FL - Boy, 3, found hooked to ventilator w/no pulse rotting in bed *GRAPHIC*, Bartow, 26 May 2023 *arrests*

[squareandrabbet]

SBMFF

Since I didn't know what an avulsion was I Goog'ed for it.

An avulsion is a forcible tearing off of skin or another part of the body, such as an ear or a finger. Any time layers of skin have been torn off to expose muscles, tendons and tissue, it is called an avulsion. An amputation, such as getting a limb caught in a piece of heavy machinery, is also considered an avulsion.

https://www.mainlinehealth.org/conditions-and-treatments/conditions/avulsions#:~:text=An%20avulsion%20is%20a%20forcible,is%20also%20considered%20an%20avulsion.

Which makes me wonder how an avulsion occurred in the first place. The only thing I can think of is perhaps his sores were so bad that they stuck to the diaper, and when the diaper was removed to change it (after way too much time IMO), the sore stuck to the diaper and it ripped off the skin.

Anyone else have any idea how an avulsion could have occurred? I don't blame anyone for not wanting to even consider how this would be possible. I've heard some horrible things in my lifetime but this one is way at the top of the list for me. I pray I never hear about worse. I just don't understand some people. I just... don't.

Stuck to the diaper; stuck to the sheets.

either way, it’s so obvious this couple didn’t even try.

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

I think a lot of parents are terrified about losing their kids, even temporarily, and considering some of the things that have happened to kids in care homes, I can't blame them.

Mind, I'm not excusing what happened here one iota, but I can -and do- understand the fears.

 

[Megnut]

One wonders if these were signs of abuse or signs of impending death -- as the body simply breaks down.

But surely they knew what to look for (signs of death) and whom to call (hospice nurse).

I can't fathom the responsibility of caring full time for a child in this condition, especially with no replacement nurse. Sometimes doing the best you can do isn't enough.

I'll wait to hear more of the story --

 

[Gemmie]

But surely they knew what to look for (signs of death) and whom to call (hospice nurse).

SBMFF

I know for a fact they should know that information. My source is my my own personal experience with my stepfather who had home hospice care in 2020 before he passed. They not only come to your house to take care of a few things to make your life easier (for the survivor. Well, for both, actually), but they tell you to call them if you notice XYZ.

As with all things... YMMV. All MOO

 

[Soulmagent]

One wonders if these were signs of abuse or signs of impending death -- as the body simply breaks down.

But surely they knew what to look for (signs of death) and whom to call (hospice nurse).

I can't fathom the responsibility of caring full time for a child in this condition, especially with no replacement nurse. Sometimes doing the best you can do isn't enough.

I'll wait to hear more of the story --

I 100 percent believe that his body was decomposing because of the natural break down .
I also think they probably did stop taking care of him as the sores got harder to look at .
I Can picture them being upset by taking his diaper off ,to change him and seeing that ,probably made her unable to bring herself to see it again . The parents would have been advised of this break down of the body .She knew what was happening .

I dont really understand if he was is a coma ,The comment about the nurse saying they did not want to wake him up that day? Then they did not answer the door the next time she went .
I kinda thought he was declared brain dead .

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

I 100 percent believe that his body was decomposing because of the natural break down .
I also think they probably did stop taking care of him as the sores got harder to look at .
I Can picture them being upset by taking his diaper off ,to change him and seeing that ,probably made her unable to bring herself to see it again . The parents would have been advised of this break down of the body .She knew what was happening .

I dont really understand if he was is a coma ,The comment about the nurse saying they did not want to wake him up that day? Then they did not answer the door the next time she went .
I kinda thought he was declared brain dead .

I don't understand, either.

WebMD:

A coma is a prolonged state of unconsciousness. During a coma, a person is unresponsive to their environment. The person is alive and looks like they are sleeping. However, unlike in a deep sleep, the person cannot be awakened by any stimulation, including pain.

