How Could You? Hall of Shame-Aniyah Batchelor case-Child Death UPDATED
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Fort Washington, Maryland, a 12-year-old child has been charged with second degree murder for the beating death of 2-year-old foster child Aniyah Batchelor.
Aniyah died on July 3, 2012 after being found unresponsive by her foster father.
Washington Examiner says “The girl’s father called police and tried to perform CPR, but she was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Aniyah was a foster child living in the home because of a court-ordered placement. The 12-year-old boy charged in her murder was biologically related to the family living in the house, police said.
An autopsy determined that Aniyah had died of blunt-force trauma, police said. Police said the 12-year-old boy also living in the house beat her repeatedly with his hands. No weapon was used in the beating, police said.
A 15-year-old child and a 4-year-old child were also present in the home at the time, police said. The 15-year-old was in charge of watching over the others, and was of legal age to do so, a police spokeswoman said. Police said Thursday they were unaware of the status of the remaining children in the home.
Police charged the 12-year-old with second-degree murder after extensive interviews with the family, they said. They couldn’t comment on any potential motives.
The boy has been remanded to the Cheltenham Youth Facility, but is currently not being charged as an adult. Homicide detectives are talking with the Prince George’s state’s attorney’s office to discuss how to handle the case. Attorneys could ask the court to allow the 12-year-old to be charged as an adult — state law says children must be 14 to be charged as adults, but courts can make exceptions.
Police said they weren’t aware whether the boy had had any previous run-ins with the law, and they didn’t have information on whether police had been called to the house before. There was no indication that Aniyah had been beaten before Tuesday’s incident, they said.
The state Department of Human Resources is working jointly with law enforcement to find all the pertinent information to aid in the criminal investigation, DHR spokeswoman Elyn Jones said.”
Gazette.net says that the 15-year-old and 4-year-old were biological siblings of the 12-year-old charged. “There was no information Thursday on whether there have been emergency calls to the home before and the status of the remaining children.
The boy is currently being charged as a juvenile and would have to be 14 years old to be charged as an adult according to state law, Parker said. A court of law could waive the child’s status to be charged as an adult on a case by case basis, Parker said.”
“Aniyah’s placement in the home was a court ordered one, said Parker.
Parker referred questions about the foster child status to Pat Hines, spokesman for the state’s Department of Human Resources. However, Hines said in a Thursday phone call that unless a child died or nearly died as a result of abuse or neglect, the state does not permit him to comment on a case.”
Boy, 12, charged with murdering his 2-year-old foster sister
[Washington Examiner 7/5/12 by Aubrey Whelan]
Fort Washington youth charged with second-degree murder of toddler
[Gazette.net 7/5/12 by Natalie McGill]
REFORM Puzzle Pieces
Update: “Her foster parents, who have three children of their own — including the alleged killer — have declined to talk publicly about her death. Prince George’s County police and prosecutors and the social-services agencies that were responsible for the girl say they are barred by law from disclosing details about the family, the victim or the suspect, now locked in a youth detention center.”
“At the Prince George’s state’s attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the youngster, spokesman John Erzen also cited privacy statutes: “The first thing I will tell you is, because the [charge] has been filed in juvenile court, it really ties my hands in terms in what I can and can’t say.” He said he was even barred from disclosing the date of the boy’s next closed-door appearance before a judge.
Confidentiality is a hallmark of juvenile-justice systems across the country, part of a philosophy that emphasizes rehabilitation over punishment and public shame. It’s legally possible that the boy’s case eventually will be moved to adult court and prosecuted openly. But if it stays in juvenile court and he is convicted or admits that he killed the girl, he could be locked up only until his 21st birthday.”
“Aniyah’s mother, Stephany Cunningham, 25, of Landover, said she lost custody of her two daughters in November after another of her young children, a boy, was severely burned in a bathtub of scalding water. The boy, who already had been removed from her custody, was visiting Cunningham at the time, she said.
Aniyah was placed in a neatly kept split-level house in the 1800 block of Taylor Avenue in Fort Washington. Without disclosing names, police described the foster parents as a man and a woman with three children — the 12-year-old boy and girls ages 15 and 4. With the adults not home Tuesday morning, police said, the teenage girl was in charge of the younger children when Aniyah was killed.
“Our hearts go out to the families,” the state Department of Human Resources said in a statement. The department oversees the county Department of Social Services, which monitors foster children locally. The state agency said the screening of prospective foster parents includes background checks and interviews of all family members and “references from schools on all school-age children in the home.”
The charge filed in Aniyah’s death, second-degree murder, is a lesser offense than first-degree murder because it does not include premeditation. And that legal distinction could be crucial to the future of the 12-year-old suspect.
