GUILTY OK - Linda Beletzuy, 9 mos, shaken to death, Oklahoma City, 17 Aug 2011

Oklahoma City 13-year-old charged with first-degree murder (newsok.com)

A 13-year-old Oklahoma City boy who admitted shaking his baby sister when she distracted him from a video game was charged Friday with first-degree murder in her death.

Crystian Rivera was charged as a youthful offender.
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His sister, Linda Beletzuy, died Aug. 19. She was 9 months old.
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And we also learn....

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She was injured while left in the care of Rivera for more than six hours Aug. 16 while their parents went to work, police reported.

The boy was playing the violent game “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” authorities said. The warfare-based game is rated for players 17 and older.
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More about possible punishment time, and murder itself, at link above.

I may be unpopular for saying this but I fail to understand how a child can be accused of first degree murder.

This is a family tragedy

badhorsie said:

I may be unpopular for saying this but I fail to understand how a child can be accused of first degree murder.

This is a family tragedy

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Agreed. I was jolted awake when I saw the headline in the Daily Oklahoman. But in Oklahoma I wasn't surprised.

Where are the charges against the parents?

Absolutely tragic.

We've had thread where full blown adult men murdered their children for distracting them from their video games. How can we expect a 13 year old to be responsible for an infant for six hours?

I'll probably win no awards either for saying this, but...............I know just how immensely tough times are. These people had to go to work to provide. However, this was not the boys child. He didn't birth any children. IMO that's a huge responsibility for a young boy.


JMO

First off, I'm so sad for this family. What a tragedy. But, young teens--male and female--the world over and throughout history have been expected to watch younger siblings. Of course, there are many inherent dangers but it's a fact of life for many families and cultures.

I may be unpopular for saying this but I simply do NOT approve of children playing violent video games. I'm a mother of 9 sons and video games were never allowed in our home as I saw how my boys instantly became more aggressive when they played them at other's homes. I listened to the gnashing of teeth and wailing but we never gave in. I'm well aware that many of my sons now play but they're more mature.

We had a lot of trouble with bickering when all the kids were young but I remember very very few acts of violence against each other. Maybe it was the delicate dogs we had lying around or the soft classical music or the fact that if you threatened to hit your brother, you'd have to write a boring essay....but we just didn't.

And thankfully, we never had to rely on a 13 year old to watch an infant.

What a tragedy. I was babysitting at age 12 but never for 6 hours. The violent video games are no good, and it is obvious this child was not mature enough to be left in charge of an infant. However, many parents are just doing what it takes to get by in this economy. Just an all around tragedy. Gosh, I just hate this for everyone involved.

Even a 13 year old boy ought to have natural empathy for a baby girl, no matter how overwhelmed he is with the responsibility for her care or how hormonal or immature he might be

That said, when my now 24 year old son was young and playing video games, he would get so frustrated at times he would LOSE IT and I'd have to make him stop playing. He'd get so angry I was afraid he'd have a stroke lol. This mild boy who never got in fights in his life would throw the controller, stomp and scream and cry in frustration. He would go into a rage.

I can see how a 13 year old boy, who would rather have been left unbothered by an infant, or out with his buddies, would be frustrated and depressed to be stuck at home babysitting. But this doesn't account for his violence toward the baby, no matter how frustrated a child is, natural, normal empathy would prevent him from HARMING the baby.

There is something wrong with this boy, that even in his extreme frustration, getting worked up by the video game, or despair over his circumstances, he would act out violently against a helpless infant. Normal children do not do this, I don't care how oppressed or immature he is.

Charging him as an adult doesn't seem right, to me, however. His parents SAW him lose his temper and act out before, I'd bet my next paycheck. If they rubbed two brain cells together, they'd have NEVER left him with such responsibility, knowing him as he is. I know times are hard and you have to work when you get work. But there is always a solution, you know? Nothing is more important than the safety of your BABY.

But to these parents, apparently, it was.

I babysat very young children at that age, and many children can and do a very good job. It depends upon the child, like, in the biggest way.

So the parents have as much responsibility as this boy does, and therefore charging him as an adult is not appropriate. He may be sociopathic, or have other severe emotional problems needing long term residential care. But he's not responsible like an adult is, to me that is clear.

