PM
WAPELLO, Iowa
A Columbus Junction father who caused the death of his baby girl learned his fate today.
In January four-month-old Marleen Jimenez of Columbus Junction, Iowa, died from severe head trauma at the University of Iowa Hospital.
The child's father, Oscar Jimenez, was arrested the day after the injured child was brought to the hospital. He later pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder and multiple acts of child endangerment.
On Friday a Louisa County judge sentenced Jimenez to 50 years in prison on both counts, to run consecutively.
Dad on trial for child abuse death of infant son (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Dad is identified as DAVID A. ALLEN SR.
http://www.startribune.com/jury-deliberating-wisconsin-case-alleging-shaken-baby-death/331889411/
Jury deliberating in trial of Milwaukee man accused in 2013 death of infant son
Associated Press October 10, 2015 — 5:30pm
MILWAUKEE — Jury deliberations are expected to resume Monday in the trial of a Milwaukee man accused of physical abuse that allegedly led to the 2013 death of his infant son.
Jurors began deliberating the case of David A. Allen Sr. shortly before 3 p.m. Friday but did not reach a verdict, the Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1jhMHsX ) reported.
Allen, 34, and the boy's mother, took their son to a West Allis hospital on Oct. 6, 2012, after a day when he wasn't eating normally and seemed lethargic. After giving a series of changing explanations of what might have injured the boy, Allen admitted he squeezed the baby too hard once, and another time shook the boy when he wouldn't stop clawing at his face.
Junior was put in foster care, where his condition deteriorated until he died in April 2013. Prosecutors then charged Allen, already facing child abuse counts, with reckless homicide.
The two-week trial has highlighted uncertainty about whether "shaken baby syndrome" is always the only explanation for certain brain injuries in children.
Defense experts who questioned both the medical basis for concluding the infant died of child abuse and the validity of Allen's confession to shaking the child earned more than $40,000 for their efforts to create "a courtroom controversy," a prosecutor told a jury Friday.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Torbenson called the experts "frequent fliers" who came from four states and England to "collect a paycheck" while trying to raise doubt that Allen's actions led to the death of his son.
Torbenson said there was no doubt that child abuse led to the boy's death. He cited diagnoses from local pediatric experts who treated David Allen Jr. at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. He said those were corroborated by Allen's admissions about squeezing, shaking and dropping his son in the fall of 2012, just months after the boy, who was born two months prematurely, was released from intensive care.
In addition to the brain injuries, the boy had 12 broken ribs.
In the defense closing argument, attorney Anthony Cotton reminded jurors of his experts' credentials, and said they testified because there is a contentious debate in the medical community about attributing certain injuries to child abuse without more evidence than particular brain conditions.
"Your job isn't to reconcile that debate," Cotton told the jury.
Cotton summarized defense experts' findings that conditions resulting from the boy's premature birth could have caused silent seizures, resulting in bleeding near his brain, and that his ribs were so weak they could have been broken by normal handling.
The defense attorney reminded jurors there were no bruises, skull fractures or evidence that the child screamed or reacted as would be expected around the time his father later said he had squeezed the boy too hard.
http://www.startribune.com/jury-deliberating-wisconsin-case-alleging-shaken-baby-death/331889411/
Jury deliberating in trial of Milwaukee man accused in 2013 death of infant son
Associated Press October 10, 2015 — 5:30pm
MILWAUKEE — Jury deliberations are expected to resume Monday in the trial of a Milwaukee man accused of physical abuse that allegedly led to the 2013 death of his infant son.
Jurors began deliberating the case of David A. Allen Sr. shortly before 3 p.m. Friday but did not reach a verdict, the Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1jhMHsX ) reported.
Allen, 34, and the boy's mother, took their son to a West Allis hospital on Oct. 6, 2012, after a day when he wasn't eating normally and seemed lethargic. After giving a series of changing explanations of what might have injured the boy, Allen admitted he squeezed the baby too hard once, and another time shook the boy when he wouldn't stop clawing at his face.
Junior was put in foster care, where his condition deteriorated until he died in April 2013. Prosecutors then charged Allen, already facing child abuse counts, with reckless homicide.
The two-week trial has highlighted uncertainty about whether "shaken baby syndrome" is always the only explanation for certain brain injuries in children.
Defense experts who questioned both the medical basis for concluding the infant died of child abuse and the validity of Allen's confession to shaking the child earned more than $40,000 for their efforts to create "a courtroom controversy," a prosecutor told a jury Friday.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Torbenson called the experts "frequent fliers" who came from four states and England to "collect a paycheck" while trying to raise doubt that Allen's actions led to the death of his son.
Torbenson said there was no doubt that child abuse led to the boy's death. He cited diagnoses from local pediatric experts who treated David Allen Jr. at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. He said those were corroborated by Allen's admissions about squeezing, shaking and dropping his son in the fall of 2012, just months after the boy, who was born two months prematurely, was released from intensive care.
In addition to the brain injuries, the boy had 12 broken ribs.
In the defense closing argument, attorney Anthony Cotton reminded jurors of his experts' credentials, and said they testified because there is a contentious debate in the medical community about attributing certain injuries to child abuse without more evidence than particular brain conditions.
"Your job isn't to reconcile that debate," Cotton told the jury.
Cotton summarized defense experts' findings that conditions resulting from the boy's premature birth could have caused silent seizures, resulting in bleeding near his brain, and that his ribs were so weak they could have been broken by normal handling.
The defense attorney reminded jurors there were no bruises, skull fractures or evidence that the child screamed or reacted as would be expected around the time his father later said he had squeezed the boy too hard.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Dad accused of assaulting 3-month-old son; baby in critical condition (Kenton County, Kentucky)
Once again: "Frustrated" dad who bashes the baby. And can't bother to get medical care.
Dad is identified as CASEY RADCLIFFE.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/10/07/dad-accused-gravely-injuring-baby/73508400/
Dad accused of gravely injuring baby
Terry DeMio, 12:27 p.m. EDT October 8, 2015
A Northern Kentucky father faces an assault charge after he allegedly shook his baby, causing a severe brain injury.
A Northern Kentucky father is accused of violently shaking his infant, causing severe injury including hemorrhaging to the 3-month-old baby's brain.
Casey Radcliffe, 24, of Independence, is in the Kenton County jail, facing a charge of first-degree assault.
His next court hearing is set for Oct. 15. Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said Wednesday that, because of the infant's grave condition, he anticipates going through with the preliminary court hearing rather than going directly to a grand jury to seek an expedient indictment.
"I'm waiting to see how the child responds to medical treatment," Sanders said, adding that, if the boy, "God forbid, doesn't make it," the case could become a murder case rather than first-degree assault.
The first-degree assault charge carries with it a 10- to 20-year sentence.
The baby boy, whose name is Raiden, is in Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in critical condition.
A warrant for Radcliffe's arrest issued Saturday states that the father caused a "grave risk of death" to the baby.
The warrant states, even though Radcliffe saw his child's physical reaction right after shaking the baby, the father put the infant in his crib rather than seeking medical help. Several hours later, when the mother returned home, she called a doctor after seeing her distressed infant. The doctor directed her to take the baby to Children's Hospital.
