EASTON, Pa. — A
New York man could face a death sentence after an eastern Pennsylvania jury on Monday found him guilty of first-degree murder
in the death of his former girlfriend's 3-year-old son.
Jurors in Northampton County deliberated for about four
hours before convicting Eugenio Torres, 24, of Brooklyn, N.Y., in Elijah Strickland's death. Prosecutors said Torres beat
and tortured the child to death in July 2008 at the home he shared with the boy and his mother in Wilson.
Torres showed
no emotion but said "I love you" to his mother before sheriff's deputies ushered him out of the courtroom.
The
jury was scheduled to return Tuesday to begin hearing evidence on whether Torres should be executed by lethal injection or
serve life in prison without possibility of parole. Prosecutors will present evidence of aggravating circumstances to justify
the death penalty. In arguing for a life sentence, the defense will present evidence to show there were mitigating circumstances.
Authorities
said Strickland had burns, a skull fracture and internal bleeding when he died. The defense said Torres dropped the boy while
pulling him from a bathtub, and the child suffered other injuries while Torres attempted CPR.
First Deputy District
Attorney Terence Houck reminded jurors of graphic pictures of the boy's battered body shown during the trial.
"The
horror that this child, Elijah Strickland, had to endure," he said. "Beaten. Burned. And killed. The horror."
Child abuse charges against a Gettysburg father were sent into Adams County Court following a preliminary hearing
on Wednesday.
Michael Joseph Love, 22, is charged with two counts each of aggravated assault
and endangering the welfare of a child in connection with physical abuse of his four-year-old son.
He
was arrested by Gettysburg police Dec. 4 after the boy was taken to Gettysburg Hospital and then transferred to Milton S.
Hershey Medical Center with multiple injuries.
Adams County District Attorney Shawn Wagner said
those injuries included a subdural hematoma, multiple bruises and abrasions, burns on his skin, fractured vertebrae, a broken
finger, corneal abrasions and evidence of an older liver laceration.
"Doctors at Penn State
Hershey Medical Center determined that those injuries were non-accidental trauma consistent with child abuse," Wagner
said.
He said the injuries were life threatening and surgery was immediately performed on the
child to control bleeding on the brain.
The child was released from the hospital on Wednesday,
the same day his father appeared in court for his preliminary hearing.
According to Wagner, the
boy's mother turned the boy over to Love in September and Love had been the primary caretaker of the child until his arrest
the day the child was taken to the hospital.
Wagner said the investigation is continuing. He
said he expects more arrests to be made in the case.
Wagner praised Adams County Children
and Youth Services and the Gettysburg Police Department for what he called "their excellent joint investigation
into this alleged crime."
Love remains in Adams County Prison while awaiting his formal arraignment
on the charges on Feb. 17.
His bail, originally set at $100,000 at the time of his arrest, was
lowered to $50,000 during his preliminary hearing Wednesday.
11 week old dies at the hands of
her father
December 21st, 2010 7:16 pm ET
Easton, PA - Joseph A. Urquia,
21, has a history of child abuse. Last year, he admitted to assaulting his daughter, who was 3 months old at the time,
by spanking her and causing a large bruise across her entire buttocks. Urquia told an Easton detective he had struck the baby
"out of frustration". Originally accused of felony aggravated assault, Urquia eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser
charge of simple assault, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 18 months of probation by Northampton County Judge Leonard Zito.
Yes, you read correctly, they allowed him to plead to a lesser charge. He is still on probation for this offense.
An October 2009 letter from a county case worker said Urquia
had been "very cooperative" with mandated classes that included anger management, family therapy, parenting education
and individual therapy.
On Sunday, Urquia became frustrated again with his new daughter who was
only 11 weeks old because she wouldn’t stop crying. This time, his frustration turned lethal and an 11 week old baby
girl is now dead. She was removed from life support on Tuesday. After initially stating that he had dropped the baby in the
bathroom, he admitted to hitting in the head with a closed fist twice.
Joseph A. Urquia, 21, was
arraigned for homicide.
The judge who allowed him to plead to a lesser charge on the abuse of
his 3 month old daughter is what caused the death of this child. This may just be an opinion, but how many children have to
die before someone steps in and says, enough. We need tougher laws. When it comes to abuse of a child, there should never
be the opportunity to plea bargain. Did the 3 month old have the opportunity to plea bargain with her father to possibly agree
to a lesser form of abuse?
**********
By the time you finish reading this article 2-3 children will have suffered abuse in the United States. Within the
next hour 166 children will have suffered abuse or neglect. By the time you go to bed tonight, this number will have reached
close to 4000. Out of those 4000, 4 children will die at the hands of their abusers. These statistics are outrageous, but
show that we need to be the voices for these children. If you suspect child abuse, please report it. Protect our children!
