GUILTY FL - Lakeland girl, 14, charged with killing newborn son, 19 Sept 2012

[Seajay]

I don't know how I feel about her being tried as an adult. Certainly she made adult decisions and committed what we would consider adult crimes. And she is at an age where she should definitely know right from wrong.

I've watched a lot of "Deadly Women" where women kill. (I ignore the crappy acting and concentrate on the actions of the subject.) And it's obvious some people are just born evil, are sociopathic, narcisistic and should never be among society again. Is this girl one of them???? On the outside looking in, I would say yes. To do what she did to that baby and have no empathy whatsoever is chilling.

I think somehow she managed to emotionally detach herself from her child and didn't see it as a living, breathing individual, outside of herself.

I'm wondering if she had a history of harming animals or other children?

One way or the other, there is something seriously mentally wrong with this girl. Locked up or not, she needs therapy and plenty of it. And even at that if she is a sociopath, it doesn't matter how much therapy she has, she'll never have the capacity for empathy.

If LE decided to charge her as an adult, then they have their reasons, which will come out in the trial. It will be an interesting case to follow, that's for sure.

One more comment, going back to her killing her baby being compared to killing the neighbor down the street. To me, the BIGGEST difference is that the neighbor would have been able to fight back, this poor defenseless baby never had a chance once she decided to kill it.

 

[Reader]

Doing some searching on this case this morning and found this old article...not sure if it was posted before but bears repeating for those who were disturbed about the adult charges and C's name being released:

Should teen accused of killing her newborn have been identified?

http://winterhaven.wtsp.com/news/ne...used-killing-her-newborn-have-been-identified

[has video]

.........Sheriff Grady Judd says he met with the case detective and others for hours, determining the best way to release such sensitive information about such a young girl.

But under Florida law, when someone is charged with a felony, even if he or she is a minor, the name, photo, and address of that person are all public record

"I would have been real happy not to have had to follow the law on this occasion, but that's not how the system works," says Sheriff Grady Judd. "Can you imagine, for one moment, when you have something as horrific as a 14-year-old murdering her newborn baby, us trying not to release that information when the law says we have to? We'd be in a lot of trouble."

The information would not be required to be released if the 14-year-old was raped, or was found to be the victim of another crime. In this case, there's no evidence that points to that..............

The 14-year-old is still in custody, as a decision is made on whether she will be taken to a juvenile facility or, because of the severity of her first-degree murder and child abuse charges, be taken to jail.

If anything, the Sheriff's Office hopes the information released can help other families prevent these kinds of tragedies in their own homes.

 

[Reader]

Polk County record of actions in C's case:


https://www2.myfloridacounty.com/cc...cqk4qg6MA&q2=ff86bbe70375befb17248966c7080071

C has 2 felony charges:

CHARGE SEQ# STATUTE STATUTE TEXT DATE PHASE
001 78204 1 FIRST DEGREE MURDER 10/04/2012 Prosecutor: Filed
002 82703 2C AGG CHILD ABUSE BY GRT BOD HARM, PERM DISABIL 10/04/2012 Prosecutor: Filed

Under court events, it shows multiple hearings/motions set 10/23 and/or
10/24.

 

[Reader]

Finally found an updated article:

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/ne...r-choking-newborn-son-appears-in-court-friday

...........[SA] Hill explained to reporters today why they decided to seek adult charges. He says one of the main reasons is because kids charged as kids have limitations on their sentences.

"At the age of 21, before you turn 22, you're footloose and fancy free," he said. "We don't believe that's appropriate." ..................

Goodson's public defender would not comment about the case, but confirmed she has filed a motion for bail. That will be handled by another judge at a later date.

Reporters asked Hill about Goodson's mother who has received a lot of criticism for not noticing the pregnancy. Hill said he doesn't know of any charges that would be appropriate for the mother.

Their focus, he said, is on Cassidy Goodson.

The suspect has a bond and status hearing on October 23 and 24.

 

[Reader]

Updated court record for 10/23 and 10/24 just shows 'multiple hearings/motions'....a status conference is scheduled for 11/15/12:

https://www2.myfloridacounty.com/cc...cqk4qg6MA&q2=d75fbfbc2d05db9e611b13dd4fcb3b19

 

[Reader]

Just noting for the future that the case is also on Crime Library, although it is not updated as yet, but some of the comments show the same different opinions we have discussed here:

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/...ing-newborn-after-hiding-pregnancy/index.html

 

[grace60]

Teen Mother Charged in Newborn's Murder Feared Disappointing Parents

http://www.theledger.com/article/20121115/NEWS/121119539?tc=cr


I also saw a teaser on wfla or wtsp, channel 8 and 10 about a video and missed it. My comp is a bit messed up tonight

 

[not_my_kids]

I feel so sorry for almost everyone in this story. Mind you I said almost. CG's mother gets no sympathy from me.

