The article I chose to do was child cases in America. The story was about three cases involving children’s deaths. The first case the video talked about was a man named Ernie Lopez, a citizen of Amarillo, Texas. He was a local mechanic who was babysitting for a doctor in his area. Doctor Vas dropped her three children off to Ernie Lopez. He then fed the children their breakfast, the baby six month old; Isis would not drink her bottle. Ernie then went to put her down in her crib. He came back to find her not breathing. He called 911 and told them what had happened. Isis died the next day; the medical examiner ruled the autopsy as a homicide and sexual assault. The police arrested Ernie for murder and sexual assault. He was then convicted by the juror, and was sentenced to sixty years in prison. Then after eight years Doctor Michael Laposata, an expert from Vanderbilt University who studies blood disorders that mimic child and sexual abuse found that Isis had a blood disorder. Ernie Lopez is still in prison hoping for a retrial.
The other case was a mother from El Paso, Texas. Monea Tyson convicted of killing her two year old son. Monea spent two years in lock down in county jail until she was acquitted, because the results of the autopsy were wrong. The other case happened in Georgia where Melonie Ware, a daycare provider, who was accused of shaking a baby to death. She was sentenced to life in prison until the day she was acquitted because of the medical examiner findings were incorrect(The Child Cases).
As a mother I know that losing my child to a disease or a natural cause would devastate me. But being proven guilty by jurors of the crime that I didn’t commit would be so much worse. As many people know there are a few natural causes that can occur in a child’s death. One natural cause of a child’s death would be Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the unexpected, sudden death of a child under age 1 in which an autopsy does not show an explainable cause of death(Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). When I first brought my son home from the hospital I was so scared that he would die in his sleep because of SIDS. That was always my worst fear when my son was an infant. The cause of SIDS is unknown, although there are several theories. Many doctors and researchers now believe that SIDS is not a single condition that is always caused by the same medical problems, but infant death caused by several different factors(Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). I believe that Monea Tyson’s son died of sudden infant death syndrome.
Another cause in a child’s death is shaken baby syndrome. 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(The National Center). In my opinion that is murder; because you are shaking a baby. As someone shakes their infants head their brain is hitting against their skull; causing brain damage or even death.
Out of two of the three cases I talked about the accused was acquitted. Although I think Ernie Lopez was not guilty the juror thought otherwise. The evidence is there proving his innocents and in a just society he should be released. Thousands of children are killed every day and in most cases the accused is guilty of the crime. Finding out about the truth about these children’s death must have been a big relief for the parents. Losing a child to natural causes would be hard, but losing them due to murder is worse.
Works cited
"The Child Cases - Video | FRONTLINE | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 23 Aug. 2011.
The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome. Web. 23 Aug. 2011.
"Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - PubMed Health." Web. 23 Aug. 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment