GUILTY PA - Marcia Poston, 10 mos, fatally injured at Pittsburgh day care, 6 June 2008

[LinasK]

Just to get in the mind of someone that age I just asked my son who just turned 8yrs old what would happen if he threw a baby on the floor..he looked at me a little confused and said ''it would die, duh'' I said would you ever do that and he said no mom why are you asking me that? So I told him the story & said the devil was in that kids brain. Sooo I truely believe that 7 year old knew exactly what he/she was doing.

Exactly! This 7 year old knew exactly what she was doing! My daughter immediately got the concept of the permanence of death at age 5 as soon as I told her my mother had died.
The babysitter is also negligent to a lesser degree, but this child needs to be held in juvie, not let go because she's only 7!:furious::behindbar:behindbar

 

[SewingDeb]

For all those who said something must be wrong with a 7 year old who would do this, you were right.

Police: Girl Who Admitted Killing Has Anger-Management Issues

Lt. Dan Herrmann said the girl cannot be charged with homicide because she is too young.

Instead, police say the girl could eventually be placed in foster care.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/16540624/detail.html

What scares me is she may be put into foster care and the foster parents may not be told of her anger management problems. What if there are other children in the home?

 

[pixies]

Yeah, that was obvious but I think "anger management" problem is a catch-all for many issues.
Foster care? Not at my house! I would send her back STAT because I feel she would try to kill again. She is a danger and to out in the foster care system is just crazy.

A secure facility is the only place.

 

[SewingDeb]

Yeah, that was obvious but I think "anger management" problem is a catch-all for many issues.
Foster care? Not at my house! I would send her back STAT because I feel she would try to kill again. She is a danger and to out in the foster care system is just crazy.

A secure facility is the only place.

I agree. If they do put her in a foster home rather than a secure facility, they need to make sure the foster parents are aware and capable of handling a child with her problems.

If she is in a regular foster home, she will go to public school. That's scary too.

 

[calidreamin]

I agree. If they do put her in a foster home rather than a secure facility, they need to make sure the foster parents are aware and capable of handling a child with her problems.

If she is in a regular foster home, she will go to public school. That's scary too.

This child is badly in need of specilized care and I am skeptical whether she can get that through foster care. I think a secure facility is definetly in order to deal with her anger issues. She is a danger to other children that could be exposed to her.

 

[jantel74]

This is so sad. I work with second graders. We had one 7-8 year old this past year that had a lot of issues. She was fine, when medicated. Without medication, she was dangerous. I can see a child like that hurting a baby. Our student would tell me that she couldn't control herself. She knew she was going to do something bad. I imagine this girl was a lot like that.

 

[mcnama]

I would hope that if the child is placed in foster care, the facility would be required to make the child's previous actions known to any families showing interest in adoption. The child should also undergo treatment for her issues and be required to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before being released into foster care, IMO.

 

[arielilane]

I am just not going to convict a seven year old by this article. I really need to hear more. I wonder if the 20 year old was frustrated at her job and saw the opportunity or just flipped and blamed the seven year old. I can see the 20 yr old telling the seven yr old you did this. This is just tragic and definitely some new laws/guidelines need to be in place to prevent this from ever happening again. Clearly, the 20 yr old was overwhelmed and leaving children unattended is not smart as we found out the hard way. Where are the compliance agencies for child care???

 

[Linda7NJ]

I would hope that if the child is placed in foster care, the facility would be required to make the child's previous actions known to any families showing interest in adoption. The child should also undergo treatment for her issues and be required to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before being released into foster care, IMO.

I don't understand why they would place this child in foster care. That would only make her worse. Let her stay with her parents assuming they love her and not the cause of her issues. She could go into an intensive therapeutic residential program. Her parents could visit and attend therapy right along with her. Ripping her from her family will just add to her anger issues.

 

[Roxye]

I am just not going to convict a seven year old by this article. I really need to hear more.

I am with you Arielilane.

"Anger management" is to broad. The child was angry. Why? Were they abused and lashing out? If they were physically or sexually abused then their actions are that of a hurt scared child, not a cold blooded killer. Either way, I still don't think ANY 7 year old should ever be left alone with a baby, ever. Just because a child says "because they will die" doesn't mean they actually grasp what death is.

