Thread: Charges undecided in death of boy, 3

Prosecute.

link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/azstar/20060518 ... eathofboy3




By Brady McCombs , Arizona Daily Star Thu May 18, 4:40 AM ET

It remains unclear if the mother of a 3-year-old boy who died from exposure in the desert while accompanying her as she tried to illegally enter the United States will face charges.
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The 25-year-old woman from Veracruz, Mexico, is being held at the Nogales detention center by U.S. Border Patrol while Tohono O'odham police decide whether they'll pursue child-endangerment charges.

"I think it's too early to tell at this point in time," said O'odham Police Chief Richard Saunders. "Our detectives haven't had the opportunity to fully brief the case with the Pima County Attorney's Office that will most likely be the entity we would go through."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the agency is after the smugglers, not the mother.

"This woman is grief-stricken. She has lost her son," said Virginia Kice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman. "We are hoping that she and other members of the family can help us identify the smugglers who are responsible."

An autopsy Tuesday revealed the boy died from exposure to the elements, otherwise known as hyperthermia, said Dr. Eric Peters, deputy chief medical examiner for Pima County. Temperatures have reached the high 90s the past seven days.

Consulate officials say the woman told them her ill-fated journey to join her husband in the United States began in Sasabe, Sonora, with a group led by a paid-guide, or coyote.

She and her son set off with the group last Thursday. They kept up with the group until Saturday when the coyote left them behind, said Alejandro Ramos Cardoso, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in Tucson.

"It's a sad case because the trafficker left them in the desert," said Ramos Cardoso.

She stayed with her son for 24 hours before leaving to get help, he said.

Border Patrol agents found her at 6 Monday evening on the side of the road about six miles west of Sells on Arizona 86, according to Border Patrol spokesman Gustavo Soto. The woman told the consulate that she told the agents about her boy when they first found her, Ramos Cardoso said.

But Soto said she didn't tell agents about the boy until midnight, when she was at the Nogales processing center and set to be voluntarily deported to Mexico.

The agents scanned the woman's shoe and faxed a copy of the shoe print to the BORSTAR search-and-rescue unit. Six BORSTAR agents went back to the area and using the fax, began retracing the woman's path. At 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, southwest of Tucson near Big Field on the Tohono O'odham reservation, they found the boy's body, Soto said.

The boy was the 71st border death recorded since Oct. 1, compared with 74 at the same time last year, Border Patrol records show. He was listed as the first minor to die this fiscal year. In fiscal year 2005, two minors died, Soto said.

According to the Arizona Daily Star border death database, which compiles information from Pima, Santa Cruz, Yuma and Cochise County medical examiner's offices, the boy is the second minor to die since Jan. 1 on the border. A 16-year-old girl was found dead Feb. 10 in Pima County.

In calendar year 2005, five minors are known to have died crossing illegally, ages 16, 15, 14, 12 and 1, according to the same database. In 2004, five minor deaths were recorded — three were 17, one 15 and another 13. The database also lists the death of a fetus in 2004.

While illegal border crossers are predominantly men, some women and children also attempt to cross.

Soto said women represent 17 percent of all illegal entrants apprehended since Oct. 1, while minors account for 10 percent — the same percentages as in the previous year. The Border Patrol classifies minors as anyone 17 and younger

Ramos Cardos said the boy's father, who lives in Kentucky, has been notified. The mother is in good condition physically but psychologically very affected, he said.

She has told the consulate she would like to return to Veracruz with her boy's remains.

Saunders said the decision on whether to charge the woman will depend on the outcome of the investigation.

Arizona Daily Star

She stayed with her son for 24 hours before leaving to get help, he said.

Border Patrol agents found her at 6 Monday evening on the side of the road about six miles west of Sells on Arizona 86, according to Border Patrol spokesman Gustavo Soto. The woman told the consulate that she told the agents about her boy when they first found her, Ramos Cardoso said.

But Soto said she didn't tell agents about the boy until midnight, when she was at the Nogales processing center and set to be voluntarily deported to Mexico.

What kind of savage mother would leave a 3 yr old in the desert alone???
I would rather die first. This just discusts me!

All the more reason to remain in your home country and demand change there.

They wouldn't think twice about this if it were a citizen. I couldn't imagine leaving my baby in the desert.

Originally Posted by crazybird

They wouldn't think twice about this if it were a citizen. I couldn't imagine leaving my baby in the desert.

We'll probably grant her citizenship to compensate for her loss.

I'm surprised the Mexican government big-mouths haven't blamed the United States for the little boy's death.

What kind of savage mother would leave a 3 yr old in the desert alone???
I would rather die first. This just discusts me!
_________________

I feel so sorry for that little boy. I dont feel sorry for any woman who ABANDONS her little boy in the desert! I hope she never gives birth again, cause she doesnt derserve the privledge of being a mother.

"This woman is grief-stricken. She has lost her son," said Virginia Kice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman. "We are hoping that she and other members of the family can help us identify the smugglers who are responsible."

Again, lets put the blame where it belongs. Who dragged this poor little boy out into the desert. It was not the smugglers. The mother is at fault. AAAHHHH!!!

I feel sorry for the loss of the little boy. But in regards to the Mother she has to take full responsibility for the childs death. Nobody forced her to take that young child into those elements. Sure she is grief stricken but she must pay with some time and in a sense maybe others will hear and not drag their children out into the elements and loose more children.

These people have no regard for the danger that they place their children in. Abandoning your own child in the desert is a disgrace. This is the type of people trying to come here illegally? Gimmee a break