Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
McKenzie Photo Album
A Case of Justice
Baby sitter, 21, convicted in death of 2-year-old Portsmouth boy in 2005
By Janie Bryant The Virginian-Pilot © March 15, 2008 PORTSMOUTH
By the time 2-year-old Koby Stewart Jr. was taken to the hospital on Oct. 6, 2005, he was seizing and unconscious. Doctors tried to save him, but the injury that caused swelling to his brain ultimately ended in his death. Eight days later, the toddler was taken off life support. On Friday, a jury decided Shawntisha Gatling, the woman who had been Koby’s baby sitter since he was an infant, was guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Jurors recommended a sentence of seven years. She will be formally sentenced by a judge in May. The week Koby was injured, he had been staying with Gatling, 21, and her boyfriend, Robert Waddler. Waddler, who is charged with felony child neglect in connection with Koby’s death, testified that the toddler had fallen off a bed and hit his head on the frame that week. He said he also walked into a door. But a medical examiner said during the four-day trial in Portsmouth Circuit Court that the child died of inflicted brain injury. Two pediatricians at the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, one who specializes in critical care and another in child abuse, testified that a 2-year-old would not have the ability to create the kind of force it would take to cause the injury that killed him. A defense witness, a longtime medical examiner now working as a consultant, testified that a lesser impact could have led to the injury. But Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Douglas B. Ottinger said the doctors who had testified for the prosecution had actually seen the child before and after he died and had more information in reaching their conclusions. What happened to Koby was “done to him,” Ottinger said. Defense attorneys had argued there was nothing but circumstantial evidence. “Nobody knows what happened,” said Jay Normile, one of two defense attorneys. They also argued there was no way of knowing when it happened. One of the pediatricians testified that the impact of the injury that led to Koby’s death would have been noticeable within minutes to hours. He would not act normal or be able to walk, talk or eat, another pediatrician said. A woman who knew Gatling testified she saw her walking with the child on the afternoon of the day he was taken to the hospital. Gatling’s boyfriend testified he had talked to the child on the phone during a break at work about the same time. When he got home from work, he said, Gatling was trying, but unable, to wake up Koby . Waddler said she smoked a cigarette and paced as he tried to get the child up. Koby’s mother, Cyntrya Pete, 25, was called to come and get him. By the time Pete got the child to the hospital, he was not breathing. Two years later, she has little but family photos to show the dimpled smile of a little boy who seemed to trust the world. When he died, Koby left that world much more than he had received. A little bit of Koby goes on in the lives of four children and one adult who received his donated organs. Pete said she got a letter from the mother of one of the children, a little girl who had waited at least two years for a transplant. But she credited Koby’s father with making the decision. They had both experienced the pain of watching Koby slip away. “They did everything they could for my son,” said Koby Stewart Sr., 34, of Pennsylvania. Stewart said he wanted to think if a transplant would have saved Koby’s life, someone would have done the same for them.
By Janie Bryant The Virginian-Pilot © March 15, 2008 PORTSMOUTH
By the time 2-year-old Koby Stewart Jr. was taken to the hospital on Oct. 6, 2005, he was seizing and unconscious. Doctors tried to save him, but the injury that caused swelling to his brain ultimately ended in his death. Eight days later, the toddler was taken off life support. On Friday, a jury decided Shawntisha Gatling, the woman who had been Koby’s baby sitter since he was an infant, was guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Jurors recommended a sentence of seven years. She will be formally sentenced by a judge in May. The week Koby was injured, he had been staying with Gatling, 21, and her boyfriend, Robert Waddler. Waddler, who is charged with felony child neglect in connection with Koby’s death, testified that the toddler had fallen off a bed and hit his head on the frame that week. He said he also walked into a door. But a medical examiner said during the four-day trial in Portsmouth Circuit Court that the child died of inflicted brain injury. Two pediatricians at the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, one who specializes in critical care and another in child abuse, testified that a 2-year-old would not have the ability to create