Baby Left in Parking Lot

KELO Television ^ | 12/13/2004 | Jodi Schwan

[bam]

Two parents are charged with child abuse and neglect after police say they left a seven-month-old boy outside in the cold.

Twenty-year-old Francisco Pinto-Gutierrez and 27-year-old Lacota Odette Stonearrow were arrested after their child was discovered in the Kmart parking lot. The father is also an illegal alien in the United States.

On a December day when winds blew at 40 miles an hour, a 7 month old baby boy was left outside to fight the elements on his own. A shopper discovered him sitting in the eastside KMart parking lot in his carseat.

Sgt. Dave Huntimer says, "It was wearing a coat and wrapped in a baby blanket."

The shoppers put the baby in their car to keep him warm, then called police who pieced together what led the child's parents to leave him outside.

Huntimer says, "They had a verbal argument over who was going to take care of the seven month old child. At that time she removed the seven month old from the vehicle and placed it in the parking lot with the father."

Thefather walked away; the mother drove away.

Police were able to arrest the baby's father before he left the parking lot. They tracked the mother to her home where they took her to jail.

Huntimer says, "The parents, neither one, had any response for us."

Luckily, police say the baby should be fine. He was outside between three and five minutes.

Huntimer says, "It was sleeping when we came in contact with it the entire time the baby was smiling."

But police aren't at all happy about what happened to the young child.

Huntimer says, "It's a tragedy, a terrible this especially this time of year. But I give credit to the people who immediately pick the child us, tried to keep it warm and called us right away."

Police also took a two year old girl away from the mother. Both children are now staying at Children's Inn. Jodi Schwan © 2004 KELOLAND TV. All Rights Reserved.

[An American In Dairyland]

If Russel had killed the children how quick would you be to demand Andrea be held accountable?

This has everything to do with 1) feminism and 2) male chivalry. We hold men accountable for women's misdeeds and we seldom hold women accountable for men's misdeeds. That is chivalry in action.

BTW, I am a woman just as a frame of reference to what I've posted.

[gubamyster]

ping

[B4Ranch]

Well said.

[najida]

Honestly,
I do see Randy having a great deal of culpability in the death of those kids. Yes, the mother drowned them, but the Daddy contributed greatly to her mental decline. Bluntly, I think he was on power trip and was so wrapped up in himself and his view of the world that he really didn't care about her and what was happening to her.

It isn't about feminism, it is about looking for cause and effect. It goes both ways. I can't torture something to the point of madness, and when it finally lashes out, say "hey, look what it did!". It's called being responsible for your actions, right down to contributing to the deaths of your own children.

Sometimes, just cuz ya ain't drivin' the bus doesn't mean you didn't cause it to wreck.

[StarFan]

The first "it" caught my eye as well and I labelled the reporter (who obviously didn't know the sex of the child) a novice but after the third or fourth "it", concluded that the reporter is an idiot.

[demkicker]

If Russel had killed the children how quick would you be to demand Andrea be held accountable?

Just as "quick", and I'm dead serious. If Russell had drowned the children after demonstrating the same long history of psychotic episodes and yet Andrea continually left him alone with the children, allowing him to be their sole caregiver in charge of feeding, caring and educating them even though he got to the point of not being able to function enough to get out of bed and bathe HIMSELF, you betcha I'd want to charge her!

Furthermore, I can't believe anyone wouldn't. People who try to make this into a male/female issue are missing the point, IMO. I don't give a cr@p what sex the parents were. In this case, one was crazy out of her mind (yet I do agree with her punishment). The other was a control freak who wanted a slave for a wife who jeopardized his childrens welfare by leaving them in her care each day. He definitely contributed to their fate by his parental negligence, no doubt about it in my mind.

[demkicker]

BTW, I am a woman just as a frame of reference to what I've posted.

BTW, I'm also a woman.