(NFT) Dallas woman leaves 5mo. old in car

[Archie F. Swin]

24 year old Dallas woman unintentionally leaves 5 month old son in car while she goes to work, proves fatal

I can't imagine the thoughts & convictions going through this woman's mind since this tragedy has occured, and I don't care to speculate as to how something like this could happen.


I do wonder though . . . has life become so complex, with so many sources of stress that a new mother would become oblivious to the whereabouts of her only son?

Stuff like this scares the b'jezus outta me.

Thoughts?

[Phobia]

I really don't think one can do that accidentally no matter how many distractions (unless those distractions are drugs or alcohol).

Maternal instincts are VERY strong. I can see someone leaving the baby momentarily but surely she would realize something was amiss moments later.

She should pay dearly for this even if she outwardly appears to be grief stricken.

[keg in kc]

Well, her son's dead. Add that to whatever the prison term/fine for negligent homicide is and I'd say she's payed pretty dearly...

[BIG_DADDY]

CHECK THIS OUT:


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No-Contest Plea to Locking Kids in Car Trunk
Mom had trouble securing day care

Matthew B. Stannard, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, March 21, 2001


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A San Jose mother pleaded no contest yesterday to charges that she put her two young sons in the trunk of her car before going to work at a Santa Clara computer company.

Rosemarie Barcelona Radovan, 31, was charged with two counts of felony child endangerment. She pleaded no contest in Santa Clara County Superior Court and could now be sentenced to up to seven years and four months in state prison.

"It certainly pleases us that she's accepting responsibility," said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Daniel T. Nishigaya.

Radovan's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Lyn Agre concurred that her client wanted to accept responsibility.

"She's been to counseling, she's been to parenting classes, she's been to family court," Agre said. "Through that whole process she learned that she wanted to accept responsibility for her actions and get on to her future and look forward to a life with her two children."

Radovan, who Nishigaya said was out of jail on $30,000 bail, is to be sentenced May 18. Her children remain in the custody of a relative pending a hearing. Agre said her client had been visiting her children during the court process.

San Jose police arrested Radovan Nov. 30 after one of her co-workers at Samina Corp. contacted police. Police said the co-worker reported that he and Radovan had been driving to lunch in her 2000 Honda Civic when he heard "what sounded like a kid moaning in the back of the car."

Randovan reportedly turned up the radio and changed the subject when the man asked about the noises, police said.

Investigators believe that Radovan had left her sons -- ages 5 and 7 -- in the car on between five and 10 occasions, Nishigaya said yesterday.

On some of those occasions, investigators believe the children had the ability to climb into the passenger compartment of the car through the folding back seat; on others they did not, he said.

Radovan reportedly told detectives during the investigation that she had recently changed job shifts and was having a hard time finding day care. Her landlady described Radovan as a "single mother who was struggling for her kids. " But prosecutors repeatedly pointed out that Radovan was driving a brand-new car when she was arrested.

[Archie F. Swin]

BTW, you can hear Dallas' most controversial radio talk show host discuss this from 2-6pm today at

http://www.broadcast.com/radio/talk/klif/

The Tom Kamb show

[Phobia]

Kyle,

I realize all that.

However, I'm taking a negative approach to this one. Being a father and having witnessed the maternal instincts of countless mothers, I doubt her story. I think she had intent just because mothers don't allow this to happen to their children. They are equiped with an internal alarm that sounds when something is to befall their kids. ESPECIALLY a newborn. I'm not saying it can't happen. It's just very unlikely. I suspect that it will be found that there were some extenuating circumstances that caused her to kill that baby.

Apologies for the pessimistic view.

[Iowanian]

they should string her up by her nipple hairs, let her sons hit her with a broom handle until she falls down and call it even....the human pinata...ole'

more severe cases of child abuse they could do the "man called horse" ritual..stick chicken bones through the pecks and let the kids hit them with a bat until they rip out...

