Four-Year-Old Beaten to Death in TX

[Pixiesnix]

I read an article from the Associated Press that can be read here. (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030520/ap_on_re_us/beaten_child_4)

The article states that a woman was taking care of her three grandchildren while their mother was serving in Iraq. The grandmother beat youngest of the children, a four-year-old girl, to death with a belt and an extension cord for not doing her homework. Why was a four-year-old doing homework, you might ask? The girl saw her siblings doing homework and wanted to do some, so the grandmother made up an assignment. And then she beat the little girl to death for not doing the play homework.

I hadn't expected to open a Pit thread this early in my SDMB career, but this just cried out to be Pitted. There is no, repeat, NO excuse for what that woman did. It was a heinous act. And for it to be done for such a reason boggles the mind. Of course, there is never a good reason for perpetrating a crime like that, but the excuse that piece of hog scrotum gave made my blood boil. That loathesome, wretched pile of human bile and waste saw fit to end a little life over imaginary homework.

I just....I don't know. :(

[Zenster]

... and that's the last the wicked old grandmother ever saw of any of her grandchildren ever, ever, ever again.

Evil whore!

[hyperjes]

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

I hope she fries.

:( :( :( :( :(

Poor little girl. Poor mother. Can you imagine? Coming home from a war to THAT?!

[Zenster]

PS: You're giving hog scrotum a bad name.

[Q.E.D.]

Holy fucking crap! Excuse the French but that just makes me sick. I'm normally against the death penalty, but in this case... No, death is too good for her. Life in prison with NO possibility of EVER getting out. Yeah, that's the ticket for this psycho.

[Zabali_Clawbane]

*soft crying* The world seems to have gone insane! :( I pray the other children can pull through this ok. I hope they get counseling, they'll most likely need it.

[Cubsfan]

I would kill that fucking bitch with my bare hands.

[theendisnear]

Why use your bare hands, i know i gotta have a nice hard extension cord around here somewhere to use on the bitch.

[kambuckta]

There's something not quite right with this story.

Child Protective Services took custody of the other children, who are now living in a foster home.

Why isn't the mum caring for the kids now that she is home from service? Were the kids being abused by grandma before mum went o/s perhaps with her knowledge? It seems to me that someone in the armed forces would need live-in childcare even while they are based at home.....had grandma been living with them and belting into the kids for quite some time? Maybe mum is being seen as partly culpable here too.

This is just too sad.

[imthjckaz]

I'm losing faith in humanity.

:(

[TeaElle]

kambuckta, the article states that the mother just returned from Iraq over the weekend, (so five to six days ago, the child's death was ten days ago) but it doesn't say that her unit is not still considered to be on active duty. Once her unit has stood down, (or she's been released on a familial hardship leave, which I'd imagine must be forthcoming) I don't see anything in the article to suggest that she won't be able to be reunited with her remaining children.

Meanwhile, may I just say that this grandmother is the kind of person for whom the deepest, hottest pit of hell is too good?

[Arden Ranger]

Jezus

We need to completely reformat the system.

[Meka Leka Hi Meka Hiney Ho]

I get that sometimes.

Just try to remember how much worse things must have been before stuff like this was available for public scrutiny. Humanity has been acting this way for thousands of years. The only difference is that now we hear about it, whereas a couple hundred years ago the little one would've been buried in the backyard and nobody would have been the wiser.

I like to think we're making progress. It's encouraging that this is big news.

That said, the grandmother's only 56. Death is probably a lot farther away than she'd like.

[SPOOFE]

Boy, just imagine how harsh the punishment would have been if the girl shirked from doing her REAL homework...

I think judges should be allowed to use their gavel on people that they sentence.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Originally posted by hyperjes
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

I hope she fries.


It's Texas. You'll get your wish. Old Sparky is just waiting for the Courts to do the paperwork.

[smiling bandit]

That grandma has GOT to have some mental problems... its not easy to kill people by whipping them. I mean, you have to be really, really, willing to tear them up.

