A 10-year-old girl was formally charged by the state earlier this week with killing 3-month-old Brooklyn Foss-Greenaway at a home in Fairfield in July.
She may be the youngest person in Maine to be charged with manslaughter.
If she is convicted, she would likely remain in state custody until she is at least 21. Is Maine equipped to handle such a young offender?
First, it is highly unlikely the girl will grow up in one of the state’s two juvenile prisons even if she is convicted of the crime, according to experts on Maine’s juvenile justice system.
That is because the goals of Maine’s juvenile and adult justice systems are different. The primary mission of the juvenile system is rehabilitation while punishment is the focus of the adult system.
Statistics for juvenile crimes in Maine are difficult to find. But, female offenders under the age of 13 are at least rare enough that the youth center in Cumberland County, where female juveniles convicted of crimes serve their sentences, is not set up to meet the needs of a preteen, according to Bartlett H. Stoodley, associate commissioner for juvenile services at the Department of Corrections.
The vast majority of the 250 juveniles currently at Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland and Mountain View in Charleston are between the ages of 15 and 17, although both facilities were designed to handle children between the ages of 11 and 17, he said. There are just two or three children at each facility under the age of 13. None is sentenced to remain there until he or she becomes an adult, according to Stoodley.
If convicted of manslaughter, the girl probably would be sent to a residential treatment facility or group home under the direction of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services where she could be with children her own age, according to Stoodley.
Since her arrest last month the girl has been under the care of DHHS, according to earlier reports.
The Maine girl, who the Bangor Daily News is not naming because of her age, is charged with causing the death of Brooklyn Foss-Greenaway of Clinton, who died on July 8 while under the care of a baby sitter in Fairfield. Maine State Police declared the death a homicide on Aug 29.
The infant’s mother, Nicole Greenaway, told the Bangor Daily News last month that a toxicology report stated that medication found in her infant’s system was the same as the medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder taken by the 10-year-old girl, who is the daughter of the baby sitter.
“She [also] suffocated her by putting her hands over her face,” Greenaway said last month. “There are bruises all over her face.”
The mother of the 10-year-old declined to comment after her daughter was charged, referring inquiries to her attorney, John Martin of Skowhegan.
The mother of the 10-year-old has not been charged.
It was the second time the girl had been implicated in an incident involving a baby. An 8-month-old was hospitalized in June after overdosing on medication while in the care of the 10-year-old and her mother.
Ashley Tenney, mother of the 8-month-old, said earlier this month that doctors told her they found amphetamines in her daughter’s system that matched medication prescribed to the 10-year-old for ADHD.
Keeping kids out of detention facilities
Under Maine law, a child of any age can be charged with a crime and a prosecutor can seek to have a child of any age tried as an adult.
Assistant Attorney General William Stokes, head of the criminal division in the Maine Attorney General’s Office, has said he would not seek to have the girl tried as an adult.
An adult convicted of manslaughter would face a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Convicted as a juvenile, she could be sentenced to the custody of the Maine Department of Corrections until she turns 21.
When it comes to offenders under the age of 13, prosecutors, defense attorneys, caseworkers and judges work together to keep children from being incarcerated, Stoodley said. Eighty percent of the juveniles who appear in court are not sentenced to incarceration, Stoodley said.
If they are sentenced to such a facility, far more services are offered to jailed juveniles than to incarcerated adults. At Long Creek and Mountain View there are an array of educational and vocational programs along with psychological and family counseling, he said.
Despite the attention paid to high-profile cases that involve violence, just 1 percent of Maine’s juvenile population between the ages of 11 and 17 was convicted of a crime between 2006 and 2008, according to an annual report on juvenile recidivism rates prepared by the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine.
The court system gathers the number of juvenile case filed statewide each fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. The Maine Department of Public Safety compiles the number of juveniles arrested and breaks down the kinds of crimes they are charged with for each calendar year. The Juvenile Division of the DOC keeps track of the number of petitions filed in district courts around the state in each calendar year.
For the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010, the judiciary’s annual report said that 3,622 cases were handled in juvenile courts excluding traffic violations. The annual Uniform Crime Report stated that for the calendar year that ended Dec. 31, 2010, 6,492 juveniles — 1,940 girls and 4,552 boys — were arrested. Just 32 were 10 years old or younger while 275 were between the ages of 10 and 12.
According to Stoodley, about 3,200 petitions were filed in calendar year 2010. Of those, 614 or 19.2 percent were felonies, 1,889 or 59 percent were misdemeanors and 697 or 21.8 percent were civil violations, all crime classifications used in adult but not juvenile court. Civil violations would include possession of a usable amount of marijuana, consumption of alcohol and other minor crimes.
The 8-year-old arsonist
The youngest defendant retired District Court Judge Jessie Gunther dealt with in her 32 years on the bench was an 8-year-old girl accused of arson.
“Nobody was interested in pursuing it as a criminal prosecution,” she said earlier this month from her home in Castine. “We wanted to figure out where the kid needed to be to receive the proper treatment. It never really became a court case and the charges were dismissed, if they were ever actually filed.”