What a horrible tragedy, for all of them

I teach middle school, and I could never see leaving a middle school aged child to watch an infant. More than half of my 11-13 middle school students aren't even left home alone by themselves yet. I can almost guarantee the boy didn't know the severe consequences of shaking a baby. What he did was wrong, but he should have never been put in the situation.

i very much doubt this child knew or understood how to handle caring for a 9month old baby. i feel so sorry for this little boy. i hope there are charges forthcoming for the parents. they put age restrictions on those games for a good reason and imo any parent who does not follow those guidlines is asking for trouble. it may be unpopular to say, but i blame the parents on this one. yes, the boy does bear some responsibility, but leaving a 13 year old BOY playing violent video games and expecting him to stop playing and care for the baby correctly is asking a little too much when grown men cant even get up off the couch and shut off the game in order to care for their children. this makes me so sad.

<<snipped from above link>>

Crystian Rivera was charged as a youthful offender. He is being held in the Oklahoma County jail.

If convicted, he could be held in a juvenile detention center only until five months after his 18th birthday. However, he also could be ordered to prison for life if he fails a treatment plan.

His sister, Linda Beletzuy, died Aug. 19. She was 9 months old.

Rivera told police his sister fell and started to cry, distracting him...

He also told police he went back to playing video games while his sister continued to cry and eventually fell asleep...

Prosecutors allege in the murder charge that he caused his sister's death by shaking her and hitting her head against a hard object.

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According to the linked article he is being charged as a juvenile...

Crystian Rivera is in the Oklahoma County Jail, arrested on one count of first-degree murder in the death of his sister. He's being held without bond and being treated as an adult in this case.

http://www.news9.com/story/15309686/boy-13-faces-murder-charge-in-sisters-death

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And this one says adult..:waitasec:

More to the story:

<<snipped>>

The mother told officers the infant fell off her bed. She also said the baby fell from the passenger seat of their vehicle to the floorboard a few days before, but she wasn't present either time when her daughter fell.

Medical officials said the baby's injuries weren't consistent with an accidental fall.

Wardlow said the parents are not being investigated for any wrongdoing, although a third child in the house was taken into DHS custody at least temporarily.

“There is nothing illegal about leaving a child in the care of a 13-year-old,” Wardlow said. “They had no idea this was going to happen. They were not arrested, and we don't anticipate that.”


http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-teen-arrested-after-death-of-baby-sister/article/3596819

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Father of boy accused of killing his baby half-sister speaks out

Medical staff said Linda Beletzuy had a severe brain injury, a skull fracture and blood clots that were compressing her brain.

Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow said the parents of the girl, Linda and Carlos Beletzuy, are not being investigated for any wrongdoing, but a third child in the house was taken into DHS custody, at least temporarily.

Crystian's biological father, Byron Rivera, 35, said he read about his son's arrest in The Oklahoman and wants to speak on his behalf.

The last time the two met was at an Oklahoma City restaurant on Sept. 16, 2007. He said they sat and talked for an hour about school and life in the United States.

http://newsok.com/father-of-boy-accused-of-killing-his-baby-half-sister-speaks-out/article/3598136

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Parents split when Crystian was very young, mom got custody, dad had supervised visitation.

I don't understand 1st degree in this case, or trying him as an adult (if that is the case). How very sad...

I understand that a child might not know what shaking a baby can do, but hitting a infant on the head? He surely must have known that something would happen, could and did happen! JMO

MorenoI said:

I understand that a child might not know what shaking a baby can do, but hitting a infant on the head? He surely must have known that something would happen, could and did happen! JMO

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I agree,

I still think that 13 is too young to take care of an infant. Had the child sat with the infant before? Any other behavioral problems at school or at home? If there were, this child I believe would not have been responsible and mature enough to care for the baby. The hitting of the child is certainly grounds for child abuse, and because of that he should be prosecuted. You don't hit an infant against a hard object. It's tragic enough that this child shook the baby and was more concerned with his video game than the child's health and safety.

I did not read the article links, but where were the parents during this time?

Satch

So sad.

Way more gray areas here than clear right and wrong.

At 13 I was very restrictive on what my son could play or watch and I hesitated to even leave him alone by himself and yet at 14 he made a maturity leap and I was able to lighten up and watch him make good decisions on his own.

This is a period of fast maturing for boys but every one does this at his own rate.

From LCoastMom's link:


http://newsok.com/father-of-boy-acc...article/3598136?custom_click=lead_story_title

The boys biological father had supervised visits, but has not seen his son since 2007. In young boy world that's a mighty long time. Not blaming this man by any means, but it appears he had went back to Guatemala to live, and returned to the States and lived in Texas and back to Oklahoma looking for his son.

