FL - Baby, 9 mos, fatally struck after crawling from home

[Jeana (DP)]

I might if I felt like I was being lambasted by the media or people that didn't have a clue. I'd probably have my daughter do it for me though. Than again I might just think F U about it and not do anything. Maybe it was getting to be a big deal in their town and she felt the need to defend herself.

The internet has brought a whole new layer to news stories. it can get very personal.

I agree, but in the middle of planning your toddler's funeral, who would even have the strength to read any of the articles? I think that's what she meant. In the weeks to come, maybe. But not just days after.

 

[bigbuck]

I used to have neighbors about three houses down from me who had a 6 year old son who was disabled. I believe he was autistic and mentally disabled. They never kept an eye on him. The cops knocked on my door twice looking for him - once he was found at the swimming pool BY HIMSELF. One morning I woke up and he was in my bedroom going through my stuff. He had just walked right in the back door.
He was hit by a car too because he was playing in the street like always. His parents would leave him there with his other siblings, the eldest being eleven. When he got hit his parents weren't home and their kids didn't know where they were.
All his parents ever did was scream at him and I called the police three times because his 'father' was beating him in the middle of the street. I thought for sure after he was hit by a car the kids would be taken away from these neglectful, irresponsible people but that never happened. It is so frustrating to be witness to things like that.
To know that little boy needed special attention because of his disabilities and all he ever got was people screaming and hitting him because he was a little slow is heartbreaking. Unfortunately there are tons of people out there who have no business being parents. I am started to believe in regulations regarding having children. It is the biggest responsibility we have to ourselves, society and to them yet anyone can do it whenever they want and horrible cycles of neglect and abuse just go on and on.
I realize mistakes happen and kids get away from you. We have no way of knowing if these kids were being neglected or not. I think a lot of the signs point to maybe or yes.

Not to get out of topic but, this story tears me up. As many of you know, I'm the father of a 5 year old son with autism. That poor little boy. If I would have seen his father beating him. I'd be in jail for the beat down I'd have given that man. Good for you gaia, for trying to help that child.

 

[Marstan]

My husbands oldest brother was run over by his father years ago. The dad was leaving to go work in the fields and Arthur (age 3) followed him because the dad forgot to latch the gate. I don't think anyone ever got over his death.

That being said, this baby was 9 months old. I cannot imagine a nine month old baby traveling that distance without someone knowing he was missing (wasn't the mom asleep?). The baby did not break the screen door (wouldn't you think someone would have fixed it) but this sort of stuff makes me crazy, especially since their daughter had been run over just months before.

I can remember when my sister and I went shopping at the mall. She would let her son run wild, he would go where the dresses or slacks were hanging and hide. One time he took my son with him and I swear I had a heart attack when I didn't see them. Fortunately they were right beside me, giggling their heads off, but the panic was unbelieveable.

Call me strict, but I cringe when I see people with little kids running through the parking lots of Walmart, Kmart, etc., they could easily be hit by a car backing up. Our rules as a family was to hold hands, always, up until th were about ten years old. Was I more attentive than other parents, perhaps, but at least I could breathe when I went shopping and not have to worry about them taking off.

We also always had locks on the doors, screen and wooden doors that was very high up so they could not reach it. Accidents do happen tho and I hope this accident was just that, an accident and not neglect or negligence.

JMOO

 

[TGIRecovered]

.....
Call me strict, but I cringe when I see people with little kids running through the parking lots of Walmart, Kmart, etc., they could easily be hit by a car backing up. Our rules as a family was to hold hands, always, up until th were about ten years old. Was I more attentive than other parents, perhaps, but at least I could breathe when I went shopping and not have to worry about them taking off.

We also always had locks on the doors, screen and wooden doors that was very high up so they could not reach it. Accidents do happen tho and I hope this accident was just that, an accident and not neglect or negligence.

JMOO

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

As a small woman, and I know first-hand how often someone in a larger vehicle may look but not see a short person walking past when backing out. I've been on both sides of this delimma, having had to jump out of the way in a parking lot and from a driver's point of view.

The way many larger vehicles are made, it is not possible to see a child or small adult standing directly behind you.

It is such a simple precaution to have the children hold your hand and older kids walk right beside you, yet it seems that parents responsible enough to do so are in the great minority. I've even done this with several kids at once, we all hold hands, it doesn't slow us down at all and no one gets lost or run over. The little ones enjoy it, skipping along and swinging their hands! By the time they are 8, 9, 10 years old, walking next to the taller adult is as simple as looking before you dash out into a street.

I'm moving to another thread, careless parents get me too riled up!

Susan

 

[Filly]

Meloney Barnard is moving to Alabama. She can't even return to the house where her daughter was killed and is staying with friends. They are having a Memorial for little Shawna in Florida, and a funeral in Alabama.



http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/060408/met_286026707.shtml

 

[snakeeyes]

omg how sad where were the parents, have they heard of safety gates I have 2 daughters and I got safety gates everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:furious:

 

[lizzybeth]

That just seems too weird that two children in one family would be ran over by cars in driveways. I'm not saying the parents had anything to do with it; it's just weird.

 

[MomofBoys]

I have an eight month old and can't imagine him getting out of the house. He'd have to get through two doors, down steps, across a yard, and get down a curb.

My totally straight-arrow, safety-conscious in-laws once got a call about their 15 month old daughter. She had somehow managed to get through a door, down the street, and onto the highway. She was sitting in between lanes when a neighbor spotted her and got her safely home. My in-laws had put her to bed and she was asleep.

These things can happen to parents who aren't on drugs or normally negligent. It's just amazing most of us make it to adulthood.

I still can't fathom a nine month-old, though. Poor precious baby. She must have been way more athletic than my little ones.

 

[BeavisMom62]

I remember when I was in the shower and my toddler son figured out how to open the doors .... I was running all over the neighborhood in my bathrobe before I finally found the little stinker hiding from me in the playhouse in the backyard.

I remember when my son was a toddler. My stupid ex let some guy live with us for a while. I was at work (I can't remember where the ex was or was supposed to be) but I came home, my front door was open, the guy was asleep on the couch and my son and dog were gone! I found them in the woods behind the townhouse. By themselves. But thankfully, the dog stayed with my son and thank god nothing happened. I kicked the guy out of our house shortly thereafter. And he stole one of my dogs. But that is another story.

What a horrible situation for the neighbor and the parents though. God bless them all.