Denver Man Charged In 4-Year-Old Daughter's Death
Fatal Levels Of Drugs Found In Her System
POSTED:
10:33 am EDT May 19, 2010 UPDATED: 5:44 pm EDT May 19, 2010
DENVER, Pa. -- A 30-year-old Denver man has been charged in connection with the
death of his 4-year-old daughter. Brian Edward Moskal's daughter,
Alexandrea, died on April 17. A forensic pathologist ruled the girl's death a homicide. The pathologist concluded that
levels of methadone and Xanax in Alexandrea's system were fatal. Methadone is used to treat opiate addictions and Xanax
is used to treat anxiety. "(Moskal) was authorized to have these drugs for himself, but he
was not authorized to give them to someone else and certainly not someone so young," said Lancaster County District Attorney
Craig Stedman. Moskal admitted to giving the girl two doses of the medication at the family's
home on South Cocalico Road the night she was killed, one at 8 p.m. and one at midnight, according to court documents. Someone in the home called 911 the morning of April 17 when Alexandrea was unresponsive, said Stedman. The
child was later pronounced dead at Ephrata Hospital. Moskal is charged with criminal homicide,
drug delivery resulting in death, drug delivery and endangering the welfare of a child. Shortly
after being taken to prison, Moskal was transported to Lancaster General Hospital, where he is currently in critical condition.
News 8 has not yet been able to confirm why he was hospitalized. Stay with WGAL for updates on this developing story.
Philadelphia County
Father: DOMINGO "ANIBAL" FERREIRA
Victim(s) Charlenni
Ferreira (10 years)
Date of Death: Oct. 2009
Girl died from abuse in the home of her custodial father, stepmother
A preliminary hearing was continued Thursday for Rodney Lee Thomas, 38, of Salisbury, who is charged with
raping and attempting to rape a 9-month-old girl between Feb. 7 and March 16.
Last week, police charged
Thomas with 49 counts that include rape, aggravated indecent assault and sexual intercourse with an animal. He also is charged
with threatening to kill the child’s mother, Lisa Joy Slovick.
Slovick, 20, now of Fear Road, Markleysburg,
was charged this week with four counts of endangering the welfare of children by state police. She said she witnessed Thomas
rape the girl four times, according to the police complaint. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday, but will likely
be rescheduled.
A new date for Thomas’ preliminary hearing before District Judge Douglas McCall Bell of Meyersdale
has not been set. District Attorney Jerry Spangler said Thursday that the hearing was delayed so that Thomas can obtain counsel.
Last week, police charged Thomas with 49 counts that include rape, aggravated indecent assault and sexual
intercourse with an animal. He also is charged with threatening to kill the child’s mother, Lisa Joy Slovick.
Slovick, 20, now of Fear Road, Markleysburg, was charged this week with four counts of endangering the welfare of children
by state police. She said she witnessed Thomas rape the girl four times, according to the police complaint. Her preliminary
hearing is scheduled for Thursday, but will likely be rescheduled.
A new date for Thomas’ preliminary hearing
before District Judge Douglas McCall Bell of Meyersdale has not been set. District Attorney Jerry Spangler said Thursday that
the hearing was delayed so that Thomas can obtain counsel.
Chestnuthill
Township man accused of killing his girlfriend and their son will be arraigned in Monroe County, Pa.,
this evening, according to a Pennsylvania State Police news release.
Conrad Jankowski, 23, of Newfoundland, Pa., will also be brought to Pennsylvania for an arraignment before
York. He faces hindering apprehension charges.
Authorities found Parrish and Jankowski together
in Somersworth, N.H. They were hiding in a car, where police later found a loaded handgun, authorities say.
Beaver
County man accused of 'unbelievable' child abuse
By Michael Hasch TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, July
30, 2009
A Beaver County man is accused
of severely beating his 2-year-old son with a belt because the toddler urinated on a bedroom floor.
Dennis
Kahlil Miller, 21, of Ambridge, is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and endangering
the welfare of a child in the beating, which left his son hospitalized in the intensive care unit of Children's Hospital
in Oakland.
"This was just unbelievable," said Ambridge Patrolman James Mann,
who began investigating the case Wednesday evening after being called by Julie Fana, a child advocate at the hospital who
told him about the possibility that the child, who suffered serious head injuries and extensive bruising over his entire body,
had been abused.
"When we searched the apartment, we found a black leather belt with
metal circle rings that matched the exact pattern of the bruises and welts on the child's body," Mann said Thursday.
Paramedics were called at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday to an apartment on 4th Street, where the child lived with Miller
and Miller's girlfriend.
"The child was foaming from the mouth, and everybody
thought at first he suffered a seizure," Mann said.
The patrolman said Miller gave
Fana a phony name and age, and said he took the child on a bus Friday to visit the toddler's mother in Philadelphia. He
said he returned home Friday and went back Sunday to bring the child home when he noticed the injuries.
Mann called Philadelphia County Children and Youth Services, who gave them Miller's real name and date
of birth. The officer said he then learned that Miller was wanted on drug charges in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia
police found that the toddler's mother was in the hospital, and she told Mann that she had been there since July 23 for
gallbladder surgery.
Mann then asked Pittsburgh police to pick up Miller on the outstanding
warrants, which they did.
Beaver County detectives interviewed him at the Allegheny County
Jail where, according to the criminal complaint, "Mr. Miller broke down and fully admitted he inflicted the ... injuries
to his son with a 'belt' because his son 'urinated' on the floor of his bedroom."
Mann said the child, who has a broken nose, severe eye trauma and other injuries, was conscious and able to
talk with nurses last night.
11 year old killed father's
girlfriend Pa. boy's bumpy ride from birth to homicide charge
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI
– 17 hours ago
NEW CASTLE, Pa. (AP) — Good student.
Starting quarterback. Aspiring hunter. By most accounts, 11-year-old Jordan Brown was a typical boy in his rural Pennsylvania
community, albeit raised mostly by his father after his mother gave him up.
So it baffles
Jordan's friends and neighbors that he is accused of taking a 20-gauge youth shotgun he got from his father for Christmas
and fatally shooting his father's pregnant fiancee, the woman who tried hardest to be a mother to him.
"There
were no red lights, there were no indications that we should have done something differently," said Timothy McNamee,
superintendent of the Mohawk Area School District, noting there were no reports Jordan was bullied or was having problems
in school or at home.
Authorities say the Feb. 20 killing of 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk
in Wampum, a small community about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh where nearly everyone knows everyone, was premeditated. Police
say Jordan threw the spent shell casing in the woods, got on the bus and went to school.
Jordan
has been charged as an adult with double homicide. If he is convicted as an adult, he faces life in prison. If his case gets
moved to a juvenile court, he would probably spend the next 10 years in a secure juvenile facility.
Jordan's
mother, Mildred Krause, was just four months pregnant with him when she first entered a courtroom to battle his father, Christopher
Brown.
At that time, in March 1997, Krause filed a protection of abuse order against Brown,
claiming he drank, did drugs and had threatened to harm her. Apparently unaware Krause was pregnant with his son, Brown was
ordered to stay away from her, an order later expunged, according to court records and Brown's attorney, Dennis Elisco.
Immediately
after Jordan was born on Aug. 30, 1997, Krause contacted Lawrence County Children and Youth Services requesting that they
take custody of the child so her mother could adopt him, according to court documents. Not having the father's consent,
the agency declined her request.
Brown, meanwhile, tipped off by Krause's grandmother
and brother that she was having his baby in secret, filed an emergency petition with the court, opposing the move to have
the child put up for adoption and demanding full custody of his son.
In a back-and-forth battle
resolved when Jordan was about 2 months old, a court ruled Krause and Brown would share custody, with the mother getting him
four days a week and the father three.
But on Feb. 5, 1999, with the consent of both parents,
Christopher Brown was awarded full custody of his 18-month-old son. Court records don't indicate why.
Friends
and family say that from February 1999 on, Krause had little contact with her son, entering and exiting his life at will.
They say Brown was a good father and spent a lot of quality time with his son.
The instability
that characterized Jordan's formative years, including the fact he might have felt rejected by his biological mother,
could have influenced his later behavior, said Daniel Shaw, chairman of the psychology department at the University of Pittsburgh.
"You
can easily say it's a risk factor, a very important one, in early childhood that has been linked to ... antisocial behaviors,"
Shaw said. However, "it's not usually going to result in the child killing someone at age 11."
Christopher
Brown, Jordan's father, refused to be interviewed for this story but answered a few questions through his attorney. A
phone call to a phone number for the boy's mother's family rang unanswered. A person answering a phone at an address
listed for the Krause family said she no longer lived there.
Through Elisco, Brown said Jordan
was a good student, pulling mostly As and Bs, his favorite subjects being math and science. In the past two years, Jordan
was the starting quarterback for his midget football team and also played baseball.
Jordan's
school district serves about 1,785 students in the rolling farmland of rural western Pennsylvania. There were about 20 students
in his class, and he probably knew many of the other 125 fifth-graders through baseball and football, said McNamee, the superintendent.
In
May 2008, Jordan's father began dating Houk. By Christmas, they were engaged and had moved into a farmhouse together,
along with Jordan and Houk's two daughters, ages 7 and 4. Houk was already about six months pregnant.
Houk's
family said their daughter tried to include Jordan in everything, in part to compensate for the missing mother figure in his
life.
Willard Houk, Kenzie's uncle, said he stopped at the farmhouse a short time after
Kenzie and Christopher moved in. He took Kenzie's girls for spins on his motorcycle. Then, Kenzie's 7-year-old reminded
him that Jordan needed to get a ride too, "because he's a part of our family now," he said.
Jordan
got his ride, but Houk said it seemed strange to him that unlike the girls, who were "bubbly and jumpy," Jordan
was barely excited. It made Houk think Jordan needed more men in his life, and he was determined to help.
So
at Christmas, Willard Houk bought Jordan a present, like he did for the girls. And Jordan got a 20-gauge youth model shotgun
from his father, the one police said he used to shoot Houk in the back of the head.
