3 Month Old Baby Beaten to Death at Homeless Shelter

[Steeltrap]

startribune.com
Judge orders mental competency evaluation for Naomi Gaines


Published 08/09/2003

A judge Friday ordered Naomi Gaines to undergo a mental competency evaluation to determine if she is competent to stand trial and if she was legally sane when she threw her infant sons from a St. Paul bridge July 4.

Gaines, 24, of St. Paul, is charged with killing one of the boys; the other was rescued by passersby at the scene. As part of a civil mental-commitment proceeding, she is at the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter for a psychiatric evaluation.

Her next court appearance in her criminal case is set for Oct. 8. She hasn't entered a plea.

Gaines was charged with intentional second-degree murder and attempted intentional second-degree murder after she threw the boys, Sincere Understanding Allah and Supreme Knowledge Allah, off the Wabasha Street Bridge into the Mississippi River and then jumped herself.

Several people who had gathered for the Taste of Minnesota celebration pulled her and Supreme Knowledge to safety. Boaters found Sincere Understanding's body 11 miles downriver two days later.

Ramsey County Court Referee James Finley ruled July 30 that Gaines is mentally ill and poses a danger to herself and others. He ordered that she be sent to the Security Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation to determine if she should be committed to a hospital under civil law.

The civil commitment process was initiated by a petition signed by a doctor at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Gaines had been in a psychiatric ward there after her arrest.

A spokesman for the Ramsey County attorney's office said the civil commitment proceeding does not affect her criminal case.

Paul Gustafson

© Copyright 2003 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

[DELTABRAT]

Honeykiss:

The prayer is really what we need. I definitely don't agree with what these women are doing but I think it is easy to say what shoud and should not be done but we often don't walk in these women's shoes. Sure money problems, we all have, but money problems with a child is a whole other story.

Also notice how when a woman locks the baby in the car it's "how could she?" and when it's dad, it's "oops." That pressure ALONE, like mom is the ONLY person who should feel and do so and so because she is the mother and blah blah, blah is a day in and day out assumption that many people make. I can guaratee that most of these women are single parents and that daddy is somewhere doing whatever the f___ he wants to do when he wants to do it.

I myself am a single mom. I always put myself in these people's shoes and think what in the world would make me think that ending my child's life and mine would be a better alternative than giving him a chance and waking up tomorrow to a world of more chances for myself. Honestly, I can come up with a list of sh__ tha would lead one to THINK that. I would never, ever do such a thing, but I also have a great support network and I am not crazy.

Again, I don't condone the craziness, but on the outside looking in, it always looks easier than it may really be. Mental disorders may also be partly to blame.

Okay enough of that. Let's all pray for strength, wisdom and faith.

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally posted by DELTABRAT
Honeykiss:

The prayer is really what we need. I definitely don't agree with what these women are doing but I think it is easy to say what shoud and should not be done but we often don't walk in these women's shoes. Sure money problems, we all have, but money problems with a child is a whole other story.

Also notice how when a woman locks the baby in the car it's "how could she?" and when it's dad, it's "oops." That pressure ALONE, like mom is the ONLY person who should feel and do so and so because she is the mother and blah blah, blah is a day in and day out assumption that many people make. I can guaratee that most of these women are single parents and that daddy is somewhere doing whatever the f___ he wants to do when he wants to do it.

I myself am a single mom. I always put myself in these people's shoes and think what in the world would make me think that ending my child's life and mine would be a better alternative than giving him a chance and waking up tomorrow to a world of more chances for myself. Honestly, I can come up with a list of sh__ tha would lead one to THINK that. I would never, ever do such a thing, but I also have a great support network and I am not crazy.

Again, I don't condone the craziness, but on the outside looking in, it always looks easier than it may really be. Mental disorders may also be partly to blame.

Okay enough of that. Let's all pray for strength, wisdom and faith.

Soror, you make some good points and I definitely think that for a lot of these women, a mental disorder might also be an underlying cause. My hope is that this does not become a TREND for parents. This summer alone has had 2 sets of parents drown a child or two, the most recent also drowned herself.

