Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Posted by Jenn627

Posted by Mikismom

I said she was negligent, I never said she should have charges pressed against her, did I ?

No you didn't say it - that's why I was asking you.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Its a sad tragedy but none of us were there. It happened in the middle of the night and maybe the mom was sleepy and it didnt dawn on her to check her DD because she didnt think anything of it since the dog could have been the cause.

Kisses and Angel wings to that poor little girl.

Message edited 2/5/2009 2:45:02 PM.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

I agree that the parents should take some responsibility. I am not even a mom yet and I can't IMAGINE how you could not check on your children after finding your front door open in the middle of the night.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Posted by Sash


I only mentioned it because when I go visit my father in WA, I always go around and lock the doors when I visit. I can not sleep in a house with doors unlocked. Insane concept to me.

But I still gotta feel like there is some accountability when your a mom, instincts kick in. Either way its a sad and senseless tragedy.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

IMO regardless of prior circumstances - The dog was barking and your front door was OPEN at 3AM -
WHY would you not think to check on your 3 children, regardless of their ages??

I understand her first thought wouldn't be 'oh my 3 year old decided to take a walk' .........but at 3AM when my dog is barking and my normally LOCKED front door is OPEN - I'm thinking god forbid someone broke into my house ........or something ..........SOMETHING is 'off' ....no ??

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Message edited 11/23/2011 3:27:16 PM.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

This really was just a horrible tragic preventable accident. A MISTAKE that ended in a horrific nightmare. This mother will be punished enough for the rest of her life.

From the persepective of growing up in a teeny tiny town where the doors are never locked, and with parents that are wrangling 7 kids and would hear lots of bumps in the night, or an open door from a nutty great dane. They didn't always check on us, I am sure of it. It just wouldnt have occured to them that one of us would wake up in the middle of the night and leave, or that someone would break in. Is that a Mistake ..YES, but its a different mindset, and naive really, but I hate to hang this poor mother.

I'll even admit that there was night I left my back sliding glass door WIDE open right here on long island. I was horrified at myself in the morning, it was a mistake, but one that thankfully didn't cost anyone anything ( i did not have children then, but dogs...). This moms mistake cost her daughters life, the highest price she could pay. My heart is just aching for her and her family..so sad.

I am so sad for this girl.... but we all have poor judgement at times.

I am a mom now, and I am a freak about checking on him...but it just takes once. If anything this is a reminder to ALL of us just how careful we have to be, and to not underestimate our little ones. and to pray for this little girl who suffered from her moms mistake.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

We all have made mistakes as parents; turned our eyes from them for a second, etc. I know for myself I would have checked on the child/children, but at 3:00 a.m. she might not have been in her right mind. She could have been sick, etc. It's just a sad, sad tragedy....

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

I think as a parent you have to hold yourself to the highest, highest standard when it comes to the care of your children. I live in a small town where people leave their doors open. Do I? No because i have a child and its my job to protect her even if people next door to me are relaxed and tell me its safe and no harm will come, she is my child and my responsibility is to her.

This was a terrible tragedy. Could it have been prevented? I think yes. I dont have a dog but if I woke up in the middle of the night and my door was ajar, my dog was barking and my three year old was in the house regardless of whether she had wandered off before or not then YES the first thing I would have done would be to check on her. To be honest I always stick my head around my DD's door at night if I get up to go to the bathroom just to check.

Did they mean for this to happen? I am sure not but IMO they did not do enough to protect their child and I am sure they realise that today

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Police say the child had figured out how to undo a lock and a latch on the front door. Cops believe the family dog barked at 3 a.m. when the toddler wandered outside. Her mother got up and found the front door ajar, but she didn't check on the toddler.

