This was on the Compuserve main page today . . .

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (Reuters) - The mother of a 10-year-old girl who beat her four-year-old brother to death on the instructions of their stepfather was arrested for watching television during the incident, officials said on Saturday.

Natasha Guerrero, the children's mother, was arrested on charges of negligently permitting child abuse resulting in the death her son, four-year-old Devon Booth, said Las Cruces Police spokesman Mark Nunley.

Devon's 10-year-old sister kicked, punched and hit him allegedly on the instructions of their stepfather, Louie Guerrero, 38.

The boy was being punished for bed wetting and drinking from the toilet, and was beaten late on Sept. 21 and into the next morning. He died in an Albuquerque hospital on Monday.

The complaint said the stepfather instructed the 10-year-old sister to punish Devon while the mother watched television in another room. He was arrested earlier in the week on charges of child abuse resulting in death.

Both parents are in the Dona Ana County Detention Facility and a grand jury hearing on the charges is scheduled for Thursday, said a spokesman for the Las Cruces district attorney's office.

The 10-year-old girl was not charged because of her age. She and two other children in the home are with the state child protective services and will likely be placed in foster homes.

Oh my god...thats awful! I mean, if you're going to have kids, watch them!

Just another case that shows that some people just don't need to have kids.

Dude...that's messed up...

Originally posted by Punk Rawker
Dude...that's messed up...

severly

Originally posted by Punk Rawker
Dude...that's messed up...

agreed. yeah...it's sad too.

That is so awful! Some people should be FORBIDDEN from having children!

How awful, why would the mother be arrested it's not like somebody knows when their child is gonna kill the other one or that the stepdad tells her to. The mom had nothing to do, the 10 year old should be in jail, I mean c'mon she was 10 she knew what she was doing! When I was 10 I knew what murder was...

My God..... that's horrible.

Okay, that aint right. What kind of mom would watch television while her son is being beaten up? And what kind of father would purposely instruct his daughter to do so JUST because he wetted his bed and drank from the toilet? Gee... seems like these people has never heard of time-outs or something. And for the record, if they DO choose to punish him for doing so... why have a ten year old do it? And why such a beating harsh enough to have killed him? That's just wrong!

Originally posted by tootiefan4life
How awful, why would the mother be arrested it's not like somebody knows when their child is gonna kill the other one or that the stepdad tells her to. The mom had nothing to do, the 10 year old should be in jail, I mean c'mon she was 10 she knew what she was doing! When I was 10 I knew what murder was...

Ya neva kno...the step dad could have threatened her or somethin...NEwayz...that's sick.

That honestly makes me want to puke.








ks

Originally posted by tootiefan4life
How awful, why would the mother be arrested it's not like somebody knows when their child is gonna kill the other one or that the stepdad tells her to. The mom had nothing to do, the 10 year old should be in jail, I mean c'mon she was 10 she knew what she was doing! When I was 10 I knew what murder was...

I think the mother shouldn't have been arrested. You can't favor kids by thinking that they probably don't know any better. They do know better. Hell, I knew what murder was when I was six. What they should have done was take the child to an institution instead of arresting the mother just because it was her child. The justice system is really twisted. It's like they have a motto: "Try the innocent, release the guilty".

Okay, here's the way I see it: I could be wrong, but here goes.

Okay, the mom is watching tv in another room. We'll just say she's in the living room. Let's say the rest of the family were in the kitchen or something. I know a 4 year old isn't very strong, but if the kid was fast and was trying to back away from his sister...I'm sure he was bumping into things things were being knocked to the floor. (Even something as simple as a glass or a cup, ya know)

The stepfather may have been coaching the 10 year old on what to do. I just thought of something else, what if the stepfather was abusive towards the 10 year old on a regular basis? Maybe the 10 year old was scared of her stepfather and knew what would happen if she didn't obey? Also, wouldn't it be a mother's duty to get up and see what the commotion is in the next room especially if everybody was screaming? I get the picture of the mother sitting on the couch watching 'Wheel of Fortune' or something, and when she did hear commotion she probably screamed for the stepfather to see what the kids were doing.

If she still heard commotion, even after yelling at the stepfather to check on the kids- she should've gotten up and checked herself. No, she sat on her ass and wasn't paying attention.

Thats sick. There all to blame, IMO, but in different ways. Ok, a 10 year old DOES know what pain is- so she shouldnt be let off the hook. By letting her off, shell probably think she can get away with everything, and who knows what she might do when she gets older. Her step-father is a sick freak--there are worse things Id like to say, but lets just leave it at that. Im sorry, but youre an unfit mother if you dont come to see what all the commotion is about! She might have though that they were jst playing around, but horsing around and beating up have to sound like totally different things!!!