GUILTY CA - Savina Gonzales, 2, starved to death Fresno, 28 April 2003

Pepper

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How could a mother do this to her child? There must be a special place in hell for people like her. And where was CPS? They should have to answer for this too. I'm outraged!

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/44999.html

Exhibit No. 36 was a photo of 21/2-year-old Savina Gonzales. Her stomach sunken, her ribs and spine showing and her fingernails long and ragged with dried feces under them.

Savina was dead, but her eyes were wide open.

She weighed 13 pounds.

It was a disturbing image, but none of the jurors serving on Darlene Sanchez's murder trial were shown the photo.

There was no need for them to see it. The reactions from witnesses were clear: Savina's death was horrifying.

"She is not normal; she is skin and bones," prosecutor Chris Gularte said during his opening statements Monday in Fresno County Superior Court. "She has no fat. On the cellular level, her cells were breaking apart. She has purple fingers -- evidence of her heart giving up."

Sanchez, 38, is charged with second-degree murder for starving one of her eight children to death four years ago. If convicted, she faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
 
Why only charged with 'second-degree' murder?

throw away the key! :furious: :furious: :furious:
 
I agree with you Floh. This woman should not be allowed to breed again, nor ever be free.

I also want to know why 4 children were already taken away, but not all of them. Where is Child Protective Services in this. They should have to answer for this poor child's death too.

ETA, from the same article:

"Four of Sanchez's children had already been taken from her by Child Protective Services. Savina was put into foster care at 2 weeks old and remained there until she was 14 months old. But Sanchez was allowed to care for her baby during overnight visits.

Annette Whitley, who was Savina's foster mother for 10 months, said she would send food with Savina on the extended stays: jars of strained vegetables, fruit and a bottle of milk. The next day, Sanchez would bring Savina back with the food unopened and the milk curdled.

Savina was returned with a sippy cup filled with soda."
 
:( My baby is 2.5 years old.....she is skinny at just under 22 pounds. *Noticably* skinny.

So how in hell was this poor baby able to be THIRTEEN pounds and NO ONE DO ANYTHING?!

It makes me want to scream and hit someone, anyone, anything. Why don't these monsters give their children away? Why doesn't fate seal up their fallopian tubes?
 
:( My baby is 2.5 years old.....she is skinny at just under 22 pounds. *Noticably* skinny.

So how in hell was this poor baby able to be THIRTEEN pounds and NO ONE DO ANYTHING?!

It makes me want to scream and hit someone, anyone, anything. Why don't these monsters give their children away? Why doesn't fate seal up their fallopian tubes?

Why can't we revoke their right to reproduce? This moron has 8 kids, lost 4 to CPS, and is a cocaine addict. Why can't we (the gov't) have her tubes sealed and her uterus removed (preferably without anesthesia).
 
Pepper, I like the way you think. I second that motion. Poor, poor baby.
 
Thanks Opie. There is no punishment too severe for this monster.

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/45401.html

Pathologist Stephen Avalos, who performed Savina's autopsy after she died four years ago, testified Wednesday that the 13-pound body was devoid of any fat -- even at the microscopic level.

"She was extremely emaciated," Avalos said. "Her ribs protruded through the skin. She looked extremely dehydrated."

He said Savina's ribs were fractured in four places. Her bottom teeth had fallen out and her nails were overgrown and dirty.

Fresno police detective Michele Ochoa later testified Wednesday that Savina's body was so grimy that the rough side of a sponge had to be used to clean her before an autopsy could be performed. Savina's sister, 9-year-old Rebecca, testified earlier this week that Sanchez did not bathe Savina.

Avalos also said that Savina's heart had not been pumping properly and that there was a viral infection in her lungs -- both symptoms of malnourishment.
 
Pepper...have you heard anymore on this trial? I haven't been able to find an update in a couple of days in any Fresno news source. Was the trial delayed or something?
 
I am horrified that so many people witnessed this baby wasting away and did nothing to help!! Just thinking about how she suffered makes me physically ill. I cried before I even finished the article. I hope this woman rots in *ell!!!! I hope that they give the other kids who witnessed this abuse some type of counseling, I am sure that the image of that sweet baby looking like a skeleton will be stuck in their minds.
 