Gunther said that she rarely saw children 13 years old and younger in her courtroom. Those charged with serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter or arson, all felonies, were even rarer.
The vast majority of juveniles who appeared before Gunther were between 15 and 17. They most often were charged with crimes involving shoplifting, underage drinking and drug use, she said. Probation and-or community service were the sentences the judge imposed most often.
Juveniles sentenced to Long Creek or Mountain View often are repeat offenders or have been convicted of felonies, according to Stoodley.
The procedures used in Maine juvenile courts are very similar to those in the adult criminal justice system, with the biggest difference being that juveniles do not have the right to a trial by jury, according to Gunther. Their cases are handled by a district court judge.
Technically, charges aren’t filed against juveniles the way they are lodged against adults. A prosecutor files a petition with the court. The judge then acts on that petition. This is where the case of the 10-year-old now stands.
Adult and juvenile competency
Competency could be an issue raised in the case of the 10-year-old girl facing a manslaughter charge.
The legal standards for whether an adult or juvenile is competent to stand trial are fairly similar, but the standard is slightly lower for children, according to Christopher Northrop, director of the University of Maine School of Law’s Juvenile Justice Clinic in Portland.
“For an adult, the standard is the ability to assist counsel,” he said earlier this month. “For juveniles, it’s the comparison of what would be typical of a child the same age.”
The system allows judges to consider more information from juvenile than adult defendants, according to psychologist Kathryn Thomas, formerly of Brunswick. She recently retired after many years in private practice that included evaluating the competency of juveniles and adults.
She was hired by defense attorneys for Patrick Armstrong. Then 15, the Fayette youth pleaded guilty in 2006 in adult court to manslaughter in connection with the 2005 death of 14-year-old Marlee Johnston, a neighbor. He was sentenced to 25 years with all but 16 years suspended. Armstrong was the first juvenile in Maine to be ordered to serve part of his sentence at a juvenile facility before being transferred to an adult prison after he turned 21.
“In essence, we want to know what [juveniles] actually understand about the process, the charges against them, the potential penalties, their feelings about the judicial system and, particularly, their own lawyer,” Thomas said in an email earlier this month. “We want to know what they understand about expected decorum in the courtroom. We want to know what words and terms they understand, like what a sentence is, what an appeal is, what the purposes of the judge and various courtroom players are, etc. We try to assess their problem-solving skills, divergent thinking abilities, and ability to think independently.”
Thomas said that standardized tests along with school and medical records, family and work histories often are admitted as evidence in juvenile cases.
“We try to obtain as much information on the child’s behavior prior to the commission of the crime as possible,” she said. “In that regard, there is probably a much more intense attempt at getting collateral and background information than with adults.”
Juveniles found competent receive the services they need through the system, according to Northrup. Those found not competent often do not.
According to Stoodley, Long Creek and Mountain View can meet the needs of all juveniles except those with a serious psychosis. They sometimes must be moved out of the facilities for hospital-based care. If in-state treatment is not possible, children can be sent out of state for treatment, he said.
Why children break the law
In her 2003 book, “Why Children Kill,” British author Carol Anne Davis argued that most children who kill have suffered from some form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse.
“Moreover, the children who commit violent crimes have invariably been victimized by violent adults,” she wrote. “A recent study of 200 serious juvenile offenders found that over 90 percent of them had suffered childhood trauma. Seventy-four percent of the total sample had been physically, sexually and-or emotionally abused and over 30 percent had lost a significant person in their life to whom they were emotionally attached.”
Stoodley said that while he has no statistics, he has seen a similar pattern with the juveniles committed to the DOC.
“There’s a strong relationship between juvenile crime and physical and sexual abuse, neglect and-or deprivation,” he said. “Add to that the difficulty of connecting with social services and problems in school, then, one thing tends to impact on the other and kids wind up in the juvenile justice system.”
Stoodley said that in his years with DOC, he has seen more Maine children turn to crime as a result of poverty and neglect than abuse.
More recently, he has seen an increase in the number of children on prescribed medication in the system.
“About 80 percent of the kids we see come into the system already on psychotropic meds,” he said. “Almost all have some serious challenges around behavior and/or substance abuse issues.”
The 10-year-old is scheduled to make her first court appearance Oct. 22 in Skowhegan District Court. By then, she will be 11.
I have never been a fan of psychotropic drugs for kids. I do not believe that adequate research has been done to assure their safety. They seem to be prescribed more to sedate children and make them more manageable than anything else. People in the field call it “chemical restraint”. I am gratified that professionals recognize what I have known for awhile, which is that the behavior problems come from maltreatment more than organic brain issues. That said, I still maintain that the mother of this girl should also be charged for her actions, or more to the point, failure to take appropriate actions to protect that poor infant. The 10 year old should not be held solely responsible, because her mother should have known better than to allow her to be in a position to hurt the baby.