Dad is identified as CASEY RADCLIFFE.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/10/07/dad-accused-gravely-injuring-baby/73508400/
Dad accused of gravely injuring baby
Terry DeMio, 12:27 p.m. EDT October 8, 2015
A Northern Kentucky father faces an assault charge after he allegedly shook his baby, causing a severe brain injury.
A Northern Kentucky father is accused of violently shaking his infant, causing severe injury including hemorrhaging to the 3-month-old baby's brain.
Casey Radcliffe, 24, of Independence, is in the Kenton County jail, facing a charge of first-degree assault.
His next court hearing is set for Oct. 15. Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said Wednesday that, because of the infant's grave condition, he anticipates going through with the preliminary court hearing rather than going directly to a grand jury to seek an expedient indictment.
"I'm waiting to see how the child responds to medical treatment," Sanders said, adding that, if the boy, "God forbid, doesn't make it," the case could become a murder case rather than first-degree assault.
The first-degree assault charge carries with it a 10- to 20-year sentence.
The baby boy, whose name is Raiden, is in Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in critical condition.
A warrant for Radcliffe's arrest issued Saturday states that the father caused a "grave risk of death" to the baby.
The warrant states, even though Radcliffe saw his child's physical reaction right after shaking the baby, the father put the infant in his crib rather than seeking medical help. Several hours later, when the mother returned home, she called a doctor after seeing her distressed infant. The doctor directed her to take the baby to Children's Hospital.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Dad who assaulted 6-week-old daughter, leaving her with permanent brain damage, successfully appeals "excessive" 7 1/2 year sentence (Scotland)
Classic abuser daddy coddling. Dad is identified only as SD.
http://www.scottishlegal.com/2015/10/05/baby-shaking-assault-father-successfully-challenges-excessive-sentence/
Baby-shaking assault father successfully challenges ‘excessive’ sentence
A father who left his baby daughter brain-damaged after shaking her and throwing her down on to a couch in a “deliberate and violent assault” has had his seven-and-a-half year prison sentence reduced following an appeal.
The Criminal Appeal Court quashed the sentence and imposed a custodial term of six years and nine months after ruling that the sentencing judge’s starting point of nine years – which was discounted due to the unnamed father’s guilty plea – was “not consistent with what was held to be appropriate in these cases”.
Lord Brodie and Lord Drummond Young heard that the appellant “SD” pled guilty at the trial diet of assaulting his six-week-old daughter to her severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of her life.
The High Court in Glasgow was told that he had become “frustrated” with the baby and “lost control” after she had kept her parents awake during the previous night.
While the sentencing judge accepted that there was “no wickednesss” in his actions, she viewed this as a “deliberate and violent assault” using a degree of force which was “obviously likely to cause serious harm” to a six-week-old baby, who was left with catastrophic, life threatening injuries.
On 31 March 2015 she sentenced the appellant to seven-and-a-half years’ imprisonment – discounted by around 15 per cent from nine years for the “utilitarian benefit” of the guilty plea, albeit that it had been tendered very late.
But the appellant challenged the sentencing judge’s characterisation of what he had done as being “obviously likely to cause serious harm”.
It was submitted that it would not have been apparent to a layman that such serious harm would be caused by the degree of force which had been used in the case.
There was a short period of shaking by a “hands on” father where there was “no history of previous abuse” of the child.
It was a “momentary loss of control” lasting a few seconds on the part of a young man who was a “loving father” and who had not previously served a custodial sentence.
In these circumstances it was argued that a starting point of nine years imprisonment was “clearly excessive”.
The appeal judges accepted that the consequences of the assault were “unintended” by the appellant, but did not accept the submission that the risk of some degree of serious harm to a young baby was not such as to be obvious to a layman.
Delivering the opinion of the court, Lord Brodie said: “On sentencing in a case of assault assessment of the seriousness of the offence will usually involve consideration of two potentially independent factors, the culpability of the offender’s act and the severity of the consequences of that act.
“We say potentially independent because the likelihood of it having adverse consequences is relevant to the judgment as to the culpability of a particular act. In this case, the consequences of the assault on the child were catastrophic.
“The sentencing judge says in her report that it is difficult to conceive of a more vulnerable victim than a six week old baby. We can only agree and we would see that as being clear to any parent, however inexperienced that parent may be.
“We therefore consider that the sentencing judge was correct to approach this case as one which involved a significant degree of culpability as well as a catastrophic result. She was entitled to take the view that only a significant custodial sentence was appropriate.”
However, the judges noted that she was not addressed on the issue of “comparative justice” and said they did not consider that a starting point of nine years was consistent with what was held to be appropriate in these cases.
Lord Brodie added: “In the present case there was evidence that the appellant had shaken the baby and then violently thrown her down onto a couch. Whether or not the throwing of the infant onto the couch exacerbated her injuries, it pointed to an act of real aggression on the part of the appellant. We see that as something which requires to be reflected in the sentence imposed.
“Accordingly, we shall quash the sentence imposed on 31 March 2015 and impose an alternative sentence of six years and nine months. We have arrived at that figure by taking a starting point of eight years imprisonment and discounting that by a similar percentage to that adopted by the sentencing judge.”
October 5, 2015
http://www.scottishlegal.com/2015/10/05/baby-shaking-assault-father-successfully-challenges-excessive-sentence/
Baby-shaking assault father successfully challenges ‘excessive’ sentence
A father who left his baby daughter brain-damaged after shaking her and throwing her down on to a couch in a “deliberate and violent assault” has had his seven-and-a-half year prison sentence reduced following an appeal.
The Criminal Appeal Court quashed the sentence and imposed a custodial term of six years and nine months after ruling that the sentencing judge’s starting point of nine years – which was discounted due to the unnamed father’s guilty plea – was “not consistent with what was held to be appropriate in these cases”.
Lord Brodie and Lord Drummond Young heard that the appellant “SD” pled guilty at the trial diet of assaulting his six-week-old daughter to her severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of her life.
The High Court in Glasgow was told that he had become “frustrated” with the baby and “lost control” after she had kept her parents awake during the previous night.
While the sentencing judge accepted that there was “no wickednesss” in his actions, she viewed this as a “deliberate and violent assault” using a degree of force which was “obviously likely to cause serious harm” to a six-week-old baby, who was left with catastrophic, life threatening injuries.
On 31 March 2015 she sentenced the appellant to seven-and-a-half years’ imprisonment – discounted by around 15 per cent from nine years for the “utilitarian benefit” of the guilty plea, albeit that it had been tendered very late.
But the appellant challenged the sentencing judge’s characterisation of what he had done as being “obviously likely to cause serious harm”.
It was submitted that it would not have been apparent to a layman that such serious harm would be caused by the degree of force which had been used in the case.
There was a short period of shaking by a “hands on” father where there was “no history of previous abuse” of the child.
It was a “momentary loss of control” lasting a few seconds on the part of a young man who was a “loving father” and who had not previously served a custodial sentence.
In these circumstances it was argued that a starting point of nine years imprisonment was “clearly excessive”.
The appeal judges accepted that the consequences of the assault were “unintended” by the appellant, but did not accept the submission that the risk of some degree of serious harm to a young baby was not such as to be obvious to a layman.
