GUILTY NH - Camden Hughes, 6, suffocated, Hampton, 14 May 2011 #2

[SarahEcho]

I'm with you. The quote in the Boston Herald article in your post 328 is that she was fired a month ago. I heard him live on-air on WCVB the afternoon the truck was found saying that he had asked her in her last phone call (when she was actually in New England) if she was coming by his place after work. So I don't think you can get definitive information from him. Reminds of Misty Croslin. You can't get a straight story out of someone who doesn't have the capacity to recall thing in a logical sequence. Given JM's past and their volatile relationship,<modsnip>.

He just keeps saying things that don't add up. I remember distinctly hearing the news saying that the truck was registered to her at an address on Rainier Street in Irving. They didn't say anything about him, yet he says he "loaned her" the truck, the one with Proud Navy Mom license plate frame. Hmm

 

[Walker]

The owner of Summer Wind, along the popular Hampton Beach strip says police asked her if she had seen a woman fitting McCrery’s description. “They said she was going around saying she only had $25 and she was looking for a motel trying to barter.”

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/05/18/person-of-interest-questioned-in-maine-mystery-boy-case/

A motel could mean one motel, but in any case, she still could have been familiar with the people or motels/hotels in the area.

Yes, children do take naps, Walker, especially when sick and/or traveling.

Again, the child was described as not being normally responsive. If he were asleep, why did the manager suggest that he should have been looking around and asking "what am I doing here"?

And although it may not suit whatever agenda you have set, ...

I don't have an agenda. In my job, we deal with the general public, too. As part of our jobs, we are expected to get help for medical emergencies, and report suspicious activity. If we fail to take reasonable actions, our employer can possibly be sued.

not everyone goes rushing off to the ER if they believe even a bad cold will pass. Most often, we parents are shooed out of a peds office for that "just in case check" that is covered my insurance. Most nurse advice lines or peds on call will tell you to wait it out if the fever is under a certain amount, the cough is not this or that and the child is showing signs of being hydrated etc.

She has no money, she's begging for rooms, she's traveling --- but the child is perfectly safe in that situation? How do you figure that?

 

[SarahEcho]

<modsnip>.

Shat happens, that's how it is in life sometimes.

The motel manager is already wondering if it would have been better to not show admirable compassion and what he gets for it is you wondering if he is the baby daddy and accusations that he is some cold and irresponsible human person.

This little boy deserves more respect than trying to pin the blame on people that acted in a very normal and acceptable manner.

 

[greenpalm]

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1339266



How could you pull a 6-year old out of truck and not wake him up? And, though Camden was small in size, she would probably have had difficulty carrying him unassisted.

I can definitely move my children around without waking them. I recently had to wake my son during the night to give him a medicine dose. I had to do this for several nights. Each time, it was all I could do to get him to reach sufficient alertness to take the medicine. I had to have my husband's help to keep him from just slumping back over in the bed. I had to speak loudly and firmly and insist that he take the medicine. It was a lot of work. Once they are soundly asleep, they don't wake up very easily. I can also carry all three of them, even my ten year old, unassisted. I weigh 118lbs, and I don't lift weights or work out.

You have the right to think as you please, however, I disagree with you about the manager's culpability. His statements are being made with the benefit of hindsight. He paid the difference out of his own pocket. He did more for her than many people would have. I do not find fault with any action he took.

 

[Walker]

Walker re post 339. The guy was a manager not the business owner. They don't have the authority to write anything off. What he did do was pay out of his own pocket for half.

As I stated before, the manager should have contacted the owner (or whoever did have the authority) to inform them of the situation.

Handing cash to someone is not helping; he is basically an enabler, that is, someone who allows a person to continue to deny that they have a serious problem and elude real assistance.

 

[Walker]

He paid the difference out of his own pocket. He did more for her than many people would have. I do not find fault with any action he took.

He failed to contact the local police despite the fact that the child was obviously in danger.

 

[SarahEcho]

He failed to contact the local police despite the fact that the child was obviously in danger.

( CautionO NOT use e-mail to report child abuse or neglect. It causes delays and confidentiality may not be ensured.)

It is important for every person to take child abuse and neglect seriously, to be able to recognize when it happens, and to know what to do next. Care enough to call the state's child abuse hotline:

1-800-25-ABUSE (Illinois)
1-800-358-5117 (TTY)
217-524-2606 (outside Illinois)
WHAT ARE CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT?

Hotline social workersthis year will handle nearly 125,000 reports of child abuse and neglect. Child abuse is the mistreatment of a child under the age of 18 by a parent, caretaker, someone living in their home or someone who works with or around children. The mistreatment must cause injury or must put the child at risk of physical injury. Child abuse can be physical (such as burns or broken bones), sexual (such as fondling or incest) or emotional.