Like many
other kids in the area, Jordan began target shooting with his dad in preparation for the 2009 hunting season, when, at age
12, he would be old enough under Pennsylvania law to get a hunting license.
Father and son
would shoot targets in the back yard, which police say helped Houk's 7-year-old daughter identify the sound of the gunshot
she heard the morning her mother was killed.
By Valentine's Day, Willard Houk and Kenzie's
father, Jack, thought the boy was a good enough shot to participate in a turkey shoot, so they took Jordan along. When he
had a hard time handling his 20-gauge, Willard Houk let the boy use his 12-gauge.
Jordan beat
out the older, more experienced men, hitting closest to the target and winning the prize turkey.
"He
was ecstatic about that," Willard Houk said, noting it was the most emotion he had ever seen the boy express.
But
Kenzie's family said that despite their efforts — and those made by Kenzie — Jordan had difficulty adjusting
to his new life.
Debbie Houk said Jordan just "bucked her (Kenzie) a lot when his dad
wasn't around." His father, she said, got involved, warning the boy not to disrespect his future stepmother.
Kenzie's
brother-in-law, Jason Kraner, said that Jordan also told his son "he was going to pop Kenzie in the head and pop both
kids," but that no one believed he was serious.
"As far as I was concerned, he was
a typical 11-year-old boy who wanted to have fun," Willard Houk said.
But Jordan's
attorney, Elisco, denied there were tensions between Jordan and his new family.
"He had
a very good relationship with Kenzie," Elisco said. "The accusations of him having rage or warning signs of violence
are unfounded."
Sat, Feb. 21, 2009
Two killed in N. Phila. arson, stabbing
11 yr old girl a hero=she
gave her life trying to save her mother.
By Anthony R. Wood
INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER
Police responding to a domestic dispute this morning found the
bodies of a man and a woman inside a North Philadelphia home that had been set on fire. An 11-year-old girl, the woman's
daughter, was seriously injured in the incident.
Details were incomplete, but Fire Capt. James Clark said that it appeared
that an unidentified 30-year-old man stabbed his 31-year-old girlfriend inside the house in the 2300 block of North 13th Street
and then stabbed the 11-year-old as she tried to intervene.
The names were withheld pending notification of relatives.
The man then spread gasoline about the premises, set a fire, and in the process set himself ablaze, Clark said. Clark
speculated that the man initially planned to "cover his tracks"; however, it was unclear whether he took his own
life intentionally.
Three children – including the 1-year-old daughter of the victims - escaped. She apparently
was rescued by the slain woman's niece and daughter. The injured girl was in stable condition at St. Christopher's
Hospital for Children, a police spokeswoman said.
Stunned neighbors who were milling about along the tidy street of
two-story four-unit buildings owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority buildings said they had not detected signs of trouble
at the fire-damaged unit.
"She was a good mother," said Kimberly Sexton, who lives in the unit adjacent to
the fire scene. "She was very nice."
Sexton's sister, Kenida James, who was visiting, said she heard
loud and desperate knocking on her sister's door about 10 a.m.
"My mom's in there, my mom's in there,"
she heard one of the girls say. Sexton said she brought the children into the house, and then took them outside when she realized
the other unit was on fire.
Meanwhile, the 11-year-old was bleeding profusely on the sidewalk, said James, and she
covered the child with a blanket.
"She fought for her mother's life," she said.
Man Accused In Pittsburgh Child Abuse
Case Released From Jail
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 – updated:
6:28 pm EST January 21, 2009
PITTSBURGH -- Several months following what
police suspected was a child abuse case after a 3-year-old boy was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital with severe burns,
the man thought to be responsible has been released from court. Initially, Herbert Jamison, 22, was arrested and charged
with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child in July after city detectives were summoned to the 1000 block
of Progress Street. There, police said Jamison's girlfriend's small son was taken to Allegheny General Hospital
with what police said were second-degree burns on nearly half his body. Police said the burns and
blisters on the boy's ankles, along with a handprint on his face, were consistent with child abuse. However,
the allegations against Jamison were withdrawn and a plea deal was struck. The charges were dropped on the condition
that he take parenting classes, which he has since completed. "He loves that child," said
defense attorney Ken Haber. "He still helps care for that child." Haber said Jamison deserved the break he got in
court. "He'll never let anything like that happen again," said Haber. "It was accidental." Jamison's attorney said the child is doing well.
We at Defend
ask why? Why is this man allowed around any child? Why force this little boy to be around this man, his abuser?
Is this child bearing the scars caused by this man? How can this be called an accident? A handprint on the face, 50%
burm marks. Why is this man and the child's mother even allowed to be with this boy? So Jamison's attorney
says the boy is doing well==how does he know how the child feels? This is an atrocity and these atrocities kill children.
For the attorney to say this man loves this child is ridiculous--one does not cause such harm to another who one loves.
Why parenting classes, he is not the father and should not even be allowed around children. It does not take parenting
classes to know one doesn't cause such damage. This is not justice. Just our opinion.
