GUILTY FL - Andrew Sheppard, 18 mos, beaten to death, Beverly Hills, 23 April 2008

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Warning. There's a photograph of the sweetest little boy at this link, and it is heart wrenching. Andrew Sheppard sustained injuries so severe the lil guy didn't have a chance. This 18 month old baby was being babysat by Gianna Spagnolo the boyfriend of Matthew's mother, Kari Sheppard. Mrs. Sheppard is seperated from the baby's dad. Kari left her son with Spagnolo on Tuesday as he babysat while she went to work. At around noon on Wednesday Spagnolo told Kari by phone that Matthew had fell out of the bed and seemed tired. By the time she got in from work at 6:00PM the baby was all but non responsive. She rushed the boy to the ER. A run of tests showed a devastating injury of the worse kind to the baby's brain plus there were signs of old injuries. Being the considerate guy he is Spagnolo offered to talk to LE, and made up two different stories. The most outlandish being he was playing and kept tossing Matthew in the air and at one point he hit the ceiling with his head.http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080427/NEWS/804270316/1002/NEWS
 
Patience said:
The Boyfriend again? :eek:
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Patience I thought the same thing. How often have we been reading about this? I was reading this guy babysat all the time for this lil guy. I highly doubt this was the first time he hurt this child. The older injuries are no doubt from him. Yeah, first he fell out of bed and then he was tossing him in the air playing and the baby hit his head on the ceiling. Pah-lease.
 
Throw the friggin book at home.
 
This insanity has got to stop. These stories sicken me. I'm pretty sure there were red flags flying where the Mom should have known he was a loser and/or abuser. But it goes back to what we discussed in another thread---these women feel the NEED to have a man in their lives no matter what, even if it's at the expense of their children.
I'm not going to even read the article, but if there are old injuries than I hope they find a way to charge the mother with something too.
 
MsRusty said:
This insanity has got to stop. These stories sicken me. I'm pretty sure there were red flags flying where the Mom should have known he was a loser and/or abuser. But it goes back to what we discussed in another thread---these women feel the NEED to have a man in their lives no matter what, even if it's at the expense of their children.
I'm not going to even read the article, but if there are old injuries than I hope they find a way to charge the mother with something too.
Click to expand...

This is NOT going to stop until women love their kids more than they do a man. In some women, this will never happen. Are all men bad? Heck NO! But until you know for sure beyond doubt, you never take a chance.

She should have had other means of childcare already in place. Our government has agencies in place for single mothers (and those below poverty lines) and she could have taken advantage of that, I'm sure. She just wanted this man to play daddy and look what happened?

She should be charged with child endangerment or neglect. She put this child in the care of a monster and she HAD to know. :furious: :furious:
 
http://www.abcactionnews.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=7aac3ccf-127c-4c0f-a9f1-0b7b87dae00d

The boy hit the concrete floor sustaining severe injuries.

Spagnolo admitted to Citrus County deputies that he was tossing the child in the air when the child hit the ceiling, then table and floor.

Story.jpg
 
I agree 100% with you pixies. Maybe if they'd find a way to charge the mothers even if they weren't directly involved more women would think twice about hooking up with just any man for the sake of having a man. And I agree, this didn't just come out of nowhere, there had to have been signs that he was an abuser before this.
 
Jeez, this is a bad one . . . this article details all the initial lies he told regarding the incident and the final confession I copied below.

http://osedit.ny.publicus.com/apps/...tegori=NEWS&Lopenr=828425847&Ref=AR&Nocache=1

-- Spagnolo called Citrus County authorities at approximately 8:20 p.m. Thursday and told them he wanted to talk about the baby's injuries. At their office, he said on Wednesday between 4:30 to 5 p.m., he was kneeling on the bed and throwing Andrew up in the air. With each throw, he said he used more force. He said that one of the throws was so hard Andrew’s head hit the ceiling. As he fell, his head struck the end of a wooden table and then the concrete floor. He said after the fall, Andrew “clenched his teeth and was unresponsive.”

.....................

During his interview with Citrus officials, Spagnolo admitted to lying to Sheppard and law enforcement officials in previous statements. Spagnolo told investigators he "could not have held this any longer and he owed it to the victim to tell the truth about what happened."
 