Neglect happens when a parent or responsible caretaker fails to provide adequate supervision, food, clothing, shelter or other basics for a child.

WHEN SHOULD I CALL THE HOTLINE?

You should call the child abuse hotline whenever you believe that a person who is caring for the child, who lives with the child, or who works with or around children has caused injury or harm or put the child at risk of physical injury as defined in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Some examples include:

If you see someone hitting a child with an object.
If you see marks on a child's body that do not appear to have been caused by accident.
If a child tells you that he or she has been harmed by someone.
If a child appears to be undernourished, is dressed inappropriately for the weather, or is young and has been left alone.

These are a few situations when you should call the hotline. Use your own judgement and call the hotline whenever you think a child has been abused or neglected.

WHEN SHOULD I NOT CALL THE HOTLINE?

Some situations do not require calling the hotline. Use good judgement. Call only when you think a child has been or will be injured as described above. Some examples of when you should notcall the hotline include:

Situations where a child is causing a problem that concerns you, but the problem is not related to abuse or neglect. In some cases you may wish to call law enforcement or talk to the child's parents or relatives.
Domestic situations where family stress is evident, but the child has not been abused or at risk of abuse. Community service agencies are often available to help.

If you're seeking information about DCFS or its programs, please call your local DCFS office.

 

[SarahEcho]

He failed to contact the local police despite the fact that the child was obviously in danger.

A child that was sick with a cold and traveling that found themselves without adequate financial means is not an emergency when someone is kind enough to offer them safe and appropriate shelter. There is a good chance he was planning to refer her to local Traveler's Aid after breakfast and allow her the second night as he mentioned.

His mother was polite, read the Bible, carried her child and wasn't dragging him or leaving him in the car. The child was ill but not suffering a massive seizure, turning blue or fiery red. A cold.

Everyone that ever met that child or was anywhere nearby him is likely asking themselves if they could have done something, woulda, coulda, shoulda. It's a painful regret most of us live with in our daily lives. Don't make it worse by accusing people of being a baby daddy because he was kind enough to help a woman and her child. Please, move on to something else.

 

[SarahEcho]

This child is dead because the hotel manager was too lazy to pick up the phone, and say "gee, officer, she's penniless and begging for a room. The kid doesn't seem with it. I don't know what to do."

The child is NOT dead because of the motel manager and SHAME on you for even suggesting it. It would have been a LOT easier to pick up a phone and let the cops deal with it rather than pull money out of his own pocket to help her.

 

[KaraKitty]

Because Cam was killed in NH, will JM be tried there and then ultimately be jailed in NH? Just wondering as her family is all in TX. I imagine no one will come from TX to see her at all.


So I am going out on a limb (after reading quite a few of the articles that posters have linked here to WS) (thanks) JM watched him fall asleep and then suffocated him …. ??? As one article said "asphyxiation with force".
I am guessing that must have been done in the wee hours of May 14th as Cam's body was found early a.m. and medical examiners determined he had been dead just a few hours when found.

 

[Walker]

... Neglect happens when a parent or responsible caretaker fails to provide adequate supervision, food, clothing, shelter or other basics [for example, medical care] for a child.

WHEN SHOULD I CALL THE HOTLINE?

.. These are a few situations when you should call the hotline. Use your own judgement and call the hotline whenever you think a child has been abused or neglected.

Thank you so much for posting this info. Too many people falsely believe that their report will result in the parent being arrested and thrown into prison for no reason. Police officers, social workers and other professionals who investigate these reports are carefully trained to recognize dangerous situations and to provide help for these troubled families. What if a local police officer had interviewed JM and provided her with a counselor that very evening? Camden might still be alive.

 

[Walker]

The child is NOT dead because of the motel manager and SHAME on you for even suggesting it. It would have been a LOT easier to pick up a phone and let the cops deal with it rather than pull money out of his own pocket to help her.

The police are trained to deal with these difficult situations. Handing people cash does not help. She said she had no money. Even if the hotel manager paid for the second night, what was going to happen after that night? She was going to continue to beg and "barter" (which would probably invite an offer of prostitution), and the child would still be hungry and shelterless and sick and endangered.

 

[SarahEcho]

Because Cam was killed in NH, will JM be tried there and then ultimately be jailed in NH? Just wondering as her family is all in TX. I imagine no one will come from TX to see her at all.

So I am going out on a limb (after reading quite a few of the articles that posters have linked here to WS) (thanks) JM watched him fall asleep and then suffocated him …. ??? As one article said "asphyxiation with force".
I am guessing that must have been done in the wee hours of May 14th as Cam's body was found early a.m. and medical examiners determined he had been dead just a few hours when found.