Under Maryland law, for a boy his age to be prosecuted as an adult, he would have to be charged with a crime that, if committed by an adult, would carry a possible life prison term. For an adult in Maryland, first-degree murder is punishable by up to life in prison, but the maximum sentence for second-degree murder is 30 years.
As authorities continue gathering evidence in the case, however, they could decide to upgrade the charge against the boy to first-degree murder. “Certainly, as an investigation continues, charges can change,” said Erzen, stressing that he was not commenting on the boy’s case specifically. “Charges can be dropped, charges can be added.”
Md. laws keep tight lid on case of toddler’s death
[Washington Post 7/6/12 by Paul Duggan]
Update 2:“The 12-year-old Fort Washington boy charged in the beating death of a 2-year-old foster child who was staying with his family told investigators he did not like the girl and did not want her in his home, a prosecutor said in court Thursday.
The boy, who is charged as a juvenile with second-degree murder, told detectives that he hit Aniyah Batchelor “at least six times,” and the beating lacerated her liver, pancreas and adrenal gland, Assistant State’s Attorney Yvonne Cunningham said. Psychologists and psychiatrists who examined the boy found no apparent mental problems, Cunningham said, and concluded that he is “very intelligent.”
““This suggests someone who absolutely knew what he was doing,” Cunningham said.
He said the boy carried a 3.1 GPA and worked around his neighborhood picking up trash for $5 a week.
Police have said previously that the boy’s father called 911 the afternoon of July 3 after finding the toddler unconscious. The father had been “summoned home” by his biological daughter, 15, who had been watching the toddler and her two biological siblings — the boy and a 4-year-old girl, police have said.
A preliminary autopsy determined that the toddler died of blunt-force trauma, police have said. Cunningham said in court that investigators were awaiting a final autopsy, and that was why she asked to postpone the trial.
The toddler had been placed with the Fort Washington family in November, after she was removed from her home because of “allegations of physical abuse” related to one of her brothers, according to records provided by Maryland’s Department of Human Resources in response to a Public Information Act request.
Stephany Cunningham, the toddler’s mother, said in a previous interview that the incident was an accident in which someone — not her — put her 3-year-old son in a tub filled with water that scalded him during a bath.
Before the toddler’s placement, the Fort Washington family had successfully completed a “home study” in which foster-care workers reviewed family members’ criminal and medical records, interviewed references and conducted several home visits, according to Department of Human Resources records. The family also successfully completed foster-parent training, according to the records.
Foster-care workers visited the toddler’s foster home — meeting with the child and the family — seven times after she was placed there, most recently on June 21, according to the records. They also met with the family at the Prince George’s social services department’s office four times and accompanied the toddler and her foster parents during a doctor visit when she had a cold, according to the records.
In court on Thursday, prosecutor Cunningham questioned safety at the home. She said that prosecutors thought the boy’s father was “somewhere in the home when Aniyah was found unconscious” — a statement that drew vigorous head shaking from members of the boy’s family and contradicts the initial police account. That, combined with the seriousness of the crime, made prosecutors concerned that “the parents are not able to control the respondent,” Cunningham said.
Abdullah, who disputed the characterization, declined to comment after the hearing. Apparent members of the toddler’s family also declined to comment, referring questions to Cunningham.”
Boy charged in killing didn’t want toddler in house, prosecutor says
[Washington Post 8/2/12 by Matt Zapotosky]
Update 3: “The 12-year-old, who was charged as a juvenile, entered a so-called Alford plea to involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday. An Alford plea does not admit guilt, but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a jury or judge to reach a guilty verdict.
The boy’s attorney, Raouf Abdullah, says his client denies hitting the child, but the boy and his family felt the risk of going to trial on a second-degree murder charge with such inflammatory evidence was too great.
An autopsy confirmed the child, Aniyah Batchelor, died of blunt force trauma.
The boy, whose name is not being released, will return to court Oct. 23.”
Maryland boy charged in death of foster child living with family enters plea in case
[The Washington Post 9/5/12 by The Associated Press]
Update 4: “Prince George’s County prosecutors say a 13-year-old accused in the beating death of a 2-year-old foster child living with his family has been ordered to a therapeutic group home.
Prosecutors say the boy, who was 12 when the 2-year-old was killed in July, was ordered to serve an indefinite amount of time in the home at a hearing on Tuesday. The boy entered an Alford Plea to involuntary manslaughter.
Police said the boy’s father called 911 to report the 2-year-old was unresponsive. The man performed CPR on the child, but she was pronounced dead at a hospital. The cause of death was blunt force trauma.
Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said a judge ordered that the boy be placed in a home with no one under the age of 18.”
12-year-old who entered plea in beating death of 2-year-old ordered to therapeutic group home
[The Washington Post 10/23/12 by The Associated Press]
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