WA - Noah Petersen, 4 mos, found dead, Lake Stevens, 18 June 2007

White Rain

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LAKE STEVENS, Wash. — A woman was charged with manslaughter in the death of her 4-month-old son after she told authorities she taped a pacifier to his mouth to keep it from falling out.
Bonnie M. Desmond, 19, was charged Tuesday in the death of Noah James Petersen. Bail was set at $500,000.
Desmond called 911 Monday and said her baby was unconscious, but paramedics found the boy had been dead for hours, Fire District 8 Deputy Chief David Lingenfelter said. Prosecutors wrote in reports that Desmond later indicated a pacifier had been taped to the child's mouth but she had removed it before calling authorities.
"The only thing I can think of is I taped the pacifier to keep it from falling out. I didn't know it would hurt him, or I wouldn't have done that," Desmond told police, according to the reports.
No other children live in the home, which she shares with her fiance, and the fiance was not under investigation, said police Cmdr. Dan Lorentzen. The autopsy results were not immediately released.
If convicted, Desmond faces 6 1/2 to 8 1/2 years in prison, Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Mark Roe said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,285093,00.html
 
Sigh.

I really get the feeling that she didn't mean to hurt her child, but come on. That's just common sense! The packages that pacifiers come in even say not to do stuff like that.
 
I can see that. When my son was an infant, he would suck on his pacifier so fast that it would fly out. He also was a horrible sleeper, so the only way I could get a few minutes of sleep was to sleep on the floor with him. Every few minutes he would cry because the pacifier flew out. I'm sure there are nights I could've easily fallen asleep with my hand over his mouth, just from being so tired and the motion of putting it back in.
Sure, tape is a little different and done on purpose, but I understand desparity of a tired mom whose baby keeps spitting out their pacifier. It sounds like she didn't understand the dangers of what she did.
 
Sigh.

I really get the feeling that she didn't mean to hurt her child, but come on. That's just common sense! The packages that pacifiers come in even say not to do stuff like that.

Sigh is right. Young mothers with little support network....and very little common sense....very sad.

My mother wasn't particularly helpful when I had infants and questions, but I had a great group of mommy friends.
 
My 2nd cousin did this with her babies; she did it in hopes of them sleeping longer and not crying because that pissed off her husband. Drove me crazy, I was so scared something bad would happen to them but she wouldn't listen to me. Babies are mouth breathers and they cry to communicate (resulting in snot) so of course they can die if their mouth is taped over.
 
WTF? Um, there is NO EXCUSE for ignorance when it comes to breeding. This stupid cow deserves to go to jail for what she did, period.
 
My 2nd cousin did this with her babies; she did it in hopes of them sleeping longer and not crying because that pissed off her husband. Drove me crazy, I was so scared something bad would happen to them but she wouldn't listen to me. Babies are mouth breathers and they cry to communicate (resulting in snot) so of course they can die if their mouth is taped over.


OMG!! The baby crying pissed her husband off??
Cousin or not you should have reported her to DCF.
 
WTF? Um, there is NO EXCUSE for ignorance when it comes to breeding. This stupid cow deserves to go to jail for what she did, period.

I agree. She had also tied the baby's arms to his sides with pajamas because she couldn't locate his swaddling blanket. Did she know nothing at all about child care or safety? Did she care about anything but keeping this baby quiet? She's nineteen, not five.
 
This is a very unfortunate accident. Most likely due to the mother's youth and inexperience. I wonder if she had any relatives nearby to help her out? I hear of many cases here at Fort Hood about child abuse cases, more now with the war going on. Many young mothers have no relatives here and are left alone raising kids along with the stress of worrying about their husbands in Iraq. Is it an excuse for abuse, NO! But I've seen first hand the frustration and exhaustion of these women. Many are working full time jobs also.
I think that young mother was just not thinking clearly and acted out of desperation & ignorance.
 
I have a friend whose son loved to be swaddled to sleep, but he got strong enough around 3-4 months to kick out of the blanket. For a few weeks, she used an ace bandage to swaddle his legs (not his arms) before she put him into the blanket. He loved it and outgrew it soon enough.

Mothers will try desparate things to get their babies to sleep!

This mother was ignorant and, while I am so sad about what happenedf to this baby, being stupid is not against the law.
 
I have a friend whose son loved to be swaddled to sleep, but he got strong enough around 3-4 months to kick out of the blanket. For a few weeks, she used an ace bandage to swaddle his legs (not his arms) before she put him into the blanket. He loved it and outgrew it soon enough.

Mothers will try desparate things to get their babies to sleep!