Angels for Danieal
Danieal rest in Peace
Starved, disabled girl was failed at every
turn
Fri Aug 1, 9:27 PM EDT
For days before Danieal Kelly died in a fetid, airless room
— made stifling hot by a midsummer heat wave — the bedridden teenager begged for something to drink until she
could muster only one word: water.
Unable to help herself because of her cerebral palsy, she wasted away from malnutrition
and maggot-infested bedsores that ate her flesh. She died alone on a putrid mattress in her mother's home, the floor covered
in feces. She was 14 but weighed just 42 pounds.
The nightmare of forced starvation and infection that killed Danieal
while she was under the protection of the city's human services agency is documented in a 258-page grand jury report released
this week that charges nine people — her parents, four social workers and three family friends — in her ghastly
death.
The report describes a mother, Andrea Kelly, who was embarrassed by her disabled daughter and didn't want
to touch her, take her out in public, change her diapers or make sure she had enough fluids. It portrays Daniel Kelly, the
father who once had custody of Danieal, as having no interest in raising her.
And it accuses the city Department of
Human Services of being "uncaring and incompetent."
"It was this indifference that helped kill Danieal
Kelly," an angry District Attorney Lynne Abraham said. "How is it possible for this to have happened?"
The
report should "outrage the entire Philadelphia community" and bring about "earth-shattering, cataclysmic changes"
at the Department of Human Services, Abraham said.
Andrea Kelly, 39, the only defendant charged with murder, was ordered
held Friday without bail. The social workers — suspected of falsifying home visits and progress reports in the case
— face charges ranging from child endangerment to involuntary manslaughter. The family friends are accused of lying
to the grand jury about the girl's condition before her death.
None of the lawyers for any of the defendants had
any immediate comment.
Human Services Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose, in office only a month, said Thursday that she
is intent on improving child safety and worker accountability in an agency that has repeatedly been accused of failing to
protect children.
Late Friday, the city announced the resignation of Assistant Health Commissioner Carmen Paris. The
grand jury had accused Paris of interfering in the investigation of the girl's death while she was acting health commissioner,
but found insufficient evidence to charge her with obstruction of justice.
The report on Danieal's death in August
2006 documents a downward spiral from the early years that she spent in Arizona with her father and his girlfriend.
Though
Danieal attended special-needs classes only sporadically, a school report described her as an active learner and "one
of the sweetest students ever enrolled in this program." But allegations of parental neglect soon surfaced, and following
Daniel Kelly's breakup with his girlfriend in 2001, Danieal never again attended school.
Daniel Kelly and his children
moved to Philadelphia in 2003. He eventually asked his estranged wife to move in, even though she had several other children
and he knew she was incapable of caring for Danieal, authorities say. He then moved out.
"Daniel Kelly was well
aware what deserting his daughter meant to her safety and welfare," the grand jury report said. "He just did not
care."
The Department of Human Services received at least five reports of Danieal being mistreated between 2003
and 2005. All described a "helpless child sitting unattended, unkempt and unwashed, in a small stroller in her own urine
and feces," her screams ignored by her mother, the grand jury report said. The stroller, which served as a wheelchair,
apparently never left the house.
Agency employee Dana Poindexter, assigned to investigate, also ignored Danieal, authorities
say. Already having been suspended after a 3-week-old baby died on his watch in 2002, Poindexter continued his "slovenly,
neglectful and dangerously reckless work habits" after being assigned the Kelly case, the grand jury said. He did not
file a single report, authorities said.
The Kellys finally were assigned help from a private agency in 2005. Employee
Julius Murray was required to visit the family twice a week, but authorities believe he may have come to the house only once
— to have Andrea Kelly sign predated forms attesting to future visits.
The grand jury report said Laura Sommerer,
a city social worker, failed to hold the now-defunct company accountable when, months later, Danieal still was not enrolled
in school or receiving medical care.
And after Danieal died, authorities say, company director Mickal Kamuvaka held
a "forgery fest" in her office where she had employees "concoct almost a year's worth of false progress
reports."
But authorities say Andrea Kelly, whose other children are now in foster care, is primarily responsible
for her daughter's death.
The report said she was confronted repeatedly by her own mother, uncle, friends and even
two of her sons about Danieal's deteriorating health. She would lie or put them off by saying she would seek help, or
banish them from the house, authorities say.
In the meantime, the report said, she entertained friends, attended classes
and fed her other children.
"This behavior indicates that Andrea Kelly did not merely allow Danieal to die,"
the report said. "She may have even wanted her disabled daughter to die."
When an ambulance responded to a
911 call for Danieal on Aug. 4, 2006, the girl had been dead for several hours. Authorities said she was so emaciated she
looked like the victim of a concentration camp.
She had been lying on the filthy mattress for so long that her body
outline was imprinted on it.