"The dog appeared to have been the one responsible for the door being ajar so the mother closed the door, locked it and went back to sleep," said Olson.
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I'm sorry but this is 100% negligence. I'm not saying she should be charged but come on now...the dog did it????? Any responsible parent would check on their child in this situation. She was obviously more concerned with getting back to bed.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

From what I read, the mom saw the door unlocked and open. As a mom (or just a paranoid person who locks everything all the time!), there is NO WAY, I would have gone back to bed without checking DS, DH or that someone did not enter my house. All lights would have been lid and the house searched for and THEN he would have stil taken me 4 or 5 hours to go back to sleep.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Message edited 2/5/2009 6:13:41 PM.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

I won't hold this family to the highest degree if I can't even put myself there.
Every single time I wake in the middle of the night and I'm tempted to not check on my son due to pure laziness, I immediately think "what if this time I don't check on him and this time he's not OK?"

THAT'S when I get my butt outa bed and make sure all is well.
THAT is what a parent does. I'm not gonna say a good or great parent because we all screw up, but a parent's JOB is to pretect their babies and think beyond the norm when it comes to their childs safety.

Message edited 2/5/2009 6:02:32 PM.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Message edited 2/5/2009 9:05:20 PM.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Posted by niikki-8-18-06

Posted by DmarieK
I'm sorry but this is 100% negligence. I'm not saying she should be charged but come on now...the dog did it????? Any responsible parent would check on their child in this situation. She was obviously more concerned with getting back to bed.

My dogs can do amazing things. Once one of them even opened the fridge and ate everything inside.

I think this is an awful tragedy. I can't imagine how horrible the mother right now is feeling. We aren't in her shoes. We do not know what her state of mind was at 3am in the morning. To say she was more concerned with getting back to bed is an assumption that we have no right to make.

I pray for that little girl and for her mother. We have no idea what kind of he!! this woman is going to live in for the rest of her life.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

I'm sure she is torturing herself

that being said, I am a mess in the middle of the night...I can't say that I would have checked, but then again, I have a DH who wakes at the drop of a pin, so I think I'm comforted by the fact that he will always check things out and on the kids.

Makes me very happy that we have child proof doors on the front and the back.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

You know what - it's a lesson you learn too late. I remember walking home from the train station to see a child less than 2 years old by the side of the road trying to get the mail by herself.

When I walked her back up to her door (the door was ajar), I saw the mom's face when she saw her daughter with me. It was pure panic. We didn't really understand each other because of a language barrier but I tried to get across the point that she's ok. It happens. We all learn lessons too late.

We learned our 2 year old could open the front door by herself when she slept walked in the middle of the night. I heard the door open & got up. I found her waving at the front door. She thought Daddy had just left for work. It was a huge eye opener. No, we didn't run out & get a deadbolt that day. Should we have? Probably. It's easy to play monday morning quarterback.

Should they have checked the kids after she found the door ajar? Yes. I'm sure she's replaying that moment again & again in her mind. I don't think she's at "fault" for it. I picture a sleep deprived state, seeing a dog that nudged the door open & assuming it was the dog and only the dog.

I feel nothing but pure pity for that family.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Posted by Mikismom

Posted by Ophelia

this is not that far off from your definition stef

The failure to use reasonable care to avoid consequences that threaten or harm the safety of the public and that are the foreseeable outcome of acting in a particular manner.

my point is, this type of situation is a slippery slope, and if you feel the mom is directly responsibile for the death, you *can* be saying (even inadvertantly) that she should be held accountable under the law.

I think the mom could have prevented her child's death, yes I do

We could go round and round all day...at the end of the day, this child died a terrible, PREVENTABLE death and that to me, in inexcusible

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

My little guy sleep walks on occasion .So even though my hubby and I are both light sleepers we realized there is always a possibility he could get hurt or god forbid fall. So we put jingle bells on all the doors. My sister even had them on her toddlers shoes so she always new where he was.
Sometimes total paranoia is total awareness.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home

Posted by headoverheels

Posted by Mikismom

I just cannot fathom how she could have just went to bed without checking on her daughter

i am having a hard time with this one too, knowing that her DD had gotten out of the house previously.

i know they will live with this guilt for the rest of their lives... but at least they get to live.

Re: Spinoff - child freezes to death after leaving family home