GUILTY IA - Gabriel McFarland, 4 mos, dies of head trauma, Des Moines, 22 April 2014

[ScarlettScarpetta]

Thanks. Abusive Head Trauma in a child applies to a head injury that has been inflicted by someone else whether by shaking or dropping down a flight of stairs (death of Cash Bell, who was removed from life support after five days. Nanny convicted.)

The term "Abusive" does not apply to all blunt force trauma head injuries, which can be also be accidental. "Abusive Head Trauma" is child abuse.

Who inflicted it, when it was inflicted, how it was inflicted all must be proved at trial.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/shaken.html

See this is bugging me. We know who did this. There is no question. Please don't infer the mother was involved.

 

[MyBelle]

See this is bugging me. We know who did this. There is no question. Please don't infer the mother was involved.

I don't know who was responsible for Gabriel's death. I can't infer who is guilty because too many facts remain unknown.

Just my opinion.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

I don't know who was responsible for Gabriel's death. I can't infer who is guilty because too many facts remain unknown.

Just my opinion.

We know exactly who killed him. There is no question. The police have the facts and have the person in custody.

 

[MyBelle]

We know exactly who killed him. There is no question. The police have the facts and have the person in custody.

I don't share your opinion that just because someone is in custody it proves they are guilty. I prefer to have the facts before I make a conclusion.

JMO

 

[tlcya]

Thanks. Abusive Head Trauma in a child applies to a head injury that has been inflicted by someone else whether by shaking or dropping down a flight of stairs (death of Cash Bell, who was removed from life support after five days. Nanny convicted.)

The term "Abusive" does not apply to all blunt force trauma head injuries, which can be also be accidental. "Abusive Head Trauma" is child abuse.

Who inflicted it, when it was inflicted, how it was inflicted all must be proved at trial.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/shaken.html

agreed, abusive head trauma can be used to describe any trauma to the head or brain inflicted purposefully by whatever mechanism - shaking, hitting, throwing a child against the wall or otherwise taking an action to inflict harm (abuse)

Depending on the type of trauma and the specific nature of the brain injury, the timeline for symptoms or injury to be evident will vary.

The point I am making is that til trial we won't know exactly what the ME feels caused the head trauma so debating whether it was Shaking or blunt force is pointless without more info. Either could be correct.

Til trial (if there is one and this doesn't go to a plea deal) we will not know what exactly the ME postulates was the cause of the abusive trauma. We simply know that it was abusive and the father is charged.

 

[MyBelle]

agreed, abusive head trauma can be used to describe any trauma to the head or brain inflicted purposefully by whatever mechanism - shaking, hitting, throwing a child against the wall or otherwise taking an action to inflict harm (abuse)

Depending on the type of trauma and the specific nature of the brain injury, the timeline for symptoms or injury to be evident will vary.

The point I am making is that til trial we won't know exactly what the ME feels caused the head trauma so debating whether it was Shaking or blunt force is pointless without more info. Either could be correct.

Til trial (if there is one and this doesn't go to a plea deal) we will not know what exactly the ME postulates was the cause of the abusive trauma. We simply know that it was abusive and the father is charged.

I wasn't aware I was debating either or. I stated my opinion to Linda that it was not blunt force trauma and the basis for my opinion.

It will continue to be my opinion if the death was blunt force trauma, the ME would have said so. Children do die from blunt force trauma and ME's do tend to use the correct term when listing cause of death.

I doubt there will be a plea deal in this case.

JMO

 

[tlcya]

agreeing to disagree. I remain convinced that the father and the father alone caused this death and til LE or trial evidence shows me otherwise. I remain convinced that ABH is used by current medical professionals to describe both SBS and BFT as per the recommendations from the actual medical community that diagnoses such findings.

 

[MyBelle]

agreeing to disagree. I remain convinced that the father and the father alone caused this death and til LE or trial evidence shows me otherwise. I remain convinced that ABH is used by current medical professionals to describe both SBS and BFT as per the recommendations from the actual medical community that diagnoses such findings.

Blunt force trauma was not used by the medical professional who conducted Gabriel's autopsy. Prosecutors can't just believe something is true, they have to actually prove it.

JMO

Prosecutors now believe an Iowa father killed his baby boy, causing abusive head trauma.

Read more: http://www.ketv.com/news/prosecutors-blame-head-trauma-in-babys-death/25727652#ixzz31GnvBg3c

 

[tlcya]

I will stae my position once more and then I am done responding because it is clear we have two very different viewpoints and that will not change. And that is okay. That is what is the beauty of this site.

