Twenty-two-year old Alexandra Tobias of Jacksonville, Fla. pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shaking her 3-month-old baby boy to death. This story is so unbelievable because of the reasoning behind this despicable act. Tobias told officials she became angry after her baby started crying while she was playing the popular computer game,
Farmville, on the
Facebook social-networking site. Shaken baby syndrome may show no physical signs of injury, but includes symptoms such as:
- Convulsions (seizures)
- Decreased alertness
- Extreme irritability or other changes in behavior
- Lethargy, sleepiness, not smiling
- Loss of consciousness
- Loss of vision
- No breathing
- Pale or bluish skin
- Vomiting
Source:
http://health.yahoo.net/channel/shaken-baby-syndrome.htmlTobias' sentencing is scheduled for December, and because of state guidelines, Tobias could face 25-50 years in prison. In my opinion, this woman deserves the death penalty.
Here is a link to the article:
http://jacksonville.com/david-hunt/2010-10-27/story/jacksonville-mom-who-shook-baby-interrupting-computer-game-pleads-2nd
1 comment:
According to the best available estimates, there are 1200 to 1600 cases of shaken baby syndrome/inflicted head injury a year. Unfortunately, it's common enough that only unusual cases like this attract media attention. And that's unfortunate, because as a research program in Buffalo shows, a simple education program for new parents can reduce the incidence by 50%. Unfortunately, it's also proven hard to get hospitals to implement such programs voluntarily, because they think parents don't want to know how they can help keep their child safe from such injuries.
Actually, what the hospitals think is that new parents will be upset with them if someone talks to them about "child abuse" at the hospital. Framing the message is important, so that the hospital, the educator and the parent recognize the opportunity to prevent tragedies like this.
SBS prevention programs could use a good PR campaign. The third week of April is "Shaken Baby Syndrome Awareness Week": if anyone is looking for a worthwhile spring project, drop us an email at geolith@gmail.com
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