GUILTY MI - Mariha Smith, 5, Detroit, 24 July 2011

[PlainJaneDoe]

If the heat gets intense enough, the skull reacts by shattering... I've read stuff on cremation, and they often mention the skull exploding/shattering during the cremating burn process.

I've finally got caught up reading through the pages of this thread. Heartbreaking that another innocent child has lost their life. Sometimes the world feels like a cold, cruel, mean place... And this definitely is one of those moments.

Sometimes it feels overwhelming.

 

[BeanE]

I took a nap and I'm trying to catch up. Did something come up that the ME has said that her skull wasn't crushed after all? That it was a heat reaction?

The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled a little girl found dead in a fire in an abandoned building died in a homicide due to asphyxiation.

But the identity of the little girl, estimated to be 5 to 7 years old, won't be confirmed until investigators receive DNA testing results, which could take days, Wayne County spokesman Dennis Niemiec said this afternoon.

"Her skull was crushed and she was burned, but the cause of death was asphyxiation," Niemiec said. "Whatever killed her occurred before the fire."

http://www.freep.com/article/201107...escription?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Crushed, to me, means taking a brick or baseball bat or cinder block or steel toed boot to a skull. For heat damage, I would have expected the ME to use a different word, if he/she mentioned it at all. They usually, in homicide rulings, only talk about the signs of deliberate abuse to the victim's body, not natural reactions.

 

[PlainJaneDoe]

I took a nap and I'm trying to catch up. Did something come up that the ME has said that her skull wasn't crushed after all? That it was a heat reaction?

The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled a little girl found dead in a fire in an abandoned building died in a homicide due to asphyxiation.

But the identity of the little girl, estimated to be 5 to 7 years old, won't be confirmed until investigators receive DNA testing results, which could take days, Wayne County spokesman Dennis Niemiec said this afternoon.

"Her skull was crushed and she was burned, but the cause of death was asphyxiation," Niemiec said. "Whatever killed her occurred before the fire."

http://www.freep.com/article/201107...escription?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Crushed, to me, means taking a brick or baseball bat or cinder block or steel toed boot to a skull. For heat damage, I would have expected the ME to use a different word, if he/she mentioned it at all. They usually, in homicide rulings, only talk about the signs of deliberate abuse to the victim's body, not natural reactions.

No, the reason we were talking about it I think is because there was a quote about a crushed skull not being unusual in cases where a body is found after a fire. Since I'd not heard this before, I was wondering if there was something that made the skull unique that it (as opposed to other groups of bones) would be commonly found crushed after a fire.

 

[Trident]

If the heat gets intense enough, the skull reacts by shattering... I've read stuff on cremation, and they often mention the skull exploding/shattering during the cremating burn process.

I've finally got caught up reading through the pages of this thread. Heartbreaking that another innocent child has lost their life. Sometimes the world feels like a cold, cruel, mean place... And this definitely is one of those moments.

No, the world is a very beautiful place, it's the people in it that are destroying the peace and the beauty.

Way back when, before magazines and you all know to which I refer, there was a lot less rape and murder of children.

Way back when, before drugs - remember the war on drugs? I believe things started to get really bad about then - could be wrong.

Way back when, lots of people were poor, 'cept they didn't know it. Dad went to work, mom stayed home, and they didn't have 2 cars or 3 TV's or a bunch of credit card debt. Perverts weren't treated kindly, and they kinda, sorta "knew better". But, not today - they have as many, if not more rights, than than the average citizen, or your child.

The only reason the world's a colder, crueler place, is because WE have let it become so.

:cow:

 

[lonetraveler]

ooops....thanks....it is mentioned in the article above. There is is so much sadness connected with this tragedy, it seems impossible that Mariha and her siblings survived this long. I am mostly ANGRY that the adults in this childs life let her down so horribly. Shame on them....:maddening:

Sadly, in some children's lives, the children are just used to get a monthly check. I'm wondering how she paid for the alcohol at the Party store since she doesn't seem to be working. This totally pizzzzzzzzzzzzzzes me off!:maddening:

 

[lonetraveler]

I took a nap and I'm trying to catch up. Did something come up that the ME has said that her skull wasn't crushed after all? That it was a heat reaction?