I pray for stronger family networks or support systems. I also pray that some of these women abandon their kids in a safe manner (does that sound mean?) I mean that they surrender custody of their kids with a person who will have the means to raise their child for them.

You're right, there is far more of a stigma when a mother does it versus a father. Mothers are considered nurturers, by and large, and for them to harm or kill their children is more horrifying in a sense than when a father does it.

[D.COM]

It SHOULD BE MANDATORY to take some FREE classes or something BEFORE YOU GET A LICENSE about CHILDREN AND CARS...some people just don't know ANYTHING!!!

You have to FEED THEM SOME COMMON SENSE!

Scares me to know that these are the people who I drive with on the streets! I would think that if they can DRIVE, they can understand that "IT'S HOT IN THE CAR!"

[Sugar_N_Spice]

Y'all this thread really brought tears t my eyes...

I just cannot fathom ever doing this to a preious, innocent child...Harm yourself if you want to but not someone else. And for those that really are mentally ill and who hadshown signs of their illness BEFORE they committed such crimes, I feel that the doctor/state/whoever knew of the severity of their illness is also responsible for these deaths. If you know someone is mentally incapable of caring for their children, and a danger to themself and others, you should be criminally responsible...

I pray for all all the mothers out there who are going through hard times...I pray that they recognize that they have the strength to deal with anything the devil puts in their way, and that NOTHING is worth taking your life or the life of another human being...

[1savvydiva]

(West Columbia) August 19, 2003 - Police have arrested 19-year-old Chantal Latoya Williams. Investigators received a tip around 8:00pm that Williams was at a relative's Gaston home.

Police arrived and Williams reportedly saw the police cruisers and then turned herself in.

She is being held at the Lexington County detention center on several warrants. One for each of her children.

Officers say a passerby heard children crying inside Williams' Holland Street apartment on Monday. The man got no response after knocking at the door and then called police.

West Columbia Police Captain Jackie Brothers say they found Williams' three children home alone, ages 9 months to a little less than 3 years, "When they found the children, the youngest, about 9 months old, was completely unclothed and in the living room sitting on the floor eating out of a trash bag. And the two older children were in the bathtub. They got in there and turned on the water. The tub was full and overflowing into the floor and they were crying and screaming because they could not get out of the tub."

Neighbor Trixie Eden says she's familiar with the 19-year-old and her kids, "We know her to walk around the street with the babies in pouring rain, sunshine, whatever, and the babies are always dirty."

The children were treated at the Lexington Medical Center for dehydration. The Department of Social Services has custody of the kids.

Williams is charged with three counts of unlawful conduct towards a child. Each charge carries a potential ten year penalty in prison. Investigators say they don't know yet why Williams left.

Reported by Jennifer Miskewicz
Updated 9:52pm by BrettWitt

[MsVee1980]

COPS SEARCH FOR DAD OF FOUR KIDS SHOT
by Bree Fowler
Associated Press

DETROIT (Aug. 20) - Four children ages 1 to 11 years old were found shot, three fatally, in the basement of a burning home, and their father was being sought for questioning Wednesday.

The surviving child, a girl, was in critical condition at Sinai-Grace Hospital, police officer Christopher Cole said.

Police believe the father, Anthony Lamar Bailey, 37, fled the scene on a bicycle after the blaze started sometime before 9 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities did not call Bailey a suspect, but urged residents to dial 911 if they see him.

Cole said neighbors reported Bailey had been raising the children and that he was in the middle of a divorce with the children's mother, who has not been seen for about a month.

Cole said it appeared the fire was set to cover up the crime, although that had not yet been confirmed.

Police did not identify the dead children or the girl who was hospitalized, but a teacher at Pitcher Elementary School said one of the four was 9-year-old Antonia, a model student.

Antonia was named student of the month in March and received awards in nearly every subject at an end-of-the-year assembly, said Judith Bryant, her fourth grade teacher.

``She was like a sponge,'' Bryant said. ``She wanted to soak up as much as she could.''

