GUILTY NY - Julie Cirella, 8, disabled, asphyxiated, Plainview, 23 July 2011

The mom who Nassau cops say killed her disabled daughter in a depraved murder-suicide bid just hours before the excited 8-year-old was going to be a flower girl in her cousin’s Long Island Wedding on Saturday is now facing a second-degree manslaughter rap.

Veronica Cirella, 30, who remains hospitalized at Nassau County Medical Center, was found unconscious with an unknown item wrapped around her throat in the basement of the Plainview house she shared with her daughter Julie Cirella, cops said.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/2...arent-murder-suicide-try-hours/#ixzz1T37StlFW

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/2...nscious-in-apparent-murder-suicide-try-hours/

Oh gosh this is so tragic! But also so hard to glean what really happened here. What would cause this mother to snap and kill her daughter? I know the stress of caring for a disabled child can be overwhelming, and it sounds like this was a single mom in that there was a protective order issued against the dad recently. Info also states there were extended family members living in the house I believe. Just alot of questions right now, and a precious life gone too soon. Hope the mom recovers and can explain it all.

http://www.ksla.com/story/17332381/ny-mom-faces-murder-charge-in-disabled-girl-death
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) - A woman accused of feeding M&Ms that contained traces of peanuts to her disabled and allergic 8-year-old pleaded not guilty Wednesday to an upgraded charge of second-degree murder in the child's death.

If her daughter was diagnosed with that severe of an allergy, wouldn't the mom have an Eli-pen?

I wonder if this is a Munchausen's by Proxy case?

LMax said:

http://www.ksla.com/story/17332381/ny-mom-faces-murder-charge-in-disabled-girl-death
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) - A woman accused of feeding M&Ms that contained traces of peanuts to her disabled and allergic 8-year-old pleaded not guilty Wednesday to an upgraded charge of second-degree murder in the child's death.

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How do you get M & M's with traces of peanuts? Do you get the peanut M & M's and peel the chocolate off and give to her? Or do you mix some peanuts and M & M's together then pick all the peanuts out? This girl was 8 and allergic to peanuts, I would assume she knew that and that she most likely would be able to recognize a peanut. Did she not alert anyone and go ahead and eat the peanuts? Color me confused.

Or did the peanuts come out of the wrapper with "traces of peanuts" on them? That happens. And I believe there is a warning on the M & M wrapper that the M & M's are made in a factory that may use peanuts in other products.

If somehow, for some reason Mom was involved in this it was deliberate and planned. Cause when your kid is allergic to peanuts, you just don't do this accidently. If your kid is allergic, you know where any peanut product is and how far your kid is from it.

From the information I am gleaning from the few news accounts, there are reasonable explanations to this tragedy IMHO.

Perhaps it played out like this IMHO:
Mom (VC) and daughter Julie lived with the paternal grandmother (DC) of Julie.
There is a restraining order against JoeC , who is Julie's dad, VC's husband, and DC's son.
JoeC had been arrested for threatening the life of VC during the week leading up to Julie's death.
VC gave Julie some M&Ms the night before Julie was to be a flower girl in her cousin's wedding.
VC finds out there are trace elements of peanuts in the M&Ms, and gives Julie benedryl to counter an allergic reaction.
Both fall asleep, but at some point, VC wakes up and finds her daughter dead. She is distraught, but also looking for some sort of meaning in the madness of the loss of her child. She writes the note that says she is glad Julie is heaven in a place she is free and healed. VC also states in the note that with the threats against her life from JoeC, she was worried about who would have cared for Julie had JoeC harmed VC.
VC then attempts suicide, for without her daughter she feels no reason to go on.
VC survives the suicide attempt, and has been continuing to live with DC. There is another member of JoeC's family who is quoted in the articles linked earlier saying she trusts VC to babysit her own grandchildren.

I think this is truly a tragedy of a mom who committed no deliberate crime, but was under duress and made some bad decisions because she saw no hope. The cause of Julie's death is still undetermined, as there has been no conclusive sign of peanuts in her system. Which also begs the question - how can VC be charged with murdering her child by feeding her peanuts, if no peanuts have been found?

Sounds sad all around, whatever the circumstances.

Mom of an anaphylacticly-food-allergic child (not peanuts though).

Regular M&M's do NOT contain peanuts, and older packages did not even have a warning label on them regarding potential cross-contamination - a "may contain" warning.

So, it is very possible that Mom was used to seeing regular M&M's with no warning labels on them regarding "may contain" peanuts, and bought them fully believing they were (still) a safe treat for her peanut-allergic daughter.

