Debate: Should the mother of this baby also be charged?

This is a sad story. Some of the comments at the end of the article are suggesting / stating that the mother should also be charged for leaving an 11 year old to be responsible in the care of a 2 year old child. IDK, when I was 12, I babysat for a neighbour who had 4 children all in the age range of 1 to 4 years old (1 set of twins).

Questions:
Should the babysitter be tried as an adult?
Should the mother of the baby be charged?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/21/georgia.baby.sitter/index.html?hpt=T2

Georgia baby sitter, 11, charged in deathBy the CNN Wire Staff
September 22, 2010 5:45 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- An 11-year-old baby sitter in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, has been charged in the death of a 2-year-old, authorities said.

The baby sitter is accused of felony murder and cruelty to children, according to Lt. Steve Rose, spokesman for the Sandy Springs Police Department.

The baby sitter, who is a daughter of a co-worker of the victim's mother, was caring for Zyda White late Saturday. The mother of the 2-year-old called 911 from the baby sitter's home after returning to pick up her child, police said.

Zyda was taken to Scottish Rite Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Rose said in a statement. An autopsy indicated she suffered blunt-force trauma to her head, torso and buttocks, CNN affiliate WSB reported.

Zyda's mother, Ashlea Collier, told CNN affiliate WSB her daughter's eyes were wide open when she got there. The baby sitter's mother started CPR. The 11-year-old told her that Zyda had fallen out of bed, that she put her back and gave her apple juice, Collier said.

Sandy Springs police are conducting interviews and examining evidence from the autopsy.

The 11-year-old was taken Tuesday to the Metro Youth Detention Center in Fulton County.

It was unclear whether the case will be handled by juvenile authorities.

How heartbreaking, that poor little girl. I think there's so much more going on with this story that for us to comment on what charges should/could be laid, and on who, is kind of a tough one. Off the cuff I think the child's mother and the babysitter's mother both bear some responsibility, but enough to be charged with anything? Dunno.

A story with video by Fox (Faux) News:

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/sandy-springs-baby-death-20100921-es

Some things I'm curious about:

Did the child's mother believe the babysitter's mother would be present all evening?

How long was the 11 year old in charge of the child?

Why would the babysitter's mother agree to her daughter babysitting for any length of time in her home?

Has this child EVER cared for a young child before?

Could the injuries have at all possibly happened by accident? Playing too roughly (lack of good judgement in an 11 year old is NOT uncommon)?

How awful

I would never let my 12 year old babysit,although I did when I was that age
we live in a different time now.

I think that the 11 year old was way to irresponsible to be left in charge of a e year
old,we all know what it is like to get one to go to bed

No matter how it turns out the ll year olds life is ruined

Without knowing the the police know, it's hard to say. I too, babysat when I was 11/12. Back then, one did what one had to do, when parents were working, and babysitters were hard to find.

However, having said that, IF this little girl had the intent of causing this 2y/o girl harm, then steps should be taken (by authorities) to get psychological assessments done, and some kind of negative consequences should be in place. Obviously, some will want to blame the mother...at this point...she's more to be pitied than scorned. She made a bad judgement call, thinking that an 11 y/o girl had the wherewithall to babysit her child. I personally don't think the mother of the 2y/o should face a death squad over this.

Even though I babysat when I was 12, I don't think that I would have allowed a 12 year old to babysit my kids when they were babies / toddlers. This is a very sad and awkward situation. The mother of the 2 year old child is a co-worker of the mother whose child babysat. I don't think the mother of the 2 year old should be charged, but would like know the full details of what really happened. Has this 12 year old ever babysat before? Has this child ever had a history of violence? How long was she babysitting this child for? I don't believe it was an accident for the autopsy indicated that this baby suffered blunt-force trauma to her head, torso and buttocks. If the child had fallen from the bed as the 12 year old babysitter claimed, I can see the baby hitting her head and going into a coma. But can't see what the autopsy found as being an accident. I don't think the babysitter should be tried as an adult but do believe she should serve time in juvenille detention. Hopefully there will be a follow-up to this news story and not just a one time report like most news reporters do.

Blunt force trauma can mean a lot of things, could the girl have fallen or an accident have happened that the 11 year old did not know how to respond to properly?

toddlers often have bruises and my kids are covered in them all the time, so that doesn't surprise me.

But really you need more information to make an opinion about what happened and what should be done.


Could something have happened earlier in the day (abuse, shaken baby syndrome ect) that would cause a delayed death??

IDK

IDK McPug. When I hear blunt force trauma, I think of a severely beaten person. Something that you could distinguish between a child falling and getting the odd bump and bruise here and there, versus a severe beating. I guess it could mean different things to people.

I'm with you BBE blunt force trauma only means one thing to me,now could it have
happened earlier? Maybe,but the police must be pretty sure to have already charged
her by the sounds of things