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

[eve]

I know of a 5 year old little girl who figured out how to remove a screen, climbed out a bedroom widow, only to be found butt naked in only cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, riding her tricycle down the parking lot of the apartment. BOY WAS MY MOM FRANTIC!

My brother used to take his screen off all the time and we'd find his cowboy boots stuck in the mud in the ground below the window. Once we found him walking down a busy street in his diaper carrying my grandma's purse. He was 2. "Goin shoppin!" he said.

Eve

 

[athy]

i was making dinner one day and my kids were up in their room. next thing i know they came walking in thru the front door. i thought perhaps i just missed them going out the door. i was finishing up their dinner and getting ready to call them and they came in the front door again, this time my 2 year old was coming in with them. again i thought i must have missed them going out the door. i went up to get them for dinner and here they were at the window telling my 2 year old you can do it go ahead...here they had taken the sheet and were climbing down it to the ground. they had talked my 2 year old into trying it also. she had climbed her first tree at 18 months so doing this wasn't anything for HER... for me it was a heart attack. needless to say i made sure that didn't happen again.

 

[noZme]

glitch(daleevans/ladygodiva)wizard,

what a cute story.
that's a parent's "let me kiss you/spank you" diliema!

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Any of us parents with children out of diapers have horror stories to tell about "what could have" happened.

My son was about six years old once and angry that he couldn't go to Home Depot with dad walked out the back door and was gonna walk there. I had heard him in his room playing Legos and was cooking dinner when the door bell rang. There the little turd was standing at the door with a Cop! I could not believe my eyes!!!!! Of course, the Cop had to find out just how horrible of a mother I was to not know where my son was and took him aside asking if he was "scared of me." He said "nope, I just wanted to go to Home Depot."

My daughter was still in diapers, not walking yet and disappeared after dinner. I had three baby gates up at every single entrance to and from the living room and my only thought was that she followed our nanny out when her boyfriend picked her up after dinner and she was crawling down the street, same as this story.

I called 911 and was literally hysterical! I thought my heart was going to burst right out of my chest! It was dark and we lived on the lake. I knew she was dead. I just knew it. My husband was out of town and I was going to have to call him and say our daughter was dead. The 911 operator was very nice and she kept telling me to check this room and check that room. My son was not even two years old at the time, so he was no help. I literally ran from room to room, even looking in the washer and dryer. Couldn't find her anyplace. I finally went into my bedroom, which I had passed up sooner because the door was closed. I walked through the room and into the bathroom and there was my daughter. Sitting in the middle of the room unwrapping an entire box of tampons. Of course, I picked her up and burst into worse tears and just then the doorbell rang. I went out and the cops were standing there. Apparently, that's about the time I passed out and one of the cops caught my daughter before we hit the floor. They were very sweet to me and stayed for about 30 minutes. My hands could not stop shaking.

 

[Taximom]

OMGosh, Jeana! I'm so glad it turned out ok in both cases.

Two of mine snuck out the door. Thank God it turned out ok too. My dd (2 yrs) got out of her crib one Saturday morning and turned TWO locks on our door, and waddled down the street to her favorite blue house. The woman there promptly ran her down to our house and woke us up. It was only about 8:30 or so, but we never heard her. I was the one that needed diapers that morning. Man, oh man.

12 yrs later...My son wanted to go to the store with me and my oldest dd, but I told him no. I left w/dd, and he stayed in the house JUST until dh went to the bathroom. He walked out of the house, got into his Little Tikes car and drove down the street.

DH thought I changed my mind and came back and took him to the store with me while dh was in the bathroom!!! He wasn't even looking for him. So that looked really good when the police drove up to the house and asked him if he knew where the little boy in the back of the police car belonged. **sigh** He almost fainted right there.

DS had driven to the street behind our house and the neighbors knew he looked familiar, but we had just moved here and they didn't know us yet. My heart still flutters when I talk about these stories.

That's why I want to hear more details when I hear about these cases. It really can happen to anyone.

 

[Taximom]

Oh my gosh, I just saw the rest of the stories here. It's amazing we don't die of heart attacks when they are that young and do all that stuff.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

OMGosh, Jeana! I'm so glad it turned out ok in both cases.

Two of mine snuck out the door. Thank God it turned out ok too. My dd (2 yrs) got out of her crib one Saturday morning and turned TWO locks on our door, and waddled down the street to her favorite blue house. The woman there promptly ran her down to our house and woke us up. It was only about 8:30 or so, but we never heard her. I was the one that needed diapers that morning. Man, oh man.

12 yrs later...My son wanted to go to the store with me and my oldest dd, but I told him no. I left w/dd, and he stayed in the house JUST until dh went to the bathroom. He walked out of the house, got into his Little Tikes car and drove down the street.

DH thought I changed my mind and came back and took him to the store with me while dh was in the bathroom!!! He wasn't even looking for him. So that looked really good when the police drove up to the house and asked him if he knew where the little boy in the back of the police car belonged. **sigh** He almost fainted right there.

DS had driven to the street behind our house and the neighbors knew he looked familiar, but we had just moved here and they didn't know us yet. My heart still flutters when I talk about these stories.

That's why I want to hear more details when I hear about these cases. It really can happen to anyone.

Taxi, I'm glad things worked out well for you all too. If kids only knew what they put us through!!! Remember back in the 1960s, when we got things for Christmas like glass making kits and candle making kits and stuff like that? How did any of us ever survive!!!

 

[Taximom]

Yeah, no seatbelts to wear or carseats, mom and dad smoking all around us...and I got a really cool chemistry set for Christmas once!

