|
|
 |
|
| Candlelight vigil recognizes
domestic violence |
by Dawn Slade With a slight breeze causing candle flames to flicker, leaves
rustling, and the river flowing behind them, a group gathered to remember those who have suffered and died at the hands of
another.
Pearl Crisis Center and its youth group, T.A.D.A. (Teens Against Dating Abuse) held its annual candlelight
vigil and rally last Monday, Oct. 19 at Riverview Park in Milaca in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
After reading proclamations from the President of the United States and Governor Tim Pawlenty, attendees shared their thoughts
and stories.
There was a reading of “The Challenge to Minnesota,” which challenges communities to
respond to battered women and their children by investing in funding for safe shelter and advocacy services, prevention education
for all elementary and secondary students, laws to protect women and children, effective enforcement of those laws, and aggressive
prosecution of all domestic assault crimes and all prostitution crimes targeting perpetrators, pimps, and “johns.”
“We pledge to remember the women, children, and family members and/or friends who die each year from domestic
violence and child abuse, and also the women and children who are murdered while being used in prostitution and sex trafficking.
Women and children used in prostitution and sex trafficking are battered women and abused children in need of protection from
abuse,” the challenge states.
The T.A.D.A. members then read the names of the 19 women and children in
Minnesota who died between October 2008 and October 2009 from domestic violence.
Of the 21 women murdered in
2008 through domestic violence, 19 of them were murdered by a current or former husband or boyfriend.
Nine of
the women were killed by a gun, four were stabbed, three were strangled, three were beaten to death, one died from being sexually
assaulted and one is unknown.
Thirteen of those women were separated or trying to leave their partner when they
were killed.
In addition to the 21 women murdered last year in Minnesota, there were seven children, two men, and five
friends or family members. The majority of the children were beaten to death.
Twenty-five children were left
motherless because of domestic violence murders last year. In six of those instances, the child was either present at the
time of murder or discovered their mother’s body.
Red flags
The 2008 Femicide
Report published by the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, has some red flags for batterer lethality.
Because
it is impossible to predict which batterers will become lethal to their victim, all batterers should be viewed as potentially
deadly.
There are well-documented indicators of lethality, including time of separation, obsession, depression
or other mental illness, history of domestic violence or other violence, escalation of risk-taking, pregnancy, threats of
fantasies of homicide or suicide, weapons, stalking, history of rage or anti-social behavior, hostage-taking, drugs, alcohol,
violence in family of origin, cruelty to animals, a batterer living with children who are not his own, and unemployment.
In six of the 21 intimate partner murders, the perpetrator committed suicide after killing his victim - four more threatened
or attempted suicide (a total of 47 percent).
There is a high overlap between domestic violence and child maltreatment.
Of the children murdered in 2008, 60 percent were killed by their father or their mother’s current boyfriend,
former boyfriend or husband and/or a relative caregiver (i.e. uncle).
According to the report, perpetrators
often use repeated litigation as a form of ongoing control and harassment due to the highly emotional and financial cost for
abused women.
|
|
Woman faces felony charges in child abuse
caseJustine Wettschreck Worthington Daily Globe
Published Saturday, February 07, 2009WORTHINGTON — Charges were filed Thursday in Nobles County District Court against a woman who
is accused of breaking her child’s clavicle and causing internal damage. Deborah Denise Brown, 24, is charged
with third-degree assault and malicious punishment of a child, both felonies that each carry a maximum penalty of five years
incarceration and/or a $10,000 fine. The complaint states a 3-year-old male was brought to the emergency room Jan. 30
at approximately 6:30 p.m., where it was discovered the clavicles (collarbones) on each side were broken. The ER doctor said
she had never, in her 10 years as a doctor, seen a case where both clavicles were fractured, and was suspicious as to the
cause of the boy’s injuries. The
boy was brought to ER by his father, who had not seen the injury occur. The child’s mother had told him the injury happened
when he fell off a bed into a dresser. The doctor allegedly told authorities she did not believe the mother’s
version of events was likely to have caused the injuries. After further exam, it was discovered the child had a traumatized
liver. In a Sioux Falls, S.D., hospital, a doctor determined there was fluid around the adrenal gland, which likely represented
hemorrhage, either secondary to trauma of the gland or to the adjacent liver surface. The liver was at the very least bruised,
the doctor said, due to trauma. Before leaving for Sioux Falls, the father had asked the child, in front of an officer,
who had hurt him, and the child responded it was his mother, using her first name. Brown, the father allegedly told the officer,
had been rough on the children while disciplining them in the past, especially while under stress. He said it didn’t
happen all the time, but had happened before. When questioned, Brown said the child had been on the bed playing with
a toy while his younger sister jumped on the bed. The girl bumped her brother, Brown said, and he fell forward onto the night
stand. Brown told an officer they had just moved to Worthington, and that she was young, but trying to care for the
children the way she was supposed to. She allegedly said she had spanked the children in the past, and admitted to using a
belt strap on them. Besides the 3-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl, the couple also has a 1-month-old infant. All
three children were examined at Child’s Voice in Sioux Falls. The examiner’s assessment of the injured child was
that the child had suffered physical abuse, with the mechanism of injury not consistent with the history provided by the patient’s
mother. While in the hospital in Sioux Falls, the child allegedly told staff his shoulder hurt. When asked who hurt
him, he again indicated his mother, calling her by her first name. When questioned as to how she had hurt him, he allegedly
mimed a stomping action with his foot. Brown is scheduled for an initial court appearance Feb. 17 at Prairie Justice
Center, Worthington.
