WI - Girl, 10, stomped head and killed baby boy in panic, Chippewa Falls, 30 Oct 2018

[MsMarple]

@MsMarple - going thru some of my older cases - and of course I'm just coming up with 2019 articles - was wondering if you can find anything recent over there in the U.S.

TIA!

Sorry, I did a number of different searches, including using the baby's name, and nada. Zilch. I have a feeling we won't hear anything unless some momentous decision is made in the courts or the parents' lawsuit settles or when the girl turns 18.

 

[Niner]

Thank you @MsMarple - for searching & you are probably right. I'll put her case in my "hold" file.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

This ten year old must have some kind of a juvenile record to be charged with first degree murder and tried as an adult.

Upthread it mentions that by state law, all first degree/intentional homicide chart charges must be brought into adult court first for anyone 10 or older, and then the case can be remanded to juvenile court, if I understood it correctly??

 

[Niner]

Upthread it mentions that by state law, all first degree/intentional homicide chart charges must be brought into adult court first for anyone 10 or older, and then the case can be remanded to juvenile court, if I understood it correctly??

From my notes - her case was transferred to juvenile court.

10/11/19 Update: Defense presented a motion to have a guardian ad litem appointed for the purposes of waiving the preliminary hearing and recommending a reverse waiver. They argued the girl’s “capacity to make adequately considered decisions such as whether and how to waive a preliminary hearing is somewhat diminished.” The court accepted that motion. Her case has been moved to juvenile court. Next hearing on 10/21/19.
10/21/19 Update: Hearing in juvenile court on 2/24/20. Closed to the public. No info available.

 

[Niner]

Anyone know what's going on with this one? I know it got switched to juvenile court - but thought there might be some articles with updates, which of course nothing is coming up over here!

TIA if anyone finds something....

 

[Niner]

Bumping up - just in case someone can find anything on this case...

 

[Ozoner]

Bumping up - just in case someone can find anything on this case...

Aren't juvenile court cases closed proceedings? I don't think that there will be anything more in the media.

 

[Niner]

Aren't juvenile court cases closed proceedings? I don't think that there will be anything more in the media.

Yes they are closed to the public, but thought maybe someone might find an article about it. There have been articles before - so just guessing on new ones.

Might have to "shelf" this case...

 

[Ozoner]

Yes they are closed to the public, but thought maybe someone might find an article about it. There have been articles before - so just guessing on new ones.

Might have to "shelf" this case...

Most reputable media outlets have a policy of not covering juvenile court cases. I could see a local paper interviewing the parents of the child that was killed and how they were coping with the loss (with no discussion whatsoever of the perpetrator or the criminal charges), but I can guarantee that you will never read anything in the media about how the charges were adjudicated.

 

[MsMarple]

Here's the latest I could find, from April 11, 2021:

Attorneys for the Chippewa County Department of Human Services say the agency and three employees singled out for the 2018 death of a six-month-old boy are not responsible for what happened.
...
Instead, attorneys write that what happened on October 30, 2018 was a result of the daycare owner’s actions, “Had Amber Sweeney had sight or sound on [the girl] or Jaxon Hunter—two children entrusted into her care—it is unlikely this incident would have ever happened.” Sweeney was outside doing yard work with other children at the time the girl is accused of dropping Jaxon then stomping on the infant’s head.
...
In the filing, attorneys also make note that Jaxon’s mother, Stefanie Hunter, “had no concerns with [the girl] playing with or holding Jaxon,” and the 10-year-old was friends with her daughter. The 10-year-old had been in the Sweeney home for 41 days before Jaxon was hurt.
Attorneys: Chippewa Co. DHS not to blame for infant’s death

 

[zenzen]

How Young Is Too Young for Fortnite?

interesting in light of her mother stating that she played this game with her younger siblings

 

[Ozoner]

How Young Is Too Young for Fortnite?

interesting in light of her mother stating that she played this game with her younger siblings

I am very reluctant to blame a video game. Many kids play that game without becoming killers. It seems more like an excuse.

 

[zenzen]

I am very reluctant to blame a video game. Many kids play that game without becoming killers. It seems more like an excuse.

not blaming the game but the overall concern the writer expressed was that in younger children the kill or be killed every person for themselves type of game play isn't sending a healthy social message

it is specifically relating to children under the recommended age of 13

 

[borndem]

Never heard of the game, Fortnite, until reading this thread.
OMG is all I have to say, with or without regard to this particular situation.
OMG.

 

[squareandrabbet]

I am very reluctant to blame a video game. Many kids play that game without becoming killers. It seems more like an excuse.

Yeah, that's big-time stretching it in this instance, IMO.

Admittedly I don't play Fortnite; but it seems overwhelmingly unlikely that the point of Fortnite, is to attack people or avatars without them first attacking you, or in turn posing a threat to your being attacked...??? What could a baby do to a preteen/teen indicating that it is threatening behavior?? If the person in question is primed by Fortnite to see any movement as threatening behavior, why don't they then physically lash out at everyone who trips their startle reflex, regardless of that person's age or size?

In short, even if a game is conditioning your reflexes "to kill or be killed"; it's hard to imagine a preteen thinking that an infant must be killed or else the infant will kill the preteen. It's like saying that Atari's Space Invaders primed kids to want to kill anyone they saw in the 80s, IMO.

 

[Shamrock1]

I’m catching up on this, but my immediate thought: is there something in this child’s background that would explain that extreme reaction? I can understand a (typical) 10yr old panicking and even lying - “Joey got a bruise from falling” for example. But stomping?!

 

[Niner]

Bumping up this thread - just in case any one has heard anything recent about it!

 

[Laughing]

How Young Is Too Young for Fortnite?

interesting in light of her mother stating that she played this game with her younger siblings

not blaming the game but the overall concern the writer expressed was that in younger children the kill or be killed every person for themselves type of game play isn't sending a healthy social message

it is specifically relating to children under the recommended age of 13

Never heard of the game, Fortnite, until reading this thread.
OMG is all I have to say, with or without regard to this particular situation.
OMG.

Wonder if they played 5 Nights at Freddie's as well???

Another kill-or-be-killed set up, marketed as Entertainment to youngsters.

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[AC's Grandma]

There's an update on the case -
Ruling handed down in infant death lawsuit | News | wqow.com
But in Monday's 18 page ruling, the judge dismissed the suit, saying there were no indications the girl was violent or was an obvious risk to children at the daycare.

 

[AliceInPain]

They should have gone for the mother of the girl and the daycare provider instead. The mother very possibly lied, as she told media "It was an accident!" Kicking a baby in the head is no accident. She either learned it from you, or you failed to get her proper help. The daycare provider should never have left a little baby alone with anyone.