I hit baby so he won't be a 'punk,' dad tells cops

The Miami Herald ^ | 4-25-2003 | CAROL MARBIN MILLER AND TERE FIGUERAS

[Cagey]

Victor Demetrius Robinson wanted his 8-month-old son to be a man.

His infant, Kelton Wright, was being fussy: New teeth were coming in and he wouldn't stop crying.

So, according to child welfare reports released on Thursday, Robinson stuffed a sock in the baby's mouth and told him: ``Be quiet. You're a boy. Don't cry.''

Three weeks later, Kelton was crying once more -- still teething, now sick with diarrhea, vomiting and feverish.

That's when Robinson punched the baby in the back, and ``shook him violently.''

Kelton stopped crying. The force of his father's blow knocked him forward and forced all the air from his lungs.

The infant managed to crawl toward his mother, Ciji Wright, 19, before his eyes rolled back and he stopped breathing.

Robinson, who is charged with murder, offered this explanation to police: ``I don't want my shorty to grow up to be a punk.''

Kelton died a day later -- March 4 -- at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

He is one of three boys under the watch of the Department of Children & Families to die since February, a statistic that has spurred a public outcry.

The DCF documents released this week reveal more detail about Kelton's short life and the welfare agency's work in the days leading to his death -- casework labeled as ''indefensible'' by Chelly Schembera, then acting head of the DCF's Miami district, in a March 10 e-mail to DCF Secretary Jerry Regier.

Among the details:

• The child abuse investigator assessed the risk to Kelton as ''low'' after responding to the February incident despite Robinson's history of mental illness and molesting a disabled family member. The investigator dated her assessment Feb. 17, but the records show her supervisor did not review the assessment until after Kelton had died.

• Kelton's case was on the table to be reviewed by a DCF attorney Feb. 25 when the attorney postponed his and one other case because ``she had to leave as it was 5 p.m.''

On Thursday, 364 days after DCF reported to police the disappearance of 5-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson, several state lawmakers gathered in Tallahassee to mourn the death of Kelton and the three other children who have died under DCF care since February -- and call on Gov. Jeb Bush to delay the confirmation of Regier as secretary.

''We should not be wringing our hands over more beaten children, more neglected infants, more tiny graves,'' said Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami.

[retrokitten]

Wow! I didn't even realize how old this story was until you pointed it out. Jeez! This person never even changes their M.O. at all.

[knak]

wonder what the heck comes over these posters to claim these "friends" of theirs are so innocent when children get hurt. Must be an ex abuser themselves or something.

[Freedom2specul8]

great minds think alike.

[Freedom2specul8]

That happened to me numerous times..I finally learned to look at the date of the original article, and then the date of the newbie's post prior to reading ANYTHING. It's a conspiracy I'm telling ya.

[patent]

This is so sad.

[agrace]

Wow, the recurring "you just don't know her, she's a victim and I'm her best friend" poster strikes again. That is just bizarre. Someone is really bored in Bad Grammar Land.

[hellinahandcart]

Let's see now.

Resurrects ancient thread---check.

Claims to know central figure in heinous crime story---check.

Illiterate---check.

"You don't know _____ like I do, she is a wonderful person"---check

"You shouldn't judge"---check

You'd think this person would try to vary her act a little bit...

[hellinahandcart]

Someone is really bored in Bad Grammar Land.

Some of us think it's possible that the troll is *faking* the bad punctuation and spelling, for the sake of "authenticity".

AAM, that was your theory, wasn't it?

[HitmanLV]

They must be slipping, they left out how this is the Bush admin's fault.

[Darnright]

Please, please, sterilize this monster before EVER (heaven forbid) paroling or releasing him.

[Tijeras_Slim]

You forgot: Troll using Goodwill supplied 486 computer with broken shift key.

[AnAmericanMother]

Yup. They don't do a very good job though. Most people who can spell the hard words and use sentence structure correctly also have a good grasp of verb tense, not to mention capitalization and punctuation.

[Windsong]

And you the mr. or mrs?

[T Minus Four]

this is why I do not believe in the death penalty for these cases

Exactly, me neither. Why end their suffering? I always thought that Susan Smith, the woman who drowned her two small children, should have twice daily been drowned to the very edge of death and then revived. Day after day after day for the next 50 or so years.

[T Minus Four]

I "Googled" the monster's name, looking for followup stories, but didn't see anything. However, here's a real heartbreaker I did find. Here's a picture of the poor little baby:

[Devil_Anse]

Note that this thread was posted on 4-25-03. The thing's post was the first post on this dead-as-a-doornail thread in almost a YEAR.

(clearing throat and assuming Australian accent) Here we have a chance to see the technique of the IF Troll. It seems to sift through old, dead threads, and then finally picks out one, usually one about an atrocity, then posts to it, thus bringing it back to life. Once the thread has been revived, the IF Troll then EATS it.

[Devil_Anse]

Wait, I just got a message from "Ciji". She asks that I pass it on to mickey.

"Mickey--

Thanks a whole lot for coming to my defense ELEVEN MONTHS LATER. Hope you didn't break any speed limits getting here.

--Ciji"

[cupcakes]

Robinson, who is charged with murder, offered this explanation to police: ``I don't want my shorty to grow up to be a punk.''
___
Brilliant, well now you have nothign to worry about at all you sick bastard. Your "shorty" won't ever grow up to be a man or a punk now.
What is wrong with these dumb a$$es who think a baby has the same thought processes as they do? Babies generally want food, comfort, and cry when they are hurt or uncomfortable(in which case they usually want comfort). They don't have the same twisted manipulative thinking that this goof had. What a waste. A decent family could have been tucking this baby in at night and comforting him as his teeth come in.

[cupcakes]

You caught the fact that the baby had to crawl to her before he collapsed too which I'm assuming to mean, she didn't even run over to the child as soon as he was hit. Probably didn't want to pull herself away from MTV.

[Siouxz]

We are white, and adoped a mixed-race boy about seven years ago. I still remember to this day, that I had to go to a seminar for prospective adoptive and foster parents. That stupid social worker stood up there and told us we HAD to have empathy for the birth parents, because they are suffering the loss of their child. I was about ready to scream, but you have to "play their game" if you want to adopt.

BTW, fortunately our social worker had some brains. We were a Christian, homeschooling family, and never got a bit of flack for it.

We have also been on the "other side" of the issue, when our adopted son, who has some emotional problems, made a comment at school to the school counselor. Social services were called. THAT was one of the most stressful weeks of my life. Again, we had a social worker with some common sense. She saw the situation for what it was, and promptly closed the case.