GUILTY VA - Noah Thomas, 5, Pulaski County, 22 March 2015 #3

[YidArmyRach]

True, she must have taken her eyes off him for a minute. However, my point is both mothers could have watched the kids drop out of sight down into the tanks and recovery would have still been iffy for a good outcome.

But they didn't, in either case. It just didn't happen like that. Had Noah's mum been with him and he dropped into that tank and couldn't be reached, I don't think anyone would question her parenting. But, you just can't say "if this had happened, she wouldn't have been able to save him" when the actual circumstance was nothing like that. Just my opinion.

 

[courtneyb]

Would you blame her and call it a "mistake", if totally exhausted from caring for a baby and working several jobs, she slept later than usual one morning and Noah slipped out in the morning and had an accident? I don't see much of a difference.

By the way, there is a huge difference between "negligence" which I saw in your first post and a "mistake". We all make mistakes. Even in parenting. Mistakes can be defended. Negligence, not so much. An example of negligence would be leaving a child outside in the hot car while you go into a hotel room to do a bunch of speed.

I'm sorry but most people aren't perfect parents. An overworked, exhausted mother of an infant who takes a nap while her 5 year old watches cartoons in the same house is not negligent and did'nt even make a mistake. She's just trying to survive for goodness sake.

Of course I don't know what happened here. My comments are under the assumption that what has been reported is the truth.

Any lack of attention on the part of a parent that leads to their child's death, is negligent. And a mistake. We are not talking about a scraped knee here. So, let's just disagree.

And, she DID survive. Her 5 year old son did not.

 

[Luvrosco]

It's just so sad. I'm heartbroken for this little guy. I hope he didn't suffer. If he was alive when he went into the tank I can't imagine the terror he felt.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Not to argue, but respectfully disagree.

IF the lid of the tank was shut, as so far we are led to believe, then if Noah had been outside with his mum, I don't think he would have ended up in the septic tank. The time it would have taken him to remove the lid, his mum would have noticed and stopped him. There has been nothing, so far, to indicate he crashed through the lid, and fell into the tank. So, far the only thing LE have said is that they removed the lid and drained the tank.

With the case at the garage, the mum was washing the car, and not supervising her child. It appears he wandered off and fell into a tank containing grease at a different part of the garage.

In my opinion, and its horrible to say, both these little boys died due to inadequate supervision. That is not to say I'm a perfect parent, but looking at these from the outside, sadly hindsight is a terrible thing, but I believe both incidents were preventable.

Until the Sheriff tells us directly he took the lid off that septic tank, I am not going to believe 2nd or 3rd hand information about how Noah found the hole.

In the tragedy today, the little 2 year old found the lid partially off.

Accidents happen and so many are preventable. Funny...it is why they call them "accidents". Let's wait to see if charges are brought on either case before we brand the parents as being neglectful or other things.

 

[winterrose]

http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/p...c38-93cf-660dbb70bc35.html?mode=image&photo=6

 

[Sweetgrits]

I wholeheartedly agree. *If* the timeline and facts are accurate, what is really the difference between a parent who's sleeping for 3 hours and leaving her 5 yr old unattended in the home vs one who went shopping and left said child alone in the house for 3 hours? If a parent is deeply sleeping x 3 hours, short of having the doors and windows padlocked, there is no way to guarantee that even the most obedient child (told not to leave the house) will not become bored and decide to venture out to play...........and once your child leaves that home and you're asleep, you have absolutely zero control over what risks and dangers that poor child could be exposed to. It only takes a moment for a trusting little child to be lured by a stranger and abducted/assaulted/murdered. Obviously in this case, poor little Noah for some reason did leave the home and due to her sleeping, she was not aware that he had - nor was she aware where he went/what he was doing outside. That's not a judgment, these are just facts.

BBM

Can you provide a link that reports that the parent was deeply sleeping for 3 hours? I haven't seen anything at all. In fact, in my opinion parents, especially mothers don't get to sleep deeply til the kids are gone.

JMO

 

[Tallula.Belle]

Why was this information of the parents being at Noah's funeral not in any of the papers ??