I saw this line:
Chadwick told the court that Destiny's death was ruled a homicide due to blunt force trauma, based on information he obtained for the Army Criminal Investigation Division at Fort Hood.

That is sick. She had to beat this girl to death for a long time to make this happen. The G-ma has to be insane, she *has* to be.

Actually, I really feel sorry for her lawyer, too. That guy's got to do a nigh-impossible job. The odds are goign to be stacked against him from day 1. Granted, that's not really a bad thing in this case, but there's no way he's gonna win this one straight. Probably advise her to settle. For those of you with no sympathy for him, its something akin to being handed a broken pile of old computer chips and being ordered to make a brand new Dell PC.

[lieu]

We don't use Old Sparky anymore. She'll get a painless death by lethal injection. Bummer.

[Little Plastic Ninja]

Shudder.

And to add insult to injury, it's possible that the child's mom could be discharged from service because of this incident. I know it can happen if a spouse is abusing the children in a household.

That poor child...and her siblings, and her mother...and I even feel sorry for the woman who did this. Her guilt will be a terrible punishment in and of itself.

Lord, if I did something like that I think I'd kill myself.

[Stonebow]

*sigh*
well, this has wrecked what was a pretty good day for me.

i just hope that ol' grandma gets what's coming to her. don't know how old she is, but i'm hoping that she won't be able to plead 'health reasons' to get out of being tossed into the deepest, darkest hole they can find.

i'm not an advocate of the death penalty, but sometimes, my resolve is sorely tested.

[Liz]

I would kill that fucking bitch with my bare hands.
I'd help.

[tiny ham]

I don't know why I do it, but I do. I always open these threads, and it fucks up my whole weekend. I can't get this story out of my head...that little body, curled up in self defense, tear stained cheeks, begging for gramma to stop.

I can't...bear it.

[Denis]

Damn!

This is beyond the pale. No excuses. Fuck Gramma. Die in screaming agony, you evil old shit!

kambuckta, do some Googling on so called Child Protective Services in the good ol' USA. They are poorly staffed (read, incompetent whackjobs working along with people actually concerned with child welfare) and too willing to assign blame without evidence. Don't blame Mom, who was out of the country, for anything she did not do.

CPS (Child Protective Services) seems more concerned with clearing paperwork rather than doing anything right for the kids involved. It's truly sick what they get away with. And innocent adults and children pay the price. The kids sometimes pay with their lives.

[kambuckta]

Originally posted by P.T. Smegma


Don't blame Mom, who was out of the country, for anything she did not do.



Let me be perfectly clear: I am not blaming the mother here. The only information I have about the case is what was cited in the OP, and it just seemed curious that the children were not reunited with their mum as soon as she returned from service. I would have imagined that she would have been given an immediate clearance, not have to wait for paperwork to be completed....but then I don't have a clue about how the armed forces operate, so perhaps someone can enlighten me.

The lack of reunion then got me wondering what the circumstances were.....and whether the mum might have had some awareness of Grandma's violent proclivities in the past, which might perhaps explain why the kids haven't been returned.

And of course, I could be completely off beam. I would be VERY happy to be shown how my doubts/confusions are misguided.

Thanks.

[Ferret Herder]

Originally posted by kambuckta
The lack of reunion then got me wondering what the circumstances were.....and whether the mum might have had some awareness of Grandma's violent proclivities in the past, which might perhaps explain why the kids haven't been returned.


My WAG is that they're investigating just this to be certain they won't be handing the children back to another abuser.

[Salieri2]

Utah still has the firing squad, don't they? Pity they don't make state-to-state housecalls...