This leads me to believe the victim was at home, receiving care with at least a slim hope of getting better.

But if the victim was brain dead -flatline, as they say in movies, there was no slim hope. He was further gone than Teri Schiavo, who was in a "persistent vegetative state". The only way he was going to live on was by donating his organs.

So why was his body on a ventilator? I can only speculate it was because his heart was still beating, but if they turned off the air it would've stopped.

I can't help but wonder if the reason they didn't want the health care workers around was because they were telling them it was all going downhill and it was time to let go, which they just refused to accept. Maybe one even told them if they wouldn't stop obsessing over this one they would call CPS over the others; planting the fears that grew once the collision with Mother Nature was becoming more and more obvious.

 

[Ebon]

'They let this baby rot': Couple arrested in 'horror' death of 3-year-old neglected so badly you could see his colon, sheriff says

A couple is accused of letting their comatose 3-year-old boy rot in his bed after authorities discovered his decomposed and ulcerous body in their apartment on a ventilator.

lawandcrime.com

In what one Florida sheriff called the worst case he’s ever seen, a couple is accused of letting their comatose 3-year-old boy rot in his bed after authorities discovered his lifeless, ulcerous body with gaping wounds, no rectum, and a hole with intestines, spinal column and colon visible.

Takesha Williams, 24, and Efrem Allen, Jr., 25, were booked into jail on charges of negligent child abuse causing great harm resulting in the death of a 3-year-old toddler, officials said. The charges were upgraded on Friday to aggravated manslaughter of a child.

The baby, who was not identified, was found on May 12 with no pulse and connected to a ventilator when Bartow Fire Rescue responded to a 911 call from the mother saying the child’s pulsometer was not working correctly. He had been under home care after a near-drowning accident in the summer of 2020 at a vacation home in Davenport, Florida, officials said.

“They let this baby rot and die in its bed,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a news conference following the arrests. “I’ve done this for five decades. I have seen thousands of children abused, hundreds of children murdered at the hands of parents. I have never seen the horror that we saw with this poor child at the hands of these two folks.”

 

[Puzzleworth]

I don't understand, either.

WebMD:

This leads me to believe the victim was at home, receiving care with at least a slim hope of getting better.

But if the victim was brain dead -flatline, as they say in movies, there was no slim hope. He was further gone than Teri Schiavo, who was in a "persistent vegetative state". The only way he was going to live on was by donating his organs.

So why was his body on a ventilator? I can only speculate it was because his heart was still beating, but if they turned off the air it would've stopped.

I can't help but wonder if the reason they didn't want the health care workers around was because they were telling them it was all going downhill and it was time to let go, which they just refused to accept. Maybe one even told them if they wouldn't stop obsessing over this one they would call CPS over the others; planting the fears that grew once the collision with Mother Nature was becoming more and more obvious.

The only sources for the child being on a ventilator before his death are the sheriff's press conference and the affidavit. Neither were written by medical professionals; a "ventilator" can mean anything from "the CPAP you wear for sleep apnea" to "paramedic's squeeze-bottle of oxygen" to "full ECMO, machines doing all the work of your heart and lungs." (ECMO is technically not a ventilator, but it's close enough for most people.)


"Brain dead" or "comatose" appears to be conjecture from users here. In reality, anoxic brain injuries can have a huge range of effects.

 

[Seattle1]

5/26/2023 --

Full Press Conference: 'Bone chilling' child abuse case​

 

[Seattle1]

Nobody delivers a press conference like Sheriff Grady. May justice be swift.

 

[Ozoner]

I came across this article, but am having trouble parsing exactly what the victim suffered, if anything?


To my thinking, this means "brain dead" and thus beyond feeling any pain. So whatever horrific abuse / neglect his parents committed, it's only abuse of a corpse.

I agree. For all intents and purposes he died 3 years ago; they were keeping his body "alive" artificially, which shouldn't have been allowed, IMO. Keeping brain-dead people on life support is just plain demented, IMO.