[keg in kc]

There may well be Kphobia, but you can't convict and punish her without the trial. If it turns out to be something more dubious, I'm all for locking her up in a car with the windows up on a 100 degree day. But, right now, she deserves the benefit of the doubt.

[Phobia]

I agree. Perhaps I was a bit hasty due to the initial shock.

[ct]

I absolutely agree with you KPhobia!! I'm a father of a 3 month old boy, and I can just about guarantee no new mother (and this particular father either) would forget their newborn for 5 HOURS!!!!

Somethin stinks, and somebody will pay!

ct

[KS Smitty]

I have to agree with KC. A woman does NOT forget where her 5 month old baby is. She may not want to admit that she purposely left him there but where the heck else would he have been? The movies? My daughter was just learning to ride her bicycle and was outside when we heard her crying. I said "what's the matter with her now?" while my wife hauls a$$ out the back door. She'd had a pretty bad bike wreck and Mom could tell by the sound of her cry that she was really hurt and was right there helpin her in the house catchin the dripping blood and generally doin the mom thing. (not dumba$$ Dad, he thought she was just bein a crybaby) I can't believe that the "mother instinct" was not there for this woman.

[BIG_DADDY]

Feed her to the fish

[Phobia]

Looks like her attorney is gonna have a hard time finding an impartial jury.

[ChiefsFanatic]

I have a 4 year old daughter and a 7 year old son. When both children were in infant seats, I would leave to go golf or just out to do something, and I would be driving down the street and suddenly shudder because I thought I left my child in the car seat. But I did not bring my child with me. I remember the split second of horror I felt in my heart.

A couple of years ago I read a story about a man who left his child in a car seat all day, and the baby died. he usually did not drop the baby off in the morning, but his wife had asked him to while he was still sleeping in the morning, and then put the child in the seat in his car as a favor for him before they left. The child was sleeping on his way to work, and it never occured to him that the child was with him. I can only imagine the terrible sick feeling he had when he came out from work.

I believe that any parent willingly doing harm to their children should be put to death. That sounds harsh, but that is just my opinion. I would have liked to publicly drown Susan Smith in one of the Sea World aquariums. I think child molesters should be forced to make a nationwide tour of all prisons for a general population "Date Night."

Just my opinion.

[Phobia]

ChiefsFan,

I can understand the story about that man and those circumstances. A MOTHER, I cannot.

[ExtremeChief]

I have to go with Kphobia on this one...I could see it happening to a father, most don't have that strong instinct that mothers do. I think there have to be extinuating (sp) circumstances, and wouldn't doubt that she was under the influence of something.

I don't think it is a lack of caring on a fathers part, it's just that mothers have something built in. It kinda goes along with the "eyes in the back of her head" thought.

Do any of you think she could have purposely done this thinking it would look like an accident???? I guess when babies are found in trash cans, and kids are getting shot in school (another today), anything is possible.


remembering mean people suck...

[keg in kc]

I'm sure I'll be crucified for saying this, but along the lines of what you were saying, fanatic, I think that something needs to be done to curtail what I see as a serious problem, and that's smoking around children.

Every time I see an adult smoking with a car full of kids it makes me sick. When I was looking at houses a few weeks ago we were in a house with 4 kids, both parents were chain-smoking and the house was literally enshrouded in cigarette smoke.

If making kids breathe in second-hand smoke and all the carcinogens therein for their formative years is not a form of child abuse, then I don't know what is.

I'm sure that's not going to be a popular opinion, but I don't think killing your kids slowly with cigarette smoke is whole better than leaving them in a car...

[Phobia]

Hell, yeah - I think she could have done it. 5 month old kids cramp the hell out of a 24 YO woman's style. That's a really tough time in raising an infant. If it was an unwanted child to begin with, I could even understand more.

Obviously, we're all speculating due to lack of details but this is pretty clear cut for me. I'd have to opt out of jury duty on this one.

[Phobia]

I'm with you, Kyle. That's pretty crappy.

