September 23, 2008
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Microwaving Your Child
A woman was given life in prison for microwaving her baby daughter after a fight with her boyfriend. Here is the link: Link
They were talking about this case on the radio when I was on my way to work this morning. According to the lady on the radio, one of the biggest pieces of evidence against the woman was a five-year-old boy who said he saw the woman stick the baby in the microwave. He testified when he was 8 about what he saw when he was 5.
Can an 8-year-old child who observed a murder when he was 5, be a reliable witness in court?
Comments (122)
Yes. Unless the child is a compulsive liar, they tend to tell the truth. And where’s the baby now? If he was lying the child would still be here. (Saying this before reading the article.)
It all depends. No one’s sure about what goes on during that time of life.
Hehe. =]
Holy Hell people are messed up wtf is wrong with people?I think possibly in this case maybe he can anything could possibly better than nothing.
I don’t see why not. And on a different note… that is utterly disgusting.
I’d think not. Children of that age often lie to get attention– There was some show on PBS a few months back that had a child saying her mother shoved a stick in her vagina, even though it never happened. It took the shrinks like… 3 months to figure out the girl was lying because she didn’t know the difference between a lie and the truth.
I think that before the child can testify, a therapist needs to interview the child extensively.
First of all, that’s a horrible thing to do to a child. Why would someone do that? Why would someone capable of doing that be allowed to even give birth?? WHY?! Second of all, I guess it’s possible the now 8 yr old child remembers that happening. It was probably a pretty significant event in that child’s life. I remember things that happened when I was 5, granted none of it was even close to this…
No.
Wow this story is pretty messed up…
I can remember things from when I was that age, but I don’t know that I would think this kid’s testimony should be relied on to make or break the case.
There’s other evidence though… right? I mean, no one just randomly decided this woman put the baby in the microwave out of nowhere, so the fact that the child says so as well just sort seals the deal.
If the baby died of burns from a microwave, and the kid says mommy did it… what more could someone need? You can’t make that shit up.
Well, I haven’t read yet, I will read and edit my reply if there’s time left. But, initially, I think that the child is probably remembering what is being told/asked of him. If you ask a child what they did or what someone did, they will probably tell you to the best of their memory. If you ask them, did you do this, or did they do that, they will either say yes or no. Not in relation to if it’s true or not, but they’ll say what they believe you want to hear.
I’m gonna stick to what I said before. And why is the person who said she admitted to it now changing their story? I’m sensing there were some threats made to said-person…
How does a person stick a baby in the microwave and cook it to death? *sigh* That’s just… disgusting.
Ok so the 5-year-old… yes, kids lie, but why would he lie about this? Besides I’m sure they didn’t just say “OK kid” and slap the cuffs on her based on his word alone.
You should be asking how much of a nut job and a bad mother that person is, Dan, but anyway…..I don’t think the child is reliable, but I don’t think he’s unreliable, either. I personally was sexually assaulted, over and over, by a female classmate of mine when I was 5 years old, and when I tried to tell my parents, they laughed and thought I wasn’t serious. Like others have said, children lie, sometimes for attention, sometimes because they don’t know the difference between fantasy and reality, but the child could really know what he saw, so I’m sort of on the fence with this one.
Yes! Sometimes kids can be the best witnesses because some kids are extremely honest.
I don’t think I would trust any 8 year old to be a reliable witness to anything much less a three year old incident.
I think I’d have to know more about the eight year olds behavior before I could accurately decide whether or not I think the kid could be lying. I don’t bias people’s actions on their age or their stories for that matter.
I don’t think so. Yes, I remember plenty of stuff from when I was 5, but I remember it in a different light now, and can elaborate on it differently than I could have when I was 8. Ultimately, I’m sure a lot of it depends on the child as well, though. If they’re going to take a child’s word as their main basis, then I hope they had a psychiatrist talk to him first.
I think something as traumatic as that would be pretty memorable. I still remember a really bad nightmare I had when I was four in excruciating detail, and that wasn’t nearly so horrible as this.
im not sure, but the idea of microwaving a kid is fucking disgusting.
I can still remember some things pretty vividly from when I was 5, and that was well over a decade ago, not 3 years.
Depends on the child’s personality, I’d say. I’m the kind of person who has an impossible time telling a flat-out lie, even when I was 5, but some kids can lie real easily.
she should be sentenced to death…and that boy’s witness should be trusted~
This is disturbing. & No, the eight year old is not a reliable source. Eight year olds make up things, that what they do. its called an imagination! I’m not saying I don’t believe this story, I just wouldn’t base an entire sentencing on a baby.
I think he would be reliable, but they have to ask him questions where he is not biased.
Yes. And she should be given the death sentence.