The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled a little girl found dead in a fire in an abandoned building died in a homicide due to asphyxiation.

But the identity of the little girl, estimated to be 5 to 7 years old, won't be confirmed until investigators receive DNA testing results, which could take days, Wayne County spokesman Dennis Niemiec said this afternoon.

"Her skull was crushed and she was burned, but the cause of death was asphyxiation," Niemiec said. "Whatever killed her occurred before the fire."

http://www.freep.com/article/201107...escription?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Crushed, to me, means taking a brick or baseball bat or cinder block or steel toed boot to a skull. For heat damage, I would have expected the ME to use a different word, if he/she mentioned it at all. They usually, in homicide rulings, only talk about the signs of deliberate abuse to the victim's body, not natural reactions.

BBM: Yep, I was thinking the same thing. "Crushed" to me means an outside source actually crushed the skull. In an intense fire, you might expect the brain to explode, causing part of the skull (weakest part) would explode outwards. Totally different situation from being "crushed". I've also read today that the statement in the news articles that no sexual abuse was found but that the body was burned so badly that it really wasn't possible to determine that the child has suffered a sexual attack. Now, I can't find that article but it does make sense since the body was so badly burned that all soft tissue would have been destroyed and therefore evidence of a sexual attack could not be determined. I'm thinking that the motive for taking a little girl for criminal reasons would be sexual in nature. I can't come to a logical reason for killing the little girl, except to cover up another unlawful act that she could talk about. I think this will come out later when more is know. Hope so, anyway.

 

[lonetraveler]

If the ME actually intended to say that the skull was crushed then I'm thinking that she was hit in the head and suffered a fractured skull but this did not kill her so someone finished her off by asphyxiating her.

 

[JeannaT]

BBM: Yep, I was thinking the same thing. "Crushed" to me means an outside source actually crushed the skull. In an intense fire, you might expect the brain to explode, causing part of the skull (weakest part) would explode outwards. Totally different situation from being "crushed". I've also read today that the statement in the news articles that no sexual abuse was found but that the body was burned so badly that it really wasn't possible to determine that the child has suffered a sexual attack. Now, I can't find that article but it does make sense since the body was so badly burned that all soft tissue would have been destroyed and therefore evidence of a sexual attack could not be determined. I'm thinking that the motive for taking a little girl for criminal reasons would be sexual in nature. I can't come to a logical reason for killing the little girl, except to cover up another unlawful act that she could talk about. I think this will come out later when more is know. Hope so, anyway.

I can think of reasons. Going way out on a limb - and talking purely hypothetically without any knowledge of this family's dynamics - sibling rivalry can be horrid. These sisters all have children, and looking at Quanita's persona vs. the other two sisters, and how darling and beloved Mariha was, and apparently how drunk many were that night, you can imagine a possibility of jealousy enough to kill. When I think of what would cause an aunt to be involved in a little preschool niece's death, that's all I can come up with. Hatred from sibling rivalry jealousy that has gone on a lifetime. Additionally, according to her facebook page, Quanita was due to have a baby boy June 10. She either had him or lost him early on, in either case that could cause hormonal changes and unexpected behavior.

 

[Donjeta]

Burning the body does sound like the motivation was to cover up evidence of something, such as a sexual attack. I have been getting Shaniya flashbacks for some reason. But on the other hand leaving the child to an abandoned house so close to the home and buying gasoline so close to the home and setting the house on fire ensuring that the fire fighters will be there ASAP to find the body enabling the ME to rule on cause of death sounds like whoever did this didn't spare much thought on covering up evidence. If it was someone at the home that night they ought to have realized that the police would be on to them pretty quick.

That's why I think it's possible it was an unplanned drunken rage sort of homicide with no real motive, sexual or otherwise, and they set her on fire as a panicked impulse, still under the influence, doing whatever they could do quickly.

There was a group of people here sometime ago who set a stranger on fire for no apparent motive and they were drunk as skunks.