A mother accused of starving to death her 21/2-year-old daughter took the witness stand Monday, crying openly as her attorney -- who was in tears himself -- placed a picture of her dead, skin-and-bones child in front of her.
"Why?" attorney Linden Lindahl asked, his voice cracking. "Why did your little girl look like that?" "Because I was afraid," Darlene Sanchez said.

She testified Monday that all eight of her children have been taken into custody by Child Protective Services at some point in their lives. When her toddler daughter Savina Gonzales started getting sick and losing weight in early 2003, she didn't want to take her to a doctor and risk losing custody of her, she said.

Prosecutor Chris Gularte said social workers had already taken two of Sanchez's kids from her because of abuse, and two were taken because of neglect.
if i understand the mothers testimony she knew her daughter was ill and did nothing because she had all ready lost custody of 4 kids and did not want to lose another. makes perfect sense to me. i will let my 2and1/2 year old starve to death so nobody thinks i neglect her....
 
She deserved torture and then death for what she did to that precious baby. I am glad that she was found guilty, but she deserved a way tougher sentence.
 
This is so horrible!!! What is this world coming to...her lawyer's defense was why did she single out her 7th out of 8 children. My answer, she didn't...that was just the one that got sick enough to die. And the 16 year old...it sounds to me like she shares a brain with her mother...she didn't think she would die so fast. What freakin sense does that make???? If she thought her baby sister was going to die...why didn't she tell someone???? Anyone!!! Makes me want to scream!!!
 
And you know what is so scary----the 16 yr old, she is old enough to have children. And what a fine example of a mother she had. Im afraid that she might end up just like her mother.
 
How could a mother do this to her child? There must be a special place in hell for people like her. And where was CPS? They should have to answer for this too. I'm outraged!

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/44999.html

Exhibit No. 36 was a photo of 21/2-year-old Savina Gonzales. Her stomach sunken, her ribs and spine showing and her fingernails long and ragged with dried feces under them.

Savina was dead, but her eyes were wide open.

She weighed 13 pounds.

It was a disturbing image, but none of the jurors serving on Darlene Sanchez's murder trial were shown the photo.

There was no need for them to see it. The reactions from witnesses were clear: Savina's death was horrifying.

"She is not normal; she is skin and bones," prosecutor Chris Gularte said during his opening statements Monday in Fresno County Superior Court. "She has no fat. On the cellular level, her cells were breaking apart. She has purple fingers -- evidence of her heart giving up."

Sanchez, 38, is charged with second-degree murder for starving one of her eight children to death four years ago. If convicted, she faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

My name is Sophia, one of Darlene's 8 kids. I'm 21 now and as an adult now I feel that no one has a right to judge. I know God and have a good relationship with him now. If anyone had the right to be angry or place judgement on my biological mother, it's Ashley, my oldest sister. Who found my baby sister...really us kids have a right to be angry. But we took this and let it make us stronger. 3 of us stayed together. My other siblings and I talk and we all came out ok. Everyone works, has houses and cars and careers. A couple of us are business owners now. I just pray everyday that my mother can know God before she passes...I cannot judge her for what she's done no sin is worse than another. That's just an update on us, Korena our aunt got 3 of us, myself our oldest sister and oldest brother. And made sure the rest of my siblings got adopted to good people to get the attention that they needed.
 
Smh my sister Ashley is a drug and alcohol counselor and has a beautiful daughter and husband and 2 cars and a house. None of us kids are anything like how our mom was. Who are you to pass judgement when you don't even know the whole story? We're all highschool graduates, my older siblings are all college graduates. I am 21 and attending college now. What you experience as a child is never an excuse to grow up to stay in the same mess that you grew up in. We all have choices either let it make you or let it break you. A weak person will let it break them. You make the decision to grow up and get out of the mess or wallow in it and use it as an excuse to make nothing of your life. Or get out of the mess dust yourself on and let it make you stronger and move forward. Nothing we do can bring my baby sister back so we live to make her proud. We don't take life for granted.
-Sophia 21y.o.
(Darlene's 4th of 8 children)
And you know what is so scary----the 16 yr old, she is old enough to have children. And what a fine example of a mother she had. Im afraid that she might end up just like her mother.
 

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