|
|
|
| Rest in Peace |
|
| Destiny Jackson's |
Monday: Baby dies from injuries; dad arrestedDestiny Jackson died two
weeks after being returned to her teen parents after an abuse inquiry. By
Curt Brown, Star Tribune Last update:
February 14, 2007 – 6:43 PM Maeve Clifford, Destiny Jackson
Just two weeks after child protection workers returned a 15-month-old
girl to her teenage parents following a child abuse investigation, the St. Paul toddler died Tuesday morning from a blow to
her torso. Destiny Jackson's father, 18-year-old Beauford Jackson, was
arrested on suspicion of murder at the Highland Park apartment he had been sharing with the child's mother. The toddler died from internal injuries caused by blunt force trauma to her torso, St. Paul police say. Destiny's
mother, 18-year-old Maeve Clifford, was taken into custody by police but later released. After
Destiny suffered a skull fracture in late November, she was placed in foster care. Jackson told child protection investigators
that he had accidentally dropped her, according to Maeve's mother, Mikel Clifford of St. Paul. When
authorities couldn't prove the toddler had been abused, her parents regained custody on Jan. 31, according to police and
relatives. Jackson and Maeve Clifford, who met three years ago at an alternative St. Paul
high school, had lived together at a Sibley Manor apartment unit that Maeve Clifford had rented since early January. When paramedics arrived at the apartment at 12:35 a.m. Tuesday, Destiny was "unresponsive," according
to a report filed by the apartment complex's security guard. The toddler's parents
were standing in the street when police arrived, and soon were taken into custody. "The
baby is in bad shape and may not make it," the guard wrote in his report, adding later: "The baby did not live."
Destiny was pronounced dead at Regions Hospital. Asked if child protection workers had
returned the toddler too soon to her parents, the grandmother said: "Well, we're all Monday morning quarterbacks
now, aren't we?" Questions for the system Sometime around Thanksgiving, Destiny suffered a skull fracture, according to Mikel Clifford, 66, a registered
nurse. "Maeve noticed the baby's head was not symmetrical," said Clifford,
who visited Destiny twice while she was in foster care. "She recovered and was in fine form from the skull fracture."
Jackson failed a polygraph test on the skull fracture, Mikel Clifford said. But her daughter
supported her boyfriend in their request to regain custody of the baby. Susan Ault, director
of Family and Children's Services for the Ramsey County Human Services Department, said that state and federal law prohibits
her from comment. Police spokesman Tom Walsh said that, typically, a child is removed
during an investigation of child abuse or neglect. But the parents' request for custody usually is approved if no crime
is proved and abuse can't be substantiated, he said. "I don't understand
it at all," Mikel Clifford said about the baby being returned to the parents. "It's well-documented that social
service is grossly understaffed. They have too many cases and not enough people to follow them. "They
do their best and social workers have to go by the book ..." Sharise Drown, Jackson's
mother, said that authorities weren't able to prove that the skull fracture was intentional. She defended her son Tuesday
night, saying that he had recently landed a job at McDonald's and had spent most of his free timing caring for Destiny.