I would think it would be news only if they were not there but not that they were. I never thought they wouldn't be there. If they had not wanted to face a crowd, they could have easily had a private funeral. The only reason the reporter on Twitter said they were there, is because she was ask.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

Edited. Decided to leave my thoughts unsaid.

 

[JeannaT]

View attachment 72089 http://www.roanoke.com/news/local...c38-93cf-660dbb70bc35.html?mode=image&photo=6

I like the presence of a number of LE officers to keep the crazies out.

 

[FindHG]

View attachment 72089
http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/p...c38-93cf-660dbb70bc35.html?mode=image&photo=6

Thank you, says it all, the law stand in respect and between whatever and what counts.

My heart, prayers and thoughts are with Noah's family and all the people who care about him.

 

[winterrose]

I like the presence of a number of LE officers to keep the crazies out.

I'm sure they were honoring Noah, because they weren't surrounding the funeral at the cemetary, only his little casket being taken to the cemetary. Many of them will never be the same after experiencing this baby's death.

 

[YidArmyRach]

I like the presence of a number of LE officers to keep the crazies out.

Or keep people in?

 

[Sweetgrits]

I wholeheartedly agree. *If* the timeline and facts are accurate, what is really the difference between a parent who's sleeping for 3 hours and leaving her 5 yr old unattended in the home vs one who went shopping and left said child alone in the house for 3 hours? If a parent is deeply sleeping x 3 hours, short of having the doors and windows padlocked, there is no way to guarantee that even the most obedient child (told not to leave the house) will not become bored and decide to venture out to play...........and once your child leaves that home and you're asleep, you have absolutely zero control over what risks and dangers that poor child could be exposed to. It only takes a moment for a trusting little child to be lured by a stranger and abducted/assaulted/murdered. Obviously in this case, poor little Noah for some reason did leave the home and due to her sleeping, she was not aware that he had - nor was she aware where he went/what he was doing outside. That's not a judgment, these are just facts.

BBM

Can you provide a link that reports that the parent was deeply sleeping for 3 hours? I haven't seen anything at all. In fact, in my opinion parents, especially mothers don't get to sleep deeply til the kids are gone.

JMO

 

[hockeymom4]

BBM

Can you provide a link that reports that the parent was deeply sleeping for 3 hours? I haven't seen anything at all. In fact, in my opinion parents, especially mothers don't get to sleep deeply til the kids are gone.

JMO

The poster said IF a parent. They were generalizing and not talking about Noah's parents.

 

[cluciano63]

Wondering, hypothetically, if LE had come out last week and stated that Noah had found a way to open the top and fell into tank, if people and businesses who read about the accident would have been more inclined to make sure their tanks and lids were intact and safe. Or are most people who come across this death thinking foul play? Not counting WS, just wondering what the average, not very news-oriented person thinks happened here.

 

[JeannaT]

Or keep people in?

I think I'm missing something.

Why would law enforcement form a ring to keep people inside a funeral home?

 

[ANonyMs]

I'm sure that any parent who has left a child alone for a period of time and something bad happened to that child would say, looking back, that they wish they had not been negligent (in watching their child). I don't think they would defend the choice that helped facilitate their child's death. So I won't defend it either, because it obviously was a wrong decision.

But, I will feel empathy for her for the horrible loss of her baby boy, and just try to make sure that I am never in the same shoes to have to look back and only be able to WISH that I had watched my child more closely. Because I am sure that is the worst feeling in the world.

Very well said. This made my heart hurt a little.

 

[Tillicum]

There have certainly been a few where there was a home invasion while family was sleeping at night and a child taken by someone. I don't recall any case of a parent returning to sleep during waking hours, a young child left to tend to themselves for hours, and a parent waking up to the child gone, and then found deceased.

I could be totally wrong, this case just seems very unique to me. Perhaps, someone has been following stories like these longer and can't find one similar.

Just google child drowned pool, mom sleeping

 

[NSS]

Sweet that LE laid patches on his casket. This child has surely had an impact on these guys.

 

[Sweetgrits]

The poster said IF a parent. They were generalizing and not talking about Noah's parents.

Sorry, I read it as if the timeline was correct, not if (insert action)

JMO