Delivering the opinion of the court, Lord Brodie said: “On sentencing in a case of assault assessment of the seriousness of the offence will usually involve consideration of two potentially independent factors, the culpability of the offender’s act and the severity of the consequences of that act.
“We say potentially independent because the likelihood of it having adverse consequences is relevant to the judgment as to the culpability of a particular act. In this case, the consequences of the assault on the child were catastrophic.
“The sentencing judge says in her report that it is difficult to conceive of a more vulnerable victim than a six week old baby. We can only agree and we would see that as being clear to any parent, however inexperienced that parent may be.
“We therefore consider that the sentencing judge was correct to approach this case as one which involved a significant degree of culpability as well as a catastrophic result. She was entitled to take the view that only a significant custodial sentence was appropriate.”
However, the judges noted that she was not addressed on the issue of “comparative justice” and said they did not consider that a starting point of nine years was consistent with what was held to be appropriate in these cases.
Lord Brodie added: “In the present case there was evidence that the appellant had shaken the baby and then violently thrown her down onto a couch. Whether or not the throwing of the infant onto the couch exacerbated her injuries, it pointed to an act of real aggression on the part of the appellant. We see that as something which requires to be reflected in the sentence imposed.
“Accordingly, we shall quash the sentence imposed on 31 March 2015 and impose an alternative sentence of six years and nine months. We have arrived at that figure by taking a starting point of eight years imprisonment and discounting that by a similar percentage to that adopted by the sentencing judge.”
October 5, 2015
Dad sentenced to prison for severely beating 7-week-old baby (Yorkville, Illinois)
Dad is identified as JOHN BURTON JR.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/crime/ct-abn-yorkville-child-abuse-st-1007-20151006-story.html
Yorkville father sentenced to prison for beating infant son
Yorkville man sentenced for abusing infant son Erika Wurst
Aurora Beacon-News
Yorkville man sentenced to 18 years in prison for beating son
A Yorkville father has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to physically abusing his infant son and leaving him severely injured for life, Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis announced Monday.
John Burton Jr., 23, 2100 block of Bluebird Lane, was convicted of felony aggravated battery to a child stemming from an April 2013 incident at his home.
Prosecutors said on that day, Yorkville police responded to Burton's home for reports of a child in distress. Paramedics said the 7-week-old baby's mother had begun administering CPR, but the baby needed critical medical assistance.
Weis said the baby was airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center following initial treatment at an Aurora hospital. Medical staff at Loyola observed multiple injuries, including bruising along the left cheek, eyelid, neck and ear, he said.
Weis said a CT scan revealed subdural hemorrhages and doctors also observed a mid-shaft femoral fracture on the child's leg. Doctors determined the injuries were consistent with physical abuse.
According to Weis, Burton, who was with the child at the time of the injuries, was interviewed by investigators and admitted to abusing his child.
As a result of the traumatic brain injury, the child now suffers from cerebral palsy and is blind, Weis said.
The cerebral palsy has caused him to have very poor muscle tone and he cannot control his body movements, he said.
Weis said the child is seen by eight different types of doctors, takes 12 different medications, attends 10 different therapies every week and is fed through a gastro-intestinal tube.
During Burton's sentencing, the child's mother read an emotional, four-page victim impact statement about the changes to her life and that of her small child.
"I will likely never hear him say "I love you Mom,'" she told Kendall County Judge Timothy McCann. "I will never see my once healthy son grow into the man he should have become. I can never see the world through my child's eyes because of your (Burton's) actions. (His) mind and body are locked into his own private jail cell."
Weis commended the efforts of the Yorkville Police Department and the medical personnel for their efforts in the case.
"Unfortunately, no sentence will allow this innocent child to lead a normal and healthy life due to the actions of John Burton," he said. " As his mother told the court, while his (Burton's) sentence will some day be served, this child will be serving a life sentence that no one should have to endure."
Burton will be required to serve at least 85 percent of his 18-year sentence.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/crime/ct-abn-yorkville-child-abuse-st-1007-20151006-story.html
Yorkville father sentenced to prison for beating infant son
Yorkville man sentenced for abusing infant son Erika Wurst
Aurora Beacon-News
Yorkville man sentenced to 18 years in prison for beating son
A Yorkville father has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to physically abusing his infant son and leaving him severely injured for life, Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis announced Monday.
John Burton Jr., 23, 2100 block of Bluebird Lane, was convicted of felony aggravated battery to a child stemming from an April 2013 incident at his home.
Prosecutors said on that day, Yorkville police responded to Burton's home for reports of a child in distress. Paramedics said the 7-week-old baby's mother had begun administering CPR, but the baby needed critical medical assistance.
Weis said the baby was airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center following initial treatment at an Aurora hospital. Medical staff at Loyola observed multiple injuries, including bruising along the left cheek, eyelid, neck and ear, he said.
Weis said a CT scan revealed subdural hemorrhages and doctors also observed a mid-shaft femoral fracture on the child's leg. Doctors determined the injuries were consistent with physical abuse.
According to Weis, Burton, who was with the child at the time of the injuries, was interviewed by investigators and admitted to abusing his child.
As a result of the traumatic brain injury, the child now suffers from cerebral palsy and is blind, Weis said.
The cerebral palsy has caused him to have very poor muscle tone and he cannot control his body movements, he said.
Weis said the child is seen by eight different types of doctors, takes 12 different medications, attends 10 different therapies every week and is fed through a gastro-intestinal tube.
During Burton's sentencing, the child's mother read an emotional, four-page victim impact statement about the changes to her life and that of her small child.
"I will likely never hear him say "I love you Mom,'" she told Kendall County Judge Timothy McCann. "I will never see my once healthy son grow into the man he should have become. I can never see the world through my child's eyes because of your (Burton's) actions. (His) mind and body are locked into his own private jail cell."
Weis commended the efforts of the Yorkville Police Department and the medical personnel for their efforts in the case.
"Unfortunately, no sentence will allow this innocent child to lead a normal and healthy life due to the actions of John Burton," he said. " As his mother told the court, while his (Burton's) sentence will some day be served, this child will be serving a life sentence that no one should have to endure."
Burton will be required to serve at least 85 percent of his 18-year sentence.
Dad pleads guilty to murder of 2-month-old daughter (Erie, Pennsylvania)
Dad is identified as WENDELL T. MULKEY.
http://www.goerie.com/corry-father-to-plead-guilty-in-infant-death
Corry father to plead guilty in infant death
ERIE, Pa. -- A Corry father plans to plead guilty to third-degree murder in the March 2014 death of his 2-month-old daughter, his lawyer said.
Wendell T. Mulkey, 27, who had been scheduled to face trial Monday, is now scheduled for a plea hearing that day before Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender, according to court records.
Mulkey's lawyer, Eric Hackwelder, said Mulkey intends to plead guilty to felony charges of third-degree murder, aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
The child, identified in court records as "S.M.," died of abusive head trauma March 10, 2014, at UPMC's Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. An autopsy showed she also suffered 34 fractures to her ribs and leg bones that were in various stages of healing.
