Does this bother you too?
I have watched in the past few months some really disturbing stories on television. I usually avoid the news but for some reason have been drawn to it.It seems that the new thing is parents torturing and murdering their children.Can this be right? Maybe I am just more aware of it now and beforehand tried to avoid knowing about it. I heard of one that bothered me enough to cry. A five month old in illinois that was left to starve for days and eventually was found dead even though his father was at home the entire time.Does this type of madness bother you like it does me?
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Permalink Reply by SIN on -
and in other news...
Religious fanaticism drives woman to slash kid
Monday, April 14, 2008
Mom fatally slashes 'demon' daughter
ABC News - Illinois
April 11, 2008
by David Schoetz
A young mother has confessed to brutally slashing her daughter to death because she believed the child -- who had a history of sleepwalking -- was possessed by the devil, authorities in Illinois said this week.
Nelly Vasquez-Salazar, 25, is being held on $5 million bond after appearing in court Tuesday to face a first-degree murder charge.
Authorities found the body of Vasquez-Salazar's 6-year-old daughter, Evelyn Vasquez, early Monday morning in the family's Waukegan, Ill., apartment. The child, who died of multiple stab wounds to her neck and upper chest, according to the coroner, was found on the floor of her bedroom.
She had been stabbed 11 times, prosecutors and investigators said at a Tuesday news conference. A butcher's knife that they believe to be the murder weapon was recovered, as was a religious picture featuring St. Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus. The artwork had been cut up by a knife.
"She had had conversations with her mother because Evelyn had been sleepwalking and [Vasquez-Salazar] would wake up and her daughter would be standing by her bed," William Biang, Waukegan police chief, told ABC News. "The theory was that the daughter was possessed."
Authorities responded to the apartment at 4:40 a.m. Monday after Vasquez-Salazar went to a neighbor's apartment reportedly covered with slashes to her own hands and wrists.
Vasquez-Salazar initially told investigators that she killed her daughter in self-defense after the child came at her with a knife, according to Stephen Scheller, an assistant state's attorney in Lake County, but the woman later admitted to being fearful of a daughter possessed by the devil.
"The first statement we received from the defendant was that it was an act of self-defense," Scheller said. "After she made the statement to detectives, she later recanted it, made a second statement, which she admitted in fact she had stabbed her daughter multiple times about the body."
Domenic Cappelluti, a detective for the Waukegan police, cited a recent call between the suspect and the suspect's mother in Mexico that could have, in part, prompted the killing.
"In summary, Nelly said, 'My daughter is sleepwalking,'" Cappelluti said. "She called mom for advice, her mom said she might be possessed and then Nelly took it for whatever she took it for."
Cappelluti also described the suspect as remaining calm throughout a videotaped interrogation and answering all of the investigators' questions.
During part of her interview with police, Cappelluti said, the suspect described blaming "certain incidents and people besides herself at first, but then later stating that she blamed herself for how she murdered her daughter."
Despite the woman's ability to remain composed during interviews with police, she broke down when she was led off to jail, saying she did not deserve to live, and then again in court during arraignment while prosecutors outlined their evidence, ABC News' WLS-TV in Chicago reported.
Evelyn was born in Denver, where her father now lives, according to WLS. She had lived in Mexico with her grandmother until the summer when she moved to Waukegan, a community of 90,000 residents midway between Chicago and Milwaukee along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Grief counseling was made available at the elementary school where Evelyn was a member of the kindergarten class.
Co-workers of Vasquez-Salazar, who worked weekend shifts as a waitress at a Mexican restaurant until January, described the suspect as a caring mother, according to the Lake County News-Sun, which says she may have recently suffered a miscarriage.
Attempts by ABC News to reach Gloria Najera, Vasquez-Salazar's attorney, were unsuccessful.
"It's always a situation when you lose a child like that, it has a bigger impact on the community," Biang said. "This is something that shouldn't happen."
