ID - Sage Aragon, 11, frozen to death, Blaine County, 25 Dec 2008

[Bobbisangel]

I think there are several adults who failed these children, including their mother. She said she knew a bad storm was coming on, yet she just sits there all those hours without them showing up? As a mother, imo, that makes no sense. I would have been beside myself with worry if they were even an hour late. Even if she didn't have a vehicle she surely has family or friends that does and could have tried to check the road in case they got stuck in the snow storm.

The father and the other guy were just plain stupid idiots. Some fathers, sometimes do not see the dangers, like some mothers do.

imoo

Was she aware that the kids were walking or was she sitting and waiting for their dad to drop them off as it got later and later? I wonder if he called her to tell her that they were walking or if she called him? I think the dad is wholly responsible for the death of his daughter.

Just read that the dad and the other guy have been arrested. Good. The other guy was probably holding their stash is why the dad didn't have any drugs on him. You can bet they were both using.

The kids look much older then 11 and 12 yrs. They look like such happy kids. Such a shame and you know the boy is going to feel guilty for the rest of his life even though he wasn't responsible. I just can't imagine those men thinking those kids could walk 10 miles in that snow. Probably so doped up they didn't even think about how far that was or that it was to awful out for those kids to walk that far.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Was she aware that the kids were walking or was she sitting and waiting for their dad to drop them off as it got later and later? I wonder if he called her to tell her that they were walking or if she called him? I think the dad is wholly responsible for the death of his daughter.

Just read that the dad and the other guy have been arrested. Good. The other guy was probably holding their stash is why the dad didn't have any drugs on him. You can bet they were both using.

The kids look much older then 11 and 12 yrs. They look like such happy kids. Such a shame and you know the boy is going to feel guilty for the rest of his life even though he wasn't responsible. I just can't imagine those men thinking those kids could walk 10 miles in that snow. Probably so doped up they didn't even think about how far that was or that it was to awful out for those kids to walk that far.

She had to be aware they were coming and at what time they were to arrive, I would think. She would know if he was dependable and it did seem even through his neglectful stupidity he was trying to take the kids to see their mother for Christmas. He was in a dead zone and his cell phone wasnt working.

Maybe it is just me. I am a worrier anyway when it comes to my children or grandchildren. I would have started trying to call him and if I didn't get an answer, I would have called the police, fearing they had had a wreck or something because of the storm.

I just don't see how she could sit there from 9 am that morning until 1:00 pm and not try to contact someone. Even a friend or neighbor that may have lived down that road or even the police asking them to please check the road.

imoo

 

[Bobbisangel]

She had to be aware they were coming and at what time they were to arrive, I would think. She would know if he was dependable and it did seem even through his neglectful stupidity he was trying to take the kids to see their mother for Christmas. He was in a dead zone and his cell phone wasnt working.

Maybe it is just me. I am a worrier anyway when it comes to my children or grandchildren. I would have started trying to call him and if I didn't get an answer, I would have called the police, fearing they had had a wreck or something because of the storm.

I just don't see how she could sit there from 9 am that morning until 1:00 pm and not try to contact someone. Even a friend or neighbor that may have lived down that road or even the police asking them to please check the road.

imoo

I may have just figured that he wasn't bringing them when they didn't show. If I was the mother. Guess it depends on what kind of relationship they had.
She must have gotten hold of him at some point as he left to go back home after they got the truck out of the snowbank. Maybe when she got ahold of him and he told her about the kids walking she called 911. For some reason it seems like it was the mom who made that call.

Those darn drugs. Can't think of one thing they are good for except for pot when it is used for people who are in horrific pain all of the time. I'm not an expert on the subject of pot as a medicine but have heard that it does help.