I’ve taken several drugs as a volunteer. They include the mood elevators, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, tri-cyclics type of things. One of them was targeted primarily at the geriatric market. They’re all poison to me. I wouldn’t want to be on medication that makes all food taste funny, makes me drool, makes me feel like I have cotton balls in my mouth, and so on. I was especially astounded at the one that caused mood swings every 4-6 hours. It was administered 2x daily and the mood swings did not follow the administration time in any pattern. The important factor is that I was a “normal” person. I was working for neurologists in a medical school. They wanted some results that didn’t come from test subjects like prison inmates or people with mental health issues so severe that they were perpetual in-patients. Give any of these drugs to “normal” people and you get a better idea of what they might do. Some of them had an “adjustment” period of a week or more but the side effects I experienced were too severe to continue after a day or two. Think about what might happen if this girl was taking something like that but taking it erratically. That might turn out to be the best explanation. I have my doubts that she is going to be found criminally responsible. I think charging her right away might have been the best thing to do because it gets her away from a mother that might be the root cause of the problem. I suspect that the mother decided she wanted the girl medicated and then went “doctor shopping”. Maybe she got what she wanted with the first doctor but she would still be a “doctor shopper” if that was her intention.
the mother went doctor shoping?how did you come to that?wow.
Adult crime=Adult time
You want to send an 11 year old to an adult prison?
I think she should be segregated until the age of 18, then yes Adult prison. I feel so sorry for the mother of the child, and I agree with other posters that the mother of the 10 year old should be criminally charged also.
The biggest issue here is we don’t know if it was an adult crime. First, this child is being charged with manslaughter, not murder. One is intentional, one is not. Second, what has never been disclosed, if it is even known, is WHY the child did this. What were her intentions? Was she just trying to care for a crying baby? Or did she mean to harm the baby because it would not stop crying?
I personally believe there are very few ten year olds capable of actual murder as an intentional act. I do not believe a child possesses the maturity to fully understand the concept of death, thus cannot form full intent to end a life.
It is clear this little girl does have some serious issues that will be tough to deal with. I believe I read in another article that she really loved having this infant around, although, I believe any ten year old would find it taxing to have an infant crying and fussing into the wee hours of the morning in their room. This is where I believe the ten year old’s mother failed both her daughter and the infant. Initially, I was all for having the older girl’s mother charged too, but now I am not as sure. I don’t know if what she did NOT do, rises to the level of a criminal act, but certainly she bears some moral responsibility for the infant’s death. She has lost both of her kids, too, so there is definitely a lesson being learned there, at least I would hope there is.
Thank you for your input, your right, they have both lost children, something I never want to fathom.
Have a great weekend :)
This was clearly a tragedy all the way around.
You have a great weekend too.
She was aware of her daughters mental health issues,she left the baby with her,she didnt check on the baby,or answer its crying,she left the meds where her daughter could get them,and she ignored the fact that one baby already have been hurt. How can you think she isnt responsible.If none of that is enough,then you need to read about the daughters dianosis.It is caused by emotional neglect,and or abuse.
Please re-read my posts. I never said she was not responsible. In fact, I believe she is more responsible than her daughter, at least from a moral standpoint. What I was saying, not being a lawyer, is that perhaps her actions, or inactions, may not rise to a criminal level under the law, as it is written. I don’t know. It seems to me she certainly endangered the infant by leaving the baby in the girl’s room overnight. But again, as a parent, I would never believe my kids could kill, and without specific details, what the girl did may have been unintentional or an accident. She is being charged with manslaughter, which generally denotes an accident, or act, where a reasonable would have known better. I do think that after DHHS had asked her to secure the medications, the girl should never have had access to them. That was a huge failure, and I believe, the mother’s responsibility.
If this 10 year old can be treated,and made whole,why would you punish her for something her mother directly caused?You are throwing a child under a bus.SHE NEEDS HELP.
yes
…
This whole case is so sad on many levels. What happened to this poor little 10 year old in her life? She certainly did not have a normal childhood. What did adults put her through?
exactly! Can you imagine what this little girls life has been like up till this point.
For this little girl, this may be a blessing. It is VERY TRAGIC that Brooklyn is no longer with us and this 10 year old needs to understand the consequences to her actions BUT let hope this little girl get the love, affection and proper care that she deserves. Not her fault her mother is who she is.
While most kids who enter the juvenile justice system have suffered abuse or loss, we don’t know the circumstances surrounding this ten year old. It does seem that her mother was a little lax, but maybe not totally neglectful. I am not defending anyone’s actions here, just being careful not to judge, because so few facts are really available to us.
What happened to baby Brooklyn is tragic, so very tragic. My condolences, again, to her family.