In January, authorities in Washington, D.C., discovered the bodies of four children ages 5 to 16 decomposing in a row house. Their mother, Banita Jacks, 33, told police that her daughters were possessed and that they had died in their sleep.
Jacks remains held without bond. She faces four counts of murder, though the cause of death for the children remains inconclusive.
In February, Jan David Clark, 60, was arrested after his wife died during what he described as an "exorcism" inside his Texas home. Clark told authorities that the devil entered her body during the religious ritual and caused the death.
Lawrence Douglas Harris Sr. was charged in January with two counts of first-degree murder after his two stepdaughters were found fatally stabbed and strangled inside a burning house in Sioux City, Iowa.
Harris told authorities that the girls died during a religious ritual inside the house.
This article was found at:
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=
news/national_world&id=6072402
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Permalink Reply by Shadeaux63 on -
Infanticide(the killing of ones own children) has been prevalent in human society ever since societies began to form. What we're seeing now has many causes.One of them is cultural, as in the woman whose Mexican mother told her the child could be possessed. In rural parts of Mexico, it is believed that any strange behavior could be the result of demonic possession- and they're scared to death of demons.
Another is societal. When you have such a large percentage of the population on mind-altering drugs, psychosis is inevitable. My neice lost her parental rights because the man she was with at the time(and who she had just had a baby with) used a martial arts move on her then 3-4 year old daughter,crushing the back of her skull in. Miraculously, the child survived, the man was convicted, and is now serving 30 years in prison.He was former military, and trained to kill. He coldly admitted doing it, saying" The kid pissed me off." He was on anti-psychotic medication because of his miltary experience, but one of the side effects listed for it was, believe it or not, psychosis.
Then you have the glut of babies found in trash bins, caused by children who get pregnant, somehow hide the pregnancy, and give birth alone, because they fear what thier parents will do to them if they find out. They don't know what to do, so they either let the baby die, or they kill it.
However, in other cultures, until VERY recently(and it does still happen in some secluded areas), the first child must be a boy. If it's a girl, they take the baby out, leave it in the wilderness to die, and try again.I don't mean to sound cold about it, I'm really not- I find it deeply disturbing, regardless of the "reason".We all hear about the mothers who develop post-partum psychosis, which is a very deep form of depression. Even if it's recognized, during the period of time while they try to adjust medications, is the most likely time for a woman going through this to harm her child, or children.Other forms of mental illness play roles,too, but PPD, and PPP are the most widely known.
I could go on and on with reasons why people killing thier own kids happens, and would barely scratch the surface of all the "why"s behind it. And yes, the media sensationalism also plays a large part in making us think this is happening far more often than it actually does,just like child abduction.Far more parents ARE the loving, caring people who cringe at the thought of doing anything to hurt thier babies.
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Permalink Reply by Celestos on -
My personal feeling about this anymore is many people just don't care.My opinion is if a
parent(s) already has children and with an existing history of abusing them then they should be monitored allot more when they bring another one into the world.In my starting post the parents who allowed their son to die already had an older daughter who did not live with them and in fact had been a victim of abuse.I think society,the government, what have you has lost sight even more then before of the little things that matter and has instead shifted to issues that are less important.People who shrug their shoulders about cases like this do not seem to realize the effects it indeed has on their lives and future and the future of their children.In some situations not all, these people are also on government funded aid.I believe the government should not provide assistance to parents for any new children if there is a history of abuse.Meaning no free medical insurance,food stamps,housing and so on.I am not saying let these babies go without mind you. I do think however if the offer of free living was taken away people may think twice about having babies they have no means of supporting and caring for.
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Permalink Reply by Demon Within on
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First off a comment to Peter. If its a sign of a species nearing it's end in it's present form, then why has it been over 300 years with little change? One would think that the end would have happened and their society would either grow, or die. And D'Arqstar the reason it doesnt affect you is because you have become desensitized tot he entire act of violence and grown accustom to the suffering. And the media does definately have a hand in it, showing us the travesties until they seem more like common place. But one way or another, they are still what they are. Travesties.