The plea would allow Mulkey to avoid the possibility of a life sentence. Had Mulkey gone to trial, the prosecution planned to seek a conviction for first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life with no parole.
Hackwelder said the plea decision was driven in part by the fact the infant's mother, Miranda C. Fay, 21, entered a plea agreement Friday and pledged to testify against Mulkey at his trial. Hackwelder also said that statements Fay and Mulkey made to investigators could have been used against Mulkey at trial.
Hackwelder said some infant death cases are resolved with pleas to involuntary manslaughter, which is a death caused by a defendant's recklessness, but Mulkey's daughter had multiple injuries, some of them healing.
"That is why we came to the conclusion we did," he said.
His client, Hackwelder said, is also deeply remorseful.
"It was his call. That is what he wanted to do. I think it is the right call," he said.
First Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz declined to comment.
Third-degree murder is a malicious, unintentional killing. It carries a 20-year maximum sentence.
The case began with Fay's 911 call on March 10, 2014.
A doctor who examined S.M. in the hospital in Pittsburgh discovered bruises on the baby's face, back and chest. S.M.'s brain and retinas were bleeding, the doctor said.
She concluded S.M. died of abusive head trauma and physical abuse.
According to a criminal complaint, Mulkey and Fay told investigators in a March 11, 2014, interview that the baby had not had any medical problems before her death. They said she was solely in their care in their home on East Airport Road in Corry.
Mulkey admitted he had lost his temper and shaken S.M. on previous occasions, investigators said.
He also said that on one occasion while changing the baby's diaper, he heard her leg make a "popping" sound, which he said might have been her leg breaking.
Fay pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child on Friday. She admitted that between Feb. 10 and March 10, 2014, she failed to seek medical help for her child when she knew that the child had suffered a broken leg, rib fractures and severe head injuries, allegedly inflicted by Mulkey.
http://www.goerie.com/corry-father-to-plead-guilty-in-infant-death
Corry father to plead guilty in infant death
ERIE, Pa. -- A Corry father plans to plead guilty to third-degree murder in the March 2014 death of his 2-month-old daughter, his lawyer said.
Wendell T. Mulkey, 27, who had been scheduled to face trial Monday, is now scheduled for a plea hearing that day before Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender, according to court records.
Mulkey's lawyer, Eric Hackwelder, said Mulkey intends to plead guilty to felony charges of third-degree murder, aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
The child, identified in court records as "S.M.," died of abusive head trauma March 10, 2014, at UPMC's Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. An autopsy showed she also suffered 34 fractures to her ribs and leg bones that were in various stages of healing.
The plea would allow Mulkey to avoid the possibility of a life sentence. Had Mulkey gone to trial, the prosecution planned to seek a conviction for first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life with no parole.
Hackwelder said the plea decision was driven in part by the fact the infant's mother, Miranda C. Fay, 21, entered a plea agreement Friday and pledged to testify against Mulkey at his trial. Hackwelder also said that statements Fay and Mulkey made to investigators could have been used against Mulkey at trial.
Hackwelder said some infant death cases are resolved with pleas to involuntary manslaughter, which is a death caused by a defendant's recklessness, but Mulkey's daughter had multiple injuries, some of them healing.
"That is why we came to the conclusion we did," he said.
His client, Hackwelder said, is also deeply remorseful.
"It was his call. That is what he wanted to do. I think it is the right call," he said.
First Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz declined to comment.
Third-degree murder is a malicious, unintentional killing. It carries a 20-year maximum sentence.
The case began with Fay's 911 call on March 10, 2014.
A doctor who examined S.M. in the hospital in Pittsburgh discovered bruises on the baby's face, back and chest. S.M.'s brain and retinas were bleeding, the doctor said.
She concluded S.M. died of abusive head trauma and physical abuse.
According to a criminal complaint, Mulkey and Fay told investigators in a March 11, 2014, interview that the baby had not had any medical problems before her death. They said she was solely in their care in their home on East Airport Road in Corry.
Mulkey admitted he had lost his temper and shaken S.M. on previous occasions, investigators said.
He also said that on one occasion while changing the baby's diaper, he heard her leg make a "popping" sound, which he said might have been her leg breaking.
Fay pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child on Friday. She admitted that between Feb. 10 and March 10, 2014, she failed to seek medical help for her child when she knew that the child had suffered a broken leg, rib fractures and severe head injuries, allegedly inflicted by Mulkey.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Dad charged in assault on 3-month-old son (Ogden, Utah)
Dad is identified as CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON.
http://www.standard.net/Courts/2015/10/02/Ogden-father-suspected-of-shaking-baby-causing-hemorrhages.html
Ogden father suspected of shaking baby, causing hemorrhages
Friday , October 02, 2015 - 6:29 PM
By TAYLOR HINTZ Standard-Examiner staff
OGDEN -- An Ogden man accused of shaking his infant son hard enough to cause several hemorrhages and broken ribs appeared before Judge Michael DiReda Thursday, Oct. 1, for a preliminary hearing.
Christopher Anderson, 21, is charged with child abuse and intentionally inflicting serious physical injury, second-degree felonies. He was booked into Weber County Jail July 28 and made bail Aug. 4 through a $10,000 bond posted by Hy & Mike’s Bail Bonds.
On July 21, South Ogden police responded to an emergency call from Christopher Anderson, 21, at his apartment in the area of 3700 South Grant Ave. There, Anderson was found rubbing his 3-month-old infant’s chest and told law enforcement that his son was having a hard time breathing to the point his body had gone limp. Police, however, found the infant was not responsive, according to court documents. Anderson was the only person home with the infant.
Anderson said the child was napping when he heard him struggling for air. The father said he picked the boy up and shook him to “bring him out of it.” He also attempted to do CPR, according to the statement.
The child was transported first to McKay Dee Hospital and then to Primary Children’s Medical Center via LifeFlight. According to the statement, the infant continued to have seizures for several days as a result of the abuse.
Karen Hansen, a doctor with Safe and Healthy Families, treated the child and found a subdural hemorrhage, possibly two weeks old, and another fresh hemorrhage on the right side closer to the brain. A retinal study also found hemorrhaging in both eyes. Hansen advised that medical issues were symptoms of “shaken baby syndrome.”.
A skeletal exam also found two broken ribs, according to the statement. Hansen said the long-term effects are still unknown but the significant brain damage will cause the child to have medical problems longterm.
George Zamora, the baby’s grandfather, said although the boy is doing better since going to the hospital, he still suffers from the traumatic event.
“Because of the brain trauma, he forgot how to swallow. He can’t take anything by mouth, he has to have a feeding tube,” Zamora said. “There’s some paralysis on his left side and his legs aren’t working as well as the doctors were hoping.” Zamora, who is now caring for the child after a no contact order was issued against Anderson, also said he hopes that awareness of his grandson’s injuries will help bring justice against Anderson.
