Posted on 08/22/2008 6:36:42 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3
Tiffany Woods should one day look at the autopsy pictures of her starved baby, a Caddo District Court judge said this afternoon as she found Woods and her boyfriend guilty of letting their baby starve to death.
The child's mother and father, who were Hurricane Katrina evacuees, had money for beer and cigarettes but not money to properly feed their child, the judge added.
Judge Jeanette Garrett, who decided the case in lieu of a jury, found Woods and Emmanuel Scott guilty of second-degree murder in the death of their 5-month-old baby.
Woods, 28, and Scott, 21, face mandatory life prison sentences without parole.
Neither expressed any noticeable reaction as the judge announced her verdict and told of the impact that photos of the dead baby had on her.
"I thought I had seen everything until I saw these photos," Garrett said. "The only way I can describe these pictures is absolutely haunting."
The couple's baby, Emmanuel, died in November 2005 at a house on Ralph Place in Shreveport. An autopsy determined the baby, who weighed six pounds, died of severe malnutrition and dehydration. Prosecutors said he weighed half of what a child that age should weigh.
Woods and Scott both denied intentionally causing their baby to die. Woods told police her son had been sick but she did not know he was starving.
The couple said they switched him from infant formula to regular milk because he took it better.
"Their decision to go off formula was more than a poor choice," Garrett said. "...They had money for beer and cigarettes, so they had money for formula."
Defense attorney Eddie Mouton said the baby, who was born premature, was not getting better but his parents did not believe he was getting worse, either. He said the couple "did everything they could to get their baby to grow and thrive."
The baby was born premature in New Orleans and was released from the hospital before Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. The parents arrived in Shreveport the day before Katrina devastated New Orleans. The baby died three months later.
No she should not see one more day period.
People like this should be spayed and neutered.
A five month old baby that weighed 6 pounds, sounds like the child wasn’t fed anything ever.
Some people shouldn’t be allowed to multiply.
That said, when the baby failed to thrive they should have sought a pediatrician out, and he would have set them straight on diet. As a dad myself, I cannot imagine thinking "hmm, too bad that kid keeps getting skinner, shame he's sick all the time" without seeking out a doctor, which is what these people claim to have been thinking. What a horrible story.
Maybe the kid was lactose intolerant or something like that - I couldn’t imagine regular milk causing a normal child to starve, and if he was really doing better on it than on formula, I can’t blame the parents for feeding him that instead of formula (although breastfeeding would have been the best option, and it wasn’t like it wasn’t an option). Kids spend more time than that on breast milk, and while regular milk isn’t the best substitute, I don’t think it would be so bad as to starve a child. However, I totally agree with you on the point that the parents should have said “Oh, my child is really sick and not getting better” and taken him to a doctor or the ER or something.
Anybody else here old enough to remember the old days when Mom used to feed baby brother or sister some homemade concoction made up of some sort of milk mixed up with Kayro Syrup?
What was the recipe?
How do you not notice your child is that emaciated? These stories make me ill.
susie
I don’t recall the exact measurements, but it seems that it WAS canned milk/water/karo. Babies lived on it just fine (altho breast feeding really is best—and cheapest).
susie
It’s hard to imagine regular milk causing a normal child to starve. OK, I’ll concede that. But this baby was premature. Preemies are under-developed. Formula is specially formulated for babies. These two gave another mammal’s milk to this baby whose alimentary system was probably not as developed as those of other babies. How could anybody not know that a preemie is a little different, has special needs, however nominally ‘special’ they be?
I’m an aunt to a little boy who is the first grandchild to 2 families. He is much adored. He was born 3 weeks early - not really preemie, but he was 5lbs. 11oz. at birth. Then he had a lot of ear-infections, gas, etc.. He didn’t eat a lot and missed the growth spurts. His parents were investigated by the state. Drs. tested him for renal tubular acidosis and thyroid dysfunction. He was -ve for both. The point is, his parents cared enough to take him to a dr.. Ultimately, the dr. said, “He’s small, but he seems happy” and the state backed off. Now he’s 2 and in the 0th percentile for both height and weight. But he’s always monitored, always given choices, always encouraged to eat.
This poor baby might have liked the taste of their whole or 2% or skim milk better, but if he couldn’t digest it, he was starving, and these stupid buffoons let him die.
Awww New Orleans. The gift that keeps on giving.
L
Model citizens.
Every pregnant woman should be required to watch a video of an actual abortion before being allowed to enter the suction room.
These two don’t deserve being called mother and father.
These people should be starved to death themselves.
A baby is born alive, is not given proper care and nutrition, and dies.
How is this any different than Obama’s opposition to the abortion survivors bill?
And what good would that do since she and her boyfriend obviously watched the child's condition deteriorate on a daily basis. If it didn't have any effect on them while the child was still alive, what makes them think it would matter after the child's death?
Have you heard of the Danieal Kelly case? Page 18 is a graphic picture of her at the morgue. This is a PDF file. The grand jury kicked butt and this write up is great.
http://media.philly.com/documents/Grand_Jury_DHS_new.pdf
The DHS workers got charged also.
Absolutely horrifying!
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