"He's not a violent person and I don't believe he beat the baby," said
Drown, 42, who lives near downtown St. Paul. "I didn't know what happened during
the whole [skull fracture] thing. But they couldn't prove he did anything to her on purpose." Drown said her son often shuttled back and forth between her home and Maeve Clifford's apartment, buying
wipes and caring for his daughter. "It's a good thing B.J. was around to help look after the baby, because [Maeve]
was constantly stressed out," Drown said. She added that her son recently moved dishes
and a color TV to the apartment so that Destiny could watch cartoons. "He just received his second paycheck from McDonald's
and he was doing well," she said. "He loved Destiny." Maeve Clifford attends
the AGAPE (Adolescent Girls and Parenting Education) School, a public school program in St. Paul that helps pregnant and parenting
teens stay in school and receive child care. Mikel Clifford said that Destiny brought her much joy, but added that the little
girl "never seemed that precious" to Jackson and her daughter. "She was something to give [them] status,"
the grandmother said. Staff writer Paul Gustafson and news researcher Jim Phillips contributed
to this report. Curt Brown • +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
Mother arrested in death of son, 1; Police were called to a Maplewood homeless shelter. Investigators said
there were signs of abuse.
From: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) | Date: May 3, 2006 | Author: Padilla, Howie
 "Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)")
Byline: Howie Padilla; Staff Writer
A mother who moved to Minnesota less than a month ago was arrested Monday night at a Ramsey County homeless shelter on
suspicion of murder in connection with the death of her 1-year-old son.
Police responding to a call Monday evening found the toddler not breathing at the Ramsey County Family Services Center,
an emergency homeless shelter in Maplewood.
The boy, who would have been 2 in July, was taken to St. John's Hospital, where he died, said Maplewood Police Lt. Dave
Kvam.
Investigators found evidence that the boy had been ...
|
|
|
 Aug 7, 2007 11:28 am US/Central  Digg |  Facebook | E-mail
Sheriff: Bridge Survivor Arrested For
Child AbuseShell Lake, Wis. (AP) ― Michael
Stoner told a heart-wrenching tale last week of being caught in the Minneapolis bridge collapse as he and his fiancee rushed
to the hospital to be with her injured 2-year-old daughter. But police said this week that Stoner left something
out of his story: He is now in jail, accused of inflicting the life-threatening injuries the child suffered. The
26-year-old Spooner man initially said 2-year-old Emmaline Manning began suffering seizures after a fall down the stairs,
Washburn County District Attorney Michael Bitney said. He drove the child to the cafe in Baronett where her mother, 21-year-old
Crystal Manning, worked. The couple then took the child to a Shell Lake hospital, and doctors had her airlifted to Children's
Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. The couple told journalists they were rushing to the Minneapolis hospital to
be with the child when the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed with them on it. Their Jeep landed upside down in the Mississippi
River and quickly sank. The couple said they were able to escape through an open window. Manning said she spotted
her daughter's blanket in the water after she surfaced. "I swam by this and said, 'There's my
daughter's blanket!"' she said. "'How unreal that it's right there." But authorities
said Monday that the couple told only part of the story. Bitney and Washburn County Sheriff Terry Dryden said Stoner
was arrested on child abuse charges after doctors determined Emmaline's injuries were consistent with shaken-baby syndrome.
Stoner was being held Tuesday in Washburn County Jail. The child has a life-threatening brain injury, and doctors
found a burn on one leg and a human bite mark and bruises in other spots, Bitney said. Doctors have taken drastic measures
to save her. "They've cut off half her skull to allow the brain to swell," he said. "It's
horrendous." Bitney said Emmaline was on life support in grave condition. If she dies, Stoner could be charged
with homicide, he said. Stoner is not Emmaline's father. "He was the only one with her the day she was
injured," Bitney said. "He had dropped the mother off at work early that morning. Then he came back, and in early
afternoon claimed the child had fallen down the stairs." The prosecutor said physicians were suspicious from
the start as they eyed the large, long burn on the toddler's leg, the bite, old and new bruises and the massive head injury,
which would not have been caused by a fall down carpeted stairs. It's not clear what Manning knew about the
injuries, but she could be charged as well, Bitney said. He said there was sadness on many levels in the case. "What happened to Mr. Stoner and his fiancee was tragic, just like it was for all the people who were in the
terrible bridge collapse," Bitney said. "But what happened to the daughter was not a tragic accident. "It
was, we believe, the result of physical abuse of a child, whose life now hangs in the balance."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
