A Holdrege woman who pleaded not guilty last summer to child abuse charges stemming from an incident at her daycare has changed her plea to no contest after the charges were amended. Kendra Fritsche, 39, entered the plea Nov. 21 in Phelps County District Court. She was originally charged with committing child abuse intentionally with injury -- a Class 2 felony -- but the charges were amended to committing child abuse intentionally with no injury -- a Class 3 felony. Fritsche was arrested in February after a 3-month-old girl in her care was taken to the emergency room at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney on Oct. 15, 2010, with a skull fracture. Doctors say the infant also showed signs of shaken baby syndrome. Fritsche told authorities that she may have put the child down in a carseat "too hard." Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. She could serve up to 5 years in prison and/or be fined up to $10,000 if convicted. Under the original charges, Fritsche was facing up to 50 years in prison.
OMAHA, Neb. — The Nebraska Supreme Court will hear on Thursday the appeal of a woman who sued a pathologist after she was cleared of a felony child abuse charge in the death of a baby in her care.
Carla McKinney, who ran a state-licensed day care at her Lincoln home, filed a lawsuit against Dr. Matthias Okoye more than a year after prosecutors dropped charges against her in the 2007 death of 4-month-old Chase Madsen.
Okoye, who was under contract with Lancaster County, performed the autopsy on the baby for the state. He told law enforcement authorities that the boy died from blunt-force trauma to the head, asphyxia and bleeding on the brain as a result of child abuse. That led police to arrest McKinney.
McKinney maintained that she never abused the baby, and that she had tried in vain to wake the infant from his nap on Oct. 17, 2007. Paramedics also failed to revive the boy. McKinney's attorney at the time suggested the boy may have died of sudden infant death syndrome.
Two pathologists hired by McKinney's defense attorney disagreed with Okoye's conclusions. Prosecutors later dropped the charge against McKinney, saying there was not enough evidence to prosecute her.
McKinney sued Okoye and his corporation, Nebraska Forensic Medical Services, seeking nearly $275,000. The lawsuit said Okoye's allegations were made "carelessly and maliciously without regard to the scientific and medical evidence available."
Last year, Lancaster County District Judge Paul Merritt Jr. dismissed McKinney's lawsuit, saying state law protecting the doctor allows him to make such decisions without the threat of being sued.
In her appeal, McKinney's lawyer, George Moyer of Madison, wrote that the lower court erred in identifying the lawsuit as a defamation case, instead of an action for malicious prosecution.
"If recent news stories about planted evidence, coerced confessions and wrongful convictions tell us anything, it may be that common law and statutory remedies for the damage done by the criminal justice system are not enough, are too weak, and do not go far enough to deter misconduct," Moyer wrote. "These common law and statutory causes of action do not need to be further weakened by following the course of expanded privileges advocated by the defendant."
Okoye's lawyer, James Snowden of Lincoln, defended the lower court's ruling in the lawsuit.
"The district court did not err in addressing McKinney's possible defamation claim along with McKinney's malicious prosecution claim, because it appeared that McKinney could be asserting either or both claims," Snowden wrote in his reply brief submitted to the Nebraska Supreme Court. http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/86ab43b753594c79b82e8a5a625bbd11/NE--Baby-Death-Lawsuit/
April 14, 2011 BETSY FRIEDRICH HOLDREGE — A Holdrege day-care provider has been charged with child abuse of an infant girl.
Kendra Fritsche, 38, was arraigned Tuesday on a Class II felony in Phelps County Court.
Judge Robert Ide issued a warrant for Fritsche’s arrest Feb. 17 and set her bond at 10 percent of $50,000, or $5,000. The bond ordered that Fritsche have no contact with children other than her own, and she can have no children in her care.
Fritsche was arrested Feb. 18 and now is free on bond.
Court records outline the case against Fritsche:
On Oct. 16, the Nebraska State Patrol was asked by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to investigate a possible child abuse case involving a 3-month-old girl who had been in her care from Sept. 7 to Oct. 15.
On Oct. 15, Fritsche contacted the girl’s mother saying she was “not acting right and need to go to the Phelps Memorial Health Center Emergency Room.”
The mother then took the girl to her doctor in Kearney, then to Good Samaritan Hospital, where the girl underwent additional tests and a CAT scan the following morning.
The CAT scan revealed the girl had suffered a skull fracture, which medical staff said was most likely not the result of a short fall but probably occurred from a significant blow to the head. A GSH ophthalmologist also examined the girl and said she had multiple retinal hemorrhaging in both eyes, which he concluded was consistent with shaken baby syndrome.