[ExtremeChief]

Kyle,

My fiancee and I are both smokers...however, we don't smoke in the house or the car with the kids...I don't think I should force my habit on anyone. I think you'll find not all smokers have a f*** em attitude toward non-smokers. Hell, I can't even stand the smell of it in a car. I will say that I had a terrible time in Atlanta Airport...5 hours waiting to depart and you can't even step outside to smoke without walking a mile and rechecking your bags...

KPhobia,

I don't think it would be possible to find an "impartial" jury, let alone a jury of you peers...it should be an interesting trial, (my guess is plea bargain)




the bran must have worked...IM FINALLY REGULAR!!!

[KS Smitty]

Kyle G.
As a smoker myself I have to agree with you. I never smoke when the kids are in the car and I smoke outside or on the porch at home or at relatives. Smoking was really popular and the thing to do when I was younger, grandparents parents aunts uncles all smoked. I have found though that the older I get the fewer people are smoking. My 16 year old has very few friends that smoke and the nieces and nephews seem to have by passed this very nasty habit. Why haven't I quit yet? Don't want to mostly. Will someday, hell I can't hardly afford em anymore anyway.

[Clint in Wichita]

Since that idiot broad lives in Texas, she'll probably get the death penalty.

[kcred]

There was an incident in Myrtle Beach SC a couple years ago, involving a wealthy restaurant owner from here in Knoxville. He was going to drop the 7 month old off at the sitter, while Mom and older daughter went to the beach. And he went to a business meeting. Somehow, Mom brought the baby in the condo to change him, Dad started to leave, saw no baby, then decided it was only a couple blocks, so walked, Mom puts the baby in the car, thinking Dad is still taking to sitter, you can imagine the results. No charges filed. Keyword, wealthy restaurant owner.

[keg in kc]

I thought I had made a qualifying statement in my earlier smoking post, but I see I left it out:

I have smoked myself, although never habitually. My fiance is a habitual smoker who just can't quit. So don't mistake me as someone assaulting smoking...

except in this case. Just rubs me the wrong way.

[ChiefsFanatic]

It looks like a couple of people thought I was rationalizing what the woman in texas did.

I WAS NOT. I hate people who harm or hurt or kill their kids.

[Archie F. Swin]

Originally posted by keg in kc
I'm all for locking her up in a car with the windows up on a 100 degree day

keg, I'm glad you brought this up . . .

This is the only thing that comes to mind when I ponder her intentionally killing this boy.
Does any given person think that leaving a child in a car in March of any given year spell certain death for the child? (save for Miami or Honolulu)

I'm not the smartest person to ever walk, but I feel that any woman willing to take her baby's life would do her best to eliminate any chance of survival. Now, granted 5 month old children are fragile and helpless, but does a new mother know the degree of this fragility?

Here in North Texas I hear of things like this happening in July or August.

Thanx for the great thread response!

[BIG_DADDY]

BIG DADDY likes smoking cigars and occasionally a little
<IMG SRC="http://www.marijuana.org/GraphixFolder/graphix3/leaf_ani.gif";

[Archie F. Swin]

Big Daddy,

Can . . . umm . . . Little Daddy read a road map?


I'm just off I-44 in Texas!


"rollin' down the street, smokin'indo . . . "

[BIG_DADDY]

CRP,
Pickin up a little widow myself.

[keg in kc]

Let me just say for anyone that might have taken your quote of me out of context, red pants, that I did say she deserved the benefit of the doubt until all the "facts" are known. That was just the first punishment that came to mind if it happens that she did this with malice or forethought...

[BIG_DADDY]

Keg,

Feed her to the fish

[KS Smitty]

Here's where you can read the story:
http://www.dallasnews.com/metro/stories/318122_infantdeath_22met.html

Still think she should have known where the baby was.

[KS Smitty]

If that isn't enough try this one...
http://www.dallasnews.com/metro/stories/318792_boysburned22e.html

I've seen parents let their kids play with their disposable lighters. Never did it myself anymore than I would have let them play with my Zippo

[BIG_DADDY]

KC Smitty,

Yes. Nobody could be that stupid. She needs to held accountable.