“Second of all, we want people to know that this is a problem. There’s ways you can handle things without hurting a baby,“ Zamora said. ”But first of all, I want people to know about this so Carter can receive justice. This isn’t something he should have gone through.“
Anderson is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing 9 a.m. Dec. 4.
http://www.standard.net/Courts/2015/10/02/Ogden-father-suspected-of-shaking-baby-causing-hemorrhages.html
Ogden father suspected of shaking baby, causing hemorrhages
Friday , October 02, 2015 - 6:29 PM
By TAYLOR HINTZ Standard-Examiner staff
OGDEN -- An Ogden man accused of shaking his infant son hard enough to cause several hemorrhages and broken ribs appeared before Judge Michael DiReda Thursday, Oct. 1, for a preliminary hearing.
Christopher Anderson, 21, is charged with child abuse and intentionally inflicting serious physical injury, second-degree felonies. He was booked into Weber County Jail July 28 and made bail Aug. 4 through a $10,000 bond posted by Hy & Mike’s Bail Bonds.
On July 21, South Ogden police responded to an emergency call from Christopher Anderson, 21, at his apartment in the area of 3700 South Grant Ave. There, Anderson was found rubbing his 3-month-old infant’s chest and told law enforcement that his son was having a hard time breathing to the point his body had gone limp. Police, however, found the infant was not responsive, according to court documents. Anderson was the only person home with the infant.
Anderson said the child was napping when he heard him struggling for air. The father said he picked the boy up and shook him to “bring him out of it.” He also attempted to do CPR, according to the statement.
The child was transported first to McKay Dee Hospital and then to Primary Children’s Medical Center via LifeFlight. According to the statement, the infant continued to have seizures for several days as a result of the abuse.
Karen Hansen, a doctor with Safe and Healthy Families, treated the child and found a subdural hemorrhage, possibly two weeks old, and another fresh hemorrhage on the right side closer to the brain. A retinal study also found hemorrhaging in both eyes. Hansen advised that medical issues were symptoms of “shaken baby syndrome.”.
A skeletal exam also found two broken ribs, according to the statement. Hansen said the long-term effects are still unknown but the significant brain damage will cause the child to have medical problems longterm.
George Zamora, the baby’s grandfather, said although the boy is doing better since going to the hospital, he still suffers from the traumatic event.
“Because of the brain trauma, he forgot how to swallow. He can’t take anything by mouth, he has to have a feeding tube,” Zamora said. “There’s some paralysis on his left side and his legs aren’t working as well as the doctors were hoping.” Zamora, who is now caring for the child after a no contact order was issued against Anderson, also said he hopes that awareness of his grandson’s injuries will help bring justice against Anderson.
“Second of all, we want people to know that this is a problem. There’s ways you can handle things without hurting a baby,“ Zamora said. ”But first of all, I want people to know about this so Carter can receive justice. This isn’t something he should have gone through.“
Anderson is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing 9 a.m. Dec. 4.
Dad charged with homicide in death of 2-month-old infant, mom charged with "endangering" for failure to protect, seek medical care (Erie, Pennsylvania)
Do I know for a fact that the mom did everything within her actual power to save this baby? No.
But I know that 14 years in prison is a lot longer than many fathers serve who actually kill babies.
Dad is identified as WENDELL T. MULKEY.
http://www.goerie.com/mother-enters-plea-in-corry-infant-death-case
Mother enters plea in Corry infant death case
By Lisa Thompson 814-870-1802
Erie Times-News
October 3, 2015 06:29 AM
ERIE, Pa. -- The mother of a Corry 2-month-old who died in 2014 of severe head trauma has agreed to testify against the child's father when he stands trial on homicide charges in mid-October.
Miranda C. Fay, 21, appeared in Erie County Court on Friday to plead guilty to reduced charges stemming from the abuse and death of her daughter.
Fay pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child and agreed to testify against the baby's father, Wendell T. Mulkey, 27, who is scheduled to face trial on homicide and related charges Oct. 12.
In exchange for Fay's plea and her pledge to testify against Mulkey, First Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz dropped one third-degree felony count of endangering the welfare of a child.
With the plea, Fay admitted that between Feb. 10 and March 10, 2014, she failed to seek medical help for her child when she knew that the child had suffered a broken leg, rib fractures and severe head injuries, allegedly inflicted by Mulkey.
Fay said little at the hearing. She indicated she understood her rights and was guilty of the crimes.
She is being held in the Erie County Prison after failing to post $150,000 bond.
Fay was pregnant at the time of her and Mulkey's arrests in March. She recently delivered the child, who is now in the custody of the Erie County Office of Children and Youth, the Erie County District Attorney's Office said.
Fay faces up to 14 years in prison and a $30,000 fine at sentencing, which Judge William R. Cunningham scheduled for Nov. 6. She is being represented by Assistant Public Defender John Bonanti.
Mulkey, who is in the Erie County Prison with no bond set, is accused of homicide and two felony counts each of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child in the March 10, 2014, death of the couple's daughter.
The infant, identified in court records only as S.M., suffered severe head trauma and 34 fractures to her ribs and leg bones that were in various stages of healing, the prosecution has said. Investigators had to wait for a review of medical evidence before they could file charges in March.
According to a criminal complaint, Mulkey and Fay told investigators in a March 11, 2014, interview that the baby had not had any medical problems before her death on March 10, 2014. They said she was solely in their care in their home on East Airport Road in Corry.
Mulkey admitted he had lost his temper and shaken S.M. on previous occasions, investigators said.
He also said that on one occasion while changing the baby's diaper, he heard her leg make a "popping" sound, which he said might have been her leg breaking.
But I know that 14 years in prison is a lot longer than many fathers serve who actually kill babies.
Dad is identified as WENDELL T. MULKEY.
http://www.goerie.com/mother-enters-plea-in-corry-infant-death-case
Mother enters plea in Corry infant death case
By Lisa Thompson 814-870-1802
Erie Times-News
October 3, 2015 06:29 AM
ERIE, Pa. -- The mother of a Corry 2-month-old who died in 2014 of severe head trauma has agreed to testify against the child's father when he stands trial on homicide charges in mid-October.
Miranda C. Fay, 21, appeared in Erie County Court on Friday to plead guilty to reduced charges stemming from the abuse and death of her daughter.
Fay pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child and agreed to testify against the baby's father, Wendell T. Mulkey, 27, who is scheduled to face trial on homicide and related charges Oct. 12.
In exchange for Fay's plea and her pledge to testify against Mulkey, First Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz dropped one third-degree felony count of endangering the welfare of a child.
With the plea, Fay admitted that between Feb. 10 and March 10, 2014, she failed to seek medical help for her child when she knew that the child had suffered a broken leg, rib fractures and severe head injuries, allegedly inflicted by Mulkey.
Fay said little at the hearing. She indicated she understood her rights and was guilty of the crimes.
She is being held in the Erie County Prison after failing to post $150,000 bond.
Fay was pregnant at the time of her and Mulkey's arrests in March. She recently delivered the child, who is now in the custody of the Erie County Office of Children and Youth, the Erie County District Attorney's Office said.
Fay faces up to 14 years in prison and a $30,000 fine at sentencing, which Judge William R. Cunningham scheduled for Nov. 6. She is being represented by Assistant Public Defender John Bonanti.
Mulkey, who is in the Erie County Prison with no bond set, is accused of homicide and two felony counts each of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child in the March 10, 2014, death of the couple's daughter.