I have a 10yr old with the same disabilities as this 10yr old little girl. I am here to tell you right now every min. of the day that his eyes are open he needs constant supervision. He plays in his room and with friends down the street but i am constantly checking on him. He also has mood swings so he can be laughing and playing one min. and mad as an ole’wet hen the next. A boy that I raised has recently come home and brought his 2yr old son with him. Though my son has had no history of violence with the wee’ones (because I have always watched him closely with them and reminded him be easy they are just little) he his still not allowed to run wildly with him or to take him outside or up to his room alone. He has to play with him where we can see whats going on at all times. I have 4 children and my 4th being born when I was 40 yes he is a challenge on a daily basis but its my job as a parent to take care of him and insure the safty of others around him and that I do and do well. Theres ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE as to why this child had access to her meds. and the cheeking thing doesnt fly with me. I hand my son his meds. and hand him the water to take them with. Then we stand there and talk about the day ahead of us for a few after he takes them. The meds. for these disabilites are morning meds. some are taken twice or maybe even three times daily But the ADHD meds are always given first thing in the am and if more are needed then so be it. So I’m really not sure but my guess is Momma isnt the sharpest tool in the shed. Tragic thing that happened to this baby but now maybe the little girl will get the care she so desperately needs.
…
No, I don’t think the 10 yr old should be tried as an adult- however I DO feel that the mother of the 10 yr old be held accountable!
I disagree. The child did it, not the mother. Another cannot be liable for someone else’s goof up. Besides, that will not magically make the perp’s actions change for the better. She’s already messed up. I can’t see how accusing momma will help because the child is the one who seemingly did it.
I can’t imagine how a judge could get their head around this situation. I’m glad I’m not a judge: I wouldn’t want to face dealing with a 10 yr. old who gives her medicine to an infant (and maybe two infants?)
earlier articles have mentioned that the 10 year old girl had been diagnosed with attachment disorder, oppositional defiance disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. If you don’t know anything about any of them, I recommend looking them up. She should have never been left alone with the infant, and the infant’s mother even told her not to leave her alone with the 10 year old. DHS in their report even said the mother should be held responsible.
You are responsible for your kids . Mother was not doing her job. She knew her kid had issues and never should have left the 10 year old to care for the baby.
Well the unfortunate mother of the deceased child also knew that the 10 yr old was emotionally disturbed. Why would you leave an infant in a house with such a child? it would be extrememly difficult for the daycare provider to keep her eyes on the infant every second of the day.
So if you kill someone tommorow,we should charge your mother for murder?????? Get a life
If your mother knew you had severe mental health issues,and were capapble of violence,and she handed you a gun,yes she would have some responsibility.The difference is,this was a 10 year old child.Her mother KNEW she was capable of violence,and so did the mothers room mate,whos baby was hurt weeks before. They not only did nothing to stop it,they set the whole thing in motion,when the mother put the baby in the room with her daughter,and the room mate didnt try to stop it.
The mother put that dangerous kid in the room with a baby. She knew what could happen because it had happened before. She is responsible and charges should and hopefully will be pending.
Are you nuts? The mother knew her child was whacked in the head, having hid the drugging of the other womans baby. She allowed her disturbed daughter to room with Brooklyn, and did not go investigate the cries coming from Brooklyn as she was being tortured like an animal on some city street. She then denied any knowledge, misreported the childs death….. It goes on and on.
If you people knew all the facts, especially what was done to this innocent child, you might just possibly get your head back out in the daylight and realize how badly the justice system is botching this.
I agee in the fact that the mother shouldn’t be charged..however..she should have kept a closer eye on her daughter and the baby..BUT this 10 year old should not be tried as an adult..she is a child! how about some rehabilitation..counseling..figuring out what the heck this kid was thinking and rehabilitating her..I do agree too, I would not want to be this judge!
Yes, closer supervision would have been good. But, like I said in reply to animummy above, who knows what went on? The child could have acted in a split second. Mom could have walked to the mailbox and back and the deed was already done. Who knows? We all know kids do crazy stuff all the time in the blink of an eye. Again, it is a tough situation. And I agree with you, the child needs help. I hope it works out.
A child,who had harmed another baby a few weeks before,was left alone with this baby.Her mother,who knew of the previous incident left her alone with this baby.Her mother did not attend to nor did she check on the baby,she left alone with her violent daughter,This is a 10 yr old with known serious phsycological problems.I t is quite obvious the 10 year olds mother put that baby in harms way.The room mate and mother of the baby that was hurt weeks before,also knew,and did nothing to intervene on behalf of the baby.
The way i understand it, the mother and the babysitter did not know the 10 yr. old had medicated the first child. There was a belief that the medication was found by the baby whille crawling on the floor. It wasn’t until the death of the infant that eyes were opened. You, and some others here, are presumming that both adults knew the 10 yr old had murderous tendencies when you, in fact, know nothing of the sort. That little girl could have acted in less than 2 minutes, literally. Her mother could be feeble minded, for lack of a better term. Or she could have been dozing off on the couch…who knows what went on? Certainly not us readers of the BDN. Calling for vengeance when the whole story is not out in front of us is simply anger in face of a tough situation. It’s nothing more than a knee jerk reaction: blame mom, blame someone…blame anyone! The child is the culprit: now what is to be done?
I have to say you have the mind of an adult. Not the 2 year old minds that most are posting here.
Adults are responsible for the actions of their children and this child’s mother was babysitting meaning she ACCEPTED responsibilty for the care of this poor baby who is now dead. The babysitter does not have the right to turn over care to a child. She has a duty to the mother of the dead child to disclose (morally/ethically) if by accepting the request to babysit she will turn over care to another so the mother of the child in her care can determine if she is ok with that or not.