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Permalink Reply by firewind451 on -
Theres a theory that everyone who suffers on this plane is actually living out what they have done to others.
Certain sages, back in the thirties, stated that a lot of advanced souls were leaving our plane never to return and a lot of underdeveloped souls would be taking their place.
Might explain a lot.
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Permalink Reply by Angji on -
I konw I dont watch the nws that much maybe cnn or yahoo I dont coem numb... WHat we can do is not come over zealous iO nce idd that. Do sometihng about it......
I just thin that we have more people so more abusei s happening and more peopel meamns less value of children....
If you had one child per thirty people more value than you havve thirty kids ot one adult...
just a opnion.....
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Permalink Reply by Herger Thorson on -
If i actually allowed myself to think about it, i'd probably loose my mind. It's more than sad, and it's more than sick, it's just plain inhuman. kinda makes me a little ashamed of the world i brought my daughter into.
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Permalink Reply by d'Arqstar on -
But...despite what heads the papers and the televised news there is still MUCH kindness, joy, and wonder in this world. Unfortunately, that seldom makes the news. TRUTHFULLY! Bad will always win out over good on the media, because we're beings that marvel at what doesn't effect us directly. (like rubber-necking at the scene of a car crash!) I STILL maintain that for every horrific story that appears in the news there are TEN that are inspiring, uplifting, and wonderful that NO ONE ever hears about.
I've often wondered, if we could collectively BOYCOTT the negative, if the powers that be would start touting the positive that's out there...and it IS out there, its just not championed. In my mind, the news is largely sensationalism and I'll have no part in it. I'm more interested in stories of triumph and inspiration!
(no, I'm NOT a PollyAnna...I just don't need the negativity that the media hurls at me! LOL!)
BB
d'Arqstar
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Permalink Reply by Gone Baby Gone on -
"..Dangerous, savage child-race.." - Q was right.
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Permalink Reply by Andriel on -
*smiling* thank you for the humor, it is easy to let the pain we feel overtake us when we begin discussing these things. I could never decide, Q or Captain Picard? Hmmm, I will have to go with Picard, what a sexy beast just waiting to break free.
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Permalink Reply by Joseph Andrew Zuchowski on -
Sadly the one thing history teaches us is in times like these it is always important to remember there have always been times like these. yes it bothers me as it should, I think a person would have to be a sociopath so that it wouldn't bother them, how about homeless children around the world forced to live in conditions we would be ashamed to put a dog in. Parents torturing and killing their children, noit's not right I know you're only asking a rhetorical question, however it is important to recall that for centuries children were seen as parental property not as viable individuals, read the Old Testament, parents literally had the power of life and death over their children and there are some who would like this level of power again. The only way we can deal with this and maintain our sanity is to realize that for every child that is lost there are several that aren't, the courts, the laws, the methodology if as flawed as a three dollar watch, but imagine what it would be like without them. Celestos none of us wants to see an innocent child harmed but it's going to happen all we can do is lessen the damage. maybe one day it will not happenever again, one day maybe, but sadly not today. Joe
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Permalink Reply by Andriel on
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I am sorry to say but no this is not a new problem. Children are often looked upon as property of thier parents with no rights as individuals, often they are considered nothing more than burdens and as such are treated worse than what that person would treat their own pet. It makes me sick and the fact that we are not as harsh as possible with those who would harm and/ or kill an innocent child who cannot protect or defend themselves is another crime against children imo. It is not limited to the poor, to the unwed mothers, to the uneducated, or to the young teenagers who are still children themselves. It is insidious and is in every aspect of life.
Now the question you need to ask is-what are YOU going to do about it. Yes one person can make a difference and if all you ever are able to do is save one child from an abusive parent wouldnt it be worth it? Your heart is opening your eyes, dont harden your heart in order to plug the pain.
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