NC - Devin Gibson, 8, dies in trunk of car, Sylva, 21 May 2005

[spclk]

The Ashville paper had this in it today:


He said Devin was happy staying in his mother’s car. He pointed to the car’s manual locks, her decision to crack the windows when he told her he was hot, and her frequent visits to the car that day with drinks and snacks as indications that she did not mean for her son to die. He said Devin was never locked in the trunk and could move freely in the passenger area of the car because one of the back seats was folded down.

He said Gibson’s decision was a “mistake, not malice.”

“How awful to lose a child and how much worse to believe you are partly responsible for the death of your child,” he said.

After finding her son dead in the car, Gibson drove home to Asheville, where she wrapped his body and a blanket and held him in her arms.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060523/NEWS01/60522060/1009&theme=GIBSONTRIAL

Maybe she did not mean for him to die, but certainly felony child abuse charges should have been brought against her. No child should ever be left in a car alone, much less for 16 hours and made to use the bathroom in a diaper! The article also states that she has a daughter who is in the custody of the daughters father.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

“How awful to lose a child and how much worse to believe you are partly responsible for the death of your child,” he said.

Partly responsible??? No. Wholly responsible.

 

[CRS61]

Can not believe this, I have been a single mom and know how difficult it is when you need to work and have no child care, but she is not being punished at all. If god forbid I became desperate enough to do this and my child died, just lock me away I would not want to live an other day much less fight for my freedom. Sorry cant feel sympathy for her, so many other options than to leave him in the car. Very least take him in and find a safe corner for him to stay and draw all day with access to a bathroom and safety.

 

[Pharlap]

Daaaaa, is all I can say. :furious:

OMG, who are these jurors and what are they hiding in there lifes?

 

[sleuthin4fun]

I said a lot worse, so don't feel bad. Sometimes I just don't understand people. What this woman did to that little boy was bad enough. But for a jury to allow her to go unpunished makes me want to puke. This wasn't the first time she put him in the trunk. If she thought that was okay, and according to the jury it is, what else did she do to him during his short life???? I refuse to believe that everything was just A-okay at home and it was only when she locked him in the trunk that she was abusive. If he was so scared of her that he would remain in a hot-enough-to-kill-him vehicle simply because she told him to, she must have been a monster to him most of the time.
:furious: :furious: :furious: :furious: :furious: :furious:

I agree with you for an 8 year old to stay in a trunk like that he must have feared fro his life. How very very sad.

 

[concernedperson]

It is the control issues again. With that being said it is at the expense of children. I will never reconcile that fact with an adult's issues. Ever!

Something made the child accustomed to the abuse and more than likely it was a parent.

 

[Details]

I agree with you for an 8 year old to stay in a trunk like that he must have feared fro his life. How very very sad.

The trunk was shaded, and the temperature probably rose slowly. He may have fallen asleep, and not woken up.

It sounds bad, but if it's true he wasn't locked in the trunk, he could get into the car, and get out a door, it's a significant bit better. Not right, but better than locking him in the trunk.

 

[concernedperson]

Can't accept this. Out of control parents do anything to reel it in. Disregard any other safety issues to deal with their own. JMO.

 

[JellyBean]

I'm actually speechless. How do you live with yourself knowing that your actions caused the death of your child? I know I wouldn't.

I just hope the little man didn't suffer.

 

[tennessee]

Poor little Devin. I pray he wasn't scared and didn't feel any pain.

I don't know if this woman's employer would have allowed her son inside, into the dining room or a lobby. I would like to think it would have been okay.

http://www.carolinamountains.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060524/NEWS01/60523094/1119&theme=GIBSONTRIAL

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060524/OPINION01/60523061/1194



JMHO

 

[Angels_Not_Forgotten]

yes the CHILD could have moved out of the car. How does this bring ANY of the blame from the MOTHER the one who SHOULD have been the RESPONSIBLE adult? Sorry guys this just makes me sick. I dont care what she meant to happen, it was her neglect that led to this and for her to get NO kind of conviction just turns my stomach. im not one to judge a book by its cover but sadly i already know how this book ends, and nothing is bring that little boy back

 

[lisag]

This so-called mother is 110% responsible for the death of her child and should be in prison ! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that you do not place a child in the trunk of a car for any period of time, let alone 16 hours. Damn, this child would have been better off had she just left him home alone!!

Poor little guy.. I am sick.

 

[Paladin]

Damn, this child would have been better off had she just left him home alone!!

No kidding. If this child listened to her every word as she claims he did, then she could have easily instructed him to stay in his room at home, except for when he needed to use the bathroom, and not answer the phone or doorbell when it rings!

Even so, I have to wonder if she didn't really explore her options all that well. There must be some sort of program for children where they can go while their parents are at work.

 

[Jean]

I feel Michelle should have been found guilty. One of the jurors gives a statement. There is a picture of Devin, he was a beautiful child.

Jury rejects all charges in child's death in car--May 24, 2006

Snips:

Prosecutors were shocked. "It falls into one of those jury decisions that is not explained," District Attorney Mike Bonfoey said.

One juror, Greg Duff of Balsam, said jurors were not blinded by sympathy for Gibson but instead focused on the legal definitions before them. They instantly ruled out second-degree murder, believing Gibson's actions did not meet the test for malice, Duff said. The judge told jurors that if they believed Devin's death was an accident, they must return a verdict of not guilty.

Gibson's struggle to find child care, steady work and a stable home led to her son's death, said her lawyer, Randal Seago of Sylva. "Homelessness caused most of her problems," he said.

Defense witnesses testified about how Gibson and her children, Devin and an older daughter, were often homeless. At times, the family lived at a homeless shelter and in a car. When Devin died, they were living with friends in Asheville, and Gibson was saving for an apartment.

Witnesses testified that Gibson, a nursing assistant who worked for a temporary agency, was a loving mother who was very involved in her son's life. She went on field trips at Devin's west Asheville school and wrote many notes to his teacher.

"She deeply loved and cared for the child and struggled to provide for him and herself," Seago said. (More at link)

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/442922.html

 

[lisag]

If she was living with friends why couldn't he have stayed with them while she worked? Obviously her daughter was somewhere else and not in the trunk - why wasn't Devin where she was???

 

[tennessee]

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/442922.html

"She's walking in a part of hell that none of us will ever know anything about," said Klein, the assistant principal. "I think desperate people make desperate choices."

I agree.



JMHO

 

[sharpar]

I need to clarify a point here trunk is a misleading term here. I had one of those cars, its a hatchback so the trunk is part of the interior of the car the back seat folds down for extra room . This is not your conventional 4 door sedan
with a separate trunk compartment. No way was he locked in the trunk - cant happen. The interior door locks are accessible .

 

[desertjade]

Can not believe this, I have been a single mom and know how difficult it is when you need to work and have no child care, but she is not being punished at all. If god forbid I became desperate enough to do this and my child died, just lock me away I would not want to live an other day much less fight for my freedom. Sorry cant feel sympathy for her, so many other options than to leave him in the car. Very least take him in and find a safe corner for him to stay and draw all day with access to a bathroom and safety.

I couldn't agree more . What are you working for anyway -if not for your kids .
If she couldn't bring her child inside and sit him down with drawing paper & crayons then she should have stayed home and made arrangements for her child .This was an accident just waiting to happen .That a mother would use her car to keep her child "safe" is outrageous in itself . Vehicles are taken all the time with a kid inside ; not to mention those who prey on children ; and she didn't hear about the two playmates in the news, playing in a car they got themselves trapped into and died ? SENSELESS . She'll do it again ..:twocents: