GUILTY IN - Alissa Guernsey, 16 mos, beaten to death, LaGrange, 28 March 2009

MsFacetious

What a Kerfuffle...
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alissa4.jpg



This is one I know I've seen before, but I can't find it here on Web Sleuths. It is in Indiana.

Three kids had a temporary guardian, after their mother went off the deep end when their Dad died.

This woman killed a 16 month old baby.

She tortured Alissa, broke Alissa's bones, bruised Alissa, beat Alissa, left horrendous mouth sores on Alissa...


She was charged with NEGLECT.

She served 77 DAYS in prison.


That is LESS than the 3 months this baby was tortured for!


Here is the story under description on the left:

http://www.facebook.com/BabyAlissaCriesForJustice.org/info


There are pictures of this babies injuries, including the sores in her mouth.
Please don't click this link if you don't want to see them!


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.349901545068169.79851.349487388442918&type=3


Here are some regular pictures of Baby Alissa:

alissae.jpg


alissa3.jpg




Yes, in this picture Alissa's arm is broken and she has bruises.

alissa2d.jpg
 
How did her mother only get 77 days?
 
Holy ****. This is a horrible story. And local to me, but I hadn't read about it (moved into area after the death occurred and never heard about the sentence).

77 days is a disgrace. Seems like the judge knew the killer's dad and since they were friendly, it could have affected his sentence? How is that possible? Why wouldn't he have had to recuse himself?

Why did I click on those pictures? You put a disclaimer....
 
It wasn't her mother, it was a "relative".
They had a temporary guardian.

The mother did the "right" thing.
When the father died in November of 2008 she was freaking out.
When she couldn't care for her children she gave them to someone who was supposed to be capable of doing so.

When the mother went back to drugs and failed to keep in touch with social workers, SHE was cited for neglect.
Other people were caring for her children, but she was cited for neglect simply for not keeping in touch with those people.

Then, her daughter was officially, legally placed in this woman's home (a relative, not a trained foster parent.)
4 months after her Daddy's death this little girl was brutally murdered.

This isn't a Casey Anthony situation... this woman did what we wished Casey had done. "Why didn't she give her to someone else??"
This woman did that and her daughter was STILL tortured and murdered.

I'm sure the mother made some mistakes, (like not fighting for justice to protect her CIVIL suits) but she is not the one who murdered this baby.

The woman who somehow did all this damage to this BABY for 90+ days, then spent 77 days in jail... is the one at fault.

The people in the judicial system who allowed this to happen are the ones at fault.

I am just again outraged. How do these people sleep at night?
 
Nepotism at its worst -- somebody made the "problem" of 10 years in prison for this little girl's horrible, slow death go away as expediently as possible. That somebody needs to be taken down for it, and the child-killer returned to prison for her full 10 years, which she deserves -- and more.

What kind of message is this sentence sending?

That the life of a bright little baby girl is not worth more than upsetting a few bureaucratic applecarts? That if you have right connections, you can go ahead and kill anybody you want and go home to your own family in a matter of weeks?

The doctor who treated her and did not report her condition as abuse needs to have his licence removed immediately. At the least.

This needs to be a national outrage. That it isn't makes me sad for America, and the state of things there.

ETA -- how likely is it that someone could sic Dr Phil or one of those huge talkshow moguls onto this? It NEEDS a national level forum!!!!!!
 
I have a daughter with Alopecia... people have asked if she pulls her hair out.
I asked the doctor out of curiosity if that was a common behavior.
He said "I've seen it before, but hair being pulled out and hair falling out is pretty easy to distinguish, hers is definitely falling out on it's own."

Just that should have raised red flags.
If a baby is pulling out her hair, that's a problem.
If an adult is pulling out her hair, that's a problem.
 
Some articles:

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-675071

http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2012-10-11/news/34395469_1_vanderbeck-time-bomb-wrong-place

*WARNING - a couple of autopsy pics
http://victimsheartland.forumotion....haffer-only-serves-77-days-for-felony-neglect

Article re treating doctor - who saw Alissa 15 times on one month prior to her death...
http://articles.southbendtribune.co...6_1_indiana-state-police-case-managers-doctor


Also:

In cases of prolonged abuse -- isn't it unusual for the abuser of a baby to be taking the child to doctor 15 times a month, and seeking medical 'answers' to the mystery of why the baby's hair is falling out (of course, it was torn out)....

Is this a case of Munchhausen's-by-proxy?

ETA: or was she used as a way to get drugs... from the SBT news article linked above:

Boyd's report and that of the DCS investigator listed more incriminating evidence against Shaffer, who repeatedly took Alissa to the family pediatrician and asked for painkillers for her injuries — none of which was found in the baby's blood, according to later toxicology reports.
 
Can anything be done about this? Is there someone we can write to complain about it and ask for an investigation?
 