Okay, well, if she was the only adult in the house and the baby got microwaved, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that she did it.
And depending on the kid, yes, I think so.
Given the total moral decline of our society today, nothing surprises me. I believe an 8 year old can be a reliable witness in some circumstances, but I would fear that having him testify against his mother, would be just as psychological damaging to him , as the violent act of seeing his mother do this horrendous thing to her infant.
We really no longer have much of a conscience as a whole in our world anymore. Civilization is on a downward slide of sin, degradation,and moral instability, and violence such as we have never seen or experienced in any century as this. Short of perhaps the Roman Empire. We have so much crime and violence and hatred and greed, that we have become desensitized!.. We abort fetuses in name of our own self centred, selfish attitudes that we as women have a RIGHT?to our own bodies! HOGWASH! Destroy life out of our wombs, because it somehow interferes with our carreers, or our fun time, or our adulterous affairs, or our ME CENTERED FOCUS LIFE.
We are shocked when a woman puts her infant into a microwave, but are totally at ease when a doctor violently cuts up or sticks scissors in the childs brain, or gives it a saline acid bath, because its legal.
Then we are asked the question is an 8 year old capable of being a reliable witness for something they witnessed at the age of 5? I can only imagine that this poor child witnessed something HE WILL NEVER FORGET and will carry IN his heart and mind for the rest of his life..
So if this happened three years ago wouldnt there have been like some sort of “Missing Child” party on the news or something to explain why the child was gone? Wouldnt the family have been curious where the baby had gone. I mean someone must have known about it besides the son.
That case happened in my town.. when they were having the boy testify, his story kept changing. If the story is constantly changing, no, it should not be seen as reliable. However if the story would stay consistent, it should be taken into account
Maybe. If the murder thing actually gets to him.
But why is he talking about this three years after it happened??
Something like that can be traumatic which should stick in the child;s memory. However since a child’s brain is not fully developed especially parts for effective memory retention children are less reliable witnessess. However I would even question the memory of an adult after an even that has happened 3 years ago.
The other issue is, how many people spoke with the child possibly influencing him one or the other or adding things to the child’s story that may hinder his testimony. Since all eyewitnessess depend on memory and memory can change depending on the person’s mindset at the time of the event or after the event there is always the chance for some inaccuracy.
Maybe.
No, I do not think the eight-year-old is reliable… there’s been threeyears but oh so much happening with him since he was five. Maybe they could compare a testimony from when he was five with the one when he’s eight… if he left such at the time that is. I’ve worked one summer at a daycare and those five-year-olds hardly remembered anything from one day to another! Of course, as I read in one of the comments above, such a traumatic event is quite memorable and he could remember it.
we had one here in michigan about a year and a half ago, where the family bar-b-qued a child on the back yard grill to destroy the evidence.
yes
did the baby die? how did the baby even fit in the microwave?!?!
it depends. i mean i bet they found the baby in the microwave. omg that is so morbid.
It is not usually in the nature of children to lie unless they have been taught to.
I knew I didn’t want to click this link, but I also knew it would be staring me in the face in my inbox. Ugh
@pinksoda117 - The mom took the baby to the hospital after she did it. The boy was supposed to testify that he saw her being put in, && then taken out of the microwave.
I was not a reliable witness at five.
The court said I didn’t have a clear concept of time.
guess the woman had postpartum depression…
i cant answer ur question b/c i still haven’t gotten over the microwaving part.
This is just another example of why the US needs health care.
Honestly, I don’t remember reading about any such heinous crimes as this taking place in Canada, microwaves and BBQs for gods sakes.
I’d have to have more info to know if the child can be held as a reliable witness. And how is she saying that someone else did it? Perhaps she put the child in the microwave but someone else pushed the buttons to kill him/her? She may very well not remember doing it. IF she did have PPD as someone suggested and then was heavily under the influence, it is possible that she would hurt/kill her child. The totally abhorrent nature of this crime is another matter altogether. Kill the bitch.
God, that’s just horrid.
i think so. i mean, granted, kids lie sometimes, but 5 yr old could make this shit up? im 21 and wouldnt have even thought of anything like that.
i have a 3 yr old niece, and when she sees someone doing something, she tells whoever will listen (whether the thing they did was good or bad). and in my experience with her and her stories, she always seemed to be telling the truth. just cause the child is young doesnt mean they arent a reliable source.
there is obviously some truth to this,otherwise the mother wouldnt be in jail in the first place.
i think that at any age, anyone is likely to remember something like that in vivid detail
This made me cry. What a horrible thing to do, I wish she would have gotten the death penalty.
His brain will have likely twisted the details of the story but the hard details of the story will likely remain the same.
Yes.