 

[BeanE]

We had reported that Mariha Smith's aunt was in police custody. From what FOX 2's Alexis Wiley understands, she is being held on about $3,000 worth of traffic warrants. The family told her that bond has been set at $400 and they are scrambling to get the money together to get her released. Police would not comment on the matter.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/new...arch-continues-for-mariha-smith-20110727-wpms

 

[katydid23]

Well, if she is only being held because of traffic tix then we are back to square one.
Has there been any kind of connection made between the gas guy and QS or her bf?

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Well, if she is only being held because of traffic tix then we are back to square one.
Has there been any kind of connection made between the gas guy and QS or her bf?

I don't think so.

Here's why...

Maybe they are only holding her on traffic tickets now because they don't have anything concrete on her YET.
It may be just a way to keep her there longer while they gather info.

If she failed a poly, something more is going on than tickets.

JMO

 

[katydid23]

I don't think so.

Here's why...

Maybe they are only holding her on traffic tickets now because they don't have anything concrete on her YET.
It may be just a way to keep her there longer while they gather info.

If she failed a poly, something more is going on than tickets.

JMO

But the report also said the family was scrambling to bail QS out. Would they do so if they thought she had something to do with lil Mariha's murder?

I admit, the way things have gone in some past cases you never know anymore. Apparently Drew peterson is possibly about to walk away without a trial and we know what happened in Orlando. I am about to give up hope of justice in any of these tragic cases.

 

[PlainJaneDoe]

But the report also said the family was scrambling to bail QS out. Would they do so if they thought she had something to do with lil Mariha's murder?

I admit, the way things have gone in some past cases you never know anymore. Apparently Drew peterson is possibly about to walk away without a trial and we know what happened in Orlando. I am about to give up hope of justice in any of these tragic cases.

If LE thought she had something to do with a murder, wouldn't the bond be much higher?

 

[Kimberlyd125]

But the report also said the family was scrambling to bail QS out. Would they do so if they thought she had something to do with lil Mariha's murder?

I admit, the way things have gone in some past cases you never know anymore. Apparently Drew peterson is possibly about to walk away without a trial and we know what happened in Orlando. I am about to give up hope of justice in any of these tragic cases.

I understand your frustration.

But we can't give up hope for justice just yet.

It is still very early in the investigation.

As far as the bail, one of the most evil people who ever walked the earth, Antoinette Davis (Shaniya's "mother") walked free on bail for a while. She was just indicted for murder among other things and is being held with no bond.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

If LE thought she had something to do with a murder, wouldn't the bond be much higher?

It has to be reasonable for what she's being held for.

They can't just raise it to keep her there while they investigate another crime.

JMO

 

[betterbe]

I believe the bond is based on the traffic tickets, which is probably why it's so low. They can't raise her bond unless she's charged with a compatible charge. Jmo.
(Sorry didn't see above post.)

 

[Tiki]

I have a feeling it all has to do with drugs.
the crime, and now all the covering up
and the scuffle and shots at the vigil.

Drug dealers will do horrible things to scare and get back at people. There isn't any method - they will kill the person who owes money. Of course that's not going to get them paid, but it's a warning to anyone else who owes money.

There was a kid who lived down the street from us when my sons were in high school.
He was arrested for selling drugs. He got started when a dealer gave him drugs until he was hooked. Then he started wanting payment, offered to let the kid sell for him to get the money. It seemed at first that the dealer was small-time. It came out later that he was in debt to a mob from NYC, who shot him. When he got out of the hospital he went to jail. When he got out of jail, had to go into hiding to save his own life.

So anything that happened to Mariha would not surprise me. She could have been payment, or hurt by accident or as a lesson for someone.

It just seems to me that there's a lot of back tracking, changing of stories and covering up.
now hearing that the family is scurrying to get QS out of jail makes me think they're afraid she's going to cave and rat on people.

jmo

,

 

[justanother]

I did see a few pages on FB from family members with photos of them with wads of $20 bills. Maybe one of them pizzed off the wrong rival dealer.

 

[Tiki]

I did see a few pages on FB from family members with photos of them with wads of $20 bills. Maybe one of them pizzed off the wrong rival dealer.

Gee - if they have wads of $20s, I wonder why they have to scramble to make QS's bail. If 20 them handed over $20 each they'd have $400.

Going to bed - it was a gong day for me.
I hope we hear something tomorrow.
(((everyone)))

.