This makes me sick! (An example of why custody shouldn't automatically go to women)

[MrBishop]

2-year-old survives almost 3 weeks alone on ketchup, mustard, dry pasta

OAS_AD('BoxAd')Associated Press
Sept. 30, 2003 06:45 AM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A 2-year-old left alone for nearly three weeks while her mother was behind bars survived by eating mustard, ketchup, rice and raw pasta, police said.

The toddler was watching cartoons when found by her father, police said Monday. She was suffering from malnutrition and was being treated at Wolfson Children's Hospital, police said.

Dakeysha Lee, 22, was charged Monday with child abuse because she didn't let anyone know that her daughter was alone in her apartment, police said. She was jailed Sept. 10 on unrelated charges.

Ogden Lee, who is separated from the girl's mother, said he talked to her by telephone at the jail Sunday and she said their daughter was with neighbors.

When he got into the apartment, the youngster had dragged food and toys into her mother's bedroom and was lying in a baby's bathtub. She was covered with dried ketchup, Lee said.

"She grabbed me and wouldn't let go of me," Lee said. "It is really a miracle how good a shape my daughter is in. I don't know how she did it."

 

[Gonz]

See, some people deserve to be shot.

 

[freako104]

why being merciful gonz? she deserves much more than just being shot. bitch she is i wish the judge knew what he was doing. i hope she never sees the child again

 

[chcr]

See, some people deserve to be shot.

Something we agree on.

 

[PT]

why being merciful gonz? she deserves much more than just being shot. bitch she is i wish the judge knew what he was doing. i hope she never sees the child again

See now, you're thinking of shooting her in the head. No. You start at the toes. One bullet for each. Then the fingers. Then the Ankles. Then the wrists. Then you start on the torso, only you use a 12 guage filled with salt pellets from about 30 yards away. Applying proper medical attention to stop the bleeding of course, wouldn't want them bleeding out and passing out or anything.

 

[Kawaii]

Use a pair of rusty scissors, cut some wounds open, and leave her out in the desert so that they get infected. Also, see to that she gets water and treatment so that she doesn't die from her wounds... Let the infection kill her, S.L.O.W.L.Y.....

 

[Gato_Solo]

And you're no better than she is. She deserves punishment, but not torture.

 

[Kawaii]

Re: This makes me sick! (An example of why custody shouldn't automatically go to wome

And you're no better than she is. She deserves punishment, but not torture.

Of course, i was only speaking my mind. I would never let the society fall back into the dark ages by supporting such barbarian forms of justice./moment of seriousness

 

[freako104]

And you're no better than she is. She deserves punishment, but not torture.

considering that she did that to a damn toddler? gato what would you suggest? i agree she needs to be punished but she almost let teh kid die.

 

[tonksy]

methinks there is missing info here. was there someone else with the child when the mother was arrested?? did social services drop the ball? where was the daddy? was the child initially left alone? i can't imagine not informing the authorities about my children if i was arrested......but three weeks alone? what about family or neighbors? no one noticed? this is way weird to me....three weeks? that child is either incredibly smart or incredibly lucky or both.

 

[freako104]

i guess they had joint custody cause the father is the one who found her is said condition

 

[freako104]

hey Bish can you give us a link to the story?

 

[Gonz]

did social services drop the ball?

where was the daddy?

The highlight is the only one that needs be asked. Social services can do nothing if they aren't informed. This woman is a danger to her child. She should immediately lose custody & all forms of visitation. She should then be charged with attempted homicide. However, she won't because some weak-kneed social services worker will find a way to convince some pansy-assed judge that it wasn't her fault & she has reformed & found gawd in jail.

[edit]Proven wrong[/edit]

 

[A.B.Normal]

Re: This makes me sick! (An example of why custody shouldn't automatically go to wome

hey Bish can you give us a link to the story?

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/South/09/30/toddler.alone/index.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/974067.asp?0cv=CB20

And so Gonz won't have to visit CNN

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (CNN) -- After spending nearly three weeks alone and surviving on raw pasta, mustard and ketchup, a 2-year-old Jacksonville, Florida, girl was in good spirits Tuesday morning at a hospital, officials told CNN.

"The child is doing well," said David Foreman, a spokesman for Wolfson Children's Hospital, where the toddler was brought for treatment. "She was sitting up this morning, talking and laughing with the nurses."

Officer Ken Jefferson, spokesman for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, said the little girl was brought to the hospital Monday, suffering from malnutrition, after an officer responded to a call from the child's father, Ogden Lee.

Lee, 33, was at the apartment of his estranged wife, 22-year-old Dakeysha Lee, who has been incarcerated since September 10. He told the responding officer that the apartment manager had let him into the apartment, where he found his daughter.

"The child basically survived on raw pasta, mustard, ketchup," Jefferson said.

Lee told the officer that he had been seeking a divorce from the mother and "had limited contact with his daughter during this process."

"After having no contact for several weeks, he vigorously tried to make contact," the police report said.

Jefferson said the mother was charged Monday with an intentional act of child abuse for leaving her daughter alone, notifying no one of the circumstances.

She will appear at an arraignment hearing Tuesday morning, he said.

According to records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Dakeysha Lee had a pair of misdemeanor arrests as a juvenile, and was serving time for shoplifting and a bad check, both misdemeanors.

 

[tonksy]

no you misunderstand me. i meant when she got arrested, she could have said "hey, my daughter is at home with the sitter or whatever. then it would be child services duty to go and see about the child, since they have detain the parent. maybe the mistake, besides being arrested, is not on the mother....but it probably is, we just need to hear more facts.

 

[Gonz]

The fact is, she didn't. I understood what you were saying. I'm pointing out that we don't need to look for hidden parts of the story. Any decent parent would have immediately spoken up. Any piss poor parent would have spoken up in 24-48 hours. This was 3 weeks. She attempted to murder her child.

 

[tonksy]

gonz, you're probably right, i just sincerely hope you are wrong. it's callous and despicable and i don't want to believe anyone could care so little.

 

[IDLEchild]

Pffftt..it builds character in the kid and imagine the amazing stories she has now for her Junior high chums.

 

[Gato_Solo]

gonz, you're probably right, i just sincerely hope you are wrong. it's callous and despicable and i don't want to believe anyone could care so little.

As with most things, this was most likely a money issue. Mommy and daddy get divorced, and have joint custody. Mommy/Daddy pays child support because mommy/daddy has full custody (I know some men and women don't pay support, but...). If mommy/daddy loses the child in a custody battle (she's in jail, so she cannot raise/take care of her child), then he/she loses that money.

I expect this to cause quite a bit of grumbling, but think over this carefully before responding.

 

[Professur]

And you're no better than she is. She deserves punishment, but not torture.

Sorry, Gato, I disagree. She needs to be dragged behind a pickup until there's nothing left but frayed rope.