Rest in Peace
Trinity Moon
Father Arrested In 1-Year-Old
Girl's Death
Trinity Moon Died After Being Burned With Boiling Water
POSTED:
11:34 am EDT May 7, 2008
UPDATED: 6:02 pm EDT May 7, 2008
ALIQUIPPA, Pa. -- A Beaver County father
is under arrest Wednesday in the death of a 1-year-old girl. Trinity Moon died on April 19 after being burned with boiling
water and receiving third-degree burns over 50 percent of her body. Police said there was a domestic dispute between
Troy Moon and the baby’s mother, 31-year-old Delonda Tucker, when Troy hit a pot of boiling water and it spilled onto
Trinity. Tucker originally told police that she tripped over the baby in a walker while carrying the pot of boiling
water in the kitchen. Officials said she made up the story because she was afraid her other child would be taken from her.
Troy Moon was charged with criminal homicide and is in the Beaver County Jail with no bond. Tucker has not been
charged. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Man who used cattle prod on infant pleads guilty
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
The Associated Press
SOMERSET, Pa. -- A man pleaded guilty but mentally ill to abusing his infant daughter, including snapping her leg and shocking
her with an electric cattle prod.
Brandon Austill, 21, of Somerset, entered the plea to six counts each of aggravated and simple assault, eight of reckless
endangerment and child endangerment and related offenses yesterday.
"I have a lot of mental illness," Mr. Austill told Somerset County President Judge John Cascio. Mr. Austill said he is
taking antidepressants and anti-hallucinogens.
The abuse took place between Sept. 11 -- four days after the girl was born -- and Oct. 31. She sustained two breaks to
the left leg, a broken forearm, facial injuries and two skull fractures. She is now in foster care.
By pleading guilty but mentally ill, Mr. Austill could initially be placed into a mental institution for treatment, then
serve the rest of his sentence in jail, Judge Cascio said. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 3.
Dad Who Beat Baby Girl Gets Up To 30 Years
POSTED: 11:42 am EDT July 4, 2007
UPDATED: 11:52 am EDT July 4, 2007
SOMERSET, Pa. -- A Somerset man who pleaded guilty but mentally
ill in a case of child abuse was sentenced Tuesday to 7 1/2 to 30 years in prison.
Brandon Austill, 21, admitted that he broke his newborn daughter's leg, smashed her head into a sink
and shocked her with a cattle prod, according to authorities.
The girl was just four days old when the abuse began, police said. It's unclear if she is in foster care
or has been returned to her mother.
According to a psychologist, Austill suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from abuse
suffered as a child.
Austill will receive psychiatric care in prison.
"This is probably your last chance," Somerset County Judge John Cascio told Austill at sentencing.
Daniyah Rest In Peace
Troy Hill infant police allege was beaten and raped dies
By Tony LaRussa TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, November 18, 2007
A 10-month-old Troy Hill girl who police said was beaten and sexually assaulted by her mother's live-in boyfriend died
Saturday afternoon.
Daniyah Jackson had been on life support since the assault late Thursday night at a home on Herman Street. Police said
Jackson had severe bruising to her face, arms and legs and that she was bitten on the chest.
A family member declined to comment last evening.
Clinton Smith, 30, is in the Allegheny County Jail without bond on charges including aggravated assault, reckless endangerment,
rape and endangering a child, according to an arrest affidavit. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Wednesday
in City Court.
An autopsy is expected to be conducted today, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office. Jackson died
at 3:34 p.m. Saturday at Children's Hospital in Oakland.
If the autopsy determines that Jackson was the victim of a homicide, Smith likely will face additional charges, Pittsburgh
police said.
Jackson's mother told investigators she left her home shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday to go to her job as a waitress. She
said Smith was left in charge of the baby girl and his 2-year-old son, according to the affidavit.
The mother worked until 9:30 p.m. and came home to find the baby unresponsive, police said. The infant began having a seizure
and went into cardiac arrest.
Jackson's mother called paramedics, who gave the infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation and called homicide detectives.
Doctors at Allegheny General Hospital, where Jackson first was taken, told detectives she was not breathing when she was
brought in and that she had been sexually assaulted. She was transferred later that evening to Children's.
Smith was awaiting trial on an unrelated June charge of simple assault, court records show. In a separate September
2006 case, a woman who has a 2-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son with Smith was granted a protection-from-abuse order against
him after she said he came to her home and attacked her and their daughter.
A one-armed teenager managed to transform a Center City mall’s extra-large
bathroom stall into his very own pedophile haven where, cops say, hesexually assaulted his 6-year-old niece
on Monday.
The little girl - clad in a navy- blue uniform - lay stiff on the floor as her uncle knelt below her with his face between
her legs, witnesses said.
His jeans, the witnesses said, were pulled down around his thighs.
The horror took place inside the second-floor men’s restroom near the food court at the Shops at Liberty Place on
Chestnut Street near 16th, police said.
Witnesses said there were a half dozen people in the restroom at the time, but only one man alerted a mall worker.
The 19-year-old uncle, who is missing his left arm, was quickly arrested and charged with rape, statutory sexual assault,
false imprisonment and other crimes, police said.
The girl was treated at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and released to relatives, police said.