I agree with you. It is time this world starts taking care of those who do the wrong in this country.
Thats the problem with the world to day. Not anyone takes responsibility for any thing. Its always some one else that is to blame for what people do.
The mother of the 10yr old is clearly responseable for the death of this baby. Yes it was the 10yr olds hands who actually did it.BUT The mother KNEW that baby was NOT safe with her daughter. Plain and simple that baby should have NEVER been left alone with that child.
You’ve no idea at all what the mother knew or didn’t know. You simply have an unprovable supposition. I’m glad you’re not the judge in this case.
After Mao Tse Dung brought communist revolution to China, parents were held responsible for the illegal activities of their children. Thousands of parents were jailed.
your right,no one is taking responsibilty.That mother should step up and say,I caused this.Make her take responsibility.
My thoughts exactly!!!The mother knew the daughter had a history of hurting babies.That Baby should NEVER have been left alone with the 10yr old. I have a 10yr old with ADHD and ODD he does not have access to his medications. My next question is how is this girl getting access to her meds?. I personally feel the person to be punished in this case is the mother. She was babysitting she is to blame. The little girl should be placed in a home where she can get the professional help she obviously needs and proper meds. Not punsihed for something that her mother could of clearly avoided happening had she been BABYSITTING like she was supposed to be doing.
I am the one who says lock them up and throw away the key. Not in this case, the girl needs years of help by a team of professionals and so does the mother. I hope the judge is as wise as Solomen.
i still say the mother of the girl should be charged . she never should have allowed her daughter with the baby. that is twice now it is more moms fault
I am not going to defend the mother of the ten year old. It does need to be remembered that the poisoning of the first infant was believed to have been an accident, that the infant found a pill on the floor and put it in her mouth.
It wasn’t until the toxicology results came back that this case was ruled a homicide and the girl was questioned. The mother of the first child is very lucky her daughter survived, but I think, again, it goes to the intention of the older child, in medicating these infants. What was she thinking? Did she realize it was wrong? Did she understand the full potential of her actions? Manslaughter is usually an accident of some sort where a “reasonable” person would have known harm could be the result.
Kids communicate in ways we don’t understand. Speaking in very general terms, a victim of sexual abuse might wear their clothes inside out, hoping that an adult will ask ‘what is inside out about your home?”. We may never understand why.
There are no winners here. Every piece of this story breaks my heart. I haven’t the slightest idea what is a proper resolution or if justice even exists in a case like this.
:`-(
I know what you mean. You are right, this was just a lose-lose situation before it ever began. I have to believe that mother had no idea her child was capable of killing an infant, especially in this fashion.
I still have seen nothing that says this girl killed the infant intentionally. It is possible that she believed the medication would help these infants settle down, as it did for her. Had anyone explained to her that this medication is dangerous when used in ways it was not intended? Had anyone explained to her she should not share it? Did she believe she was doing something good? Or something wrong? I know the infant had bruises on her face, but was that a malicious attempt at suffocation or just an attempt to make the infant quiet down? What is the maturity level and even intelligence of this little girl?
There is so much we don’t know, that I refuse to condemn the little girl. I would have hoped the mother had more in the way of common sense, but tragically, that was not the case.
the mother of the first baby,suspected it was the daughter.She has said so several times.
I agree it is mom’s fault. She knew her daughter was capable of such things ( she had done similar ) already. She should be charged with manslaughter as well.
I wonder what the chances are that it would ever come out that the babysitter, and not her daughter was giving the infants she was watching some of her daughters meds in hopes they would quietly go to sleep… And now letting her 10 y/o take the fall. Just throwing out an interesting supposition.
I saw all kinds of parents when I worked in child protection, and this scenario is all too plausible.
The medication the 10 year old was on would have reved the baby up not calm her down. The mother would have known this, but the child would not have known I believe. I agree the 10 year old’s mother has some responsibility in the situation and ought to be held accountable.
OMG>…I was just wondering the samething!!!! Maybe the mother is actually the one doing this stuff and knows the little girl wont be sent to prison for the next 43yrs of her life so shes blaming her. It makes perfect sence to me.
Step away from the ID channel.
Thats a possibility that most people have considered.
What I find very disturbing is that this ten year old not just once but two times has fed her medication to children her mother was caring for… In my eyes that is neglect on the mothers part. Why were the meds available to this child exspecially after she had already fed them to the 8 month old? The mother should have these meds locked up and maybe this poor baby wouldnt have lost her life in the second situation that could have been prevented very easily… Mom should be charged. Period
In other articles, it seems DHHS was involved after the first child was poisoned, but it was believed to have been the result of a careless accident and the mother was supposed to have the pills in a secure place. Obviously, it was not secure enough that the ten year old still had access. No child that age should be responsible for their own medications at that age. I think because there was the attitude that the child could deal with her own meds (if that was the case, and I do NOT know this to be true) that they were not dangerous. In the hands of child, every medication is dangerous.