[irishbird]

You never know who the abuser could be and that's a fact but it's usually someone pretty close to you. I know of one mother who sent her child from the West Indies to London to get "sorted out" by his auntie living in London. That poor boy suffered unmercilessly at this evil woman's hands and he had nowhere to go with it. His mum had given full permission for "discipline" and believe me, he got it bigtime. He was 13, withdrawn and terrified to speak out - what chance did he stand?
I knew the perfect couple with 2 kids. He smoked a few spliffs one night, stabbed his baby daughter to death, did a couple of years in the mental ward and now he's walking around, free as a bird..... something wrong somewhere..... If he'd fiddled his taxes he'd be doing a fair stretch by now...:(

[j_kat_251]

He smoked a few spliffs one night, stabbed his baby daughter to death

Wow! Where can I get some of that? You know, COMPLETE FUCKING INSANITY IN INGESTIBLE FORM.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

There should be like this vigilante guy who goes around killing people like that. For great justice.

[Rilchiam]

Originally posted by irishbird
I knew the perfect couple with 2 kids. He smoked a few spliffs one night, stabbed his baby daughter to death, did a couple of years in the mental ward and now he's walking around, free as a bird..... something wrong somewhere..... If he'd fiddled his taxes he'd be doing a fair stretch by now...:(

I don't know the drug laws where you are, but what would have happened to him if he'd just been caught with weed, apart from any abuse charges?

[Zenster]

This is one of the few times on earth that I'm glad to see fellow dopers go over the top.

Impalement? Drawing and quartering? The rack?

All of these are too good.

Forgive me, but beating a child to death takes so much energy and effort as to make any ordinary human being step back for at least one microsecond and (perhaps) think.

The agony involved blinds my senses utterly. I am confounded.

[Pixiesnix]

I don't know why I do it, but I do. I always open these threads, and it fucks up my whole weekend. I can't get this story out of my head...that little body, curled up in self defense, tear stained cheeks, begging for gramma to stop.

I'm sorry I made you feel bad, jarbabyj. It was not my intention to do so. The article just made me so mad, and I couldn't keep it to myself, and this seemed like the place to share it. It seemed like a crime to keep it to myself. :(

[Flamsterette_X]

Oh my goodness. That is SO horrible.. the poor child. (and her mom and siblings!)

F_X

[irishbird]

Originally posted by j_kat_251
Wow! Where can I get some of that? You know, COMPLETE FUCKING INSANITY IN INGESTIBLE FORM.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

There should be like this vigilante guy who goes around killing people like that. For great justice.

Sounds like you don't need it. WTF kind of comment is that? IDIOT!!!!

[irishbird]

Originally posted by Rilchiam
I don't know the drug laws where you are, but what would have happened to him if he'd just been caught with weed, apart from any abuse charges?

Not much really. We've had some changes in the drug laws in the last couple of years. In London there was a trial in one area in that if you were caught with a small amount of weed, you would simply get an on-the-spot fine and have it confiscated and not get a record (so the cop basically nicks your stash! lol). It's not been legalised yet though and not likely to be for a while, but because the problem has increased here in recent years with much more heroin coming in, it was felt that the authorities should be concentrating on the big drug rings - so basically if I got caught now with a litle bit of weed for personal use I wouldn't be too bothered.

I think we should have the Amsterdam-type cafes where you can go in, have a coffee and order a spliff at the same time. I haven't actually been to Amsterdam yet so all of you who have been - maybe you can enlighten us as to how that works exactly? (I hope to have a little hol there soon with my boyfriend). That method seems to work from what I understand.

As you can see, I'm not against smoking weed but I am against all the other drugs around - they're too risky and addictive and you never know how much they've been mixed with some other rubbish.

[Rilchiam]

I see. Thank you.

So much for my defense that weed always makes you mellow...

[plain_jane]

This is why I don't believe in god. Because stuff like this happens to innocent, defenseless, blameless children. That poor baby, it breaks my heart. Nobody deserves being beaten to death, except, of course, the evil bitch that did it. Eye for an eye, I say, in these kind of situations. Beaten and whipped to death over imaginary homework? Fucking nasty asshole deserves the exact same ending. . .

That was her daughter's baby! How could it be that a human being can do such a thing to another person? I'll never understand.