Infant Homicide

[The Man]

I originally read about this tragedy in a thread created by Dana who has expressed his thread is not intended to be a discussion /debate thread...Thus the creation of this thread

An infant died {3 months old} allegedly due to a ten year old childs actions

The infant was at a a sitters house..the sitter had a ten year old girl who suffered from:
"attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," ''oppositional defiant disorder" and "attachment disorder"
The sitter placed the infant in the ten year olds room rather the watch the infant herself.

The infant was given the same medication that is used for the 10 year old{wow a ten year old with access to prescription drugs}..or did the sitter give them to the infant}...the infant also suffered bruises about the face and died of suffocation.

The 10 year old is charged with man slaughter.
IMO this is a waste of time as the child is handicapped.
Also I hold the sitter responsible for placing the infant in the situation to begin with.

http://news.yahoo.com/maine-agency-sitter-blame-babys-death-065609393.html

http://global.christianpost.com/new...-allegedly-drugging-suffocating-infant-80910/


The question
Do you feel the sitter should be charged.

 

[porterjack]

Yes
Charge the sitter, the ten year old, handicapped or not, surely cannot be legally liable?

 

[The Man]

Up to a degree...This is where I have issue though...Isnt suffocation murder.
Charge the child with murder if charging the child...Not that I am suggesting I agree with the charges on the child.
I do however hold the sitter responsible for this tragedy.

But a new question is now posed...was the child {handicapped or not} aware of what she was doing?...Did the child understand the value of taking a life?
We will find that out in the up coming months

 

[Joe the meek]

I agree with you.

Kind of like holding a severely mentally handicapped person responsible for their actions.

It's not the child's responsibility to think, it's the adults. If the mother would of been thinking, none of this would of happened.

 

[The Man]

I agree...it makes no sense....how can they not hold the sitter accountable.
It was her house...her kid that committed homicide.
She knew her kid and her handicaps
Infant was fed drugs that were prescribed to the 10 year old.{this shows the sitter did not control these drugs properly}
Infant was manually suffocated.
Infant was placed in the 10 year olds room rather than the sitters room.

 

[Dana]

The sitter should be brought up on charges.

 

[The Man]

The sitter should be brought up on charges.

Straight to the point :thumbup

 

[Veronica]

****First, NOTE, I hate NOT read this article because it discusts me and i didnt want to get upset*****

My opinion is this.. Having a child that suffers from ADHD ODD and Autism (the 10 year old didnt have autism.).. When I had Jaxon, I was OVERLY protective of jaxon. I kept a VERY close eye on how he interacted with jaxon. I didnt want him to show aggression with him, etc. I know his crying would upset austin and there was only 2 ways he would go. He would become ANGRY or he would become UPSET. Austin surprised me and became UPSET. He didnt want him to cry. He cared. He wanted to help him and get him to laugh instead. Not beat him to stop.... This sitter should of paid better attention. She/he obviously had no right taking care of both children.

If the child has ODD, That child doesnt know how to control his/her actions. He/she shouldnt be held accountable fully. Yes, they should have some sort of punishment, but I think the majority of the crime is on the sitters back. Its her fault the baby is gone.

That poor child (both poor children)

 

[pinkporridge]

The sitter is responsible for anything that happens while the child is in her care. As are all Schools, Nurseries, Daycare. Therefor the sitter should be facing charges of neglect. The 10yr old is a grey area. Suffocation to me would seem like a very deliberate action. Its unlikely to be rough play with a 3mnth old. If this were to be proven to be the case then i think that the 10 year old too should face some form of consequence for her actions. Even children with ADD are punished when they do something wrong. I think at the very least the girl need some form of counseling to control her issues.

 

[The Man]

The sitter is responsible for anything that happens while the child is in her care. As are all Schools, Nurseries, Daycare. Therefor the sitter should be facing charges of neglect. The 10yr old is a grey area. Suffocation to me would seem like a very deliberate action. Its unlikely to be rough play with a 3mnth old. If this were to be proven to be the case then i think that the 10 year old too should face some form of consequence for her actions. Even children with ADD are punished when they do something wrong. I think at the very least the girl need some form of counseling to control her issues.

We think about 90 percent alike on this

 

[Mercury]

I agree fully that the babysitter should be held criminally responsible for the infants death. The 10 y/o daughter, obviously needs some serious mental care that the mother was not providing. It is extremely difficult to keep a watchful eye on a child, let-alone one with mental issues, but this situation is saturated in willful neglect that resulted in death.

Now ... what to do with the 10 y/o? Well, obviously just letting her return to life as it has been is out of the question. She will need some sort of special, constant care that ensures she is not a danger to herself or anyone else. We can only hope that the "specialists" will be able to do just that.

 

[robdawg1]

Definitely the responsibility of the sitter, as she was in charge. Homicide may not be the right charge, as maybe a lesser man slaughter due to negligence.

The 10 yoa girl may have a certain mental diagnosis, but with ODD, ADHD, and Attatchment Disorder, but does the juvenile still have the capability and mental capacity to understand the difference between right and wrong? ODD and ADHD are usually not diasgnosed together the DSM would mostly diagnose those seperately. ADHD is what it says attention deficit and hyper activity disorder. ODD is oppositional deifiance disorder is where the child goes out of there way to defy authority figures such as parents, teachers etc. Attachment Disorder is an emotional detachment from a primary care giver including mother and father. With the specific diagnosis of ADHD, unless there is a specified impulse control issue, it is not excluded from cognizant responsibilities.
One would have to know alot more about the specific child and her disorders to be able to exclude her from responsibility(all be it shared responsibility)

 

[The Man]

We all seem to agree unlike the martin Zimmerman case...I am curious as to why the state is not charging the sitter