It could be the 10 year old pretended to take her medication, didn’t take and hid it somewhere. Perhaps, it wouldn’t be the first time someone has done so. Or maybe you are right and the mother had the medication right there on the counter.
Having harmed two babies, this young child certainly has serious issues. God only knows what has made her this way. Put her in an adult prison, no, but she certainly does need treatment, and no doubt for a long period of time. I’m afraid when she becomes an adult, I would not trust her with a baby or small child.
Which unfortunately would make her just like her mother, who clearly could not be trusted with children.
BDN Please investigate why the Mother is not being charged! A lot of us would like to know why. If the mother had actually watched the baby instead of putting her in the same room as her psycho daughter for hours on end maybe that poor little baby would still be alive. She clearly neglected that baby (and also her own child) and should be held ultimately responsible for what happened.
You have to actually feel sad for this 10 year old. From what I have read about the mother, it is very obvious she is out to lunch and does not properly care for her own children. Let’s hope this little girl does get sent to a group home or such and gets the proper love and care that she deserves. It is not her fault she has the mother that she has.
She does need to understand the consequences of her actions but let also pray that she can turn her life around.
P.S. – to this little girls mother, get your tubes tied and please do not breed, thank you!
The mother of the 10year old girl needs to be charged with neglect at the very least in my opinion,Why would anyone in there right mind ever allow a ten year old care for a baby by herself and have access to medication.The mother of the ten year old needs to take responsiblity.
I’m wondering if the mother has not yet been charged because the DA is thoroughly investigating the best charges to levy that would stick.
I hope you’re right on that one. She is just as much (if not more than) a danger to children as her daughter is.
Possibly put her in a Group Home?? So she can be around other Children??? Really?? She needs to be in a Psychiatric atmosphere, not a group home!!
How long will this girl remain in the residential treatment setting or a group home? If young offenders tend to come from abusive families, would she be returned to that family? Will her parents receive any therapy? This girl was a ticking time bomb the first time she gave a baby her medication. She exploded when she killed little Brooklyn. If she doesn’t get rehabilitated, the court is just stalling the day when the girl is old enough to face adult charges for someone else’s murder.
Its true that lots of kids who are abused or neglected are or turn out rough but not all of them do. I suffered all manors of torments as a child at the hands of my keepers and others around me, but I’ve never done anything “typical” for someone with my past. People come in all shapes, sizes and flavors, folks and labeling anyone as anything other then simply a person is pure folly.
Look up “mens rea” – it’s a legal term which means intention to do harm. Did the 10 year old know that giving her meds to an infant might kill her?
I wonder if the mother would shove some meds down her daughter’s throat and cover her mouth whenever she became mad, upset or was crying, etc. Since the baby had been quite fussy that night, I wonder if the 10 year old thought that it would be alright to give her some meds to stop her crying, and to cover the baby’s mouth just like her mother does to her. Just a thought.
I am starting to realize that most ten year olds are smarter than most adults on here.
No, I don’t think the 10 year old knew her medication she gave the baby would kill the baby. After all, she done the same thing a few weeks before and the baby did not die and became less responsive and listless. I think she did know it would pipe the baby down like the other baby. I also do not think she intended to try to suffocate the baby and tried too forcibly to try to get the baby to stop crying.
This is a very, very sick child. She murdered a little baby. Somebody, a lot of somebodies, dropped the ball with this kid and she needs immediate HELP. She is not safe for society. How in the hell did this happen? If this happened before wasn’t somebody, namely DHHS monitoring her? Is the mother responsible? 100%! But the question here is what the heck happened to the monitoring of this very dangerous child?
i think the child should be given life. if dhs hasn’t been alerted yet the rest of the children should be forcibly removed from that home. the mother should also be charged with reckless conduct
The mother of the ten year old should be charged with depraved indifference.
Where did you get your law degree? Sears?
I looked over the guidelines for posting and I didn’t find where only lawyers are allowed to post on BDN comment sections.
“If convicted of manslaughter, the girl probably would be sent to a residential treatment facility or group home under the direction of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services where she could be with children her own age, according to Stoodley.”
Oh yeah, great news, so she can try to do it again?
Parents ARE always responsible for their children’s actions. Not only should the 10 year old be charged but they should also charge the mother too, the mother was “well-informed” of her daughter’s mental incapabilities but the mother showed NO responsibility on her own part. The mother should also be charged with murder as she was an accessory to the fact. A baby has lost her life, to me, anyone responsible should be charged to the fullest extent of the law! NO Exceptions and NO pity parties!
Very well said. Believe me, you’re not alone in your opinion.
…
I think both the mother and the child should be held liable for this crime. Although the child is only 10, I think punishment is in order, but clearly this kid is disturbed and needs some kind of professional treatment. As for the mother, she should have known better than to leave her daughter alone with the baby, especially given the fact that a similar incident occurred in June. That showed a serious lack of common sense.