It is important to recognize that all children are unique in their understanding of death and dying. This understanding depends on their developmental level, cognitive skills, personality characteristics, religious or spiritual beliefs, teachings by parents and significant others, input from the media, and previous experiences with death. Nonetheless, there are some general considerations that will be helpful in understanding how children and adolescents experience and deal with death.

Early Elementary School: Children at this age (approximately 5-9) start to comprehend the finality of death. They begin to understand that certain circumstances may result in death. They can see that, if large planes crash into buildings, people in the planes and buildings will be killed. In case of war images, young children may not be able to differentiate between what they see on television, and what might happen in their own neighborhood. However, they may over-generalize, particularly at ages 5-6—if jet planes don’t fly, then people don’t die. At this age, death is perceived as something that happens to others, not to oneself or one’s family.

http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/griefwar.pdf

Yes, I am sure there are some extremely mature 7 or 8 year olds that understands that death means the end, I am not convinced that all 7 year old understand that though. I am not convinced THIS child understood that. I know she probably understood that throwing the child on the floor was bad, but think she probably didn't understand that it would result in ending the baby's life.

From what we know right now, she didn't really try to hide what she did. She admitted readily what she had done. Wouldn't it have been typical 7 year old behavior to lie to avoid getting in trouble?

 

[mcnama]

I don't understand why they would place this child in foster care. That would only make her worse. Let her stay with her parents assuming they love her and not the cause of her issues. She could go into an intensive therapeutic residential program. Her parents could visit and attend therapy right along with her. Ripping her from her family will just add to her anger issues.

I don't know why but I originally thought the child was abandoned!! She was simply in daycare.....I don't know where I got that from. I guess I got the idea from reading someone else's comment.

I agree with you Linda, her parents should try to get her the help she needs. I'm sure they still love her and want to help her whatever way they can.

 

[kahskye]

For all those who said something must be wrong with a 7 year old who would do this, you were right.

Police: Girl Who Admitted Killing Has Anger-Management Issues

Lt. Dan Herrmann said the girl cannot be charged with homicide because she is too young.

Instead, police say the girl could eventually be placed in foster care.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/16540624/detail.html

What scares me is she may be put into foster care and the foster parents may not be told of her anger management problems. What if there are other children in the home?

All the more the 20 yr old should not have left the 7 yr old unattended w/ the others. I know many of you are stating how your child this age would understand death. Not all children mature at the same rate and although this 7 yr old probably understood the results of throwing a baby will hurt the baby, she might have acted out w/o fully comprehending her actions would cause a fatality. I'm not sure foster care is the best answer for this child.

 

[LinasK]

I am with you Arielilane.

"Anger management" is to broad. The child was angry. Why? Were they abused and lashing out? If they were physically or sexually abused then their actions are that of a hurt scared child, not a cold blooded killer. Either way, I still don't think ANY 7 year old should ever be left alone with a baby, ever. Just because a child says "because they will die" doesn't mean they actually grasp what death is.



http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/griefwar.pdf

Yes, I am sure there are some extremely mature 7 or 8 year olds that understands that death means the end, I am not convinced that all 7 year old understand that though.

Not true. My then 5-year-old immediately "got it" and broke down in tears for at least 5 min. straight when I told her my mother had died the night before. She knew it was permanent and that she would never see Nana ever again. She also knows how to care for a baby, such as cradling their head and is not at all rough with them like her cousin is with her own siblings. I could trust my daughter alone with a baby.

 

[Roxye]

Not true. My then 5-year-old immediately "got it" and broke down in tears for at least 5 min. straight when I told her my mother had died the night before. She knew it was permanent and that she would never see Nana ever again. She also knows how to care for a baby, such as cradling their head and is not at all rough with them like her cousin is with her own siblings. I could trust my daughter alone with a baby.

