Ten-Year-Old Charged With Manslaughter

September 30th, 2016

Awake Goy

A ten-year old Florida boy has been arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child. The deceased is his two-year-old cousin. Officials say they have checked with the proper authorities and are within the limits of the law to file murder charges against the boy.

According to the detective’s report, when deputies arrived at the home, they found the 2-year-old unconscious and not breathing; the child’s grandmother was performing CPR on her. The child was hospitalized with severe head trauma and died three days later. An autopsy found she had multiple skull fractures; hematomas and discoloration of the forehead, chin and parts of her head; enlarged right optic nerve; bruises on her chin and ear; and cuts on her lip.

The boy, his 7-year-old sister, and their 2-year-old cousin had been left unsupervised in the home when the incident occurred. The boy and his sister told police that their cousin had fallen out of her playpen and stopped breathing. However, a medical examiner determined the playpen explanation was not consistent with the 2-year-old’s injuries. He said excessive force was necessary to cause the injuries and ruled the death a homicide.

Following the incident, the boy and his sister were placed in foster care. They were later questioned separately about the incident. The boy gave different versions of how his cousin was injured: he was running while carrying his cousin and fell on top of her and she hit her head on the floor; he had placed his cousin on a counter then “accidentally” pushed her off.

The sister told authorities that her brother had hit both her and their cousin. She said she had called her brother names and told their cousin to do it, too. She said she had seen her brother hit and choke their cousin; she had told him to stop because she didn’t want him to be taken away. She said she saw her brother pick up their cousin, who was asleep in her crib, and throw her on the floor. In answer to the official’s question, she said the day her brother threw their cousin on the floor was a different day from the day of the fatal incident.

Prosecutors said it was highly probable that the case would remain in juvenile court. There are a wide variety of options available there to deal with the boy’ behavior, ranging from a warning to keeping him in custody until he becomes 18 years of age.