 

[MissMalowe]

The only sources for the child being on a ventilator before his death are the sheriff's press conference and the affidavit. Neither were written by medical professionals

"Brain dead" or "comatose" appears to be conjecture from users here.

"However, when emergency responders arrived, they say they found a 3-year-old boy without a pulse hooked to a ventilator breathing machine."

"The nurse said the child’s parents, 24-year-old Takesha Williams and 25-year-old Efrem Allen, Jr., were taught how to care for the boy and knew how to change out his trach."

"According to investigators, the toddler had nearly drowned while at a vacation home in Davenport in the summer of 2020. Since then, detectives say the toddler has been connected to a ventilator due to the near drowning incident."

Polk couple arrested in ‘bone chilling’ child abuse case

Judd said it all began in July 2020, when “this beautiful baby boy” was only 10 months old. He toddled off into the pool and nearly drowned at a short-term rental home. Despite life-saving efforts then, the child had no brain activity when he got to the hospital and could not even blink, the sheriff said. Doctors recommended to the parents that he be removed from life-saving measures because the child would forever be in a coma with no brain activity.

The parents didn’t want to do that and were sent home with their infant on a ventilator, with a stomach tube and home health care three times a week for over two years, the sheriff said.

'They let this baby rot': Couple arrested in 'horror' death of 3-year-old neglected so badly you could see his colon, sheriff says

Brain dead and In a coma wasn't conjecture from users here, but was info given in articles and via the press conference I believe.

Couldn't find any of this child's current or previous doctors quotes in regards to the child's ventilator use, only info given about it by investigators and the sheriff and EMS

Would this child's former doctors or care nurses be able to (legally) publicly comment about his medical conditions & medical equipment usage?

Are you thinking the sheriff and/or his investigators or the emergency services personel who responded to the 911 call weren't being truthful and the child wasn't on a ventilator since the drowning incident? What would be the motivation or reason for that or what would or would not change about his other conditions, wounds and ailments he was found to have in relation to the ventilator? I'm not very medically knowledgeable and don't know much about ventilators other than pneumonia can be common with them, so I figured that was perhaps the reason for the "bilateral pneumonia" the medical examiner noted.

 

[Soulmagent]

I agree. For all intents and purposes he died 3 years ago; they were keeping his body "alive" artificially, which shouldn't have been allowed, IMO. Keeping brain-dead people on life support is just plain demented, IMO

Its horribly sad . He died a long time ago .

"However, when emergency responders arrived, they say they found a 3-year-old boy without a pulse hooked to a ventilator breathing machine."

"The nurse said the child’s parents, 24-year-old Takesha Williams and 25-year-old Efrem Allen, Jr., were taught how to care for the boy and knew how to change out his trach."

"According to investigators, the toddler had nearly drowned while at a vacation home in Davenport in the summer of 2020. Since then, detectives say the toddler has been connected to a ventilator due to the near drowning incident."

Polk couple arrested in ‘bone chilling’ child abuse case

Judd said it all began in July 2020, when “this beautiful baby boy” was only 10 months old. He toddled off into the pool and nearly drowned at a short-term rental home. Despite life-saving efforts then, the child had no brain activity when he got to the hospital and could not even blink, the sheriff said. Doctors recommended to the parents that he be removed from life-saving measures because the child would forever be in a coma with no brain activity.

I

'They let this baby rot': Couple arrested in 'horror' death of 3-year-old neglected so badly you could see his colon, sheriff says

Brain dead and In a coma wasn't conjecture from users here, but was info given in articles and via the press conference I believe.

Couldn't find any of this child's current or previous doctors quotes in regards to the child's ventilator use, only info given about it by investigators and the sheriff and EMS

Would this child's former doctors or care nurses be able to (legally) publicly comment about his medical conditions & medical equipment usage?