Just because your child understands at 5 doesn't mean that all children understand at 5 or 6 or 7 or hell even 10. Children are so diverse in their understanding of the world around them. They are shaped by their family, their experience and their own social/cognitive skills. No two children are going to be the same. Usually between the ages of 6 to 9 children start to understand death but are often confused and ask lots of questions. How those questions are answered is going to help determine their own understanding of death.

a) a seven year old child raised in a religious family who's attended two funerals of very close relatives.

b) a seven year old child raised in a semi/non religious family who has never attended a funeral nor had anyone in their close family die.

I would expect child a) to have a better understanding of death while b) would probably know the word and even understand what it is suppose to mean but wouldn't yet understand to ramifications of death.

My seven year old son is a smart, caring child, but to him death is still abstract. He hasn't experienced anything remotely like it. (Unless you count losing his goldfish, which he still thinks are swimming in the sewer water.) He just can't wrap his brain around someone he loves being permanent gone from his life.

Example: I just had surgery last Tuesday. He kissed me and told me he would see me afterwards, that I shouldn't worry about dying (he had overheard me talking to his dad) because I was in a hospital and the doctors would put more blood in me and bring me back to life.

I hardly think my son is abnormal by any means. He just hasn't had to deal with death, and until you actually deal with it yourself (at any age) it is hard to grasp the concept.

 

[kahskye]

Just because your child understands at 5 doesn't mean that all children understand at 5 or 6 or 7 or hell even 10. Children are so diverse in their understanding of the world around them. They are shaped by their family, their experience and their own social/cognitive skills. No two children are going to be the same. Usually between the ages of 6 to 9 children start to understand death but are often confused and ask lots of questions. How those questions are answered is going to help determine their own understanding of death.

:clap:

Several factors, including age, cognitive level, and
experience with death, have been shown to influence
the development of death concepts.

 

[twinkiesmom]

I want to know what kind of home the 7-year-old is living in, because the most likely scenario for murderous rage in a 7-year old is sexual abuse.

 

[philamena]

I want to know what kind of home the 7-year-old is living in, because the most likely scenario for murderous rage in a 7-year old is sexual abuse.

Excellent point and one I'd love to know the answer also.
This case has really been on my mind for one main reason. Little girls don't normally attack babies. I've raised 2 daughter's, a neice and taught kindergarten for years. 99% of seven year old little girls love babies, either real or baby dolls.

Normal 7 year olds don't pick a baby up and throw it on the floor.

 

[AmandaBrown23]

I think the child knew exactly was she doing, do I want to convict her and throw her in jail, no. ONly because I know something must have caused her to not be in her right state of mind, like that of a regular everyday happy 7 year old. Any normal child that age will tell you that they know thats wrong and that they wouldnt do that. I hope we get to know more about what exactly happened. I honestly feel sorry for all involved. Oh and I also worked in daycare and it is absolutely inexcusable that she left those children alone. We were never allowed to do that, not even to stick our head out the door. We had walkie talkies in our rooms if we needed something. This whole thing is just a tragedy.

 

[Salem]

This child is badly in need of specilized care and I am skeptical whether she can get that through foster care. I think a secure facility is definetly in order to deal with her anger issues. She is a danger to other children that could be exposed to her.

I agree. Putting her a foster home with foster parents that are not equipped to deal with this issue will not help anything and could make matters worse.

I feel badly for this little girl. It sounds as tough she was already living with her grandmother, so I wonder why she was not with her parents?

Prayers for all involved and may sweet little Marcia rest in peace and may her family also find some peace.

Salem

 

[noZme]

UPDATES

local cbs affiliate with video:
http://kdka.com/local/homicide.baby.investigation.2.743130.html

abc:
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/16530163/detail.html


Ten-month-old infant's death at day care ruled homicide Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"The death of an infant who died Friday at the hands of a 7-year-old has been ruled as a homicide by the Allegheny County Medical Examiners Office.
The medical examiner's office determined the child died from head injuries.
Ten-month-old Marcia Poston was being cared for at a Garfield day care center when a 7-year-old granddaughter of the day care operator threw the baby on the floor, according to police.
Police are continuing to investigate but do not expect to charge the child with homicide."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08160/888409-100.stm