On Oct. 18, the girl was transported via medical helicopter to Omaha Children’s Hospital. That same day, a State Patrol investigator interviewed Fritsche, who said the girl’s injuries may have been caused when she put the girl down into a car seat too hard, and she may have knocked the wind out of the girl.
On Oct. 20, a Children’s Hospital doctor said the girl had suffered two separate trauma events, as determined by an MRI scan. One indicated a three-week-old bleed in the girl’s brain, and the other more current and acute bleed dated to the previous weekend when the girl suffered a left parietal skull fracture.
The doctor told police it was possible to cause the injuries by forcefully putting the child into a car seat. The doctor also said the girl’s injuries could result in learning difficulties later in life as well as temperamental mood changes over her lifetime.
Fritsche’s preliminary hearing was scheduled for 1 p.m. May 23. A Class II felony is punishable by one to 50 years in prison. http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/local/article_539e79c8-66bf-11e0-a0ee-001cc4c03286.html
A felony child abuse case regarding the death of an infant has been bound over to District Court and an arraignment has been set.
Ryan Kozisek, 29, of Gresham, appeared in York County Court this week for a preliminary hearing, which was quickly waived — moving the case forward.
Kozisek is facing accusations that he committed one Class 1B felony, which is classified as committing child abuse, resulting in death. The possible maximum penalty, upon conviction, is 20 years to life in prison. This charge is related to accusations that he shook the infant on Jan. 24, resulting in fatal injuries.
A second charge is a Class 2 felony, which is classified as committing child abuse, resulting in serious bodily injury. The possible maximum penalty, upon conviction, is 1-50 years in prison. This charge is related to accusations that he also abused the baby two weeks prior to her death, causing a skull fracture. Doctors at Children ’s Hospital in Omaha say they discovered “older injuries” besides the ones that led to Kayley Kozisek’s death.
Investigators say that when responders arrived at the Kozisek home on Jan. 24, they were told by Ryan Kozisek that his 2-year-old daughter, Kaydence, accidentally fell from a foot stool onto the baby (Kayley), causing the injuries. But doctors at Children’s Hospital say the injuries were not consistent with his story and that all indications show it was a situation of shaken baby syndrome.
The arraignment proceedings have been set for April 18. http://www.yorknewstimes.com/articles/2011/03/24/news/doc4d8b9260e9226579753633.txt
DAKOTA CITY, Neb. – A South Sioux City woman will soon be released from jail after pleading no contest to a reduced charge in the August death of her infant daughter in a recliner.
Nicole Ramirez, 24, was sentenced Monday to 160 days in jail after she entered her plea in Dakota County District Court before District Judge John Samson, who found her guilty of misdemeanor child abuse.
An autopsy report lists positional asphyxiation as the cause of death of Abrieana Renee Mace. The 11-week-old baby died in the South Sioux City home of Lorenzo Guzman, where Ramirez and three of her children, including Abrieana, were staying.
Police say Guzman placed the baby in a recliner and propped up a bottle so she could feed about 5 a.m. Aug. 17 and that no one checked on her for seven hours.
Guzman and Ramirez had originally been charged with child abuse resulting in death, a felony that carries a penalty of 20 years to life in prison. In January, those charges were reduced to manslaughter, which is punishable by one to 20 years in prison.
Ramirez, who is also charged with assaulting a fellow inmate in September, had been held in the Dakota County Jail in lieu of $300,000 bail. The court accepted the 160-day sentencing recommendation of the state. In plea sentencing this week, Samson ordered that Ramirez be given credit for 148 days served, so she will be released within a few days.
Guzman’s attorney told Samson during a hearing last month that he will use the testimony of a Colorado doctor to show the baby died of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. Guzman is free on $40,000 bail.
At the same February hearing, the attorney for Ramirez, Dakota County Public Defender John Loos Jr., said she was not responsible for the death because she did not place the child in the chair.
In information from the February hearing, South Sioux City Police Officer Andrew Backman said he questioned Guzman in the police station, with Guzman telling him Ramirez had gone to sleep at 11:30 p.m. Aug. 16 and that he went to sleep about 12:30 a.m. At that time, Abrieana had been strapped in a car seat in their bedroom, and when Guzman awoke briefly at 5 a.m., he took the baby into the living room, placed her in the recliner, propped her up and left a bottle nearby.
Backman said Guzman told of waking at 9 a.m. when one of Ramirez’s children stirred in the living room. Guzman reportedly went into the room, saw nothing wrong with Abrieana, and returned to sleep in the bedroom until he and Ramirez awoke at 11:30 a.m. Their first action reportedly was to give a haircut to one of the two older children, and they found Abrieana unresponsive around 12:30 p.m.
