I watched the bond hearing too Carolina, thanks so much for the link.
Stepmom appeared via satellite. She is being held at the North Broward Bureau.
https://www.sheriff.org/about_bso/dodcc/jails/nbb.cfm
BBM - her visitation schedule lists the code 12MW, which that website states is the female infirmary.
When she appeared on camera for court this morning, she was wearing an anti-suicide smock.
An attorney represented her in court, but she made it clear to the judge that she has not been retained yet.
The judge read the charges, and her attorney said she had no comment on probable cause so the court found probable cause.
Her attorney argued lowering the monetary bond stating AO has no income, no money in the bank, and family/friends have been trying to gather funds to bond her out since last night, but can't come up with the money. The judge asked if she is a Seminole Indian, because the Seminoles often assist their members. Her attorney said no, her husband is.
The state attorney argued the monetary bond is appropriate and said AO is a flight risk. He also stated AO lied to her own mother and husband about what happened to Ahizya, but then admitted it to police. He argued something about it being cause for concern to lower her bond since she even lied to her own family.
Her attorney argued she is not a flight risk because she does not have a passport, her family lives here, and most importantly her other children are in protective custody so the department would be keeping daily tabs on her.
The judge asked her what she felt would be an appropriate bond. She stated the same as the co-defendant - $50,000.
The judge asked the state who the co-defendant is. The state said her husband, NO. The judge asked what his charges are and the bond amount. The state said child neglect and that he has already bonded out.
The judge asked the state attorney about the maximum sentence for count 1 (aggravated manslaughter). The state said it's a 1st degree felony and carries a maximum 30 year prison term.
The judge said the court notes the strength of probable cause and the maximum sentence. He said the $230,000 bond is appropriate. He said if AO bonds out, she cannot leave Broward county, cannot go near the airport, port, or onto any boat, will have a GPS monitoring device, she will be on lockdown house arrest, and she can have no contact with her husband, the co-defendant in this case.
BBM - I guess she really did do it all on her own. How did they sleep through that?!
pg 13 of 27
Tour or the residence: The child sleeps in the room with the father, he has his own bed . . .
How exactly was daddy unaware that his child was in such bad shape the night that stepmommy "hid" his condition from the entire household?
Calling BS. Stepmom's mom lived in the home and was a nurse and failed to notice a spiral fracture of the tibia and an open wound such that the child would have been unable to walk and would have been in tremendous pain for days prior to his death? Again calling BS. Every single adult in that home needs to be charged. Every last one. But particularly nursie who is a mandated reporter. Right there in the home, seeing him daily and for hours at a time. SMH
I'm glad they're looking into it.
But what do you do, if you have normal appearing people - stepgrandma included - who you believe wouldn't stand by while a child was beaten to death. I'll be really interested to see the out come of this investigation because you just can't predict every eventuality. You have to look at the clues, and create a picture of what's going on, and you don't expect Grandma the nurse to witness this and be okay with it.
As I mentioned earlier in this thread, DCF has time after time failed the children of Florida. This is DCF's public reports search. http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/admin/ig/reports/Default.aspx Type "falsification" in the allegation field and 50 pages of reports will come up. FIFTY! Type in "mishandling of case" and you'll get almost 10 pages of reports.Child welfare investigator Shani Smith broke the law when she concocted reports about a Kendall woman who later left her baby son to die in a sweltering car, authorities said.
[...]
Smith is not the first Florida child welfare employee to come under scrutiny for bogus reports in recent years.
Last year, police in Seminole County arrested Jonathan Irizarry, a case worker with the Childrens Home Society of Florida, for falsely claiming in reports that he had visited and examined a healthy child. The child had been tortured and beaten to death.
In Broward County, foster care caseworker Jabeth Moye reported that a 12-year-old named Tamiyah Audain was doing fine. Actually wasting away of starvation and neglect, the girl died in September 2013.
Last year, Moye was charged with child neglect. Moye worked for a foster care agency under the umbrella of Browards privately run child welfare agency, ChildNet, which has a contract with DCF.
Most infamously, Miami DCF case worker Deborah Muskelly was found to have lied in reports over a decade ago, saying she was visiting foster child Rilya Wilson. The child went missing for 15 months presumed murdered by her caretaker, who is now in prison.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article15264104.html
Given his brief life and the multiple contacts with CPS, I wish that more was done proactively by CPS to identify children who are "at risk" in unstable familial situations. Perhaps not so quick to close out cases and remain in the picture, monitoring a bit longer. In this case BOTH parents had brushes with the law, both had child abuse allegations made against them about this lil guy. Maybe a change needs to occur that keeps children such as Ahizya on the agency's radar a bit longer.
BIB - Mom never had abuse allegations made against her regarding Ahziya, only neglect. Every abuse allegation was against Dad and someone living at Dad's residence (Stepmom).
Spiral fractures happen because of a twisting, jerking injury. They can happen when a toddler jumps if they have their leg extended, however are more common in abuse cases. Children's bones are softer and more "flexible" than an adults. Imagine the force needed to break his leg. That's disgraceful! Then to not get the little man treated? How sick do you have to be?
true, I was generalizing. I tend to consider neglect a passive abusive act.