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View Full Version : Police: Boy beaten to death while mother serves in Iraq


nevadamedic
05-26-2007, 03:14 PM
CALUMET CITY, Illinois (AP) -- A man beat his girlfriend's 4-year-old son to death after she left the boy in his care while she was deployed to Iraq, police said.

Donnell Parker, 23, was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the death of Cameron Smith. The boy was found dead in his bed Thursday in a suburb south of Chicago.

Parker told police he beat the boy, but would not say why, said Calumet City police Chief Patrick O'Meara. It was not immediately known if Parker had an attorney.

Cameron was punched in the head, stomach and chest, and whipped with a belt from Tuesday to Wednesday evening, O'Meara said. An autopsy found he died of blunt-force trauma to the abdomen and head, O'Meara said.

The boy's 7-year-old sister and 8-year-old brother had also been in Parker's care, O'Meara said. They were put in the custody of their maternal grandparents after Cameron was found dead.

Cameron's mother, Sgt. Lavanda Smith, 28, was headed back to Illinois Friday after spending only 10 hours at her new duty station in Iraq.

She was called to active duty in April with her Army National Guard unit and was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, on May 12 in preparation for deployment, said Lt. Col. Alicia Tate-Nadeau, an Illinois National Guard spokeswoman.

Family members said Cameron's father, Gary Smith Jr., 27, had been deployed to Iraq last August and last saw his three children on a brief leave in January.

Family members said the Smiths had been married for eight years, and had both been in the military most of that time. O'Meara said Lavanda Smith had apparently been living with Parker for about a year.

Parker was scheduled to appear Saturday in bond court in suburban Markham, Illinois.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/26/beating.death.ap/index.html

This is outrageous. Ths courageous woman is in Iraq, fighting for her country and what does she get in return? Some asshole kill's her baby. Disgusting.
LiberalNation
05-26-2007, 03:18 PM
Very sad.
avatar4321
05-26-2007, 06:06 PM
This may seem extremely sexist of me, but this tragedy wouldn't have happened if women werent in the military.
Kathianne
05-26-2007, 06:24 PM
This may seem extremely sexist of me, but this tragedy wouldn't have happened if women werent in the military.

Actually it probably wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been fooling with a boyfriend while her husband was serving in the military also.
avatar4321
05-26-2007, 06:29 PM
Actually it probably wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been fooling with a boyfriend while her husband was serving in the military also.

That too:)
nevadamedic
05-26-2007, 06:34 PM
This may seem extremely sexist of me, but this tragedy wouldn't have happened if women werent in the military.

That's just wrong Av........
lisa
05-26-2007, 06:36 PM
That's just wrong Av........

hmmmm....
nevadamedic
05-26-2007, 06:44 PM
hmmmm....

Lisa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doniston
05-26-2007, 07:32 PM
Actually it probably wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been fooling with a boyfriend while her husband was serving in the military also.
jumping to Concussions aren't you??? and yes, I meant concussions. jat is a rather explosive statement.
Kathianne
05-26-2007, 07:58 PM
jumping to Concussions aren't you??? and yes, I meant concussions. jat is a rather explosive statement.

If you meant her fooling around, there was no 'jumping to conclusions' it was written in the article from the dead tree edition I read this morning. If you mean that if 'someone else had taken care of the child and perhaps killed only that one out of the three?', I don't hypothesize that far.
nevadamedic
05-26-2007, 08:02 PM
If you meant her fooling around, there was no 'jumping to conclusions' it was written in the article from the dead tree edition I read this morning. If you mean that if 'someone else had taken care of the child and perhaps killed only that one out of the three?', I don't hypothesize that far.

That still doesn't give a good reason to kill a child.
Gaffer
05-26-2007, 08:02 PM
Probably would have happened if she had not been in the military. This is the type of guy who would have done this no matter what. You hear about these kinds of cases all the time. even when the mother is present.
nevadamedic
05-26-2007, 08:05 PM
Probably would have happened if she had not been in the military. This is the type of guy who would have done this no matter what. You hear about these kinds of cases all the time. even when the mother is present.

Usually the mom is to scared of the abuser.
Kathianne
05-26-2007, 08:07 PM
That still doesn't give a good reason to kill a child.

HELLO??? It wasn't a reason at all.
nevadamedic
05-26-2007, 11:04 PM
HELLO??? It wasn't a reason at all.

I know.
Kathianne
05-26-2007, 11:05 PM
I know.

Obviously, you don't.
lily
05-26-2007, 11:20 PM
Probably would have happened if she had not been in the military. This is the type of guy who would have done this no matter what. You hear about these kinds of cases all the time. even when the mother is present.

You're right. Blaming the military for what this asshole did is sensationalism, plain and simple. The woman was only in Iraq for 10 hours.
avatar4321
05-26-2007, 11:41 PM
That's just wrong Av........

Why? I wish us men didnt have to serve, let alone putting our women in that position.

I hope they lock this guy up.
avatar4321
05-26-2007, 11:43 PM
You're right. Blaming the military for what this asshole did is sensationalism, plain and simple. The woman was only in Iraq for 10 hours.

Who is blaming the military for anything?

The guy should fry.
lily
05-27-2007, 12:14 AM
Who is blaming the military for anything?

The guy should fry.

The title of the article is "Boy beaten to death while mother serves in Iraq".
nevadamedic
05-27-2007, 01:48 AM
The title of the article is "Boy beaten to death while mother serves in Iraq".

That's just saying she was out of the country not blaming the military.
avatar4321
05-27-2007, 02:13 AM
The title of the article is "Boy beaten to death while mother serves in Iraq".

Yeah, i suspected that they might be blaming the Iraq war too. But then i read the article and i dont think its founded this time.

Besides if they were you know they werent blaming the military. Just Bush. Its his fault. It always is.
DragonStryk72
05-27-2007, 06:19 AM
The time span that she was actually gone was what, about the same as taking a trip to her parents' house for the weekend? Mil or not, this would have happened, and the fact is, there is no way to know at face value that someone would be capable of this despicable an act. This is an absolute tragedy.
DragonStryk72
05-27-2007, 06:24 AM
That's just saying she was out of the country not blaming the military.

yeah, but once again, you've got media throwing misleading info into the heading of the article in order to sensationalize it. What, wasn't "a child beaten to death" a good enough story?
nevadamedic
05-27-2007, 09:07 AM
yeah, but once again, you've got media throwing misleading info into the heading of the article in order to sensationalize it. What, wasn't "a child beaten to death" a good enough story?

Not for the Liberal Media, they always have to blame the war and Pesident Bush for everything.:laugh2:
lily
05-27-2007, 09:10 PM
That's just saying she was out of the country not blaming the military.


No, being out of the country would be France..........but then I don't know why I'm arguing because in a later post you said this:


Not for the Liberal Media, they always have to blame the war and Pesident Bush for everything.
5stringJeff
05-27-2007, 09:50 PM
Hang him.
nevadamedic
05-27-2007, 10:29 PM
Hang him.

:clap: