IL - Benjamin Sargent, 5 mos, dies of extreme neglect, Peoria, 12 Feb 2008

[LCoastMom]

James Sargent was convicted. and of the two he was the one I was worried about, 1DM conviction-wise. Sounded like they were pushing hard for insanity/decreased culpability.

Tracey should be easy.

I wanted death for these two deperately, but I'll have to be content with a century's worth of beatings, scorn, and maybe worse.

Sometimes a long life is a better punishment than a quick death. Nothing can change the torture lil Ben went through. May both of his parents have a long, long life to remember this.

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[DawnTCB]

"Mother" gets 50 years.

Rest in peace little Benjamin.

 

[ebbie]

I hadn't heard about this case but its absolutely sickening. I thought I'd heard it all too.

Will this ever end?

RIP little baby....and to think there are so many couples who would have loved to raise you!!

 

[Lucy's mom]

I've read a lot of these cases and this one brought tears to my eyes. I thought I was hardened but obviously not. Wow. I would have loved to have called him my own. RIP precious baby Benjamin.

 

[MomofBoys]

I just...have no words. I do not understand this sentence in the wake of James Sargents' sentence. He gets 100? Does she get diminished responsibility because she told him the baby was his job?

Unbelievable. She was really lucky to escape the pursuit of the DP and now this? Outrageous.

 

[DawnTCB]

This article says she "opted to plead guilty"which is why she got less time, but that she will be required to serve every single day of her term.

It also says that the father was the one responsible for the baby while she went out to work, and she only came home to "chill" and not to be the baby's caregiver.

 

[believe09]

How can anyone be so heartless? I hope their time is hard time.

 

[ebbie]

When I read these types of stories, I wonder if I should be avoiding the news completely. Just ruins my night.

 

[TheMeaningOfItAll]

These stories are so sad and heartbreaking. This one has stuck with me and I find myself thinking about baby Benjamin periodically as I play with my own baby or change her. I wonder how long he screamed and cried for his life and why his cries were ignored. The thought, the idea, that he suffered so much haunts me. I am furious at the mother for tucking a bottle on the side of his car seat "in case he got hungry". I wonder why she didn't call home to ask her husband how the baby was doing. My three children haven't slept a single night in their lives without me checking on them at least once to make sure they are okay. I can't for the life of me, understand WHY or HOW this could happen. How is life so worthless to these types of people?! Okay, end of my vent. I hope baby B has finally found peace.

 

[ziggy]

How? How you ask? Drugs. The druggie lifestyle has become very dangerous for children. People turn into demons, worse than animals - they become hollow humanoids with no soul, no conscience, no right, no wrong...it's all about them and the moment.

This case has haunted me too. I've not been able to have children and this type of story just KILLS me.

Please don't let these people ever get out or prison.

 

[WhyaDuck?]

"Tracy Hermann admitted in a barely audible tone Monday she made a disastrous "mistake" last year when she and her former boyfriend allowed their 5-month-old son to go without food and sit in his own waste for several days, which eventually caused his death."

MISTAKE??? No... try CHOICE, you .

 

[believe09]

"Tracy Hermann admitted in a barely audible tone Monday she made a disastrous "mistake" last year when she and her former boyfriend allowed their 5-month-old son to go without food and sit in his own waste for several days, which eventually caused his death."

MISTAKE??? No... try CHOICE, you .

yup-it was a mistake. Huge. You can't take it back. But it is hard to know if she copped to this because she believes that she is a sorry excuse for a parent while high, or if she is sorry she will be spending so much time in prison.

I could feel for her if she had any sense of the magnitude of what she did to that innocent, precious, beautiful boy.

 

[southcitymom]

How? How you ask? Drugs. The druggie lifestyle has become very dangerous for children. People turn into demons, worse than animals - they become hollow humanoids with no soul, no conscience, no right, no wrong...it's all about them and the moment.

This case has haunted me too. I've not been able to have children and this type of story just KILLS me.

Please don't let these people ever get out or prison.

You are right, ziggy. I dare say that drug addiction is at the core of most of the terrible cases we read about here.

 

[mysterygirl]

These cases haunt me also. What a beautiful baby. Drugs numb people into disregard for themselves and others.

It is so hard to read about things like this and wrap your mind around it........

 

[yanknrebel]

http://www.pjstar.com/php/index.php...had_not_been_well_cared_forquot_coroner_says/


PEORIA - A 5-month-old baby weighed 10 pounds when authorities found him dead Tuesday at his South Peoria home. "It was obvious that this child had not been well cared for," said Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll on Wednesday, declining to comment further on the case because of the continuing investigation.

The man was the baby's father. I hope they can explain why their baby only weighed 10 lbs.

My husband and I adopted from fostercare. Our twins that we adopted we ill cared for , :hence their removal from bio mom. Our twin boy was well cared for , for the most part, but the biomom had had 2 other daughters that were placed with their birth father, so this biomom LOVED her baby boy, but so neglected our twin baby girl. Our twins were 5 months old when we got them. Our son was underweight, but thriving and smiling. Our baby girl, at 5 months still wore preemie clothing only weighing 7 pounds. The biomom was getting high caloric formula to put weight on the babies as they were born at 29 weeks, but she was selling one of the WIC coupons and only feeding them half of what they should have been fed. Within a week of us getting them, our daughter had gained 3 more pounds, our son 4. They finally got eyelashes, and eyebrows. Our daughter did not even know how to cry when we first got her but found out within 2 weeks of being here. They were failure to thrive . Their pediatrician beleives that our daughter would have died of malnourishment within 10 days if she had not been removed. The biomom did not think she had done anything wrong. These people just stopped caring for this baby boy, IMO.

 

[Lovejac]

God!! I hate to hear that she only got 50 years, this case has haunted me! If I remember correctly cause of death was from sepsis because of not being changed. His little bum was raw. God rest his soul.

 

[southcitymom]

God!! I hate to hear that she only got 50 years, this case has haunted me! If I remember correctly cause of death was from sepsis because of not being changed. His little bum was raw. God rest his soul.

It was sepsis. And where have you been?.....YoVille?:blowkiss:

 

[Lovejac]

It was sepsis. And where have you been?.....YoVille?:blowkiss:

LOL! I had a 4 yo that had the same crud that you got. Hope you are feeling better :blowkiss:

 

[Francine]

I found this link which has some info I had not seen before. Just beware that this thread disintegrates later into an all out flame fest. Ignore the latter half of the thread.

http://mydeathspace.com/smf/index.php?topic=12813.0


That poor beautiful little boy. This family clearly needed a village. The village needed a city. How could the father ignore this little baby's cries and not realize that he needed help to cope. He had a week to get his **** together. It's horrible that the mom was so far gone that she did not even check up on her own little baby or on the father to make sure he was supported and coping. Tragic.

 

[2goldfish]

This case along with brianna lopez are the two worst of a long lot of heartbreaking cases I have read about. I have cried more tears for those two babies than I could put into words.

With that said, I only hope that pleading guilty for 50 years so "benjamin gets justice" as she said, is due solely to the fact that after some time in prison, momma truly understood just what she had done. I hope she is haunted forever....