Of course for a bajillion years and in many cultures there's been siblings caring for younger siblings. Probably for longer than 6 hours at a time. However, as we read here all the time this ain't your Granny's world. The video game playing itself weather violent or not means brother isn't paying attention to his charge. In Filly world I know when people asked my DD to babysit at that age that meant Filly would be the babysitter. No way. I highly doubt she would shake a baby, but I could tell you if her nose was in a book and an infant was crying especially at up to 6 hours of sitting my kid would have let the baby cry. Not on purpose. She wouldn't have heard it. She would have blocked it out. Thankfully as an adult she point blank will tell you that she's way too self absorbed to be having kids or attending to children. In an emergency she would care for a friends older child, but that's it.

Also many people say at that age they babysat an infant. However, did they live with the child as well? How much responsibility did the boy have when the parents were at home?

What I don't get is the parents told LE this sweet baby girl fell from the bed and in the car on the floorboard, but they had not witnessed it. Do they let a 13 year old drive as well? I'm being sarcastic. Did they just take the boys word for it and recanted the story or is someone covering up?

It's just sad all the way around. I pray with the economic situation the way it is we don't see more of this. A 13 year old kid is now out of juvie and in prison? Filly ain't up on all the new video games, but as mentioned I did see my three nephews absorbed in them that they don't even hear you. Yes, violent ones. Thankfully they are grown and well adjusted young men.

Sending positive vibes for this child. Maybe the biological dad coming back into his life at such a horrible time may be a God send.

Mywarmbluefleece--I agree that most middle schoolers don't grasp the finality of their actions. I realize that this baby was hit, not shaken but I have to once again yell from the rooftops that there is an excellent video available concerning the delicacy of infants. I think it should be mandatory for each and every grade, starting in about third grade. Why on earth wait until a person is talking a newborn home from the hospital? Teens and adults are frequently asked to watch other's infants. Everyone should have this info.

http://www.purplecrying.info/

Most YMCAs (in conjunction with the Red Cross) also offer baby-sitting training for children over the age of 11:

http://www.laymca.org/arc.shtml

But there's only so much a video can do if we're dealing with a child with impulse control issues. And those seem to be exacerbated by violent video games. One wonders what the boy might have done if the baby would have merely knocked over a Lego construction or torn a comic book. IMO, the video games pull children in and cause them to act in ways totally out of character, as noted by PeteyGirl.

Satch said:

I agree,

I still think that 13 is too young to take care of an infant. Had the child sat with the infant before? Any other behavioral problems at school or at home? If there were, this child I believe would not have been responsible and mature enough to care for the baby. The hitting of the child is certainly grounds for child abuse, and because of that he should be prosecuted. You don't hit an infant against a hard object. It's tragic enough that this child shook the baby and was more concerned with his video game than the child's health and safety.

I did not read the article links, but where were the parents during this time?

Satch

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The parents were at work.

Missizzy said:

First off, I'm so sad for this family. What a tragedy. But, young teens--male and female--the world over and throughout history have been expected to watch younger siblings. Of course, there are many inherent dangers but it's a fact of life for many families and cultures.

I may be unpopular for saying this but I simply do NOT approve of children playing violent video games. I'm a mother of 9 sons and video games were never allowed in our home as I saw how my boys instantly became more aggressive when they played them at other's homes. I listened to the gnashing of teeth and wailing but we never gave in. I'm well aware that many of my sons now play but they're more mature.

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The problem here was lack of control on the boy's part when he was distracted by the baby. He could just as easily have been reading a book, watching television or playing with Legos.

You could be right, Camille. However, I've watched my sons carefully--their body language, the sound of their voices, etc--when allowed to play even mildly violent videogames. It was remarkable. I would not have wanted one of our little grandchildren to step in front of the TV, that's for sure.

We once borrowed a friend's Playstation over a holiday and allowed them to play games rated "E" (they were teens at the time) and FIFA (as one is an accomplished soccer player). The tone was totally different. They laughed, they joshed each other. They had fun. They also were responsible for setting the timer for 20 minutes and each got two turns per day. There was no ugliness or aggression at all. If a grandchild wandered in, they were engaged to play too, in a sweet sort of way.

We tried keeping the Playstation for a while but it was simply amazing how many adult games started sneaking their way into our home. We made the hard decision to give it back. Basketball, soccer, reading, music, Lego, board games, or helping Dad on construction sites--those were the choices. Mean mean parents, I know.

Surely there's some sort of video out there with shows this phenomenon with boys.

My go-to expert for all things pertaining to parenting:

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/child-rearing-and-development/video-game-violence

Now, go to Youtube and check out the videos "Children playing Halo" and "Psycho kid playing Halo". You'll see some others too on the same pages but be aware of language. These are NOT boys having fun.

Now imagine an infant interrupting that game.