Posted on 07/12/2008 5:04:45 PM PDT by martin_fierro
Mom faces fireworks injury charges
By Harry Harris
Oakland Tribune
Article Last Updated: 07/12/2008 08:44:49 AM PDT
OAKLAND — A mother was charged Friday with felony child endangerment after her 4-year-old son, who was at home alone, set off a giant firecracker Thursday afternoon, blowing off part of his hand and leaving him blind in one eye.
The boy, whose name was not released, lost the thumb and three fingers on his right hand, shattered an eardrum and was blinded in his right eye in the 2 p.m. explosion at a housing project in the 1100 block of 65th Avenue in East Oakland.
Special Victims Unit Officer Jeff McCort said the boy "was still screaming and crying out in pain" at Children's Hospital Oakland hours after the accident.
"He's not going to recover too well from this," said McCort, who is investigating the case with Officer Bryant Ocampo.
The boy, who remained in the hospital Friday, has been placed under the custody of Alameda County Child Protective Services.
The boy's mother, Adonneka Gilchrist, 26, was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and possession of stolen property because police said they found a semiautomatic pistol in her bedroom. The weapon had been reported stolen in North Carolina.
She was also arrested on suspicion of violating probation in a prostitution conviction and on a warrant for failing to appear in court on a driving with a suspended license charge.
Gilchrist remains jailed in lieu of $51,000 bail. She is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on the felony child endangerment charge and could face additional criminal charges from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office next week.
Ocampo said neighbors told police that the boy had been left alone in the home before and they thought they saw him by himself as early as 10 a.m. Thursday. Police said they can only confirm he had been left alone for at least 30 minutes before the 2 p.m. explosion.
"It just hurt our heart because that boy is only 4 years old and should never have been left home alone," said neighbor LaTrina Rivera.
The boy apparently found a large firecracker on a coffee table. Police aren't sure if it was an M-80 or an M-100; the fireworks-related Web site www.pyrouniverse.com said an M-80 is 60 times more powerful than a legal firecracker.
Police believe the boy ignited it using the pilot light on a furnace.
The explosion shattered the glass on a picture hanging on a wall, and the boy also was injured by flying glass particles.
Police said particles of skin and bone fragments were found on the walls, ceiling and on the floor of the apartment.
The boy ran outside, where neighbors did their best to aid and comfort him until emergency personnel arrived.
"I heard the little dude come out the door screaming," said neighbor Carl Goodman.
Goodman said he was the first to attend to the boy, using his shirt and some ice to cover the boy's wounded hand.
Ocampo said Gilchrist showed up at the scene about 2:25 p.m. She apparently had been called on her cell phone by a neighbor.
She told police she had gone to Alameda County Social Services to discuss benefits. She admitted she had gotten fireworks from a relative, and she had left at least one firecracker on the table.
McCort said Gilchrist cried when showed photos of the child's injuries.
"His skin was torn off all over his face," Goodman said. "It looked like meat was just hanging off his arm."
Goodman, Rivera and other residents said the ambulance did not arrive quickly.
Rivera said it took the ambulance 45 minutes to arrive; however, a police report shows that the ambulance arrived at 2:13 p.m., just 10 minutes after the incident was reported. Oakland fire Lt. David Brue said firefighters arrived at 2:12 p.m.
"Part of the short delay was that we responded to the call at 66th and Eastlawn Street, and the apartment was actually at 65th and Eastlawn Street," Brue said.
Police are trying to confirm a report that Gilchrist has another child staying with a relative.
Fireworks-related injuries are not uncommon.
In 2006, 11 people died and an estimated 9,200 were treated in emergency departments for fireworks-related injuries in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 66 percent of those injuries occurred between June 16 and July 16, corresponding with fireworks sales around Independence Day, the statistics show. Young people younger than the age of 20 sustained nearly half of all injuries from fireworks, according to the CDC. Injured most were hands, followed by eyes and then the head and face and ears.
The CDC warns that fireworks can be associated with blindness, third-degree burns and permanent scarring. Although firecrackers were associated with about 1,300 injuries, there were an estimated 1,000 injuries associated with sparklers and 800 associated with rockets, statistics shows. Sparklers accounted for one-third of the injuries to children younger than age 5.
Sad for the little dude that his mom is a retard.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.