The infant, identified in court records only as S.M., suffered severe head trauma and 34 fractures to her ribs and leg bones that were in various stages of healing, the prosecution has said. Investigators had to wait for a review of medical evidence before they could file charges in March.
According to a criminal complaint, Mulkey and Fay told investigators in a March 11, 2014, interview that the baby had not had any medical problems before her death on March 10, 2014. They said she was solely in their care in their home on East Airport Road in Corry.
Mulkey admitted he had lost his temper and shaken S.M. on previous occasions, investigators said.
He also said that on one occasion while changing the baby's diaper, he heard her leg make a "popping" sound, which he said might have been her leg breaking.
Dad charged with criminal homicide in murder of 5-week-old daughter; called infant "psycho baby" (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Males can't cope with normal infantile crying. We see it again and again.
Dad is identified as JOSEPH SWIDORSKY.
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/10/01/west-view-father-arrested-in-death-of-baby-daughter/
Cops: Father Charged In Death Of Infant Called Child A ‘Psycho Baby’
October 1, 2015 10:06 PM
Lisa Washington
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Police arrested 30-year-old Joseph Swidorsky Thursday. He’s charged with criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of children, in the death of his five-week-old daughter, Braelyn.
According to the criminal complaint, West View Police were called to Swidorsky’s home on June 15, 2015, for the report of an unresponsive child. Swidorsky told police he was bathing his daughter and that she was crying so hard that she stopped breathing.
The mother told police, she had asked Swidorsky to bathe Braelyn and she returned to the bathroom to find the infant unresponsive and turning blue.
The baby was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital, where she later died.
An autopsy revealed the child died of blunt force trauma to the head – specifically a subdural hematoma and a fractured skull.
A witness told police that during a conversation with Swidorsky while at the hospital, he gave four different versions of what might have happened to baby Braelyn. None of which were consistent with her cause of death.
Another witness reported overhearing Swidorsky say, “Braelyn is a psycho baby and does nothing but cry all the time.”
Bail was denied for Swidorsky. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16.
Dad is identified as JOSEPH SWIDORSKY.
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/10/01/west-view-father-arrested-in-death-of-baby-daughter/
Cops: Father Charged In Death Of Infant Called Child A ‘Psycho Baby’
October 1, 2015 10:06 PM
Lisa Washington
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Police arrested 30-year-old Joseph Swidorsky Thursday. He’s charged with criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of children, in the death of his five-week-old daughter, Braelyn.
According to the criminal complaint, West View Police were called to Swidorsky’s home on June 15, 2015, for the report of an unresponsive child. Swidorsky told police he was bathing his daughter and that she was crying so hard that she stopped breathing.
The mother told police, she had asked Swidorsky to bathe Braelyn and she returned to the bathroom to find the infant unresponsive and turning blue.
The baby was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital, where she later died.
An autopsy revealed the child died of blunt force trauma to the head – specifically a subdural hematoma and a fractured skull.
A witness told police that during a conversation with Swidorsky while at the hospital, he gave four different versions of what might have happened to baby Braelyn. None of which were consistent with her cause of death.
Another witness reported overhearing Swidorsky say, “Braelyn is a psycho baby and does nothing but cry all the time.”
Bail was denied for Swidorsky. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Dad on trial for killing infant son will challenge confession (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Dad is identified as DAVID A. ALLEN.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/father-on-trial-for-killing-infant-son-will-challenge-confession-b99586810z1-329978301.html
Father on trial for killing infant son will challenge confession
By Bruce Vielmetti
Sept. 29, 2015
A Milwaukee man charged with killing his infant premature son falsely confessed to abuse during a police interview so that the child's mother would be released as a suspect, his attorney told jurors Tuesday.
The case could also highlight a growing doubt within the medical community that certain brain injuries among children can result only from "shaken baby syndrome," imposed by stressed-out, frustrated caregivers.
David A. Allen, 34, is on trial for first-degree reckless homicide as well as child abuse and neglect causing great bodily harm. His namesake son died in April 2013, six months after the then 12-week-old boy was first taken to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, where doctors diagnosed broken ribs and brain damage later attributed to blunt force trauma. Allen was first charged in October 2012; prosecutors upgraded the charges after the child died.
"Home. There should be no safer place for a child," Assistant District Attorney Matt Torbenson told the jury in an opening statement. But the victim, referred to as Junior, spent his last day at home unable to eat, deteriorating as his father "watched and did nothing."
As in most child abuse prosecutions, medical experts for the state will testify that Junior's injuries were inconsistent with any cause other than abuse, Torbenson said. On top of that, he said, jurors will hear Allen's varied explanations of accidents that might have led to the injuries.
He first mentioned a fall from a 3-inch mattress, a bump on the faucet during a bath, then a fall from his arms to a concrete floor, then finally saying that, with Junior clawing at his face, Allen shook the boy, hard.
The next morning, the boy wouldn't eat, and his condition worsened before his parents finally called 911.
At the end of his final police interview, Torbenson said, Allen is seen alone in the interrogation room, holding his head in his hands and saying, repeatedly, "I'm so sorry, my son."
But defense attorney Anthony Cotton promised jurors a different view of the evidence from other experts, including one who studies false confessions. Cotton noted that in a quarter of cases where convicted offenders have been cleared by DNA evidence, they had falsely confessed to crimes.
Cotton said the pair of intense interviews Allen was subjected to right after his son was hospitalized in October 2012 were exactly the kind that lead to false confessions. He said the detective provided facts relayed to him by doctors at Children's Hospital, and kept Allen talking until he described doing something to the child that would be consistent with the injuries. Only then would Junior's mother, who had also been arrested, be released "to go and pray over your dying child," Cotton said the detective told Allen.
Cotton suggested Junior's injuries could just as consistently be explained by his birth — two months premature — and compromised health.
He said no one around the couple, not even the baby's mother, will testify they ever saw Allen seeming depressed or overwhelmed, as he told a detective. In fact, staff from the neonatal intensive care unit where Junior spent a month before going home will say Allen was very attentive and appropriate with his son.
Later, the boy and his parents moved into a house with seven other people, and none of them saw any signs of depressions or abusive behavior in Allen, Cotton said.
"He loved his son," Cotton said of Allen. "He was not quick to anger."
http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/father-on-trial-for-killing-infant-son-will-challenge-confession-b99586810z1-329978301.html
Father on trial for killing infant son will challenge confession
By Bruce Vielmetti
Sept. 29, 2015
A Milwaukee man charged with killing his infant premature son falsely confessed to abuse during a police interview so that the child's mother would be released as a suspect, his attorney told jurors Tuesday.
The case could also highlight a growing doubt within the medical community that certain brain injuries among children can result only from "shaken baby syndrome," imposed by stressed-out, frustrated caregivers.
David A. Allen, 34, is on trial for first-degree reckless homicide as well as child abuse and neglect causing great bodily harm. His namesake son died in April 2013, six months after the then 12-week-old boy was first taken to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, where doctors diagnosed broken ribs and brain damage later attributed to blunt force trauma. Allen was first charged in October 2012; prosecutors upgraded the charges after the child died.