the kind of force it would take to cause the injury that killed him. A defense witness, a longtime medical examiner now working as a consultant, testified that a lesser impact could have led to the injury. But Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Douglas B. Ottinger said the doctors who had testified for the prosecution had actually seen the child before and after he died and had more information in reaching their conclusions. What happened to Koby was “done to him,” Ottinger said. Defense attorneys had argued there was nothing but circumstantial evidence. “Nobody knows what happened,” said Jay Normile, one of two defense attorneys. They also argued there was no way of knowing when it happened. One of the pediatricians testified that the impact of the injury that led to Koby’s death would have been noticeable within minutes to hours. He would not act normal or be able to walk, talk or eat, another pediatrician said. A woman who knew Gatling testified she saw her walking with the child on the afternoon of the day he was taken to the hospital. Gatling’s boyfriend testified he had talked to the child on the phone during a break at work about the same time. When he got home from work, he said, Gatling was trying, but unable, to wake up Koby . Waddler said she smoked a cigarette and paced as he tried to get the child up. Koby’s mother, Cyntrya Pete, 25, was called to come and get him. By the time Pete got the child to the hospital, he was not breathing. Two years later, she has little but family photos to show the dimpled smile of a little boy who seemed to trust the world. When he died, Koby left that world much more than he had received. A little bit of Koby goes on in the lives of four children and one adult who received his donated organs. Pete said she got a letter from the mother of one of the children, a little girl who had waited at least two years for a transplant. But she credited Koby’s father with making the decision. They had both experienced the pain of watching Koby slip away. “They did everything they could for my son,” said Koby Stewart Sr., 34, of Pennsylvania. Stewart said he wanted to think if a transplant would have saved Koby’s life, someone would have done the same for them.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Meme's stuff
Faith, Shaelyn and Cameron are down here in the southwest part of Utah visiting me and camping in the desert. At first Faith was wired for sound. She just wanted to be where it did NOT look like Colorado. She wanted something different. She wanted a break from the ever-reminder of loss. The first night I treated the adults to a motel room and myself to Shaelyn's company. This afternoon I visited them at their campsite, which is tucked away up against a mountain of beautiful rocks across the border in Arizona. They were happy, content, calm. It was beautiful. We are all so aware that camping was one of Mckenzie's favorite things to do. This is the first trip without her. It needed to be a beginning of building something and I believe it has been. It was SO great to see some peace on Faith's face. I hope this gives her some added strength to go back to Colorado and face life, once again, on life's terms. I have LOVED having them down here. I am grateful I can share in that.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Meme's stuff
I really appreciated our Sunday School lesson in Church this morning. We are studying the Old Testament. So we have been talking about Joseph. This guy kept on doing!!! He was righteous, consistant, dedicated to God. He had faith that right makes might. Time and again he made his decisions on those principles and time and again someone/s tried to screw with him. His brothers were jealous of him and threw him in a pit thinking he would starve and die and be gone - until one greedy brother decided to sell him into slavery. He was a great slave, so he ended up in charge of his master's household - until the master's wife tried to get him to sleep with her and he wouldn't. Of course, that didn't stop the wife from telling lies and getting Joseph thrown into prison. THEN he became the head dude of the prison. Always he was trusted. Always he kept true to his faith. Always he stood BACK up when knocked down. As I was listening this morning it occurred to me that certainly Joseph must have been at least SOMEWHAT discouraged! But his faith stood him strong. God is in charge. All I need to do is my very best. Yep - I'm gonna fall. Yep - I'm gonna get back up. I miss McKenzie. I still forget she's gone. This morning, as I was getting ready for Church, I was thinking how she's going to think Meme's new camper is SO COOL. (Faith and family are coming down this week). Then I realized that McKenzie isn't here. BUT, I believe she's in a safe, loving, and secure place. I intend to keep on keeping on - and to see her again when it's my turn to go home.