“It was a sick thing to see,” said mall housekeeper Roland Harris, 57, who led police to the girl.
Harris said there had been a handful of guys in the restroom during the attack. However, he said, only
one ran up to him to tell him what was going on.
The housekeeper said he raced into the stall and saw the little girl “stretched out on the floor.”
“I shouted, ‘What the hell are you doing to this little girl?’ ” said Harris.
Harris asked a co-worker, Sami Arrington, 29, who ran into the restroom behind him, to guard the uncle while Harris ran
to the nearby food court to find a cop.
Arrington said he watched in disgust as the teen struggled to buckle up his pants.
Arrington said he had yelled at the teen, “What are you doing?” He said the little girl was sitting on a toilet
seat sobbing.
“I am not raping her,” Arrington said the defendant had told him. “I was helping her to use the bathroom.”
Police said it wasn’t the first time the teen had attacked the child.
“He had the confidence and trust of this little girl,” Darby said, “and we believe that he molested this
child more than once.”
Allegheny DA calls for teen to be sent to juvenile court
By Jill King Greenwood and Bob Kerlik TRIBUNE-REVIEW Saturday, August 4, 2007
An Elizabeth Township girl charged with killing her fatherwith a shotgun blast to the face
should not be tried as an adult, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said Friday.
Rachel Booth's defense attorney, Patrick Nightingale, and Deputy District Attorney Mark V. Tranquilli submitted court papers
seeking to have the homicide case transferred to juvenile court. Common Pleas Judge Anthony Mariani is scheduled to rule on
their request Tuesday.
Booth, 13, waived a preliminary hearing on a homicide charge and was moved from the county jail -- where she was housed
in a medical ward -- to a psychiatric hospital, as ordered by a judge.
Zappala toured the house in which she is accused of killing Matthew Booth Sr., 34, and said he was "disgusted" by what
he saw.
Rachel Booth was forced to sleep on a couch "none of us would even put in our homes," said Zappala, who described
a filthy house in which the toilets were backed up, the smell was "incredible" and most of the furniture was broken. There
was a computer in the home -- Rachel was a 7th grade student with the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School -- but it was covered
in dust, investigators said.
"I'm consulting the Health Department, and if it's up to me, that house is coming down and no one is ever going to live
inside there again," Zappala said.
Booth is accused of killing her father early Monday as he slept in a first-floor bedroom. She told neighbors and investigators
that her father sexually and physically abused her for years.
Judge Jeffrey A. Manning ordered that she be sent to Shuman Juvenile Detention Center after her evaluation at Western Psychiatric
Institute and Clinic in Oakland. Judge Kim Clark appointed Kids Voice, a child advocacy organization, as the girl's guardian
until a dependency hearing Aug. 29. Her brother, Matthew Booth Jr., 14, also could have a hearing that day, Clark said.
Matthew Booth Jr., who lived with Rachel and her father, is staying with grandparents.
Zappala said Rachel "is as much a victim as she is a possible perpetrator of a crime. The question remaining
in my mind is, did she take someone else's life or was she trying to save her own?"
Zappala said detectives are reconstructing the last six years of her life and have paperwork documenting years of physical
and sexual abuse. He said mental health professionals are treating the girl and will give detectives a "better idea of what
exactly this child has been through in her life."
"The county child protection agency has been involved with this family for years, and as far as why Rachel was left in
this home as long as she was, (Children, Youth and Families) is going to have to answer some questions," he said.
Officials at CYF have said privacy restrictions prohibit comment about the case. Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School did
not return calls for comment.
At Boston Stitchery, where Rachel Booth worked, owner Deb Sherer, 56, said the girl left a phone message on her machine
yesterday saying that she's doing fine, "that she missed me, and to tell everybody that comes in the store that she's OK."
Booth told her she is happy her case is moving to juvenile court.
Sherer said she met Booth a month ago when she and her father asked Sherer to teach Rachel to sew. She spent most days
there learning to stitch and working odd jobs for a few dollars, Sherer said.
"She's very talented and very smart," Sherer said. "She'd come here and read and talk to customers."
Sherer said Booth was wallpapering and decorating a rear powder room in the shop that would be her area.
"She was in the process of fixing it up. Now I know she wanted to make a place pretty for herself."
Judge Grants Sole Custody of 9-year-old Girl To Father by Kiran Krishnamurthy
SPOTSYLVANIA -- A judge granted sole custody of a girl to her father after a medical expert testified yesterday to believing
the man physically and sexually abused the child.
"It's unconscionable," the girl's mother, Tina Wilson, said after
the hearing in Spotsylvania County Circuit Court.
Wilson said she would appeal the ruling to the Virginia Court of Appeals.
J. Bruce Strickland, the father's attorney, had previously
argued Wilson has engaged in Parental Alienation Syndrome, which describes how a parent can brainwash a child into becoming
indifferent or hostile to the other parent and, sometimes, manufacturing abuse allegations.
The syndrome has not been accepted formally by
the medical establishment.