"Home. There should be no safer place for a child," Assistant District Attorney Matt Torbenson told the jury in an opening statement. But the victim, referred to as Junior, spent his last day at home unable to eat, deteriorating as his father "watched and did nothing."
As in most child abuse prosecutions, medical experts for the state will testify that Junior's injuries were inconsistent with any cause other than abuse, Torbenson said. On top of that, he said, jurors will hear Allen's varied explanations of accidents that might have led to the injuries.
He first mentioned a fall from a 3-inch mattress, a bump on the faucet during a bath, then a fall from his arms to a concrete floor, then finally saying that, with Junior clawing at his face, Allen shook the boy, hard.
The next morning, the boy wouldn't eat, and his condition worsened before his parents finally called 911.
At the end of his final police interview, Torbenson said, Allen is seen alone in the interrogation room, holding his head in his hands and saying, repeatedly, "I'm so sorry, my son."
But defense attorney Anthony Cotton promised jurors a different view of the evidence from other experts, including one who studies false confessions. Cotton noted that in a quarter of cases where convicted offenders have been cleared by DNA evidence, they had falsely confessed to crimes.
Cotton said the pair of intense interviews Allen was subjected to right after his son was hospitalized in October 2012 were exactly the kind that lead to false confessions. He said the detective provided facts relayed to him by doctors at Children's Hospital, and kept Allen talking until he described doing something to the child that would be consistent with the injuries. Only then would Junior's mother, who had also been arrested, be released "to go and pray over your dying child," Cotton said the detective told Allen.
Cotton suggested Junior's injuries could just as consistently be explained by his birth — two months premature — and compromised health.
He said no one around the couple, not even the baby's mother, will testify they ever saw Allen seeming depressed or overwhelmed, as he told a detective. In fact, staff from the neonatal intensive care unit where Junior spent a month before going home will say Allen was very attentive and appropriate with his son.
Later, the boy and his parents moved into a house with seven other people, and none of them saw any signs of depressions or abusive behavior in Allen, Cotton said.
"He loved his son," Cotton said of Allen. "He was not quick to anger."
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
One abuser dad gets 20 year, another acquitted (Houston, Texas)
The convicted dad is identified as SHAQUILLE LERON RAWLINS. He abandoned an 18-month-old infant with a skull fracture who later died.
Somehow dad LAPHONSON BATISTE got off, though three women from his own family thought he was guilty. But then the courts ignore what women think. Even the doctors thought he burned his baby girl intentionally. That didn't matter either.
http://www.theexaminer.com/stories/news/child%E2%80%99s-death-brings-20-year-sentence
Child’s death brings 20-year sentence
Submitted by James Shannon on September 28, 2015 - 12:00am .
The grim procession of cases involving battered babies continued at the Jefferson County Courthouse this week.
Ja’Myra Nicole Rawlins was 18 months old on Sept. 12, 2013 when EMS personnel responding to a 911 call found her unresponsive at her North End home. The baby’s mother, Jazmine Thomas, told police she had left Ja’Myra with her father while she ran errands only to return and find her unconscious. The baby’s father, Shaquille Leron Rawlins, 20, had fled the house on foot before police and the ambulance arrived.
When police caught up with Rawlins, he denied any knowledge of how the injuries occurred but later claimed that while babysitting the child, he had tossed her into the air and failed to catch her, causing her to land on her head. He was arrested for causing injury to a child and jailed jailed on a $25,000 bond.
Ja’Myra was transported to Christus St. Elizabeth emergency room in critical condition, then immediately transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, where she died two days later. Murder charges were filed against Rawlins after a preliminary autopsy conducted by the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office showed the young girl suffered a skull fracture with bleeding and bruising to both sides of her brain. The pathologist said he did not think the actions described by the suspect could have caused the injuries he observed, according to the arrest affidavit.
The murder charge was eventually reduced to reckless injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, no doubt because prosecutors had reason to fear the actions a jury might take. These cases can be difficult to prove; the young victims cannot testify, even when they survive.
Jurors recently acquitted a father on charges he intentionally or recklessly burned his baby daughter in August 2012. Laphonson Batiste’s mother, grandmother and sister believed him guilty, but a jury in Judge Raquel West’s court disagreed.
Doctors who treated Batiste’s daughter, Kimberly, testified her father intentionally dipped her in scalding water. She suffered second and third degree burns to 43 percent of her body and was treated in the ICU at Shriners Burn Hospital in Galveston. Because the child was burned on her back and bottom but not her legs, doctors believed Laphonson Batiste dipped his daughter in hot water. The jury didn’t buy it.
In the Rawlin’s case, prosecutor Ashley Molfino – perhaps mindful of what happened in the Batiste case – reluctantly agreed to a reduced charge, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. She was prepared to press for the maximum sentence for the life of Ja’Myra Rawlins.
That set the stage for a hearing this week in Criminal District Court for Judge John Stevens to accept Rawlins’ guilty plea to the reduced charge and pronounce sentence. Rawlins’ mother stood dry-eyed before the bench to ask for leniency for son.
“What about your grandchild?” asked an incredulous Judge Stevens.
“I lock myself in the bathroom or in my car to grieve privately for her,” she replied, and again asked the court to give him probation. Rawlins’ attorney, Sean Villery-Samuel, noted that because he had never been convicted of a felony, Rawlins was indeed eligible for probation. Stevens kept referring to the autopsy report describing the baby’s injuries, including a bruised sternum, multiple scratches, bruises and bite marks, which the defendant admitted inflicting.
But he had an explanation. “That’s just nibbling, know what I’m saying,” he offered.
Judge Stevens attached special significance to Rawlins leaving the scene. “The guilty flee where no man purseth, the righteous are as bold as a lion,” he said, citing Proverbs 28:1 and noting Rawlins did nothing to aid his wounded child.
Prosecutor Molfino, a catch in her voice and tears in her eyes – perhaps mindful of her own young child – reminded the court how this baby had suffered, and again asked for the maximum sentence of 20 years.
This list of the injuries inflicted on Ja’Myra finally proved too much for another defendant awaiting his hearing in orange jump suit, handcuffs and leg chains who broke courtroom decorum by loudly shouting, “Get me out of here; I can’t stand hearing this.”
Judge Stevens immediately ordered him to be silent. “Put your fingers in your ears if you have to,” said the judge. “You’ve got problems of your own,” a reference to the felony DWI charge that defendant was facing, reportedly with children in his car at the time he was arrested.
Extra deputies ringed the courtroom packed with Rawlins’ friends and family, who sat in silence as the judge made Rawlins acknowledge the elements of his guilty plea. Villery-Samuel asked for probation one final time before Judge Stevens imposed a sentence of 20 years in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. There were groans from the audience and angry talk as they filed out. Loud weeping could be heard out in the hall from people who were somehow convinced he would get probation, as if the two years he had been jailed since Ja’Myra’s death had been sufficient atonement. There were reportedly postings on a Facebook page for a “Welcome Home, Shaq” party, but two years is not near enough in Judge Stevens court for the death of a child. The loud crying and angry shouts continued into the parking lot as deputies struggled to maintain order as rival groups of family members screamed at each other. The Beaumont Police responded to the scene and finally broke up the disturbance without violence.
