How Could You? Hall of Shame-Violet Ray-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 Ocala, Florida, adoptive mother, Violet Ray, 37, “charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and child neglect in the [December 8, ]2008 death of her 2-year-old adopted daughter, Faith Ray, filed a motion Monday to continue the case, which is now set for trial May 14. The trial was originally scheduled to begin March 12.” The case has been going on for three years.
“During a hearing Monday morning, Jenkins argued that one of the defense’s potential experts in the case, a forensic pathologist from St. Petersburg, was incapacitated and did not have adequate time to review the state’s discovery in time for the March trial date. The defense also noted a delay and had not retrieved all the discovery from the state.
Trial date reset for woman accused of murder
[Ocala.com 2/6/12 by Vishal Persaud]
PoundPup Legacy has the extensive files from 2010 and older here . Their summary is “2-year old girl adopted by Joe and Violet Ray was rushed to the hospital where she was found to have bleeding of her brain, multiple bruises on her arms, chest, legs, and thighs, as well as vaginal tearing [articles indicate this was due to the force of physical abuse, not sexual abuse]. Several hours later she died. Her death was declared a homicide. Faith was one of 6 adopted children; two from private adoption agencies, four from DCF, including Faith and her 1-year-old bio brother.”
A 4/9/2009 article cited on Poundpup states that “The DCF summary cites a medical examiner’s findings that Faith suffered 20 points of blunt-force trauma to the head and 40 points of blunt-force trauma to the torso and extremities.”
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Though Violet passed Florida DCF checklist in her homestudy, she clearly was unable to appropriately take care of all of her children. Florida DCF is a disaster and their screening of potential parents is despicable.
Updates/July 3, 2012:
Ray, 38, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and child neglect in connection with the 2008 death of her 2-year-old adopted daughter, Faith. Ray has been out on bond since April 2009 and has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
According to a report from the Department of Children and Families, the Marion County medical examiner concluded that the child died as a result of multiple blunt force trauma to the head, torso and extremities.
At the time of Faith’s death, Ray and her husband, Joseph, had five other adopted children, which included the girl’s 1-year-old biological brother. Those children are now in foster care.
The DCF report also found that Ray and her husband were unfit caregivers to any child.”
“A medical examiner testified Wednesday that 2-year-old Faith Ray died as a result of a head injury comparable to a fall out of a fourth-story window or a car accident.
“It’s something to that effect,” said Wendy Lavezzi, deputy chief medical examiner of the District 5 Medical Examiner’s Office.
Faith’s adopted mother, Violet Ray, 38, is on trial for allegedly killing the toddler. She also is charged with aggravated child abuse and child neglect. Ray faces life in prison if found guilty of murder.
The state’s sole witness Wednesday afternoon was Lavezzi, as the trial continued into its second day of testimony and evidence from the prosecution.
The testimony shed more light on the multiple injuries sustained by the toddler that ultimately led to her death. In addition to the lethal blows, Faith sustained several more bruises on her buttocks, Lavezzi said.
Those injuries to the buttocks seemed unlikely to be accidental, as Ray told authorities, Lavezzi said.
During cross-examination, Ray’s defense attorney, Tricia Jenkins, pointed out that Ray had told authorities that Faith had an unwitnessed fall in the kitchen and that she slipped in a bathtub filled with toys. Jenkins also said Ray had found the toddler on a tile floor on her back, but didn’t see her fall.
But Lavezzi said Ray’s explanations were not consistent with what she found during the autopsy.
“I didn’t get an explanation that was sufficient to explain these injuries,” Lavezzi said. “All of those injuries couldn’t have happened on one fall.”
As a result, Lavezzi said she ruled out the possibility of any accidental cause of Faith’s death.
“The cause of death is blunt trauma and the manner of death is homicide,” she said.
Lavezzi concluded that the injuries occurred as a result of someone — an adult or a child the size of an adult — beating the toddler with a cylindrical object. [a plumbing pipe, perhaps?] Of the 115 autopsies she’s done on children younger than 12, she said she’s only ruled 13 of them homicides.
Ray, surrounded by members of her defense team, was visibly shaken by the gruesome details of Faith’s injuries and cried during much of Lavezzi’s testimony. During a brief recess, she had to be escorted out of the courtroom as tears streamed down her face.
After Lavezzi’s testimony, the state rested and the court recessed until today, when the defense is scheduled to begin presenting its case.”