My position

Abusive head trauma is the generally accepted and encourage terminology by medical professionals to describe all of the following:

shaking a child causing trauma to the brain
hitting/striking a child causing trauma to the brain
throwing a child who then hits his/her head causing trauma to the brain

according to medical professional organizations, the latest definition for ABH inculdes all of the above causes. This is my opinion and it will not change.

I completely understand that your position differs and that is your perogative.

again, agreeing to disagree and moving on.

I agree that the ME is the deciding factor. But if an ME cannot determine which of those things caused the death then they WILL and DO describe it as AHT. Trial will clear much of this up and so til that happens I think we should simply move forward as neither of us will convince the other to step over to another POV.

 

[MyBelle]

I will stae my position once more and then I am done responding because it is clear we have two very different viewpoints and that will not change. And that is okay. That is what is the beauty of this site.

My position

Abusive head trauma is the generally accepted and encourage terminology by medical professionals to describe all of the following:

shaking a child causing trauma to the brain
hitting/striking a child causing trauma to the brain
throwing a child who then hits his/her head causing trauma to the brain

according to medical professional organizations, the latest definition for ABH inculdes all of the above causes. This is my opinion and it will not change.

I completely understand that your position differs and that is your perogative.

again, agreeing to disagree and moving on.

I agree that the ME is the deciding factor. But if an ME cannot determine which of those things caused the death then they WILL and DO describe it as AHT. Trial will clear much of this up and so til that happens I think we should simply move forward as neither of us will convince the other to step over to another POV.

BBM. The ME DID determine the cause of death and it was NOT blunt force trauma. If a skull makes contact with a blunt object to the point it causes almost immediate death, it leaves physical damage to the skull itself. I'm not sure why you want to believe the pathologist was unable to diagnose blunt force trauma but that is certainly your right to believe it, I agree.

 

[tlcya]

I haven't seen anything about funeral arrangements or Gabriel's obituary. If anyone finds it please link. Thanks

 

[Linda7NJ]

http://www.in.gov/judiciary/center/files/jedu-lib-crim-infant-head-injury.pdf


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[ScarlettScarpetta]

I haven't seen anything about funeral arrangements or Gabriel's obituary. If anyone finds it please link. Thanks

I think that it is hard to know what name he will be buried under. Gabriel Mcfarland was his adopted name.

Markeya may have changed his last name to Atkins, Her name or Smith the fathers name. I know I would not keep the name of the adopted parents if I had my baby back.

I think it may be tricky to find.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

BBM. The ME DID determine the cause of death and it was NOT blunt force trauma. If a skull makes contact with a blunt object to the point it causes almost immediate death, it leaves physical damage to the skull itself. I'm not sure why you want to believe the pathologist was unable to diagnose blunt force trauma but that is certainly your right to believe it, I agree.

What does this matter? Really. The child is dead and he endured head trauma. The amount or how hard.. does that really really matter? The father killed him and will be arraigned in June.

That is all we have for now.

What a hard Mother's day this will be for his mommy....

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

"Atkins said she and the baby would spend all day together, watching "Law & Order" and cartoons. The baby's father would come over often to help give the child baths."

He had shown Gabriels mother that he cared about the child. He had come over and helped care for him. There is no reason why she would not leave him alone with his dad so that she could run to the store.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2014/04/24/gabriel-three-moms-feel-loss/8131923/

 

[MyBelle]

http://www.in.gov/judiciary/center/files/jedu-lib-crim-infant-head-injury.pdf


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Thanks, Linda. That confirms my belief that shaking did contribute to Gabriel's death. There may or may not have been an impact. The father was with the child under an hour. I think the prosecution is going to have a difficult time proving he alone was responsible. His defense will probably be that the child had a seizure, it scared him and he was still alive when he left him.

JMO

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

Thanks, Linda. That confirms my belief that shaking did contribute to Gabriel's death. There may or may not have been an impact. The father was with the child under an hour. I think the prosecution is going to have a difficult time proving he alone was responsible. His defense will probably be that the child had a seizure, it scared him and he was still alive when he left him.

JMO

He is alone responsible. He alone will be arraigned. The mother is not a suspect.

The baby was also found wet. Can not explain that with SBS. A father killed his child. Sadly that is not new and sadly this will not be the last case.