A Case of Justice
BROCKTON — A lawyer for a South Shore father who is accused of killing his 4-year-old daughter with an overdose of psychotropic drugs, told jurors yesterday that the child’s psychiatrist is the only one responsible for the girl’s death. In closing statements, John G. Darrell said Michael Riley, 37, and his wife, Carolyn, 35, relied on the advice of Dr. Kayoko Kifuji of Tufts Medical Center in dispensing medications and understood they had some flexibility in dosages. Kifuji had diagnosed Rebecca, as well as her two older siblings, with bipolar and hyperactivity disorders and put each on three potent mood-altering drugs. “What would have saved her [Rebecca] is to have Dr. Kifuji stay in Japan,’’ said Darrell, referring to Kifuji’s decision in 1994 to leave her native Japan for a triple-residency program at Tufts in pediatrics, child, and adult psychiatry. She currently practices at Tufts. Prosecutor Frank J. Middleton also condemned Kifuji, calling her a quack and a disgrace to the medical profession. However, he told jurors that primary responsibility for the lethal overdose falls on the parents. He said that the father was an abusive, selfish bully who presided over the financially strapped, troubled family and that on a December night in 2006 he and his wife decided to give Rebecca an overdose of the sedating drug, clonidine, to get her to sleep when she struggled with a severe respiratory illness. “It’s such an outrageous case of child abuse,’’ Middleton told jurors, who will resume deliberations this morning after meeting for several hours yesterday. The Rileys, both from Weymouth, were each accused of first-degree murder after Rebecca was found dead on the floor of the couple’s bedroom in Hull on the morning of Dec. 13, 2006. Carolyn was tried separately earlier this year. On Feb. 9, she was convicted of second-degree murder and received a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole after 15 years. Prosecutors say the parents fabricated behavioral symptoms in all of their children to get medications to sedate them, and help the family qualify for federal childhood disability benefits. In both trials, the medical examiner and other toxicology specialists said the girl’s bloodstream had a toxic level of clonidine, a blood pressure medication also used as a sedative for children with hyperactivity disorder. Prosecutors say that the couple nicknamed clonidine “happy medicine’’ and routinely gave it to the children when the parents wanted them to quiet down or go to bed. Both parents, however, presented a medical expert that said Rebecca died of aggressive pneumonia and that clonidine played no role in her death. Kifuji, on the witness stand in both trials, had testified that she never allowed dangerous levels of extra dosages. She initially declined to testify, invoking her right against self-incrimination. She later took the stand, however, when the prosecution granted her immunity from prosecution. She faces a medical malpractice suit in this case
Saturday, March 27, 2010
McKenzie Photo Album
A Case of Justice
Amani Robinson 13 months Non Survivor
Rockville Babysitter Convicted of Killing Girl
By Katherine Shaver
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2000; Page B02
A Rockville man was convicted last night of strangling a 13-month-old girl while he baby-sat for her in August 1999, but the Montgomery County jury was divided on whether he also sexually assaulted the child.
Timothy Conrad Phillips, 31, showed no emotion as relatives of the toddler, Amani Robinson, broke into tears on hearing the jury forewoman declare "guilty" on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse leading to death. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on three sexual assault counts and found Phillips not guilty of three other counts. Phillips faces a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Paul A. McGuckian said he will set a sentencing date next week. After the seven-day trial and two days of deliberations, several jurors said they rejected Phillips's contention that Amani drowned Aug. 26, 1999, when he stepped away from the bathtub while baby-sitting for her in her Rockville home.
Three jurors said that they believed Phillips sexually assaulted the child but that the Maryland medical examiner's office did not provide enough photographs of her injuries. Better documentation of Amani's injuries, they said, might have caused them to convict him of some of the sex offenses. "We think there was something there, but we didn't see the evidence to say for sure," said one juror, a Kensington woman who spoke on the condition that she not be named. "So many people were frustrated with the medical examiner's office, that they didn't document the injuries near enough," said a juror from Germantown who also spoke on condition of anonymity. While jurors believed the medical examiner's findings that Amani died of strangulation and not drowning, the Germantown juror said, the autopsy "sounded remarkably sloppy overall." Some jurors were escorted to their cars by sheriff's deputies after they walked somberly and silently past Amani's relatives crying and hugging outside the courtroom. Several of Amani's relatives said they were upset that the jury did not find Phillips guilty of first-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole. "I'm happy they got him for something," said Amani's mother, Amy Hogan Robinson. "But it's not what we wanted." Jurors were not told until after they reached their verdicts that Montgomery police also have tied Phillips to a 2-year-old Rockville boy who died in 1997. Police have said Phillips cared for the boy before he died of head injuries, but no one has been charged in his slaying because other people were in the home when the boy was found unconscious in his crib. Deputy Montgomery State's Attorney Katherine Winfree said she and Assistant State's Attorney David Boynton haven't decided whether to try Phillips again on the charges for which the jury could not reach a verdict. Phillips's attorneys, Assistant Public Defenders Robert Kaye and Joseph Poux, had argued that Phillips was a victim of an inexperienced Maryland medical examiner who "made some big mistakes" and used "eyes of bias" to confirm early suspicions that Amani had been sexually assaulted and killed. Phillips, who had dated Amani's mother, called 911 50 minutes after she had left for work, saying Amani had drowned in the bathtub. But a police crime scene investigator testified that she didn't find water on the tub or the child safety seat that Phillips said he had used for Amani.