At the age of 16, I got pregnant. I didn't fear losing my relationship with my parents, I already wasn't living at home, and it was just me and my mom for the most part when I was at home. I wasn't afraid of starting a family, losing my lifestyle, labor pains, or anything else, really. But there were still moments when I prayed for a miscarriage. I prayed that it would just go away. Up until I was about 5 months along, I didn't tell anyone, because I was still hoping that it would go away. I never thought of killing the baby (although I did consider abortion, I just wasn't sure how to access one, and I was 2 years older than this girl, and a lot more street savvy), but I did, in my naivete, just pray that it would go away. Because at 16, that's how my brain worked. If I didn't act on it, didn't prepare for it, didn't tell anyone....if I didn't make it real, it would just disappear.

I understand the first degree murder charge, I really do, because under the law what she did was the taking of another human life after premeditation and planning. The law usually does not specify how much planning must go into a death before it is considered murder, and in this case, I don't beleive there was much.

When I went into labor with my first child at 17, all I can remember is blood and a sort of animal panic. Of course, by this point, everyone knew I was pregnant, because in the last trimester, I gained almost 90 pounds. Good luck hiding that. Stabbing the child while it was still inside her is a panic reaction. No one in their right mind, is going to stab themselves in the vagina with a pair of scissors. I do recall with myself telling the doctors that if they didn't get this thing out of me I was going to pull it out with my bare hands. Panic reaction. I can't imagine what I would have done if I had put off telling people a little longer, if I were raised in an atmosphere of denial (look at this girls mother), or if I were a little more scared of making my mom angry or losing my home or any of those things.

For myself, and only for myself, I will continue to believe that this child was out of her mind with pain, fear and denial at the time that she stabbed the baby. That led to her, still panicked and scared and in pain, delivering a child that was badly injured, and might even have looked like it was going to die anyway. Animal instinct is to kill or abandon a damaged offspring.We as humans have been taught that we can't do that, but it is the instinct of most animals.

After she killed it, she was out of options. She didn't toss it in her backpack and throw it from a bridge, she didn't cut it into pieces and flush it down the toilet, she didn't bury it or throw it in a dumpster. She kept it in her room like some sort of doll. I really don't believe that she understood what she was doing, or that she acted with her full mental capacity. She acted on panic and instinct and then more panic.

MOO.

 

[jjenny]

Based on the interview she gave police, i don't see anything that suggests she didn't know what she was doing.
Seems to me like she knew perfectly well. According to police, she checked to see if the child was alive. He was. Then he was suffocated.
What about this suggests she didn't know what she was doing? Nothing, if you ask me.
People just want to find excuses.

 

[TorisMom003]

I may be the only one here who doesn't see what she did as being all that different from a teenager who gets an abortion.

My guess is, had she had the resources and ability to get herself to an abortion clinic at 6 weeks along, she would have done it.

Procrastination - IMHO - doesn't make one act so very very completely different from the other.

(Note - I'm actually pro-choice, but have marched in protests on both sides. it's heart wrenching, and horrific, but I really don't see how a society that allows for abortion of healthy babies on demand up til (I don't know how many weeks) can lock a 14 year old up for life for "aborting" her baby at birth).

And where do we draw the line at "aborting" a baby/child after it is born? What age works as the limit? Should mothers (and I use that term loosly) like Casey Anthony, Susan Smith, etc that have killed their children be looked at as women that simply "aborted" their child/children after birth? I actually saw a post somewhere (can't remember what site it was) that said that Casey just aborted Caylee two years after the fact. How is this right? How is this morally acceptable? Why would we even begin to think that this should be ok?

Perhaps once we realize that murder is murder no matter who commits it, then we can begin to be civilized human beings again.

MOO

 

[Cracka*Jaxx]

I may be the only one here who doesn't see what she did as being all that different from a teenager who gets an abortion.

My guess is, had she had the resources and ability to get herself to an abortion clinic at 6 weeks along, she would have done it.

Procrastination - IMHO - doesn't make one act so very very completely different from the other.

