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Archives > Volume 7 Issue 29 - April 24, 2009 Quadriplegic child found dead in storage facility...
Michigan authorities are investigating whether foul play led to the death of a 9-year-old quadriplegic girl whose body was found inside a public storage facility. CNN News story here
Shylea Myza Thomas of Flint, Michigan, hadn't been seen in six weeks, and relatives reported her missing Tuesday, Leyton's office said. Her adoptive mother, who is also her aunt, is in custody as a suspect, special assistant prosecuting attorney John Potbury told CNN. No charges have been filed pending the results of the autopsy, he said. Because of her physical disabilities, Shylea used a feeding tube. She suffered from quadriplegia because of a "suffocation issue" in her crib at 3 weeks of age, Leyton said. On Wednesday, Flint police found her body stuffed inside a garbage bag in a public storage facility in Vienna Township, near Flint, Leyton said. The bag was covered in mothballs "in an apparent attempt to mask odors from the dead body," his office said in a news release. "For her to have to live like that, and then to die and be stuffed into a bag and plastic bin in a storage facility, just breaks my heart," the prosecutor said. CNN affiliate WJRT reported that the suspect could face charges including murder, first-degree child abuse and welfare fraud. The station also reported that investigators are trying to determine why the girl's disappearance wasn't reported until six weeks after she went missing. In other news... 
Mexican police arrested seven people, including a Roman Catholic priest, allegedly involved in a child porn ring that distributed 100,000 pictures and videos of children from around the world, the Attorney General's office has said. google news story here "A priest from Xalapa, Veracruz (eastern Mexico), was among those detained, as well as an IT worker from the foreign ministry," a statement said on Wednesday. Mexican authorities found files containing a large number of explicit sex scenes between adults and children up to 10 years of age at the ministry worker's house, the statement said. An inquiry which began in March led to the discovery of suspected members of the network throughout Mexico, it added. Authorities said that the children appeared to be of different nationalities. One of the suspects had confessed to acts of "rape and sexual abuse," the statement said. The images had been viewed in Brazil, Spain, Bulgaria, Russia, the United States and Argentina, said Gustavo Caballero from the police department's cybercrime unit.
Two Michigan men accused of punishing a 6-year-old boy by burning him with a blowtorch are scheduled to be in court May 5. Morning Sun story here Gerald Hall, 36, and his brother, Glen Hall, 43, face a preliminary hearing in Judge Joshua Farrell's 80th District courtroom in Harrison to determine if there is sufficient evidence for the two to stand trial on first-degree child abuse charges. Both men were charged on Wednesday. The two are accused of burning Gerald Hall's son's buttocks on at least one occasion, police said. Although first-degree child abuse is a 15-year felony, Glen Hall could face more time in prison if convicted. Clare County Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis put the elder Hall on habitual offender notice, meaning he could be sentenced to one and a half times the maximum if convicted. Glen Hall is on parole after serving time in prison for a drunken driving causing serious injury conviction in 2003 in Isabella County, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records. Warrants were issued for the men's arrests based on one specific incident but police believe that the blowtorch was the "main act of discipline used" on the boy, who has recovered physically and is currently in protective custody, Putnam said.
Apple Inc. pulled a 99-cent iPhone game called "Baby Shaker" from its iTunes store after its premise - quiet a crying baby with a vigorous shake - prompted outrage. FoxNews story here According to screen shots posted on several Web sites, "Baby Shaker" displayed black-and-white line drawings of a baby. The iTunes description included the line, "See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!" Once the iPhone owner finishes shaking the device, the on-screen baby is depicted with large red X's over its eyes. Click here to watch a video of the 'Baby Shaker' game. Public outcry ensued, with organizations including the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome and the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation condemning Apple for approving the game's sale. SBS/AHT (shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma) is a term used to describe the constellation of signs and symptoms resulting from violent shaking or shaking and impacting of the head of an infant or small child. More information about SBS/AHT is available online at dontshake.org.
The DeKalb County district attorney announced Wednesday that the suicide of a Georgia fifth grader will be reviewed. The boy's family said repeated bullying, both verbal and physical, at school pushed the boy to hang himself last week. MyFoxAtlanta.com story here It is anticipated that there will be civil action resulting from a claim that a fifth grader was bullied repeatedly at school before he decided to take his own life. The district attorney will now decide if there could be criminal action in the case. Herrera's mother said her son felt trapped by relentless bullying at Dunaire Elementary School. Last Thursday, under an alleged threat again, Herrera committed suicide. DeKalb County authorities said a review of the purported bullying death will get underway immediately by DeKalb County District Attorney Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming. Fleming said she planned to take statements from school officials, the police and Herrera's family among others. The review has been described as exploratory to see if any criminal charges are warranted.
Treating depression and other mental disorders in U.S. children cost $8.9 billion in 2006, making mental illness the most expensive condition to treat in childhood, U.S. government researchers reported on Wednesday. Fox News story here An estimated 4.6 million children were treated for mental disorders in 2006 at an average cost of $1,931 per child, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported. But more children were treated for asthma than any other disease or injury, the AHRQ found. It said nearly 13 million children were treated for asthma in 2006 at an average cost of $621 for a total of $8 billion. Fractures, sprains, burns, and other physical injuries from accidents or violence sent 7 million children to doctors or clinics at a cost of $658 per child or $6.1 billion, the survey found. The agency gathered data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for the report. The full report is available online at mepsweb report here. For more information on depression see eGuide/depression.
A teenager who believes accused killer Melissa Huckaby drugged her 7-year-old sister earlier this year said the subsequent murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu might not have happened if detectives had taken the matter more seriously at the time. ABC News story here "If they would have did their job right and actually made a police report or whatever, everything with Sandra could have been prevented and she could have been here today," said the 18-year-old sister, who requested her name not be used. Police in Tracy, California said they acted properly in the case of the 7-year-old, whose name is being withheld. "There was a complete investigation done and documented," Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman told ABCNews.com today. "I can't speak to specifics. "No probable cause was developed to make an arrest," he said. "We don't take any crime [against] a child lightly." Police logs show that officers from the Tracy Police Department responded to the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park January 17 for a call about a missing blond-haired, blue eyed child. The log details a report that the child was possibly "with another resident's granddaughter in a trailer." Huckaby's arraignment for the rape and murder of Sandra Cantu is scheduled today. ABC News story here For more on this story see vol7_iss24 and vol7_iss28.
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