SBS: Virginia: Baby sitter Larisa Mone Thomas guilty of voluntary manslaughter

 5/26/2011

BY KEITH EPPS

A woman who shook an infant boy to death in 2009 was ordered yesterday in Spotsylvania County to serve 10 years in prison.
Larisa Mone Thomas, 29, had previously pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and felony child neglect in connection with the death of 3-month-old Elijah Lynch-Hobbs. Thomas was baby-sitting the child.
The sentence handed down by Judge David Beck was apparently more than Thomas' supporters were prepared for.
Some of them wailed and screamed in disbelief after the decision was announced, and one woman slammed a door and stormed out of the courtroom.
Elijah was injured Sept. 8, 2009, in Thomas' bedroom. Thomas told Detective Twyla Demoranville that she shook the child in an attempt to get him to stop crying.
Elijah was taken off life support the next day at VCU Medical Center in Richmond, but prosecutor Kim Hackbarth said the baby was essentially dead shortly after the abuse.
"It was an intentional act that caused this," Hackbarth said. "That's what makes this unconscionable."
According to the evidence, Vanessa Lynch-Hobbs dropped off Elijah and an older brother at Thomas' home on Windridge Drive in Spotsylvania County about 11:30 a.m. that day.
Thomas and Lynch-Hobbs were friends and had known each other about 15 years. Thomas had been caring for the older child for about a year.
About 30 minutes after Lynch-Hobbs left, police got a 911 call from Thomas, who said the baby was not breathing. During the call, Thomas made such statements as "I shouldn't had did this" and "Come on, Elijah baby, I'm so sorry."
Elijah suffered bleeding in the brain and retinal hemorrhaging, and doctors ruled the death shaken baby syndrome.
Testimony yesterday and court records indicate that Thomas, who is married with four children, was an experienced baby-sitter who had a good reputation in her community.
Defense attorney Stuart Sullivan said Thomas is "one of the most unlikely defendants in the history of this county."
Hackbarth conceded that Thomas had been a good person "99 percent of the time. But in this 1 percent she was horrific and it led to the death of a child."
Judge Beck sentenced Thomas to a total of 20 years, the maximum, but suspended 10 years.
Beck acknowledged that Thomas had been of good character most of her life, but said that people who care for children must be held to a higher standard.
Prior to Beck's decision, Thomas made a statement in which she said she never meant to hurt Elijah and hopes the child's family will one day forgive her.
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/052011/05262011/629130

SBS: Missouri: Baby sitter Amy Johnson sentenced second time raises legal questions

VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN  May 3, 2011 

handout Baby sitter Amy Johnson.

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A woman who shook a baby girl in her care so severely that the girl died of her injuries in 2007 at age 13 was sentenced this morning to fourteen years in prison.
Amy Johnson shook 2-month-old Kelsey McGinnis as she cared for her at her home in Ellisville in July 14, 1994. Kelsey suffered severe brain damage, was blind, and could not walk, talk, or feed herself. Johnson served one year in jail for assaulting the child, but in March she pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after being charged with second-degree murder in October 2008.
The case may have broken legal ground in Missouri because she had already been charged with a crime in the case. But prosecutors determined the charge did not violate Johnson's constitutional right against being tried twice for the same crime.
This morning in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Kelsey's father, Michael McGinnis, told Circuit Court Judge Richard Bresnahan how Johnson's decision to shake Kelsey changed their lives forever. In halting, tearful speech, McGinnis related how he, his wife Karen, and their three other children suffered financially and emotionally caring for Kelsey around the clock. "Our life was destroyed that day, not just our daughter, but our whole entire family," he said.
He said that he did not hate Johnson, but noted that she had never apologized for what had happened. "That would have made a big difference," he said.
Johnson, when given a chance to speak before the judge, said she was told not to contact the McGinnis family. "I did not intentionally hurt her," she said, noting that she had no idea at the time what Shaken Baby Syndrome was. "I'm truly sorry for all the family has gone through. And my family is suffering, too."
Johnson, who lives with her husband and children in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Her lawyer noted that one of her daughters is disabled and faces surgery, and requested that she be able to serve her sentence in a prison in South Dakota.
Johnson will likely serve about five years in prison before she is eligible for parole.
Bresnahan told Johnson that this was one of the most difficult cases he's seen in his law career. "You've sentenced them to a prison of pain," he told Johnson. "It's a different prison than the one you're going to go into, but a prison all the same.
But the difference was, he said, was that Johnson would get out one day.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_8d83c230-75a4-11e0-963a-0019bb30f31a.html

SBS: Texas:

February 2, 2011

 By JESSICA COOLEY

Hudson Police and Child Protective Services are investigating the suspicious death of a 4-month-old Hudson boy.

On Jan. 28, the baby was in the care of a baby sitter when the baby sitter notified the mother of a health issue with the boy, according to Hudson Police Chief Jeff Burns.

The baby was taken to a local hospital for a possible seizure and later flown to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston with a large amount of blood on his brain, CPS officials said.
The baby, determined to be brain dead, died in Houston Sunday after being taken off life support, CPS officials said. Because the boy suffered bilateral retinal hemorrhages, the case is being investigated as possible shaken baby syndrome, according to information from CPS and Hudson Police.
Burns said in a Wednesday phone interview that the department is currently waiting for official autopsy results from Houston.
“Because the child had diagnosed underlying medical problems, we can’t say foul play is involved until we get the autopsy results back,” Burns said. “Due to the suspicious nature of the death, we also can’t rule out foul play.”
Burns said autopsy results could be back early next week.
Monday, CPS officials removed three other children, ages 4, 3 and 1, from the home, placing them in foster care.
The case remains under investigation, Burns said.
http://lufkindailynews.com/news/local/article_7457f706-2f0c-11e0-b534-001cc4c002e0.html