If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — woman convicted of killing 3-year-old nephew
R.I. woman convicted of killing 3-year-old nephew http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/...ear-old-nephew By RAY HENRY The Associated Press Posted May 16, 2008 @ 05:00 PM PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A woman who beat her 3-year-old nephew after she came home from a night of drinking to find a mess in her living room was convicted of murder Friday in a brutal case that sparked an investigation into the state’s foster care system. Katherine Bunnell was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the Oct. 30, 2004, death of Thomas “T.J” Wright, who was living with her in foster care because his mother was in prison. The jury in Providence Superior Court deliberated for three days. “She was responsible for a young child’s life,” Attorney General Patrick Lynch said after the verdict. “She was involved in snuffing it out in the most brutal beating that I’ve seen or heard about in my experience in the office, and for that she should pay.” Bunnell faces 10 years to life in prison when she is sentenced July 16. During the trial, prosecutors said Bunnell and her live-in boyfriend, Gilbert Delestre, became enraged when they returned to their Woonsocket apartment to find spilled yogurt and milk in the living room. Prosecutors say Bunnell pulled Wright from his bed, dragged him down the stairs and hit the 3-year-old so hard he repeatedly toppled over, slamming his head on the floor. Bunnell poured milk on his head, and a 15-year-old baby sitter said she saw Wright thrown six feet across a room. The child was left slumped against a wall, whimpering and struggling to breathe. Another witness, Delestre’s cousin, said Bunnell hung up the phone after he called 911 for help, then tried to stop him from resuscitating the toddler after he stopped breathing. An autopsy revealed Wright suffered a broken leg, brain damage and multiple blunt force injuries. Defense attorney Gerard Donley admitted his client struck the little boy, but blamed Delestre for inflicting the fatal wounds. Delestre will be tried separately for Wright’s death. Donley said he planned to appeal the verdict because he believes the jury should have seen additional portions of a videotape showing Delestre’s interrogation by police. “I don’t think she’s guilty of anything except inappropriate, shameful discipline of a 3-year-old,” he said. Wright’s mother, Karen Wright, was in court Friday and still supports her sister, Donley said. She is expected to argue for leniency when Bunnell is sentenced. The Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families, had contact with Thomas Wright before he died. He fell out a second-story window three times, the last time prompting a caseworker from DCYF to be assigned to the matter. In January 2004, DCYF placed Wright and his two brothers in Bunnell’s care when their mother was sent to prison for transporting 100 pounds of marijuana. DCYF officials later said they were unaware that Arkansas state police had caught Gilbert and Delestre with 130 pounds of marijuana in their car during a traffic stop in March 2003. The two were not prosecuted in that case. After Wright was killed, a state panel investigating DCYF found the agency never should have placed Wright and his brothers with Bunnell because she was unemployed, had two children of her own and had been known to use drugs. Wright’s killing also is a key allegation in a pending civil lawsuit alleging widespread problems of abuse and neglect in Rhode Island’s foster care system An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and the Child Protection "INDUSTRY" Child Protective Services Does not protect children... It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even killed at the hands of CPS. every parent should read the free handbook from connecticut dcf watch... http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US These numbers come from The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN) Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS Perpetrators of Maltreatment Physical Abuse CPS/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59 Sexual Abuse CPS/Foster care 112, biological Parents 13 Neglect CPS/Foster care 410, biological Parents 241 Medical Neglect CPS/Foster care 14 biological Parents 12 Fatalities CPS/Foster care 6.4, biological Parents 1.5 Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per 100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a bunch of social workers. THIS IS AMERICA'S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST Currently Child Protective Services violates more constitutionally guaranteed liberties & civil rights on a daily basis then all other agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central intelligence agency wiretaping programs… THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES BY: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/...s.php?filter=6 This is Child Protection? By Gregory A. Hession, J.D. http://www.jbs.org/node/4632 Mercenary Motherhood: "Memoirs of a Babystealer." http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...nion-rightrail FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILU. A Brief Analysis of the Casey Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler http://www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.doc HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families By Nev Moore Massachusetts News http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/...May/mayds4.htm A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster ca 30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children. 27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated 33% were receiving public assistance 37% had not finished high school 2% receive a college degree 50% were unemployed Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems, including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and impaired social relationships. Some experts estimate that about 30% of the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment than the general population. *Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support 80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system. The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should just be blown up. http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991 Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of America’s foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent housing. This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in the first place. Front-page story in USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...m?csp=34#Close Read the studies online. Casey "alumni" study: "Improving Family Foster Ca Findings from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study," http://www.casey.org/Resources/Publi...lumniStudy.htm MIT study: "Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Foster Care," http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fo...arch07_aer.pdf Texas comptroller's "Forgotten Children" reports: www.window.state.tx.us/forgottenchildren The bottom line? - Child Protective Services and the Foster Care system for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than walking wreckage... CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS.... CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON... BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION... |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - woman convicted of killing 3-year-old nephew
The saddest part of this story is that a child is dead. Over spilled
yogurt. The second sadest part is that cases like this one cause DFS to take a stance against kinship care. (and who could blame them when things like this happen? it would seem that a child is no safer with family than with strangers). I'm pleased that she was convicted. There must be something wrong with the thought processes of anyone who could so brutally beat a child of three, but to beat the child to death...and two people doing so together? It's got to be a mental illness. Knocking a three year old child six feet across a room is NOT discipline that went bad. Three year olds spill food and drink all the time, anyone who has ever had to raise a three year old knows this and should reasonably expect it. To become so enraged over spilled yogurt tells me that both these 'adults' have criminal minds. To further that, when the cousin tried to give the child CPR and call for medical help and the aunt hindered his efforts shows that she had no remorse for the damage that she had done to the child, and no intention of caring if the boy lived or died. I'd call her a bitch, and her 'man' a ******* but I think those words are simply too good for them. snipped story |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Foster mother found guilty in slaying of 3-year-old nephew | fx | Spanking | 0 | May 17th 08 06:03 AM |
Foster mother found guilty in slaying of 3-year-old nephew | fx | Foster Parents | 0 | May 17th 08 06:03 AM |
Woman convicted of murdering foster child | fx | Spanking | 0 | January 30th 08 07:22 PM |
Woman convicted of murdering foster child | fx | Foster Parents | 0 | January 30th 08 07:22 PM |
Penalty phase begins for man convicted in officer's killing: ChildProtective Services, documented five times throughout his childhood thatthe department received calls of abuse, neglect and drug use in the home | fx | Spanking | 0 | August 23rd 07 05:59 AM |