 

[dreamweaver]

A dad and his cousin set out in a snowstorm with two kids, age 11 and age 12 to drive to see their mom on Christmas day.
They get stuck.
They allow the kids to leave the safety of the truck at 9:00 a.m. and start to walk 10 miles to their mom's house, in the middle of a snowstorm and a temp of -20 deg.
They fix the truck, 10: or 10:30a.m.
They drive back to town.
They do NOT drive after the kids.
They do NOT call the police.
They do go back and look for the kids.
But in doing so, they get out and walk, in the snowstorm, in the cold.
They do NOT take the car up the road.
They still do NOT call the police.
The mom is told at noon that the kids set out on foot in the snow and cold.
She says she called 911, but no call is noted until 7:00p.m.
The mom does NOT ask a friend to go after the kids.
The mom supposedly was to meet them halfway, per initial news report.
How was that going to happen if she had no car.

The dad does not have the kids dressed for cold weather. They do have snow boots and coats, but the girl, Sage, is in pajama pants. Now in some areas, pajama pants are a form of fashion. If that is the case, she still could have had jeans on.
The dad does not have the car stocked for a cold weather trip. Blankets, water, food,
etc.
The dad does not say, hang out til we get the car fixed. Or if we can't get the car fixed, I will walk to find help.
Nope. He lets the kids set out on a 10 mile walk.
At the very least, he is negligent.
At the most, he is guilty of second degree murder and so is his cousin.
And the mom, guilty of not following through, and negligence, but probably not something she can be charged with.
I am sure the dad is sorry. But sorry is not enough when a child dies.

 

[twinkiesmom]

I haven't seen it mentioned, but I did read in one of the news accounts that the mom did not have a working home phone. It was mentioned in context of the new media trying to reach her and being unable to.

I'm not saying this absolves the mom of notifying police some other way, but I do think it further discounts the notion that they were going to meet halfway.

 

[Chicogirl36]

Thank you Dreamweaver!

Great synopsis of the facts- Drugs were obviously involved, and Im sure these kids are used to dealing with the antics of having parents that are tweakers. Kids that grow up in these environments usually do. Im sure this is what helped Bear get to safety and stay put. I do agree that Sage was not dresssed warm enough to leave the car, and dad should have had blankets, water, supplies,etc. I live in sunny CA, but if I did live in a snowey-place, I would have en emergency kit in my car.

My prayers are with the Bear and the rest of his family. Im sure the dad did not plan on this to happen, and hopefully this will be his and other's wake-up calls.

RIP Sage. :blowkiss:

 

[Chicogirl36]

I haven't seen it mentioned, but I did read in one of the news accounts that the mom did not have a working home phone. It was mentioned in context of the new media trying to reach her and being unable to.

I'm not saying this absolves the mom of notifying police some other way, but I do think it further discounts the notion that they were going to meet halfway.

They would have had to have some way to cmmunicate with a neighbor or /relative to tell them they were coming Christmas morning, but I dont blame her. What mother would let that happen to her baby?

 

[Tonia]

Murder charges against father are dropped.

- An Idaho prosecutor has dropped a second-degree murder charge filed against the father of an 11-year-old girl who died after trying to walk 10 miles in the snow on Christmas Day.

http://www.localnews8.com/Global/sto...av=menu554_2_1

 

[twinkiesmom]

http://www.mtexpress.com/vu_breaking_story.php?bid=6558

 

[believe09]

Just want to point out to lurkers that the second degree murder charge was dropped, but father and friend have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in it's place. I think that the second degree charge might have been an over-reaction that I would have been guilty of as well. I am sure they the manslaughter charge is far more easily proven.

 

[MrsG728]

I heard this on the news this morning, and the article/link above doesn't mention something that I am wondering: did these two men plead down? What were the conditions of the plea? Nothing specific was given, and I'd like to know more. Does anyone know?

 

[believe09]

I heard this on the news this morning, and the article/link above doesn't mention something that I am wondering: did these two men plead down? What were the conditions of the plea? Nothing specific was given, and I'd like to know more. Does anyone know?

It sort of feels like a plea agreement is coming, doesnt it??

