# Life in a swing **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 27, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991 "2017-10-27T14:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dobbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Dobbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dobbs)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/1 "2017-10-27T14:20:39Z")
Every now and again, something pops up in the news that makes me wish the Constitution would allow cruel and unusual punishment. This is such a story. Baby found rotting in swing; parents charged with murder [https://usat.ly/2hdlskt](https://usat.ly/2hdlskt) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/2 "2017-10-27T14:26:06Z")
There is no god. This kind of thing proves it to me. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/3 "2017-10-27T14:30:21Z")
I don’t know about cruel and unusual. Public hanging would suffice. Could also string up the creature that put her kids in the oven. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/4 "2017-10-27T15:20:38Z")
This has to be a Trainspotting sort of event. They got on an extended high and forgot that they had a baby. The alternative, that two people knowingly let this happen, is just so monstrous. The poor little thing was so malnourished, too. There must not have been anyone else (grandparents, social workers) in his life to notice his suffering, which is terribly sad in itself. For what it’s worth, these people are going to have hard lives behind bars, as inmates can exact their own justice upon child-killers. I remember reading about the mother who fatally [poisoned](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mom-fatally-poisoned-son-salt-bullied-prison-article-1.2773289) her son with salt in his IV; the kitchen staff in the prison was repeatedly dumping salt in her food. ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/5 "2017-10-27T15:24:04Z")
I’m at a complete loss. Just goddamn ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/6 "2017-10-27T15:28:39Z")
First thoughts are that they are addicts. I read a recent case in Utah where they parents let their baby die while they got high. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/7 "2017-10-27T15:46:21Z")
Maybe the kid really, really loved the swing. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/8 "2017-10-29T01:13:01Z")
A couple here in Arkansas, meth heads, I believe, let rats chew on their baby. He was found before he died, and was taken by the DHS, and is alive. But apparently it was really bad injuries. On top of being uncared for in other ways. That couple should be detained in a dark basement with rats for punishment! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/9 "2017-10-29T03:22:17Z")
[Not their only kid, either.](http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2017/10/26/iowa-infant-found-rotting-swing-parents-charged-murder/802439001/) And [the guy is no stranger to law enforcement](http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-chickasaw-co-infant-died-of-neglect-parents-charged/article_7c1b078e-0c96-5314-be80-5a2244b7bcf8.html). ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/10 "2017-11-01T20:54:48Z")
We had a case here, not long ago, where the dopers in question smoked meth _using Kool-Aid as the bong water_. Of course their toddler was there, and of course the toddler took a drink of the pretty red stuff that he _always_ drinks while they were high off their asses. Fortunately, the kid was rushed to the hospital (by other people who weren’t high) and seems to be okay now. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/11 "2017-11-01T21:10:25Z")
Didn’t click the link. Wish I didn’t click this thread. Jeesh! What **Dung Beetle** said. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/12 "2017-11-01T21:16:01Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > First thoughts are that they are addicts. Looks that way. [Both have a history of meth abuse and the guy’s been in treatment.](http://globegazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/iowa-parents-charged-in-death-of-infant-son-had-drug/article_5f4b2d38-0cad-5e71-8a10-06fb3063ed01.html) ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-in-a-swing/799991/13 "2017-11-02T20:40:30Z")
Fuck. ☹