Add in that this was obviously a delayed reaction, and she HAD treated her with Benadryl already - from what little I have read, I cannot understand why Mom is being accused of murder.

EPI-pens are only prescribed in the case of known, or highly potential, anaphylactic reactions. NOT all peanut allergic children suffer anaphylaxis, though it is always possible for it to happen, regardless of what past reactions have been.

PepsiMax said:

Mom of an anaphylacticly-food-allergic child (not peanuts though).

Regular M&M's do NOT contain peanuts, and older packages did not even have a warning label on them regarding potential cross-contamination - a "may contain" warning.

So, it is very possible that Mom was used to seeing regular M&M's with no warning labels on them regarding "may contain" peanuts, and bought them fully believing they were (still) a safe treat for her peanut-allergic daughter.

Add in that this was obviously a delayed reaction, and she HAD treated her with Benadryl already - from what little I have read, I cannot understand why Mom is being accused of murder.

EPI-pens are only prescribed in the case of known, or highly potential, anaphylactic reactions. NOT all peanut allergic children suffer anaphylaxis, though it is always possible for it to happen, regardless of what past reactions have been.

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When my son was younger he had a suspected peanut allergy and I was given an epi-pen, since anaphylaxis would need to be treated immediately(if it happened). About 20% of people with this specific allergy will develop anaphylaxis-there is no way to determine who will or who won't. You don't even have time to remove someone's pants-we would give the shot right thru them. Actually the epi-pens are made to be able to be used through the clothes.
All of the parents I know who have a child with a peanut allergy/sensitivity have been given them, so I just find it odd that she would not have.

My middle son had a peanut allergy that he outgrew, along with all his other food allergies. At the point that the allergies were the worst, he could barely go a day without an allergic reaction to some kind of food, because he was allergic to 90% of food ingredients. The reactions ranged from hives to anaphylaxis. We never got an epi-pen. Some doctors still feel that problems like these should only be treated in a hospital.

If she had one of those doctors, I can fully believe that she didn't have one.

This also sounds like a delayed reaction. If it was treated with Benadryl at the time, then it wouldn't have seemed like a life threatening reaction at the time she ate the candy, and there would have been no use for the epi-pen. When you do have one, they drill you on when to use it, so that you don't end up using it unless the kid is dying in front of you. If she had only ever had reactions that started immediately after exposure, then why would her mother assume that this was any different? She reacted, her mother treated it, and then it sounds like the family went to bed.

I'm scratching my head about the murder charge. It sounds like a tragedy...and that's all. And, might I add, also a travesty, as she was charged with second degree murder, and the manner of death has not been determined to be homicide.

It does sound like a delayed reaction. But as an EMT I know that Anaphylactic Shock can be immediate and waiting for an ambulance can be deadly. However Epinephrine is a dangerous drug, so whenever an EPI-pen is used one should ALWAYS go to the ER.

I'm very curious about the murder charge. There must be other facts we don't know about?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobil...eronica-cirella-peanut-allergy_n_1408480.html

I don't know how I forgot about this, but I guess she is being charged because in the letter she wrote she makes it sound like she did it on purpose...

Shelby2 said:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobil...eronica-cirella-peanut-allergy_n_1408480.html

I don't know how I forgot about this, but I guess she is being charged because in the letter she wrote she makes it sound like she did it on purpose...

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I guess you might be right Shelby2.
From the link above:

"I had to give her a better life, which was to give her back to heaven," Cirella allegedly wrote. "She does not deserve to be in pain whatsoever. I don't mind going to hell because I took my life to give her a better life, which is in heaven where she can be free."

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The only factor that I think might add to some doubt is the recent threat from the estranged husband of VC and father of Julie. If VC was frantic about her safety, and worried about her ex getting custody of Julie, that might have prompted her to react as she did I suppose. I just feel immense compassion for families with children with special needs. I am hoping the investigation is thorough and fair.

http://www.longisland.com/news/11-15-15/plainview-mother-sentenced-killing-disabled-daughter.html

Veronica Cirella, 34, pleaded guilty in May to 1st-Degree Manslaughter. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison today by Nassau County Court of Claims Judge Philip Grella...

Cirella told the police that she gave her daughter candy containing peanut by-product knowing that her daughter was allergic to peanuts. She also claimed that she gave her daughter Benadryl and an “EpiPen” after her daughter had an allergic reaction. However, no Benadryl or contents of an EpiPen were found in Julie Cirella’s system.

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