(Note - I'm actually pro-choice, but have marched in protests on both sides. it's heart wrenching, and horrific, but I really don't see how a society that allows for abortion of healthy babies on demand up til (I don't know how many weeks) can lock a 14 year old up for life for "aborting" her baby at birth).

BBM

You marched in protests on both sides of the abortion issue? And you believe that killing a newborn is similar to getting an abortion? No wonder you're confused on the issue of abortion. :banghead:

 

[gogrannypop]

Anyone that kills anything that draws breath is guilty of Murder. No question in my mind. Animal or child.

To add--- abortion does not play any part in my reply. JMOO

 

[not_my_kids]

Where do we draw the line at aborting a fetus? I typically draw it at about the time of birth, when a fetus becomes a baby. But that's just me.

 

[grace60]

I posted a link to a new story from the local paper http://www.theledger.com/article/20121115/NEWS/121119539?p=1&tc=pg

There is nothing mentioned about an abortion in the story. If this is going to cause problems I won't post any new stories about this case I see. I'm following this case because I'm concerned about this 14 yr old girl who seemed to be let down by every adult in her life and now she is looking at life in prison. Is there a person reading about this story who would have shrugged your shoulders and said O Well and walked away if this was your child, niece, or neighbor? LE needs to round up all the adults in this child's life that questioned her or her mother that accepted the answer when they told her she was not pregnant. One anonymous call to CPS could have prevented this tragedy.

 

[jjenny]

I am not understanding as to what could possibly be done to adults.
They didn't kill this infant.
Mother appears to have been in deep denial but as far as I can tell, there is no law against being in denial.

 

[lisalei321]

I am not understanding why the ADULTS in this CHILDS life are not being held accountable!

This CHILD was pregnant, and while a teens body may be mature enough, I firmly believe, that without a family to help, their mind is not.

I agree with the poster above, that a single call to CPS, may have very well prevented this tragedy, and this child may have then had the resources to make a better choice. After all, isn't that what we're supposed to do as parents? Help our children make right choices? Not ignore an obvious pregnancy?

This girl has been failed by so many people...If her Mom had failed to get her medical treatment for any other condition, I think we would be here blaming the Mom, not the child.

Sent from my LG Motion using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ausgirl]

from:http://www.theledger.com/article/20121115/NEWS/121119539?p=3&tc=pg

"I should have took her to the doctor, and I didn't," Teresa Goodson told detectives.

Yeah. Well. There's some criminal-looking neglect of a minor right there, IMO.

How the cops can be at a loss for charges to lay is beyond me.

How the mother missed noticing her child was nine months pregnant.. that's beyond me, too.

I'm not going to post on this thread any more. Some of the agenda-pushing abortion arguments and general nastiness toward other posters I've seen from some here makes me think it's just not a great thread to be on.

Prayers for Baby Goodson. <3

 

[not_my_kids]

I am not understanding as to what could possibly be done to adults.
They didn't kill this infant.
Mother appears to have been in deep denial but as far as I can tell, there is no law against being in denial.

There are laws against medical neglect. There are laws against environmental neglect (allowing the girl to endanger her health by wearing sweatshirts in FL). There are laws against allowing a child to take part in the commission of a crime (having sex with a minor, even though she was a minor as well). If the sex occurred under the mother's roof due to a lack of supervision, charge her as an accessory to the sex offense.

There are no laws against denial, but there are plenty of laws against the effects of denial this bad. She didn't take her daughter to a doctor for at least 9 months. She didn't make an effort to make sure that her child was appropriately dressed for the weather. She didn't provide adequate supervision to keep her child from becoming involved in criminal activity. There's three. I'm sure there's more.

 

[jjenny]

Whatever laws there are, police clearly have not found anything to charge the mother with. Maybe because 14 year old admits she claimed to her mother she wasn't pregnant and faked a pregnancy test by pouring water on it. It might be hard to charge the mother with anything because it looks that she was misled by her daughter whom she wanted to believe.

 

[flipflop]

from:http://www.theledger.com/article/20121115/NEWS/121119539?p=3&tc=pg



Yeah. Well. There's some criminal-looking neglect of a minor right there, IMO.

How the cops can be at a loss for charges to lay is beyond me.

How the mother missed noticing her child was nine months pregnant.. that's beyond me, too.

I'm not going to post on this thread any more. Some of the agenda-pushing abortion arguments and general nastiness toward other posters I've seen from some here makes me think it's just not a great thread to be on.

Prayers for Baby Goodson. <3

I agree with you, I actually do not understand why we are debating the abortion issue....as there was NO abortion in this case!!!!!