Tommy Samuels, 38, who was visiting his brother in the neighborhood, said he saw firefighters bring out the children's bodies. He said the firefighters tried in vain to revive one of the children, who appeared to be a girl about 2 years old.

``They tried to save that baby,'' he said. ``They really, really, tried. They kept pounding on her and pounding on her.''

08/20/03 13:10 EDT

What is wrong with these people?

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally posted by MsVee1980
COPS SEARCH FOR DAD OF FOUR KIDS SHOT
by Bree Fowler
Associated Press

DETROIT (Aug. 20) - Four children ages 1 to 11 years old were found shot, three fatally, in the basement of a burning home, and their father was being sought for questioning Wednesday.

The surviving child, a girl, was in critical condition at Sinai-Grace Hospital, police officer Christopher Cole said.

Police believe the father, Anthony Lamar Bailey, 37, fled the scene on a bicycle after the blaze started sometime before 9 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities did not call Bailey a suspect, but urged residents to dial 911 if they see him.

Cole said neighbors reported Bailey had been raising the children and that he was in the middle of a divorce with the children's mother, who has not been seen for about a month.

Cole said it appeared the fire was set to cover up the crime, although that had not yet been confirmed.

Police did not identify the dead children or the girl who was hospitalized, but a teacher at Pitcher Elementary School said one of the four was 9-year-old Antonia, a model student.

Antonia was named student of the month in March and received awards in nearly every subject at an end-of-the-year assembly, said Judith Bryant, her fourth grade teacher.

``She was like a sponge,'' Bryant said. ``She wanted to soak up as much as she could.''

Tommy Samuels, 38, who was visiting his brother in the neighborhood, said he saw firefighters bring out the children's bodies. He said the firefighters tried in vain to revive one of the children, who appeared to be a girl about 2 years old.

``They tried to save that baby,'' he said. ``They really, really, tried. They kept pounding on her and pounding on her.''

08/20/03 13:10 EDT

What is wrong with these people?

Tonight I am going to pray for parents.

[MsVee1980]

So Am I. People really nee to find religion, or be alone if they can't control their temper around folks.

[CrimsonTide4]

Detroit Dad Arraigned in Deaths of Kids
39 minutes ago Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!


By LIZ AUSTIN, Associated Press Writer

DETROIT - A father was arraigned on murder, assault and other charges Thursday for allegedly shooting his four children, killing three of them, and setting fire to his home to conceal the crimes.


The surviving girl reportedly told a rescuer, "My daddy killed me."


A judge entered an innocent plea on behalf of Anthony Lamar Bailey, who police believe shot the children with a shotgun and set the fire Tuesday night before fleeing on a bicycle. He was arrested Wednesday while walking on a freeway overpass.


Essie Bailey, his wife and the children's mother, wailed in court when Bailey's face appeared on a video monitor from a holding cell. Family members carried her from the courtroom as the charges were read.


An attorney was not immediately named for Bailey. He will be held without bail at least until a preliminary hearing Sept. 3. If convicted of first-degree murder, he would be sentenced to life in prison without parole.


The surviving child, 9-year-old Antonia, was found shot in the stomach in the house's basement along with the bodies of her siblings: Sharnice, 11, Ayana, 3, and Lamar, who was 1 year old.


Antonia told a rescuer "My daddy killed me," and "My daddy killed my whole family," according to police.


Court records show Bailey already was serving six months probation after pleading guilty in March to domestic violence for punching his wife in the face and stomach and choking her.


Antonia's half sister, Iesha Brassell, said the girl was recovering at a hospital.