This mother was ignorant and, while I am so sad about what happenedf to this baby, being stupid is not against the law.

Very sad story. I think it was not something she did on the act of hurting her child - just stupid and was not thinking of the possible suffication.
I too swaddled my DS as infant/new born - he LOVED to be all bundled up.. slept SOO much better. Never did like pacifiers so I didn't have any 'pop-out' issues with that...

(( IMO )) it's just is a horrible accident and not smart thinking.

Rosco
 
Mothers will try desparate things to get their babies to sleep!

This mother was ignorant and, while I am so sad about what happenedf to this baby, being stupid is not against the law.

Yes, she was ignorant and her stupidity cost her a baby. Too bad she didn't seek some kind of early childhood care that's offered in most areas.

My dd also loved to be wrapped tighly at night. She was an NICU baby and I was fortunate to have a nurse show us how to wrap.
 
Yes, she was ignorant and her stupidity cost her a baby. Too bad she didn't seek some kind of early childhood care that's offered in most areas.

My dd also loved to be wrapped tighly at night. She was an NICU baby and I was fortunate to have a nurse show us how to wrap.

We used to call it the baby burrito!

The nurses showed us too, but I could never get my sons wrapped as well as they did and they were escaping my burritos early on. Lickily - we all survived!
 
We used to call it the baby burrito!

The nurses showed us too, but I could never get my sons wrapped as well as they did and they were escaping my burritos early on. Lickily - we all survived!
:laugh: Baby Burrito!!! That's funny!!!
 
here is what i just dont get...
Desmond called 911 Monday and said her baby was unconscious, but paramedics found the boy had been dead for hours, Fire District 8 Deputy Chief David Lingenfelter said. Prosecutors wrote in reports that Desmond later indicated a pacifier had been taped to the child's mouth but she had removed it before calling authorities.
"The only thing I can think of is I taped the pacifier to keep it from falling out. I didn't know it would hurt him, or I wouldn't have done that," Desmond told police, according to the reports.
she called police and said the baby was unconscious but it had been dead for hours. she removed the tape before she called them and did not tell them about it right away. the tape must not have been right beside the baby when police got there because seeing a pacifier with tape on it next to a dead childs body would have ended the need to ask mom more questions. if she is so innocent and stupid why remove the tape and act as if the child just paased out???
 
This is a very unfortunate accident. Most likely due to the mother's youth and inexperience. I wonder if she had any relatives nearby to help her out? I hear of many cases here at Fort Hood about child abuse cases, more now with the war going on. Many young mothers have no relatives here and are left alone raising kids along with the stress of worrying about their husbands in Iraq. Is it an excuse for abuse, NO! But I've seen first hand the frustration and exhaustion of these women. Many are working full time jobs also.
I think that young mother was just not thinking clearly and acted out of desperation & ignorance.

hmmmm I had my 1st baby at 17, second at 19, and still I had the sense enough to know what might harm my baby & what wouldn't.
 
here is what i just dont get...
she called police and said the baby was unconscious but it had been dead for hours. she removed the tape before she called them and did not tell them about it right away. the tape must not have been right beside the baby when police got there because seeing a pacifier with tape on it next to a dead childs body would have ended the need to ask mom more questions. if she is so innocent and stupid why remove the tape and act as if the child just paased out???

Exactly!!!
She new this was wrong or she would not have tried to hide it.
 
I have a friend whose son loved to be swaddled to sleep, but he got strong enough around 3-4 months to kick out of the blanket. For a few weeks, she used an ace bandage to swaddle his legs (not his arms) before she put him into the blanket. He loved it and outgrew it soon enough.

Mothers will try desparate things to get their babies to sleep!

This mother was ignorant and, while I am so sad about what happenedf to this baby, being stupid is not against the law.

I hate to sound b*tchy, but how do you know the baby LOVED it?
 
She was 19 years old, so there is no way this can be attributed to "her youth". Nineteen is no child. It is an adult.

The baby had been dead for HOURS before she called 911.
She also tied the babys arms down, in addition to taping the binky to his mouth.
She removed the tape before 911 came.
She didn't tell them about the tape right away.


I don't see this as some accident.
 
I hate to sound b*tchy, but how do you know the baby LOVED it?

It doesn't sound bitchy - I just saw her do it to him a couple of times before she put him down and he got all lovey, snuggly and gurgly. So I guess that was the reason I felt like he loved it. And he slept really well when it was done and not so well when it wasn't.

She didn't do it tight - just snug enough to keep his legs secure. Soon enough, he was kicking out of the ace bandage. Today, he's almost 7 (we're going to his birthday Saturday) and I almost can't remember when he was that tiny!
 

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