If my minor child was to do damage to anyone’s property, as the parent, I would be legally and financially responsible. If my minor child assaulted or did bodily harm to another person or pet, as their parent, I would be legally and financially responsible. I could also be sued by the injured party. So, if I would be held legally responsible for the actions of my child, whether it was accidental or intentional, why isn’t the mother of this 10 year old being held legally accountable, whether the act was accidental or intentional? The mother should be charged with something.
SERIOUSLY..why is no one asking about the baby’s parents?…what was so URGENT that this child had to be left in what is obviously a shaky situation…seem to me it is easy for mom to be on the BDN asking for the 10yo mom to step up and be responsible..but WHAT about herself.???.WHAT was the urgency to need “RESPITE” from your child who had been on this earth for only a few months that you HAD to leave her with such a shaky caretaker/situation?…don’t even try to convince us this was like leaving a kid with the folks at sesame street…seems lots of folks knew there was something not right here and yet these parents dropped the INFANT off nonetheless…we went YEARS before we left our kid overnight with anyone…
i think you are all looking past the parents who have an obligation to leave the child ,IF THEY MUST, in a safe place. Seem to me the negligence starts there..
this is her second time trying to kill a baby that we know of.she should be held as an adult.the mother knew of the first one yet let her near another baby,so she should be charged also.
There is no doubt that the 10 year old is very disturbed, so much that I wonder if she will ever be able to live a “normal” life. That in itself is tragic. But I hold the child’s mother responsible- she had plenty of experience to know better than to leave her child with this infant.In fact one wonders whether her living situation should have warranted babysitting at all- -but for the mother, this could have been prevented
A question for commenters:
If you believe a 10-year-old should be tried as an adult, how about a 9-year-old? An 8-year-old? 7-year-old? 6-year-old? Maybe 5 or 4 or 3 or 2?
If you draw the line at some point in the above list, what are your reasons?
If you believe ANY child (or infant?) who kills should be tried as an adult, what are your reasons?
The child a 10 year old that has not yet developed the function of reasoning in her brain; was given medication to calm down and it worked for her. Was left in a room with a baby whom was probably waking up several times throughout the night. Tried the medication, then tried to stop the baby from crying by putting her hands over her mouth which brings me to the question why did she at 10 have and infant in her room to watch? Because her mother knowing all these previous things about her chose to put the infant there. Did the lady hire the 10 year old to watch her child? No, she hired an adult to watch the infant. Do I think the mother intended for this to happen? No, I do not. But it did, and someone must be held accountable. A precious life was lost due to irresponsiblity. I have to wonder what the 10 year old says about all this, does she even yet realize what has been done? Without all the factors it is hard to say what exactly took place that night, but one thing is known for sure the adult hired to watch the baby for the night was not doing so. The adult should have been in the same room as the infant in my opinion.
A ten year old can’t be held responsible for killing a baby. The mother of the ten year old is wholly responsible for the brutal death of this innocent baby.
Maine Law for keeping a dangerous dog: Confine in a secure enclosure (a fence or structure of at least 6 feet in height) forming or making an enclosure suitable to prevent the entry of young children and suitable to confine a dangerous dog.
When the mother of this ten year old willingly placed Brooklyn in the bedroom of the ten year old, it was comparable to placing the 3 month old in an enclosure with an unmuzzled dog who has been proven to be dangerous. What I could say next……I will refrain from saying. The mother WAS NOT unaware how unpredictable and dangerous her daughter could be.
“It was the second time the girl had been implicated in an incident involving a baby. An 8-month-old was hospitalized in June after overdosing on medication while in the care of the 10-year-old and her mother.” HELLO…..why are people using a person whose daughter already has questionable behavior? The dead infants mom and the mother of the 10 yr old should be held accountable in some way too. For jimminy sakes, bartenders can be held accountable in some instances when a drunk leaves their bar and kills someone, and parents can to, if they let there children have underage drinking parties and one dies or goes and drunk drives and kills someone or themselves.
I totally agree, the child should not be tried as an adult, but the mother should!! What kind of mother are you?? As a mother YOU SHOULD BE PROTECTING YOUR CHILD!! ISN’T THAT OUR JOB, TO LOVE AND PROTECT OUR CHILDREN!! And I will be the first to admit that as a parent we can’t always protect our children from doing bad things, however YOU SET YOUR CHILD UP!! YOU knew that your child had serious problems, she had done this before. YOU knew she was not emotionally stable to watch a 3 month old baby. YOU let your daughter watch the baby and had her sleep in the same room. YOU ARE THE RESPONSIBLE ONE! It was YOUR job to watch the child, YOU took on this responsibility, not your 10 yr old daughter!! It breaks my heart that YOU knew your daughter was capable of doing something like this, but YOU DID NOTHING TO HELP HER OR PROTECT HER FROM DOING IT AGAIN!! What kind of a mother lets a 10 yr old child be in charge of taking her own medicine?? Thats why the label says “keep out of reach of children” and have locking caps. As a parent, I COULD NOT AND WOULD NOT sit back and let my 10 yr old be accused of manslaughter. I WOULD TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILTY FOR PUTTING MY CHILD IN THAT POSITION! YOU knew better, YOU knew your child needed help, YOU were the one who said YOU would babysit. THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN’T BEEN TO LAZY TO WATCH THE CHILD YOURSELF!!