Circuit Judge Ernest P. Gates, a retired judge from Chesterfield County
appointed to hear the case, ruled that a "material change of circumstances" occurred because of Wilson's repeated allegations
that the father abused the 9-year-old girl and because Wilson had moved from the Fredericksburg area to Henrico County.
The Times-Dispatch is not naming the father to protect the girl's
identity. Wilson has changed her last name.
Richard Ducote, Wilson's attorney, said after
the hearing that Gates' ruling, and similar ones by other judges, puts Wilson and other parents who suspect abuse in an untenable
situation.
"If she suspects abuse and doesn't report it, she's an unfit mother.
If she reports it, this happens," he said.
Another attorney in a separate child-custody case arising in Hanover
County and now on appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court argues parents should not be penalized for acting in what they consider
their children's best interests.
That attorney, Cullen Seltzer, also contends the state's high court
needs to clarify a provision in state law that permits a judge to consider, when determining custody, whether a parent supports
a child's contact and relationship with the other parent.
In yesterday's Spotsylvania case, the judge said he thought the father
would be supportive of the child's relationship with Wilson, but he said she would not be similarly supportive. Wilson last
June violated a court order by taking the child to a domestic-violence shelter because she said she feared for the girl's
safety.
"The hatred that she has for the father has compromised the child's
needs," Gates said, adding that the girl seems to thrive in her father's custody.
The hearing came after Gates in November ordered a psychiatric evaluation
of the girl.
Dr. Sheila Furey, a Hopewell child psychiatrist paid by Wilson, testified
yesterday that she believes the father verbally, physically and sexually abused the girl and that the child would be in jeopardy
if she lives with him.
The father has been convicted of domestic abuse against Wilson, but
she still agreed to shared custody. She later made the child-abuse allegations.
Furey testified the girl likely performed better in school while living
with her father because she feared him, while the girl acted up when living with Wilson.
"Acting out will occur in a place where they feel safe," Furey testified.
The judge allowed Strickland, the father's attorney, to reopen testimony
after its conclusion so the father could answer the child-abuse allegations from the witness stand. The father denied the
allegations, and the judge determined them unfounded.
"It's the right ruling," Strickland said afterward. "This case is
probably going to continue, which is not good" for the girl.
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A man angry his toddler daughter wouldn't go to bed knocked her unconscious
and left her to die outside in single-digit temperatures, police said.
The frozen body of Nyia Miangel Page, who was about to turn 2, was found Sunday at an abandoned playground about a 10-minute
walk from the family's home.
Tiny footprints in the snow suggest she had gotten up and wandered around before she died, police said.
Her father, William Lorenzo Page, 23, of Braddock, was arrested Wednesday on charges of criminal homicide, kidnapping,
false reports and simple assault.
He has been in custody since Sunday, when he was charged with sexually abusing another child shortly before Nyia
died.
Page, who did not have an attorney at his arraignment Thursday morning, was jailed without bond.
Page told police he woke up early Saturday and found the girl awake and playing near a mirror in the hallway, according
to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday night. He said he got angry when the girl wouldn't go back to bed and he hit her so
hard she lost consciousness, the complaint said.
Police said Page told them he took the girl outside wrapped in a blanket and left her, still breathing, beside railroad
tracks near a bridge.
Police said a T-shirt, a pair of women's underwear and a Pittsburgh Steelers "Terrible Towel," all found in Page's basement,
appeared to have bloodstains.
An autopsy determined Nyia died of hypothermia, but the Allegheny County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide because
investigators said it was unreasonable to assume the child had made it alone to the playground, which is on a wooded knoll.
The toddler would need to have climbed 17 snowy steps to get there.
Authorities could only guess how long Nyia, wearing only a sweater and a diaper, could have survived in temperatures that
hovered around 2 degrees Saturday morning.
"Given her size, she would have been rendered incapacitated very quickly," Allegheny County Medical Examiner Karl E. Williams
said Thursday. "She'd been out so long, when we found her she was frozen."
A witness saw Page enter his house Saturday morning from the direction where his daughter was found, police said.
He was back out on the street about an hour later, saying he was looking for the girl and telling the witness, "Somebody
took my daughter," according to a criminal complaint.
Nyia's mother told police she last saw the girl after Nyia tried to crawl into bed with her parents about 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
The mother told police she put the youngster back into her own bed in an upstairs room.
Police, emergency crews and bloodhounds searched in 20-degree temperatures for most of two days before finding the little
girl's body.
The sexual abuse charge against Page came as police investigated Nyia's disappearance.
Police said another child in the house told investigators that sometime overnight Friday, Page entered a bedroom, covered
the child's mouth with one hand and touched the child's genitals with the other. The child said Page then left the room, followed
by Nyia, police said.
Per US laws, anyone accused of or
arrested for a crime is innocent by law until which time he or she is convicted in a court of law.
Please email admin at defend_children@yahoo.com if you wish to join or to correspond with
us. Also if you would like to give suggestions or ask questions please email usat defendthechildren@live.com Thank you