Are you thinking the sheriff and/or his investigators or the emergency services personel who responded to the 911 call weren't being truthful and the child wasn't on a ventilator since the drowning incident? What would be the motivation or reason for that or what would or would not change about his other conditions, wounds and ailments he was found to have in relation to the ventilator? I'm not very medically knowledgeable and don't know much about ventilators other than pneumonia can be common with them, so I figured that was perhaps the reason for the "bilateral pneumonia" the medical examiner

I am hearing bitterness in the LE personals statement . Almost like he wants to punish the family for having him on the vent in the first place. The fact is ,he was destined to rot the minute they let him go home. They gave this mom an option to take her 10 month old baby's corpse home
'They let this baby rot': Couple arrested in 'horror' death of 3-year-old neglected so badly you could see his colon, sheriff says"

So sad . This one quote by the sheriff says so much!
"


He sounds mad ,like he is blaming the family and upset they didn't pull the plug , and went against all medical sound advice. I get it . Its is maddening how unfair life is . I feel IF they were not found liable for the child's drowning at that time, why suddenly does this abuse allegation matter. Neglect they are guilty of ,maybe even willful neglect. However child abuse after 2022 . This kid was/has been already 2 years dead.So even if it was willful neglect ,legally they only neglected a corpse.
Sounds harsh I know but that is the law,if in fact he was declared brain dead. Wish we knew his name. .

 

[Goecke]

Honestly my thoughts on this case have changed a lot since learning this child was completely brain dead...

 

[tlcya]

I've been on vacation for the past ten days. I returned to find this horror of a thread. I can't follow this one. I don't have it in me. Poor wee one.

 

[Puzzleworth]

"However, when emergency responders arrived, they say they found a 3-year-old boy without a pulse hooked to a ventilator breathing machine."

"The nurse said the child’s parents, 24-year-old Takesha Williams and 25-year-old Efrem Allen, Jr., were taught how to care for the boy and knew how to change out his trach."

"According to investigators, the toddler had nearly drowned while at a vacation home in Davenport in the summer of 2020. Since then, detectives say the toddler has been connected to a ventilator due to the near drowning incident."

Polk couple arrested in ‘bone chilling’ child abuse case

Judd said it all began in July 2020, when “this beautiful baby boy” was only 10 months old. He toddled off into the pool and nearly drowned at a short-term rental home. Despite life-saving efforts then, the child had no brain activity when he got to the hospital and could not even blink, the sheriff said. Doctors recommended to the parents that he be removed from life-saving measures because the child would forever be in a coma with no brain activity.

The parents didn’t want to do that and were sent home with their infant on a ventilator, with a stomach tube and home health care three times a week for over two years, the sheriff said.

'They let this baby rot': Couple arrested in 'horror' death of 3-year-old neglected so badly you could see his colon, sheriff says

Brain dead and In a coma wasn't conjecture from users here, but was info given in articles and via the press conference I believe.

Couldn't find any of this child's current or previous doctors quotes in regards to the child's ventilator use, only info given about it by investigators and the sheriff and EMS

Would this child's former doctors or care nurses be able to (legally) publicly comment about his medical conditions & medical equipment usage?

Are you thinking the sheriff and/or his investigators or the emergency services personel who responded to the 911 call weren't being truthful and the child wasn't on a ventilator since the drowning incident? What would be the motivation or reason for that or what would or would not change about his other conditions, wounds and ailments he was found to have in relation to the ventilator? I'm not very medically knowledgeable and don't know much about ventilators other than pneumonia can be common with them, so I figured that was perhaps the reason for the "bilateral pneumonia" the medical examiner noted.

I'm thinking the sheriff may not have fully understood the boy's medical situation before the neglect started. (For what it's worth, Sheriff Judd seems to have a very emotional demeanor--I remember him from the Baby Angel Grace case a couple months ago, where he was furious.) I don't think his description of the initial accident squares with how palliative/"comfort care" is usually provided to ABI patients, but I am not an expert so don't take that as fact.