“(Guzman) said (Ramirez) was a very heavy sleeper, she never got up at night,” Backman said. “That was his responsibility, when they were at his house,” Backman said.
Later, as he ended his remarks for the day, Loos said that although he respected the testimony of the policemen, “I don’t believe it is a mother’s job ... to get up every time, every night.” http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/article_cb445872-065d-5b33-bf88-8be206ba6080.html
Death investigations and coroners’ exams in Nebraska are as varied by county as the deaths themselves.
County attorneys serve as coroners in Nebraska, and there aren’t training requirements established in state statute. But all that is changing because of recent statutes that call for the development of guidelines for uniform and quality death investigations statewide.
Hall County Attorney Mark Young said a subcommittee within the County Attorneys Standards Advisory Council is working on guidelines and training.
“It’s becoming more of an issue,” Young said.
His training for his work as county coroner has consisted of what he has received at seminars, including how to fill out death certificates, determining cause and manner of death and how to gather the necessary information. He believes it will be good to have established standards and he’s glad the Legislature didn’t mandate training without providing funding.
In Hall County, as with many other counties in Nebraska, law enforcement personnel are often the first emergency responders on the scene of an unattended death, homicide, suicide or accident. They are trained in collecting evidence, conducting interviews and investigating the cause of the death, he said. Young is called out to scenes where the cause of death could potentially be criminal.
The county attorneys are also allowed to deputize others to assist with coroner duties. In Hall County, that includes the deputy county attorneys working in Young’s office, he said.
The number of cases the county coroner is involved in each month varies “wildly,” Young said, but, as an example, he said his office signed 26 death certificates/cremation permits in January and ordered one autopsy. He is called out on death investigations as a coroner 15 to 20 times a year on average, but he signs a lot more death certificates that are related to natural causes or medical reasons.
The number of autopsies ordered by the Hall County attorney also varies. Young said he must balance the potential result and necessity with the $2,000 cost to the county. The county has a line item in the general fund for coroner-related expenses and he believed it was currently set at about $44,000. For homicide-related cases, Young tries to take the autopsy costs out of the law enforcement line item he has in his budget in order to “protect the other budgets.”
Autopsies are required by law when the deceased is younger than 19 unless the death was readily recognizable as disease or didn’t occur under suspicious circumstances. The cause of death can’t be certified as sudden infant death syndrome unless an autopsy, a death scene investigation and a review of the child’s medical history reveal no other possible cause, according to state statute.
Young said he orders autopsies when foul play is suspected or the cause of death can’t be determined through the investigation of other facts.
People can request a private autopsy if one has been ordered by the county coroner or law enforcement, and they may retain a pathologist to conduct one, if they choose, he said.
According to an interim study report on the standards and oversight of death investigations in Nebraska, compiled in January 2009 under LB276, the state has no oversight of the county coroner system. The control exists at a local level as county coroners develop their own course of action or policies for death investigations.
Coroners may choose to work with law enforcement to investigate a death. According to the interim study, they can perform the following coroner’s duties or have law enforcement do the same:
n Examine the body at the scene of death or the mortuary.
n Photograph, measure and diagram the scene.
n Collect and document potential evidence.
n Contact the physician of the deceased and obtain the person’s medical history.
n Interview witnesses, family, friends and others.
n Conduct tests on bullets and firearms for evidence.
Buffalo County Attorney Shawn Eatherton said that most of those tasks are left to law enforcement because county attorneys can’t be witnesses in cases that are prosecuted.
Eatherton is on the subcommittee that is working on guidelines and training for county coroners. The group hopes to establish procedures that result in consistency in duties while allowing for flexibility by count. Differences in population, demographics and geography will play into how investigations are conducted, he said.
However, there are certain things that must be looked at in every case, such as the examination of the body and the scene, and interviews with the deceased’s physician, he said.
Eatherton added that autopsies aren’t a “magic bullet” and all the facts of a case must be considered when determining the cause of death.
“Autopsies are just part of the whole picture,” he said.
The checklist being developed by the subcommittee will be an “if, then” list, meaning that if the coroner or law enforcement finds a certain fact, it should be followed by a particular course of action. For example, a fatal traffic accident requires blood draws from those involved, he said.
The state has requested that the guidelines include guidance in determining the need for autopsies, deaths of minors, deaths while in custody, suspicious deaths, entering a death scene, documenting the scene, examining the body, and establishing and recording information.