At this point I'm so angry over this just reading the parts of the article being posted. I would so like to beat both the bf and the mother too. They both deserve punishment.
 
These are such frustrating stories.
My first impulse is always "How could you leave your child with some jerk youve probably been dating for a whole three months?"
However this is the dark side of 'Lets get those trailer trash gals off welfare and off to work'
If she doesnt have a family support unit (and many dont) she has to work. And believe me, avenues for free or cheap child care are not as available in many areas as many assume.It varies alot from state to state.
If she gets fired for missing work she doesnt get assistance or unemployment.
One step down to the street.With a child.
Alot of young girls could make bad decisions under those circumstances.
But there are way too many of these stories.I hope the boyfriend burns in hell.
 
Oh what an adorable little guy... I can't understand the piece of trash guy's mentality. The only thing I would of been guilty of is hugging and kissing that adorable little baby's chubby cheeks all day long. I'm so sick of this..so so sick. :furious:
 
For starters, yes...I do understand the female who is working with a child to care for and the problem with daycare. However, this is convenience. If she were in the "system"...her childcare is minimum payment. She can afford to dress her kids and drop them off.

The problem lies with us giving women the self esteem to know not to bring a man home immediately and put them into your family situation. It is education and personal accountability to those children. She thinks she is doing well...but she is oblivious to the the fact she just let a stranger take care of her kids.
 
This woman is seperated from the baby's father. Absolutely I understand that doesn't automatically mean she's getting financial help, but I don't believe she was all alone in this here world. I think I read somewhere that this murderer has his own biological son as well. It still amazes me that women think that other people enjoy watching their children. It's a huge responsibility and this guy lived in his cousin's garage. I'd think he was a lil stressed on that note alone and would consider that before adding a toddler to the mix.
 
I am so sick of hearing about these boyfriend stories I could puke. The mothers involved here should automatically be charged. Her being broke or welfare therefore she has to go to work doesn't matter, because if she is lower income she likely qualifies for some sort of child care assistance.

The poor father here. He should be furious that mom left the baby with her boyfriend instead of asking the Dad for help with daycare.

We had a recent case out here in AZ, a guy was just sentenced to almost 30 years for the killing of his girlfriends infant, and injuring a 2 yr old sibling. Mom had no business leaving this guy alone with 3 small kids. He said he was frustrated with his life and the fact the kids would not let him sleep. WTF? Do you know how much patience and responsibility it takes to watch 3 kids, all 4 and under? Mom is white trash and she is being charged too since she already suspected the boyfriend of abuse, yet left the kids alone with him.

Here is an article about this sad case from the Maricopa County Attorney's office:

http://www.mcaodocuments.com/press/20080208_a.pdf

The mother is also being charged.
 
I wish the system could find a way to charge all mothers in these kinds of cases. Sadly I don't think it's possible.
 
Oh I absolutely agree the bottom line is letting these guys they dont even really know in proximity with the children is the cause of these tragedies .
I have seen it sooo many times though. Ive personally known dozens of women over the years that have done this routinely.
'Dating' some guy they've known for a couple of weeks and he's in the house with the kids.
Often its a new one about every six or eight months.
Very dangerous game to be playing for yourself much less a child your responsible for.
The ironic part is they ussually have three deadbolts on the front door because they are single women living alone.
 
The perp was convicted at trial, but Andrew's mother was still defending the guy at sentencing. From November 2009:

http://www.chronicleonline.com/content/man-gets-30-year-sentence

Judge Richard “Ric” Howard sentenced 36-year-old Spagnolo to 30 years in prison on third-degree murder and child abuse charges in connection with the death of 18-month-old Andrew Sheppard...

[T]he medical examiner, Dr. Barbara Wolf, testified during trial how the injuries Andrew sustained couldn’t have happened from hitting a ceiling or any other way Spagnolo initially told police. Tremendous force had to be used... Andrew had multiple impact sites on the side of his head, which suggested repeated strikes by or against something. The amount of forced used, she said, was like taking Andrew by his ankles and slamming him against a wall.

Talking directly to Kari Sheppard, Howard said the evidence against Spagnolo was like a tidal wave... Howard asked Kari Sheppard to consider that maybe it happened like the medical examiner said it happened and not how Spagnolo said it did.
Click to expand...
 
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