 

[Littledeer]

In my case, I was the guilty one and this story is always told at every family reunion.

Guess I decided I wanted to take a stroll butt naked down the middle of the road dragging a purse that was 4 sizes larger than me!!!!!

I still think I'm hot, but don't go butt naked anymore!!! LOL

Like Taxi and Jeanna I have also had horror stories of my children getting TEMPORARILY lost..........(LOL).........I'm surprised we are all still here! :blowkiss:

Ahhhhhhhh, those were the days weren't they??? I still go searching for bead making kits, candle making kits, etc. Did anyone else have a seesaw in their yard to play on??

 

[noZme]

OH NO!!!!


Tragedy revisits family

Baby's sister was also run over at same house last year

By PETER GUINTA [email protected]
Posted: Tuesday, June 3, 2008 ; Updated: 1:25 AM on Tuesday, June 3, 2008
On Sunday night, Melanie Bernard suffered a life-changing tragedy that she never thought could happen to her again.
Bernard's 9-month old daughter, Shawna Leanne Masterson, died Sunday after the baby crawled out the broken front screen door of her home at 153 Nesmith St. about 6 p.m., and went through a gate and beneath a parked van.

When the van's driver, Joseph L. Wise, 47, a family friend, went to move the van, the baby was run over and killed.

St. Augustine police said there are two investigations ongoing, one looking into the traffic homicide and the other by the Department of Children & Families into the circumstances of the baby's death.

Bernard is familiar with all this.

In November 2007, her other daughter, Haley Runion, 6, was also run over by a car at that house. Haley was playing with a light-colored mat in the driveway of her home when a car driven by a DCF worker slowly turned into the driveway.
The woman driving told St. Augustine police that she felt her car bump into something. She got out and found the child under the car. Haley was taken to Flagler Hospital with a collapsed lung, broken ribs and multiple abrasions.

She is still recovering.

Investigation revealed that Haley's father had gone to the back of the property and was working on a car. His daughter, who is deaf, went into the front yard.

"Physically, she is good," Bernard's brother, Johnny, told a news crew Monday.

But what must have been the most severe blow came Sunday with Shawna's death.
Reports said a "very emotional" Wise volunteered to take alcohol and drug tests. Blood was taken from him; no charges have been filed.
Wise told officers he had come to the house to help Bernard with a vehicle. When Wise arrived at the door, he was met by Thelma Newmans, who was helping Bernard. Wise said he spoke to Bernard at the front door, and the baby was crawling by her feet.

He opened the gate on the side of the house, and Bernard came outside to help him.
Newmans stayed inside with the baby. After they moved items at the back of the house, they came out to move the van.

Bernard said she was at the back of the house moving things when the accident occurred, the report said.

Sgt. Barry Fox of the St. Augustine police couldn't give more details. "The case is still under investigation," he said Monday.

Late Monday afternoon, the family was busy moving out of that house. "

 

[Taximom]

Oh my gosh, this is horrible. My prayers for that family.

 

[Littledeer]

OMG, that poor family.

I'm so glad that I didn't make assumptions until some facts were known. I am also hard of hearing and have come close many many times to being run over because I coudn't hear the vehicle.

My prayers to the family. They are going to need a lot of strength right now.

 

[Lyn1001]

I honestly feel for the family, and I understand the front door was broken. Having a 2 yr old, I also understand how quickly children can get away from you. However, I can't help but think that after the incident with their other daughter, they should have been paying better attention to this child. I am always want to know where my child is, and I imagine if there had been an incident with another child, I would be obsessive about wanting to know where my child is. Regardless of what mistakes may have been made, my heart does go out to everyone involved.

 

[Littledeer]

Lyn, after rereading the article, I see it's only been 7 months since the older daughter had her incident.

While I agree with you that I (am speaking ONLY FOR MYSELF) might/would have been more alert after such a short time with a younger child, we still don't know all the details.

Was the screen door already broken? Was anything in front of it?? Where was everyone else??

I won't condemn until I have some more facts. At this point we have two bereaved parents.

 

[MeoW333]

Two Children hit by cars at the same house? My hinky meter is going off!!
That poor neighbor must feel horrible, i'm sure he had no idea..
These parents need to be investigated and arrested.

 

[SewingDeb]

Did anyone notice it was a DCF worker who ran over the first child in their driveway?

 

[Lyn1001]

Looking at the article again, it sounds as if a friend was inside with the baby. I would like more information about what that friend was doing. If the parents were working on a vehicle and trusted a friend to keep an eye on their daughter, that's one thing. If they just don't keep an eye on their kids in general, that's something totally different. I would like to know more information.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

In my case, I was the guilty one and this story is always told at every family reunion.

Guess I decided I wanted to take a stroll butt naked down the middle of the road dragging a purse that was 4 sizes larger than me!!!!!

I still think I'm hot, but don't go butt naked anymore!!! LOL

Like Taxi and Jeanna I have also had horror stories of my children getting TEMPORARILY lost..........(LOL).........I'm surprised we are all still here! :blowkiss:

Ahhhhhhhh, those were the days weren't they??? I still go searching for bead making kits, candle making kits, etc. Did anyone else have a seesaw in their yard to play on??

I've got a seesaw in my attic that I bought for my kids. We dug it out for a garage sale not too long ago and my daughter and I had a blast on it!!! It didn't sell, so maybe I'll keep it for the grandkids!

 

[Littledeer]

SewingDeb:

I did about the DCF. My first thought was Department of Childen Services, but then it's an F at the end not a C.

So what is DCF????? Anyone know?

 

[SewingDeb]

Florida calls it The Department of Children and Families.

http://www.state.fl.us/cf_web/