Most likely she would stay in NH and would be much better off there. She doesn't want to be in TX.

MO is that the DA doesn't have a clear path yet from the ME report, they are still awaiting toxicology. Kinda up in the air until then from what I have seen. Camden wasn't found until later in the day after having been placed at about 0730, having been deceased for a couple of hours or so.

 

[SarahEcho]

The police are trained to deal with these difficult situations. Handing people cash does not help. She said she had no money. Even if the hotel manager paid for the second night, what was going to happen after that night? She was going to continue to beg and "barter" (which would probably invite an offer of prostitution), and the child would still be hungry and shelterless and sick and endangered.

Once again, someone stepped in to help provide adequate necessities. You don't call the police for everything you run across, nor the authorities. It happens a lot that people run into temporary problems and someone is able to assist them <Mod Snip>
It's incredible rare for a kind Good Samaritan find themselves in the situation of finding out the mother and child they just helped ended up in such a tragic circumstance. Highly likely the police would have sent her on her way as well, looking at the motel manager like he was a moron for calling them because a woman asked for a reduced rate on a room for her and her child.

 

[SarahEcho]

Thank you so much for posting this info. Too many people falsely believe that their report will result in the parent being arrested and thrown into prison for no reason. Police officers, social workers and other professionals who investigate these reports are carefully trained to recognize dangerous situations and to provide help for these troubled families. What if a local police officer had interviewed JM and provided her with a counselor that very evening? Camden might still be alive.

Your "wisdom" is all in Hindsight Micromanagement 101. Oh yeah, and in Baby Daddy identification because a woman asked many motels in any area for a discounted rate and this guy said yes and boy, doesn't the child kind of look like the middle aged, portly guy?

 

[greenpalm]

Because Cam was killed in NH, will JM be tried there and then ultimately be jailed in NH? Just wondering as her family is all in TX. I imagine no one will come from TX to see her at all.

I was under the impression that her family was really mostly in other places. Her mom is in Nebraska, for example, and she was born in San Jose, California.

I'm interested in the Grand Prarie memorial service, as I live close enough to possibly attend. Anyone have any details on that? What kind of progress has Ian had with the live broadcast?

I was so glad to hear the school was offering counseling services. I'd really want to talk my kids through a situation like this, if they were in a position to be aware of it.

Did y'all read my earlier link on filicide? I was fascinated that 61% of child homiceds are filicides. So sad. Of course I know that most murders are perpetrated against familiar people.

 

[believe09]

OK- I get the fact that there are differing opinions on the role the motel manager took or did not take. People can disagree or agree, but please move on.

 

[SarahEcho]

I was so glad to hear the school was offering counseling services. I'd really want to talk my kids through a situation like this, if they were in a position to be aware of it.

Did y'all read my earlier link on filicide? I was fascinated that 61% of child homiceds are filicides. So sad. Of course I know that most murders are perpetrated against familiar people.

I hadn't heard the school was offering that service, that's good to know. I'm guessing many parents could use some help in knowing what to say, even in dealing with their own grief over the situation.

I don't think I will ever stop being sad over the fact that as humans we can be capable of fracturing into something that violates the most cherished values we have, protecting our children.

 

[KaraKitty]

I hadn't heard the school was offering that service, that's good to know. I'm guessing many parents could use some help in knowing what to say, even in dealing with their own grief over the situation.

I don't think I will ever stop being sad over the fact that as humans we can be capable of fracturing into something that violates the most cherished values we have, protecting our children.

I guess as I actually learned on here, Sarah, is that if you are in some deep dark depression as it appears JM was, she cannot make logical decisions which would have been to take Cam and give him to her family to care for until she got her issues under control. I just cannot (in my right mind) fathom killing my child and from all appearances, she really did love Cam. JM sunk really low, so low that she was not in her right mind and killing her sweet baby was the only thing to do. Just so horribly sad.

 

[believe09]

I guess as I actually learned on here, Sarah, is that if you are in some deep dark depression as it appears JM was, she cannot make logical decisions which would have been to take Cam and give him to her family to care for until she got her issues under control. I just cannot (in my right mind) fathom killing my child and from all appearances, she really did love Cam. JM sunk really low, so low that she was not in her right mind and killing her sweet baby was the only thing to do. Just so horribly sad.

Please do not interpret this as cold bloodedness, because I think this woman deserves compassion for something this atrocious....

But why do people with this kind of a disturbance fixate on someone vulnerable like a child, and why didnt she do away with herself in her home state?

I am NOT advocating for it-I am puzzled as to why her solution was to kill an innocent rather than herself.