Rockville Babysitter Convicted of Killing Girl
By Katherine Shaver
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2000; Page B02
A Rockville man was convicted last night of strangling a 13-month-old girl while he baby-sat for her in August 1999, but the Montgomery County jury was divided on whether he also sexually assaulted the child.
Timothy Conrad Phillips, 31, showed no emotion as relatives of the toddler, Amani Robinson, broke into tears on hearing the jury forewoman declare "guilty" on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse leading to death. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on three sexual assault counts and found Phillips not guilty of three other counts. Phillips faces a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Paul A. McGuckian said he will set a sentencing date next week. After the seven-day trial and two days of deliberations, several jurors said they rejected Phillips's contention that Amani drowned Aug. 26, 1999, when he stepped away from the bathtub while baby-sitting for her in her Rockville home.
Three jurors said that they believed Phillips sexually assaulted the child but that the Maryland medical examiner's office did not provide enough photographs of her injuries. Better documentation of Amani's injuries, they said, might have caused them to convict him of some of the sex offenses. "We think there was something there, but we didn't see the evidence to say for sure," said one juror, a Kensington woman who spoke on the condition that she not be named. "So many people were frustrated with the medical examiner's office, that they didn't document the injuries near enough," said a juror from Germantown who also spoke on condition of anonymity. While jurors believed the medical examiner's findings that Amani died of strangulation and not drowning, the Germantown juror said, the autopsy "sounded remarkably sloppy overall." Some jurors were escorted to their cars by sheriff's deputies after they walked somberly and silently past Amani's relatives crying and hugging outside the courtroom. Several of Amani's relatives said they were upset that the jury did not find Phillips guilty of first-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole. "I'm happy they got him for something," said Amani's mother, Amy Hogan Robinson. "But it's not what we wanted." Jurors were not told until after they reached their verdicts that Montgomery police also have tied Phillips to a 2-year-old Rockville boy who died in 1997. Police have said Phillips cared for the boy before he died of head injuries, but no one has been charged in his slaying because other people were in the home when the boy was found unconscious in his crib. Deputy Montgomery State's Attorney Katherine Winfree said she and Assistant State's Attorney David Boynton haven't decided whether to try Phillips again on the charges for which the jury could not reach a verdict. Phillips's attorneys, Assistant Public Defenders Robert Kaye and Joseph Poux, had argued that Phillips was a victim of an inexperienced Maryland medical examiner who "made some big mistakes" and used "eyes of bias" to confirm early suspicions that Amani had been sexually assaulted and killed. Phillips, who had dated Amani's mother, called 911 50 minutes after she had left for work, saying Amani had drowned in the bathtub. But a police crime scene investigator testified that she didn't find water on the tub or the child safety seat that Phillips said he had used for Amani.
McKenzie Photo Album
Friday, March 26, 2010
Mceknzie Died from
Mckenzie died from Albutroltoxcity which is an overdose of Albrutrol given to her by her caregiver along with 6 different other medications that day and my daughter was not sick and did not have one ashma attack that day
A Case of Justice
© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 6, 2001
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLEARWATER -- The parents of a 9-month-old baby killed last year are suing the babysitter serving time in prison for hitting the child after she became irritated at his cries.
The couple filed a $30-million wrongful death lawsuit in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court against Shara Willhoite and her grandmother-in-law, Edna Rehm, who they say allowed Willhoite to live at her Largo house where the killing occurred.
Willhoite, the 21-year-old Largo mother of two young children, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in April and was sentenced to 201/2 years in prison for the death of Blake Peter Solis.
"Willhoite failed to exercise reasonable care to warn the parents, grandparents or other relatives of Blake Peter Solis that she was emotionally unfit and not mentally stable to babysit the infant child, or was otherwise untrained and incapable of appropriately providing reasonable care and supervision," according to the lawsuit.
Amy Reed, Blake's mother, sued on Friday on behalf of herself and Blake's father, Louis Solis III.
Blake's family members were friends and neighbors of Willhoite and her husband, Phil. She had been babysitting the child for several months.
The baby's grandmother, Kathleen Howdeshell, noticed something was wrong when she picked up the child from Willhoite's house at 618 34th St. SE. The boy was lethargic and could not be awakened.
The child was taken to a pediatrician and then flown by helicopter to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, where he died June 7, 2000. He had bruises on his brain and multiple skull fractures.