OK we’ve all got it. You are perfect, never make mistakes. never would suggest that your off spring were not capable of this type of action.
I suggest you get a job as a preacher… I here Bob Carlson’s church has a vacency.
Is there a reason you have to bring his name up all the time. Leave him out of comments please, he has passed on, let his family rest now
Nope. Bob abused children and I (in my life) will NEVER give that a rest. Don’t like it? Don’t read my posts.
Granted Bob Carlson seemed to be a bad person, but dkenzie is right, he has passed , let his family grieve for him. I see you are very angry over this….but yet you defend a person who knowingly put her child in a position to hurt another. This mother did not protect her child..isn;t that a form of abuse?
There is no such thing as a perfect Mom!!! In fact, I was a very-over protective mom of 5 kids!! Which by the way caused a few arguements…..What I am not, is a stupid Mom!! Of course I have made mistakes, but I never made the same mistakes twice! Are you a parent Mark? Could you answer a question for me? If you was this child’s father, and you knew she had problems and had done this before…Would you have let her have the baby sleep in her room, when you was the one who was supposed to be watching the baby? Would you have put your child in a situation, that you knew was dangerous to them? Im betting you wont answer that…The mother is the adult and the responsible one. It was her job to watch the baby, not hand her over to her child . Don’t you think the mother should have used a little common sense? Thats what makes me mad!! As for being a preacher, I suggest the same to you. seems to me your the one preaching your beleifs.
DHHS has all the power the State of Maine can muster, knew this child was a danger to other children, and yet did nothing but allow one of their workers to make note of the danger in a letter. Why isn’t Mary Mayhew (DHHS Commissioner) and her upper level bigwigs, being charged as an accomplice in this horrendous case?
It is not clear to me that Mayhew was even in charge of DHHS at the time of the first medication incident.
Do we have to have someone’s head on a plate every time a mentally unbalanced individual goes haywire?
i just pray they get the child the help she needs instead of putting her in jail til 21
The ten yr. old gave another baby her medications, the mother should be in jail for leaving this ten year old alone with this baby!! If I was the mother or father of that baby, I would be screaming bloody murder at the DA’s office till she was placed in cuffs!
All you sanctimonious do-gooders relax. This little girl is going to a group home until she hits adulthood, regardless of whether she is guilty or not.
The mother most likely has charges pending against her for child endangerment/neglect, but they do not want the media attention marring the trial of the 10-year-old.
The “goal of the adult system is NOT punishment, the new world order has taken over in corrections in this state and prisoners are assessed and assigned a program to follow that is supposed to turn them away form the dark side. Of course it’s largely ineffective and leads to almost no security which is why we have such a rise in escapes from adult facilities. In addition the discipline system has been gutted so that prisoners are barely held accountable for poor behavior. So…Duhhh they don’t behave well at all. Staffing at EVERY facility has been stripped to the bone in the name of saving money. The old corrections people who valued security and accountability have been eradicated or surpressed by administrators, only “yes men/women” have been placed in high positions. The correctional system in this state is a train wreck due to the commissioner and administrators going “soft” on the prisoner population and cutting staff to recklessly dangerous levels. The facility I work at has 3 times more write ups of prisoners per year now than we did with our old programs and it gets worse EVERY year. Do you realise they have DISH network and playstations in every room? The sad part is these highly educated administrators can’t see they have made jail a more desireable place for most of the offenders than home, they have much more here than at home…and it’s all free …cause you and I are paying for it with our taxes. It’s only a matter of time before really bad things begin to happen in this department stay tuned people.
Most prisoners in the USA are incarcerated for non-violent offenses. People who commit crimes against themselves (like drug use) should not be incarcerated at all. Many prisoners would be in a secure mental health facility if we had one, and most long-term prisoners over the age of 60 (with the exception of sexual offenders) could safely be released, saving taxpayers the cost of geriatric care.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m for tough. Prisoners should work at productive tasks, and pay some of their earnings toward their keep. I’d like to see chain gangs picking up trash along the roads, I’d like to see prisoners doing repairs of “non profit” properties and I often wonder why Maine now buys vehicle license plates and road signs from The State of Louisiana’s prison system. As for having “Dish” and playstation, It is my understanding that this is a privilege reserved for those who behave themselves, and that prisoners must pay for these “toys” out of their own pocket.
If we plan to allow these folks access to our society again (at some point) we must be sure they are treated humanely. Brutality breeds more brutality, and as it says in the bible, violence begets violence.
This 10 year old is a product of the drug company’s. It seems these days everyone looks for the “magic Pill” to cure things people don’t want to deal with. As a kid growing up my parents had cures for these ailments parents don’t want to deal with today. It’s called chores to be done around the house and when that didn’t work a slap on the butt. I have seen what these hyperactivity drugs do. Some of these people when they turn 18 are shut of from the drugs they are addicted to and end up in prison. Some people these days want kids but don’t want to have to deal with the everyday duties of raising so look to the “Help of a mothers little helper”!