“Assistant Public Defender Tricia Jenkins escorted Ray to the courtroom podium and asked Circuit Judge Robert Hodges that the court conduct a pre-trial investigation before sentencing Ray. She faces the maximum penalty of life in prison for the murder.As a bailiff snapped handcuffs onto Ray’s hands, Jenkins walked back to the defense’s desk, her head held down in disappointment. A few of Ray’s 25 or more relatives in the courtroom came up and thanked Jenkins for her efforts.Earlier on Friday, Jenkins delivered a detailed and impassioned closing argument about how Faith’s death was the result of an accident turned tragedy.”
“Jenkins argued that Ray spanked the toddler, perhaps a bit too hard, and then found the child on her back lying on a tile kitchen floor. This was Ray’s explanation for the severe blunt trauma to Faith’s head that caused her death and the multiple bruises found on her back and buttocks.
Some of the blame for Faith’s death was put on Ray’s husband, Joe, who Jenkins said allegedly spanked the child as well. The veteran assistant public defender faulted some of the deputies and detectives from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for their allegedly shoddy investigative work during the night of the incident.
And then there was the testimony from two expert witnesses to dispute the conclusions from the medical examiner’s office that Faith died of a head injury comparable to a fall out of a fourth-story window.
Jenkins reminded the jury that one doctor said the toddler suffered from a medical condition that caused her to bruise easily and that a short fall could have caused the head injury.
Testimony from another expert witness, an ergonomist, reiterated that idea, Jenkins said. The ergonomist had devised a hypothetical experiment to show how Faith could have fallen from a kitchen chair while she tried to climb up a table to grab a slice of pizza.
In their rebuttal closing argument, the prosecution countered much of what Jenkins had to say in her closing argument.”
“Camuccio argued that Ray never called 911 after the toddler fell and delayed taking her to the hospital. Camuccio said her 5-year-old son had the sense to make the call as Ray’s parents came to her house to help with Faith. But they all decided not to take immediate action or go to the hospital in time to save the toddler’s life, he said.
“That night, they watched the child die because Violet (Ray) knew exactly what she did.”
Update 2: Violet was sentenced to life in prison!
“Ray cried hysterically and was barely able to speak, but she managed to say a few words before Circuit Judge Robert Hodges imposed a sentence.
“I wish that I had died instead,” Ray said. [I bet Faith ALSO wished that!] She also told the judge how much she loved Faith. [Grrr….]
Prior to her remarks, several of Ray’s family members testified that she was a caring person and loved children.
“Children flock to her. She was the magnet for children,” said Joe Ray, her husband of more than 14 years.
He talked about how they wanted to have eight children but that his wife had five miscarriages in the first years of their marriage. That’s when they decided to seek adoption. They eventually adopted six children.
“It was never an obsession (with children), as it was claimed in court,” Joe Ray said.”
“In the course of three months, he said, they were called to foster three kids and then got the call to make a home for Faith and her brother, Micah, who was born with several heath issues, including asthma.
Family members recounted how Violet Ray stayed by Micah’s side when he was hospitalized, until he died.
They also said she was irresolute and always second-guessed herself when it came to making decisions.
To help explain why Violet Ray didn’t seek medical treatment for Faith, one witness said it was part of the family’s sub-culture that they didn’t go to the doctor. [Sub-culture????What a load of &%@#! The jury found her guilty of 1st degree murder, 1st degree abuse and 3rd degree child neglect.]
Prosecutors alleged that Violet Ray beat Faith and then neglected to call 911 and allowed the child to die. A medical examiner testified at trial that Faith died of a lethal head injury comparable to falling out of a fourth-story window.
Faith was found with multiple bruises on her body. The death was ruled a homicide.
“There was no mercy for Faith,” said Assistant State Attorney Amy Berndt in court Tuesday. “She showed no mercy for Faith when she didn’t take her to the hospital.”
The defense argued at trial that the toddler fell and hit her head, presenting testimony from an ergonomist. He described and showed a hypothetical experiment of how the child could have fallen from a chair while trying to get a slice of pizza.
After all the testimony and rebuttal from the state Tuesday, Jenkins asked the judge to consider a downward departure and impose a lesser sentence for Ray.
“I would ask the court to consider mercy,” Jenkins said.
Bound by sentencing guidelines in the Florida statute and the fact that a child was dead, Hodges said he had to uphold the law.
“Evidence clearly showed that the child was beaten to death,” he said. “There is no choice but to give her (Ray) a life sentence.”
Violet Ray gets life sentence in murder of adopted daughter
[Ocala.com 8/28/12 by Vishal Persaud]
Sadly, there are many comments supporting the AP in this article!
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