Sometime later, shouts and screams could be heard from the holding cells behind the courtroom as Rawlins’ sentence got off to a rough start when he was attacked by the inmate who recoiled at his crimes.
Somehow dad LAPHONSON BATISTE got off, though three women from his own family thought he was guilty. But then the courts ignore what women think. Even the doctors thought he burned his baby girl intentionally. That didn't matter either.
http://www.theexaminer.com/stories/news/child%E2%80%99s-death-brings-20-year-sentence
Child’s death brings 20-year sentence
Submitted by James Shannon on September 28, 2015 - 12:00am .
The grim procession of cases involving battered babies continued at the Jefferson County Courthouse this week.
Ja’Myra Nicole Rawlins was 18 months old on Sept. 12, 2013 when EMS personnel responding to a 911 call found her unresponsive at her North End home. The baby’s mother, Jazmine Thomas, told police she had left Ja’Myra with her father while she ran errands only to return and find her unconscious. The baby’s father, Shaquille Leron Rawlins, 20, had fled the house on foot before police and the ambulance arrived.
When police caught up with Rawlins, he denied any knowledge of how the injuries occurred but later claimed that while babysitting the child, he had tossed her into the air and failed to catch her, causing her to land on her head. He was arrested for causing injury to a child and jailed jailed on a $25,000 bond.
Ja’Myra was transported to Christus St. Elizabeth emergency room in critical condition, then immediately transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, where she died two days later. Murder charges were filed against Rawlins after a preliminary autopsy conducted by the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office showed the young girl suffered a skull fracture with bleeding and bruising to both sides of her brain. The pathologist said he did not think the actions described by the suspect could have caused the injuries he observed, according to the arrest affidavit.
The murder charge was eventually reduced to reckless injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, no doubt because prosecutors had reason to fear the actions a jury might take. These cases can be difficult to prove; the young victims cannot testify, even when they survive.
Jurors recently acquitted a father on charges he intentionally or recklessly burned his baby daughter in August 2012. Laphonson Batiste’s mother, grandmother and sister believed him guilty, but a jury in Judge Raquel West’s court disagreed.
Doctors who treated Batiste’s daughter, Kimberly, testified her father intentionally dipped her in scalding water. She suffered second and third degree burns to 43 percent of her body and was treated in the ICU at Shriners Burn Hospital in Galveston. Because the child was burned on her back and bottom but not her legs, doctors believed Laphonson Batiste dipped his daughter in hot water. The jury didn’t buy it.
In the Rawlin’s case, prosecutor Ashley Molfino – perhaps mindful of what happened in the Batiste case – reluctantly agreed to a reduced charge, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. She was prepared to press for the maximum sentence for the life of Ja’Myra Rawlins.
That set the stage for a hearing this week in Criminal District Court for Judge John Stevens to accept Rawlins’ guilty plea to the reduced charge and pronounce sentence. Rawlins’ mother stood dry-eyed before the bench to ask for leniency for son.
“What about your grandchild?” asked an incredulous Judge Stevens.
“I lock myself in the bathroom or in my car to grieve privately for her,” she replied, and again asked the court to give him probation. Rawlins’ attorney, Sean Villery-Samuel, noted that because he had never been convicted of a felony, Rawlins was indeed eligible for probation. Stevens kept referring to the autopsy report describing the baby’s injuries, including a bruised sternum, multiple scratches, bruises and bite marks, which the defendant admitted inflicting.
But he had an explanation. “That’s just nibbling, know what I’m saying,” he offered.
Judge Stevens attached special significance to Rawlins leaving the scene. “The guilty flee where no man purseth, the righteous are as bold as a lion,” he said, citing Proverbs 28:1 and noting Rawlins did nothing to aid his wounded child.
Prosecutor Molfino, a catch in her voice and tears in her eyes – perhaps mindful of her own young child – reminded the court how this baby had suffered, and again asked for the maximum sentence of 20 years.
This list of the injuries inflicted on Ja’Myra finally proved too much for another defendant awaiting his hearing in orange jump suit, handcuffs and leg chains who broke courtroom decorum by loudly shouting, “Get me out of here; I can’t stand hearing this.”
Judge Stevens immediately ordered him to be silent. “Put your fingers in your ears if you have to,” said the judge. “You’ve got problems of your own,” a reference to the felony DWI charge that defendant was facing, reportedly with children in his car at the time he was arrested.
Extra deputies ringed the courtroom packed with Rawlins’ friends and family, who sat in silence as the judge made Rawlins acknowledge the elements of his guilty plea. Villery-Samuel asked for probation one final time before Judge Stevens imposed a sentence of 20 years in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. There were groans from the audience and angry talk as they filed out. Loud weeping could be heard out in the hall from people who were somehow convinced he would get probation, as if the two years he had been jailed since Ja’Myra’s death had been sufficient atonement. There were reportedly postings on a Facebook page for a “Welcome Home, Shaq” party, but two years is not near enough in Judge Stevens court for the death of a child. The loud crying and angry shouts continued into the parking lot as deputies struggled to maintain order as rival groups of family members screamed at each other. The Beaumont Police responded to the scene and finally broke up the disturbance without violence.
Sometime later, shouts and screams could be heard from the holding cells behind the courtroom as Rawlins’ sentence got off to a rough start when he was attacked by the inmate who recoiled at his crimes.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Dad charged with manslaughter in death of 6-year-old son (United Kingdom)
Dad is identified as KEVIN CRAIG TOYE.
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-09-25/father-charged-over-death-of-boy-6-from-injuries-sustained-as-a-baby/
ITV Report 25 September 2015 at 2:32pm
Father charged over death of son, 6, from injuries sustained as a baby
A father has been charged with manslaughter after his six-year-old son died from head injuries he sustained as a baby.
Baylee Varley from Ormesby, Norfolk, died in March last year as a result of serious head injuries received in the alleged 2008 attack.
Kevin Craig Toye, 28, of St Nicholas Road, Great Yarmouth has been charged with manslaughter and the ill-treatment of the child, Norfolk Police said.
A woman in her 20s, who was also arrested in relation to the inquiry, is not facing any further action.
A pre-inquest review into Varley's death had heard that he had died from bronchopneumonia due to long-term complications from a head injury.
Toye has been bailed to appear before Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court on 28 October.
Last updated Fri 25 Sep 2015
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-09-25/father-charged-over-death-of-boy-6-from-injuries-sustained-as-a-baby/
ITV Report 25 September 2015 at 2:32pm
Father charged over death of son, 6, from injuries sustained as a baby
A father has been charged with manslaughter after his six-year-old son died from head injuries he sustained as a baby.
Baylee Varley from Ormesby, Norfolk, died in March last year as a result of serious head injuries received in the alleged 2008 attack.
Kevin Craig Toye, 28, of St Nicholas Road, Great Yarmouth has been charged with manslaughter and the ill-treatment of the child, Norfolk Police said.
A woman in her 20s, who was also arrested in relation to the inquiry, is not facing any further action.
A pre-inquest review into Varley's death had heard that he had died from bronchopneumonia due to long-term complications from a head injury.
Toye has been bailed to appear before Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court on 28 October.
Last updated Fri 25 Sep 2015
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