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Just want to point out to lurkers that the second degree murder charge was dropped, but father and friend have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in it's place. I think that the second degree charge might have been an over-reaction that I would have been guilty of as well. I am sure they the manslaughter charge is far more easily proven.

I agree. The involuntary manslaughter fits this case more imo than second degree murder.

imo

 

[twinkiesmom]

I agree. The involuntary manslaughter fits this case more imo than second degree murder.

imo

Aren't there any steps between second degree and involuntary manslaughter in Idaho law? Reckless homicide? They may not have intent for second degree but involuntary seems not serious enough for inevitability of this outcome. I think there were two crimes committed...1) the forcing of the children from the car to walk and 2) the turning of the car around to go home instead of making sure they were alive at the point the car was repaired.

 

[Tonia]

Jury selection has started in the trial of an Idaho man charged with involuntary manslaughter after his 11-year-old daughter hiked several miles in the freezing cold on Christmas Day and died.

Robert Aragon is also charged with felony injury to a child after his son, Bear, who was 12, suffered hypothermia.

He has pleaded not guilty.

A prosecutor and defense attorney began work Monday to narrow a potential jury pool of more than 100 people.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/us_news/west/nat_ap_boise_trial_begins_in_idaho_girls_hypothermia_death_200910051323_2929293

 

[believe09]

Jury selection has started in the trial of an Idaho man charged with involuntary manslaughter after his 11-year-old daughter hiked several miles in the freezing cold on Christmas Day and died.

Robert Aragon is also charged with felony injury to a child after his son, Bear, who was 12, suffered hypothermia.

He has pleaded not guilty.

A prosecutor and defense attorney began work Monday to narrow a potential jury pool of more than 100 people.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/us_new..._girls_hypothermia_death_200910051323_2929293

FWIW I am irritated by the not guilty plea. He believes he has no responsibility here? He has ALL of the responsibility here. 100%. It was his watch. He let them walk out into that snowstorm in pajamas. Period.

 

[LaLaw2000]

Well, I personally do not think this is a serious enough charge. I hope he at least gets the max for what he is charged with.

 

[Shutterfly]

I think he should serve out his sentence in a meat freezer....just sayin......

 

[Tonia]

Idaho jury acquits dad in girl's hypothermia death

An Idaho man who let his 11-year-old daughter walk several miles in freezing conditions along an isolated rural highway on Christmas Day was acquitted Friday of involuntary manslaughter in the girl's death from hypothermia.

Robert Aragon was also found not guilty of felony injury to a child after the jury of seven women and five men deliberated for about two hours.

Aragon declined to comment after he left the courtroom with family members including his adult daughter, Teressa, who sat with the children's' mother and cried as the court clerk read the verdict.
Jurors began deliberating on Friday morning and sat somber as the verdict was read. They quickly filed out of the courtroom, declining to comment, after they were dismissed.

The prosecutor and defense attorney in the case both declined to comment, as did the children's mother, JoLeta Jenks.

Temperatures in the area at the time the girl was missing ranged from 27 degrees above zero to minus 5. Winds were blowing up to 25 mph with snow and ice.

"Sage froze to death, alone, in the horrible weather as a result of the defendants' decision," Lincoln County Prosecutor E. Scott Paul told jurors before they deliberated.

Paul said Aragon was "supposed to protect his children and he failed."

Public defender Patrick McMillen described how Aragon spent between two to three hours digging his car out of the snow after it got stuck, while the children sat in the back seat.

It was the boy, Bear, who decided to start walking, McMillen said, and Aragon was likely suffering from hypothermia, which causes confusion and poor judgment.

McMillen detailed how the children were bounding with energy when they left the car and stopped to make snow angels along the road.

"There's a difference between a tragedy and a felony," McMillen told jurors.

"There is no one in this courtroom who feels worse about Sage's death than that man," he said pointing at Aragon, who kept his head down through most of the proceedings.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j6VDKkwiyYMDb5X09CdLMLYPJnWQD9B7SAE80

 

[believe09]

Wow. He is lucky he found a jury of people who were not us.