A Detroit police officer searches garbage for evidence outside the Bailey house in Detroit, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003. Four siblings aged 1 to 11 years were found shot, three fatally, in the basement of a burning home Tuesday, and police were searching Wednesday for their father, who was wanted for questioning. Sharnice Bailey, 11; Ayana Bailey, 3, and Lamar Bailey, 1, were pronounced dead at the scene. Antonia Bailey, 9, was taken to Detroit's Sinai-Grace Hospital in critical condition, but is expected to survive, Detroit Police Officer Christopher Cole said. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

[Honeykiss1974]

Baby left in van is in state custody
The boy's father says that it was an accident and that the family is eager to get the baby back.
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle

An 11-day-old Wichita boy 11 DAYS old!?! was in protective custody Monday after his mother left him in a unair-conditioned minivan -- in 100-degree heat -- for about an hour.

The infant's father said his wife accidentally left the boy in the van in the East Kellogg Wal-Mart parking lot Sunday afternoon.

The 35-year-old woman went into the store to shop with her 15-year-old daughter, said the father.

"They forgot he was with them," said the father, who did not want to be named. "She would not leave him in the vehicle intentionally."

Then, near a dressing room, the mother heard another baby crying and suddenly remembered her own infant son, the father said.

At that moment, he said, she "took off running for the van" and called 911. She was crying, he said.

All of the van windows were closed except for one, which was partly open at the top, said Lt. Roy Mitchell, supervisor of the county's Exploited and Missing Child Unit.

A dark tint on some of the windows could have helped shield the infant from the heat, Mitchell said.

The boy was admitted to a hospital for observation but did not appear to be injured, police said Sunday. By Monday, the boy was released from the hospital and in good condition, Mitchell said.

Officers did not take a temperature reading in the van, he said.

Mitchell said the baby's family was cooperating with investigators, who will present their findings to the district attorney's office. State child-welfare officials also are expected to investigate the incident, police said.

Prosecutors are still reviewing a case involving a 22-month-old Valley Center girl, Alyssa Nicole Dillman, who died after spending eight hours in a car on July 14, when the temperature reached 109 degrees.

Sedgwick County sheriff's investigators said they were told that the girl's father dropped her and her 4-year-old brother off at their uncle's house near Park City. At some point, the 4-year-old went into the house. The father, who was loaning the vehicle, got into another vehicle and left. Why the younger child remained in the vehicle is unclear, investigators said.

Monday, Deputy District Attorney Kim Parker said the Dillman case raises complicated legal questions. Among other things, she said, prosecutors have to determine whether the death was intentional, reckless or negligent.

In the latest case, although the infant has been taken into protective custody, the woman's three older children -- the youngest is 8 -- remain with their mother, Mitchell said.

The 11-day-old is "a joy" to his parents, his father said.

"We do not take our eyes off of him," he said.

Asked about their feelings now that their son has been taken into protective custody, he said: "It's hard to even say. It's a loss.

"We're sitting around the house going back and forth between crying. There is nothing we can do, either, except sit and wait on the legal system to get him back."

ETA:
How do you forget an 11 day old baby? Shouldn't you still be "sore", in pain or something that would "remind" you that you JUST had a baby?

What is up with all these folks "forgeting" that they have a child with them?

[Steeltrap]

Originally posted by Honeykiss1974
Baby left in van is in state custody
The boy's father says that it was an accident and that the family is eager to get the baby back.
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle

An 11-day-old Wichita boy 11 DAYS old!?! was in protective custody Monday after his mother left him in a unair-conditioned minivan -- in 100-degree heat -- for about an hour.

The infant's father said his wife accidentally left the boy in the van in the East Kellogg Wal-Mart parking lot Sunday afternoon.

The 35-year-old woman went into the store to shop with her 15-year-old daughter, said the father.

"They forgot he was with them," said the father, who did not want to be named. "She would not leave him in the vehicle intentionally."

Then, near a dressing room, the mother heard another baby crying and suddenly remembered her own infant son, the father said.

At that moment, he said, she "took off running for the van" and called 911. She was crying, he said.

All of the van windows were closed except for one, which was partly open at the top, said Lt. Roy Mitchell, supervisor of the county's Exploited and Missing Child Unit.

A dark tint on some of the windows could have helped shield the infant from the heat, Mitchell said.

The boy was admitted to a hospital for observation but did not appear to be injured, police said Sunday. By Monday, the boy was released from the hospital and in good condition, Mitchell said.