I'm not sure how current this is, but there's a petition to re-open her case:

http://www.change.org/petitions/ind...tion-for-the-fatal-beating-of-alissa-guernsey

There's a message from Alissa's mother, Kelly Sprunger, on there.

Really, I'd love to see this case on Dr. Phil.. something controversial like that, where the right questions will be asked, and attention is national. This is such a shocking breach of every concept and system of child protection, it NEEDS to be aired like the dirty laundry it really is!!!
 
All I know about her mother is that she has backed out of being involved, in order to preserve her civil lawsuits.
Initially she was involved with the facebook group... but was advised to discontinue that to help her civil lawsuit situation.

That is on the right side of this page here:
http://www.facebook.com/BabyAlissaCriesForJustice.org/info

So if there is a message from her mother on there, odds are it isn't within the last 4-5 months or so.
 
Yup - it was marked as '6 months ago'.

I hope her civil suit goes well. But really, it should be re-tried as a criminal case. For murder.

Interesting, how severe the penalties have been in many other cases of a similar kind in the area. Sentences of 20-54 years... 77 days is a joke, to put it far more mildly than I'd like to.
 
I got so mad and upset about this case, had to get off the forum last night. Just signed the change.org petition...really, really hope it makes a difference...no child's horrible torture and death should be shuttled as this one was due to conflicts of interest and corruption of the justice system!
 
God have mercy. Who could do that to an innocent baby!! Monster! I hope she will be haunted every day of her pathetic excuse for a life. Then on judgment day may she face an eternal punishment far worse than any earthly punishment. Rest in peace baby Alissa, I hope and pray you are playing with the Angels and all the other poor children who suffered the same fate.
 
Absolutely disgusting.

My heart breaks for her mother, who obviously thought she was doing the right thing by giving her baby girl to another when she didn't feel capable of looking after her. Instead, she now has to deal with the death of her partner as well as the loss of her darling daughter.

I find it hard to believe that 77 days in jail is worth the same as this beautiful girls life. And the poor darling looks horrible in that last picture, she seems withdrawn, like the life has been completely sucked out of her. No child deserves to suffer for three months at the hands of a monster, especially when this person is supposed to be protecting and caring for them.

What on earth is wrong with these people?! :(
 
I have seen a lot of cases during my time here at Websleuths, but seeing the pictures of Alissa's last day alive (if you can even call it that) were the most heartbreaking pictures I have ever seen and I am disgusted that the woman responsible for this horrendous abuse and murder only spent 77 days in jail for this unspeakable crime.

Praying for justice for you little Alissa!
 
I am just sick over what was done to this baby girl!! I can't believe that Alissa's life was only worth 77 days in jail. After reading this tread last night I held my youngest for the longest time (she is 16 months). I don't understand how you can hit someone so small. There is nothing that my little one could do that would even make me think about hitting her. This is the best age!!! She just started walking, she repeats everything in the cutest little voice, and her favorite song (this week) is Row, Row, Row your boat and we sing it all the way to daycare in the mornings.
I'm so sorry Alissa that your life was not what it should have been. I'm so sorry that you were hurt by someone that should have been helping you, loving you, and protecting you. I'm so sorry that I had to meet you this way. Fly high with the angels baby girl; hopefully you will have true justice one day.
 
77 days??? That's just an insult, how did she get off with a sentence that light?
 
Crimes against children are their own special sort of sick and depraved. It's hard to imagine the abuse that harmless child must have gone through to get the injuries innthe pictures. I was also a bit surprised at the tone of some of the questions/comments under the pictures on FB. The mother must be dealing with a lot, regardless of if it is deserved.
 
:furious: I'm choking with indignation and rage!

Here's something the judge said when Alissa had died and he had to make a decision about whether the other children should be taken out of the evil abuser's care (The "Mr. Sprunger he refers to is the defendant's father.):
“I’m not tipping my hand and suggesting that I know what I’m doing yet as to the ultimate resolution, I’m just — you don’t get faced with stuff like this and these people are being nice and if you take their side, and something tragic would happen with a child and a ticking time bomb — ah — that doesn’t make them bad, it kind of just makes them at the wrong place at the wrong time,” VanDerbeck said at one point, according to the transcript.

“I know Mr. Sprunger. He’s been on some boards with me — ah — the Council on Aging. We’ve sat next — together for several years. We’re just making the county safer for elderly citizens,” VanDerbeck continued during the hearing. “I know he’s got a good heart. … I think I went to a baseball game with him. So I wouldn’t do that, if they were bad people. But, still, something bad has happened.”
http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2012-10-11/news/34395469_1_vanderbeck-time-bomb-wrong-place
The defendant had tons of support in the courtroom; the mother had very little. Even the judge was cold towards her. AND he even suggested to the defendant that she and her attorney should wait a bit and then petition him to modify his sentence.
I keep calling her "the defendant" because I don't think I'm allowed to call her the murderer.
 
This judge should have definitely recused himself...he obviously had bias in favor of the defendent and her father....
 

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