“The checklist is based on the facts,” Eatherton said. “I’ve looked at the coroners system and the medical examiners system in other states — there is no perfect system. I think we need a blended system to use all our expertise.” http://www.kearneyhub.com/article_2239a238-3869-11e0-9cc4-001cc4c002e0.html
LEXINGTON – Two suspects in a Gothenburg child abuse case appeared in Dawson County Court Tuesday afternoon for a preliminary hearing to determine whether the evidence against them was sufficient enough to transfer the case before the district court.
Doris M. Herrin, 27, and Adam R. Jesseph, 24, were arrested and jailed Dec. 24 for child abuse resulting in death, according to information filed with the court. The pair was arrested as a result of the investigation into the death of Herrin’s daughter, Misty K. Herrin, 3.
Jeff Wightman is representing Herrin and Jesseph’s attorney is Jim McGough, a criminal defense attorney from Omaha. The State of Nebraska is represented by Dawson County Attorney Liz Waterman.
The only witness called to the stand during the hearing was Sergeant Matt Langley from the Gothenburg Police Department. Langley, an 11-year veteran of the police force, testified in regard to findings by the police department during their investigation of the death of Misty.
Doris and Jesseph reported that the girl had fallen while unattended in a bedroom. The treating physician, however, reported that the injuries were inconsistent with that report.
Herrin and Jesseph, both of 202 Ave. B in Gothenburg, brought an unresponsive Misty Herrin into the Gothenburg Memorial Hospital emergency room at about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday.
After being examined for less than one hour, Misty was transported by air to Kearney. She was placed under the care of Dr. Kenton Shaffer, a certified pediatrician, where she had emergency surgery for swelling on the right side of her brain.
“He did not believe she would survive the night due to the injury to her brain,” Langley testified.
The child was removed from life support and pronounced dead at 2:44 p.m. Wednesday.
According to court records, Shaffer diagnosed her as having suffered injuries consistent with having been shaken; brain hemorrhaging on both sides of her brain and hemorrhaging in both of her retinas.
Gothenburg Police obtained a search warrant and collected from the Herrin household a damp towel, urine-soaked pajamas and a large clump of hair from the trashcan.
“It just didn’t make sense,” Langley said of the clump of hair.
McGough objected to the statement about the hair, but presiding Judge Carlton Clark allowed it, as the hearing was only preliminary.
In closing arguments Waterman pointed out a gap of time of at least an hour before the defendants allegedly attempted to get assistance for the three-year-old girl.
“There was no explanation as to what was going on,” Waterman said.
“The timeline isn’t indicative of anything,” McGough countered.
“It’s what they think happened,” McGough continued. “It’s not supported by any evidence.”
An autopsy has been conducted, but the results were not available to defense or prosecution as of press time.
In his remarks, Wightman agreed.
“There is no evidence as to the cause of the death of this child. It’s very speculative.”
In his ruling, Judge Clark referred to passages of the Nebraska Statute, Section 28-707 and ruled there was probable cause to have the matter heard at the call of the District Court.
Doris and Jesseph are each being held in the Dawson County jail in lieu of $500,000 bond at 10 percent.
Misty’s seven-year-old sister has been placed into protective custody with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services during the court proceedings. http://www.lexch.com/articles/2011/01/07/news/local/doc4d23a64aa154c631298370.txt
PAPILLION, Neb. -- A Sarpy County woman is charged with intentional child abuse, a felony, related to an alleged incident in her home child care.
Diane Honaker, 50, was arrested after parents of a six-month-old child discovered the baby was injured.
According to Sarpy County investigators, the parents of the unnamed child took the six-month-old to the hospital on Nov. 12 An examination determined the child's injuries were the result of being shaken.
"Our investigators went to the hospital and interviewed the doctors there and the family, and it was determined that most likely, the injuries occurred at an in-home day care," said Sarpy County Lt. Mark Trapp.
Honaker was arrested following an interview with investigators.
The child's current condition is unknown, but investigators told KETV NewsWatch 7 it did not appear the baby's injuries were life threatening. The baby was throwing-up blood before the parents took the child to the hospital. Doctors found blood on the child's brain.
Trapp said the injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome.
The Nebraska Department of Social Services issued an emergency order on Monday to close Honaker's child care, at 15821 Briar Street. Emergency orders are issued when necessary to protect the immediate safety of a child, according to the state.
Trapp said the baby girl may have had allergies and that may be what have led to what happened in the day care.
"It's not uncommon to see a child of that age that's fussy and people that are trying to stop that child from crying," Trapp said. "This obviously is not the way to do it and causes some pretty severe injuries."
Honaker was held in the Sarpy County jail on $75,000 bond, with a court appearance set for Thursday. Copyright 2010 by KETV.com. All rights