Willhoite told police that the baby had been sleeping on a blanket on the floor when she opened the door to check on him. She said the baby had apparently crawled closer to the door, which she said accidentally hit the baby on the head.
But police said she injured him by picking him up from the floor and "forcibly placing" him back on the floor to get him to stop crying.
Reed's attorney, Gregory Perenich, could not be reached. Rehm declined to comment.
published June 6, 2001
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLEARWATER -- The parents of a 9-month-old baby killed last year are suing the babysitter serving time in prison for hitting the child after she became irritated at his cries.
The couple filed a $30-million wrongful death lawsuit in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court against Shara Willhoite and her grandmother-in-law, Edna Rehm, who they say allowed Willhoite to live at her Largo house where the killing occurred.
Willhoite, the 21-year-old Largo mother of two young children, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in April and was sentenced to 201/2 years in prison for the death of Blake Peter Solis.
"Willhoite failed to exercise reasonable care to warn the parents, grandparents or other relatives of Blake Peter Solis that she was emotionally unfit and not mentally stable to babysit the infant child, or was otherwise untrained and incapable of appropriately providing reasonable care and supervision," according to the lawsuit.
Amy Reed, Blake's mother, sued on Friday on behalf of herself and Blake's father, Louis Solis III.
Blake's family members were friends and neighbors of Willhoite and her husband, Phil. She had been babysitting the child for several months.
The baby's grandmother, Kathleen Howdeshell, noticed something was wrong when she picked up the child from Willhoite's house at 618 34th St. SE. The boy was lethargic and could not be awakened.
The child was taken to a pediatrician and then flown by helicopter to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, where he died June 7, 2000. He had bruises on his brain and multiple skull fractures.
Willhoite told police that the baby had been sleeping on a blanket on the floor when she opened the door to check on him. She said the baby had apparently crawled closer to the door, which she said accidentally hit the baby on the head.
But police said she injured him by picking him up from the floor and "forcibly placing" him back on the floor to get him to stop crying.
Reed's attorney, Gregory Perenich, could not be reached. Rehm declined to comment.
News Update
You are NOT going to believe this. A friend of mine had posted a link of this blog on facebook, so all can see. This morning it had been removed because someone on facebook reported this blog as ABUSIVE!!!! I just cannot believe it. See what Faith has to deal with every day!!!!! Speak up. Speak out. Speak LOUD!!!! For all of you in Rifle, Colorado, I feel sorry that you have such a sick **** living in your town. And for any of her "buddies" who in ANY way are causing more grief for my daughter - I hope you rot in hell.
The Survey
I have removed the survey from this blog. Faith called this morning. Seeing that ANYONE can possibly NOT see the importance of holding ***** responsible for her actions is just beyond her. While WE should not specifically mention WHO the babysitter is, SHE can say anything she wants to. Oh yeah justice IS blind - blind to the destruction caused by the "rules of the game" to individuals already dizzy with grief and disbelief. Come on folks - investigate, CHARGE, and be on with it. THEN we can say who is who and what is what. THEN it will be "official" and "OK". Makes me sick to think about the time it is taking JUST to get to this next step of things. So the survey is off the blog.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
The "no" votes
It makes me sick and yet I have to accept that "she" will continue not to take any responsiblity for what she did. That she is sick enough to get online and look at this blog and vote no.....and have people that she has lied to do the same.... Let me make it clear to some who don't understand what happened to Mckenzie...she was OVERDOSED by her caregiver....with ashtma medication when she didn't have any breathing problems that day.... and if Mckenzie did have breathing problems.... the hospital was 2 miles away..... anyone that defends that is just as sick and twisted as the women that gave my baby 6 different medications in one day when my child was not sick.....The thought of people not standing up for Mckenzie and the loss of her life due to what her babysitter did to her..... but rather stand by her killer.... I hope that you don't trust her with your children.... I hope you sleep well at night.... just think that my little girl is 6 feet underground in the cold with her brown boots on and the person that killed her is free with no repercussions and no remorse.....
I hope the person that KILLED my little girl pays.... and I hope all her stand by her learn before someone they love gets hurt.....
Mckenzie's Mom
Faith
I hope the person that KILLED my little girl pays.... and I hope all her stand by her learn before someone they love gets hurt.....
Mckenzie's Mom
Faith
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Meme's stuff
Here's a support website we may all want to consider; http://www.pomc.com/ It's the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children.
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