Either way, the situation would be more complicated than just "on a vent=dead." Prior to the nurse being dismissed and the neglect starting, the child definitely had a brain injury and wasn't able to move or clean himself. However that could vary from being mostly immobile, but able to respond to stimuli (think like, the abilities of a newborn baby), to an Archie Battersbee-like situation where he would be a rotting dead body held alive by technicality. Whatever the boy's condition, a ventilator was in use, but its purpose could have been anything from pumping extra air into normally-functioning lungs to treat central sleep apnea, to doing almost all the mechanics of breathing for him.

The doctors and nurses who treated him would be unable to comment and clarify publicly unless they got the parents' permission. Which is very unlikely here, for obvious reasons.

 

[elevatorific]

I am hearing bitterness in the LE personals statement . Almost like he wants to punish the family for having him on the vent in the first place. The fact is ,he was destined to rot the minute they let him go home. They gave this mom an option to take her 10 month old baby's corpse home
'They let this baby rot': Couple arrested in 'horror' death of 3-year-old neglected so badly you could see his colon, sheriff says"

So sad . This one quote by the sheriff says so much!

He sounds mad ,like he is blaming the family and upset they didn't pull the plug , and went against all medical sound advice. I get it . Its is maddening how unfair life is . I feel IF they were not found liable for the child's drowning at that time, why suddenly does this abuse allegation matter. Neglect they are guilty of ,maybe even willful neglect. However child abuse after 2022 . This kid was/has been already 2 years dead.So even if it was willful neglect ,legally they only neglected a corpse.
Sounds harsh I know but that is the law,if in fact he was declared brain dead. Wish we knew his name. .

rsbm
That is the style of this particular sheriff. He's well known nationally for these colorful, dramatic, hyperbolic remarks, which I suppose resonate with the people of his county, but IMO this is the exact sort of case where that black and white thinking is, to put it mildly, unhelpful.

jmo

 

[Lyanna]

Brain dead/ brain stem dead or not, the little one deserved to have been treated with respect or dignity, like anyone else.
He was already in a vulnerable category being a child, and he was even more vulnerable because of his complex medical conditions.
The parents had a choice - since the accident at 10 months old - they had a choice. They chose to not put his best interests before their own. The fact they didn't call for an ambulance till the following day, shows that. They would have been informed of what to look out for and when to seek help - they had nursing input until recently.

Although I'm in the UK, like folk here, I work in the health sector and have worked with children/adults and their families when caring for people with similar health and medical needs in their own homes. The input from external agencies such as community nurses, OT, physio, dietetics, PEG nurse's, Speech and Language has, ime, been good most of the time, with wheelchair specialists, specialist equipment providers all involved and so on. Is the States that different? If not, they would have been told how to care for him appropriately.

They chose not too.

moo, jmo and ime.

 

[MsMarple]

I personally support treating the dead - brain dead or physically dead - with dignity and most states agree, hence laws regarding abuse of a corpse.

But aside from legal issues I hope the other children in the home weren’t exposed to the boy’s horrific wounds and more importantly the stench of decomposition. Anyone who’s ever smelled death knows it’s hard to forget.

MOO

 

[lilacstorm]

The nauseating contempt and lack of compassion for disabled children and adults in this country is beyond comprehension. Cases like this are the zenith of this absolute absence of empathy. The so–called “caregivers” of this child deserve to never see the light of day again. The systems set in place that should have protected this child, regardless of his guardians’ neglect, deserve the harshest of lights turned on them. As a country, we should be measured by how we care for those in our society who are most vulnerable. In this instance, we have failed completely. Cases like this should remind us to do everything we can to protect those who cannot protect themselves. The lives of disabled children and adults matter. No one deserves to die like this. My heart aches for this child. There is not enough justice in this world.

This ^

"The lives of disabled children and adults matter."