October 08, 2003
Today the World is Senseless
This will likely upset many of you as much as it has upset me.
A 19-year-old woman has been charged with first degree murder in the beating death of her 2 1/2-month old daughter who, according to shocked witnesses, was held by the ankles and her head slammed on the pavement Tuesday evening in the 5500 block of Pamplin Avenue, near West Florissant Avenue, St. Louis police said.
The mother, Jilanda Daniels, was charged late Tuesday evening. Her daughter, Destiny Daniels, was pronounced dead at St. Louis Children's Hospital as a result of severe head trauma.
The whole article is
here. But those two paragraphs really tell you what you need to know...until the last one.
"She was under the influence of drugs and quite possibly not aware of what she was actually doing because surely a mother would never do that to her child," police Lt. Rochelle Jones said.
Feel better now, Jillanda? Everything all right in your world?
And, Rochelle, a mother did. Take off the Pollyanna glasses and quit defending this woman.
hln
Posted by: hln at
07:05 PM
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Posted by: Aaron at October 09, 2003 12:27 AM (QqY+N)
2
It has been determined that Jilanda Davis was NOT on drugs at the time. Witnesses stated that she had been behaving oddly for weeks - She appeared "lost", was unresponsive, walking around in public talking to herself and appearing "strange" and "slow", her mother told authorities she had been depressed for several weeks. This very well could be a case of legitimate postpartum psychosis. It is a real disorder - it does exist. It happens to 1 or 2 women in 1,000. If she did have an actual psychotic break, we should not condemn the woman because she is a victim, too. And when she is back to her normal self, she'll live with the guilt for the rest of her life. Instead of condemning these women after the fact, we should be watching out for signs of depression in new mothers and actively trying to prevent things like this from happening.
Some facts I looked up:
Postpartum Psychosis
Postpartum psychosis is a severe but extremely rare (1 or 2 women in 1,000) disorder that can develop in the postpartum period. This illness is characterized by a loss of contact with reality for extended periods of time. Symptoms usually occur during the first few weeks after delivery and include hallucinations, delusions, rapid mood swings, and suicidal/infanticidal thoughts or actions. Postpartum psychosis is a very serious emergency and requires immediate help. If you or someone you know may be experiencing postpartum psychosis, call your doctor or go to the nearest hospital emergency room.
Posted by: Anita at October 11, 2003 01:06 AM (P2pYv)
3
Anita,
One simple fact remains. Destiny Daniels is dead by her mother's hand.
You would rather that go unpunished because the mother might've had postpartum psychosis?
I can't find any additional information on this case beyond this:
this one
All it says?
Henderson said Daniels had no history of mental problems, violence or child abuse. "Her mother said she had been somewhat depressed since the baby's birth," he said. "That's it."
Well, we don't have the cirucmstances here, now do we. The woman is 19. There's no mention of marriage. Perhaps she had no job - we're not sure.
If I had a baby out of wedlock, perhaps one or another negative circumstance, you can bet to high heaven I'd be depressed/upset, too. But there wouldn't be any dead babies.
hln
Posted by: hln at October 11, 2003 08:23 AM (g+waq)
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