 

[MyBelle]

He is alone responsible. He alone will be arraigned. The mother is not a suspect.

The baby was also found wet. Can not explain that with SBS. A father killed his child. Sadly that is not new and sadly this will not be the last case.

Police usually don't name suspects.

The investigation is ongoing, and more charges may be filed, police said.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ants-death-leaves-3-mothers-grieving/8133673/

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

Police usually don't name suspects.

The investigation is ongoing, and more charges may be filed, police said.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ants-death-leaves-3-mothers-grieving/8133673/

The father has been arrested. He is being arraigned in June. More charges against the father. From that article.

"Drew James Weehler-Smith, 17, has been charged with first degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death.
The adoptive parents of Gabriel McFarland learned their 4-month-old infant died from internal head trauma 40 days after he was returned to his biological mother.

Police say Gabriel suffered head trauma while in the care of his biological father, 17-year-old high school student Drew James Weehler-Smith.

Weehler-Smith was alone with Gabriel while the infant’s mother left the house to run errands.



Although the medical examiner determined that Gabriel’s death was caused by an abusive head trauma, Sgt. Jason Halifax, Des Moines Police Department Public Information Officer, said investigators are unable to release investigative details concerning how the head trauma was inflicted."

That means that they know how he killed the baby. HIM. He alone. He probably confessed in some capacity.

New charges..

"Weehler-Smith has been charged with first degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. He is facing life in prison on the charge of first degree murder and a maximum of 50 years, if convicted, on child endangerment. "

The father and the father alone.

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/04/30/mcfarland-gabriel-baby-murder-adoption-reverse


"A teen father, whose baby died while in his care, was charged with first-degree murder."

http://wqad.com/2014/04/29/teen-father-faces-murder-charge-in-death-of-his-baby/

A deliberate premeditated killing. He did it, They know he did it, He is going to pay the price alone for it.

 

[K_Z]

What does this matter? Really. The child is dead and he endured head trauma. The amount or how hard.. does that really really matter? The father killed him and will be arraigned in June.

That is all we have for now.

What a hard Mother's day this will be for his mommy....

BBM.

I'm sure it will be an excruciatingly hard day for Rachel and Heidi McFarland, too. And Rebecca Garrett. Does anyone even remember them?

After all, Rachel and Heidi McFarland brought Gabriel home from the hospital, invested months of their lives, and thousands of dollars, and allowed themselves to have hopes and dreams about raising Gabriel, during MA's pregnancy. They embraced motherhood, and changed every aspect of their lives to prepare for, and receive Gabriel. They invested emotional energy in dreams for his present, and his future. They loved, and attentively mothered this child, and welcomed MA into their home to remain involved in Gabriel's life.

One of them quit a job she loved to be a stay at home parent. They cared for Gabriel as if he had grown inside them, and loved him and cared for him as his only parents for 3/4 of his life.

They sacrificed enormously, and loved this baby deeply. They have suffered deeply, and been tremendously disrespected. They are cast aside, invisible and disposable victims of this terrible tragedy, as if they were mere babysitters. An afterthought. They have lost a huge part of their lives and dreams in this entire situation, IMO.

And NO ONE even bothered to call them to tell them the baby they considered their son was dead. No one.

I hope they were invited to participate in a funeral or memorial service. I hope they weren't cut out of that part of Gabriel's brief life, too.

Rebecca Garrett is suffering, too. Gabriel's adoptive grandmother.

An Omaha woman is mourning the death of her 4-month-old adopted grandson, who was taken from her daughter and returned to his birth mother in Des Moines.

Rebecca Garrett, the Omaha grandmother, last saw Gabriel King McFarland in mid-March.

Garrett kissed Gabriel, whom she had nicknamed “little brown bear,” and told him she would always love him.

The McFarlands learned of the baby's death after seeing a news report. Garrett said the couple recognized the birth mother's address from bills they had been receiving

.

Garrett is focused on changing state laws so nothing like this happens again. She said the system failed Gabriel.

“I'm going to change it so that when Gabe looks down on us from heaven, he can smile and say 'Did I do all that?' ”

I hope Rebecca Garrett, and Heidi and Rachel McFarland can advocate as mothers, to make changes in Iowa law to prevent this entire situation from ever happening again. Their arms are empty on what should have been their first Mother's day, too. Let's not forget them. They matter. They are victims, too-- over and over, they have been victimized.

http://www.omaha.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20140425/news/140429072/1707