Officers did not take a temperature reading in the van, he said.

Mitchell said the baby's family was cooperating with investigators, who will present their findings to the district attorney's office. State child-welfare officials also are expected to investigate the incident, police said.

Prosecutors are still reviewing a case involving a 22-month-old Valley Center girl, Alyssa Nicole Dillman, who died after spending eight hours in a car on July 14, when the temperature reached 109 degrees.

Sedgwick County sheriff's investigators said they were told that the girl's father dropped her and her 4-year-old brother off at their uncle's house near Park City. At some point, the 4-year-old went into the house. The father, who was loaning the vehicle, got into another vehicle and left. Why the younger child remained in the vehicle is unclear, investigators said.

Monday, Deputy District Attorney Kim Parker said the Dillman case raises complicated legal questions. Among other things, she said, prosecutors have to determine whether the death was intentional, reckless or negligent.

In the latest case, although the infant has been taken into protective custody, the woman's three older children -- the youngest is 8 -- remain with their mother, Mitchell said.

The 11-day-old is "a joy" to his parents, his father said.

"We do not take our eyes off of him," he said.

Asked about their feelings now that their son has been taken into protective custody, he said: "It's hard to even say. It's a loss.

"We're sitting around the house going back and forth between crying. There is nothing we can do, either, except sit and wait on the legal system to get him back."

How can you forget your 11-day-old babyperson in the car? Secondly, why is your 11-day-old babyperson out? Back when I was an infant (in the dark ages of the 1960s), that wasn't common practice.

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally posted by Steeltrap
How can you forget your 11-day-old babyperson in the car? Secondly, why is your 11-day-old babyperson out? Back when I was an infant (in the dark ages of the 1960s), that wasn't common practice.

I was thinking the same thing. Isn't there like a 6 week rule that needs to be followed for both mama and baby til shots are administered????

A few years ago I was out at either Target or Walmart and I saw a really tiny baby and was near the mom and asked how old was the baby. She said 5 days. I just stood in the aisle in SHOCK!!! Plus the way she was holding the baby made me scared. Heck I almost hit the baby with my cart.

I cannot believe this "trend"

[btb87]

Originally posted by Steeltrap
How can you forget your 11-day-old babyperson in the car? Secondly, why is your 11-day-old babyperson out? Back when I was an infant (in the dark ages of the 1960s), that wasn't common practice.

Soror, I dunno. . . when I had my daughter nearly 9 years ago, I had to come out after a few days to visit my doctor and to take her to the pediatrician, and didn't want to do that. But on the way from my appointment, my husband and I made a brief stop at Office Depot. I also saw another couple with a newborn, probalby no more than 2-3 weeks old. This baby had on a onesie and a diaper and nothing else.

Did I mention it was a couple of days before Christmas, and although it's normally pretty warm in Florida during that time of the year, it was pretty cool outside (about 45-50 degrees)? I'm truly in agreement that some people should take classes as prerequisites to having children. . .

And you're right - back in the dark ages as you say, you didn't step foot outside that house until the baby was at least 6 weeks old!

[Steeltrap]

Originally posted by btb87
Soror, I dunno. . . when I had my daughter nearly 9 years ago, I had to come out after a few days to visit my doctor and to take her to the pediatrician, and didn't want to do that. But on the way from my appointment, my husband and I made a brief stop at Office Depot. I also saw another couple with a newborn, probalby no more than 2-3 weeks old. This baby had on a onesie and a diaper and nothing else.

Did I mention it was a couple of days before Christmas, and although it's normally pretty warm in Florida during that time of the year, it was pretty cool outside (about 45-50 degrees)? I'm truly in agreement that some people should take classes as prerequisites to having children. . .

And you're right - back in the dark ages as you say, you didn't step foot outside that house until the baby was at least 6 weeks old!

No problem for the hijack, Soror. I'm not a parent, so I'm working with a limited knowledge base here. As an aside, I saw my line sister's son when he was a day old, but he was still in the hospital.