I can’t even think about your question. That case creeps me out.
man that is crazy. wtf is wrong with people today? and the answer btw is yes. but good god. that is fucking insane. That bitch should die. sorry for the rant.
i think you’re missing the point.
Did the movie Atonement not teach us something?
if he’s lying then the baby wouldnt be dead stupid woman..
Wtf?
& it depends really. Sometimes it’s hard for children to decipher what’s true and what they imagined.
I think children are important witnesses because why would the child say something if he didn’t witness it? Children tell the truth unless an adult has them speak otherwise.
On the act itself, sick. Sick.
I think kids are a lot more honest than adults, and I don’t believe they could think up a lie like that.
Nevertheless, the fucking bitch deserves to rot.
If he’s the only one, yes. If he’s not the only one, yes. Children aren’t given as much as credit as they deserve. All he can do is tell what he saw.
By the way, they should stick her in a microwave and see how it feels. Or maybe one of those big ovens that can fit people in them.
I don’t think a 5 year old would have the capacity to make something that horrific up. He probably told exactly what he saw.
That woman should be microwaved, not kept alive and allowed to enjoy life in our publicly funded, camp-style lovely prison system.
I can remember just random, nonsense things that happened to me when I was 5, and I’m 19.
That kid would remember something as sick and unusual as that.
I’d bet on it.
I think the problem with children as witness is the line of questioning. How exactly do you get the truth and fact from a kid who doesn’t know the difference?
Of course. I child is the most reliable source. Especially in a case like this. How does a 5 year old “think” or “pretend” he saw his mother put a baby in the microwave. She deserves to die.
@Carolina17 - I agree. Seeing your mom microwave your baby sister is pretty traumatic. If he remembers it, I am going to say his memory is reliable enough to use in court. If someone else did it, why would he say his mom did it? That woman is disgusting. There are no words to describe how vile she is.
http://www.xanga.com/In_Reason_I_Trust/675426766/item.html
When I was 5, I could definitely tell the difference between a lie and the truth. In fact, I remember every year since I was 3 quite vividly. Maybe not like, every day, but I remember big events that happened.
So yes, I think that kid could be telling the truth. Otherwise, where is this baby?
Unless there was never a baby at all, in which case he is lying.
Not all kids are liars though, I guess is what I am trying to say.
I would trust the testimony of a five year old more than I would that of over 90% of the members of Congress.
I am sure they got a statement from the child when it happened. Plus, I am sure, that even with the most extensive therepy, this child will never forget or get over it. It was a very traumatic experiance I am sure, and the baby was most likely the sibling of the witness. I do hope the state provides extensive therepy for the child.
it’s hard for childrn to lie about something so realistic like that. so i think it’s a perfectly good source.
Children will always be tricky witnesses, but I can’t imagine it would be possible to forget having seen something like that. I remember when this case was going on. The woman was trying to say she did it in her sleep and didn’t realize it.
CREEPY!!!!!!!
Absolutely. Horrifying images such as that stay in your mind forever, no matter if you’re 5 or 50
Yes. My daughter is 6 and can tell you every detail of a zoo trip we took when she had just turned 4. (a flavor of ice cream we ate, the little boys name she met while playing, etc.) Kids actually do have good memories around that age. I’m sure something as traumatic as seeing someone microwave a baby will stick with them.
How can you forget something like that at that age? 8 year old children can remeber something that traumatc
Absolutely. My daughter is 8 and she can clearly remember things from when she was 5. This woman should be burned alive. Eye for an eye…
I think the child can be trusted.
Yes
yes, he knows what he saw and that woman is so sick
That’s a horrible thing.
I’m not sure about the 8 year old: some 8 year olds I know would be reliable. Some 10 year olds I know would not be reliable about what they saw when they were 7… So, I don’t know.
No. This kid probably still believes in Santa. Kids are easy to sway – it doesn’t take much to convince them that they saw something they didn’t.
I remember hearing about this story a while ago. How can she consider herself innocent when she drank to the point where she doesn’t remember what happened? She probably was so drunk that she had the munchies and popped her own baby into the microwave instead of that leftover pizza. Sick…
WTF, that is crazy
yeah, with something that tramatic it’s very likely that the kid wold more or less remember almost every detail, unless they supressed the memory.
In my opinion, a child is most innocent, especially at that age, and would be unlikely to lie.
my heart cracks a little hearing this
Yes, that’s HORRIBLE. They should test his ability to tell the truth though.
I’m pretty sure that watching your mother microwave your baby sister is NOT something you forget easily OR lie about no matter how old you are.
This poor kid is going to have serious issues for the rest of his life because of this…
And his mother… well, I won’t even go there!
I can see the point. But something that traumatic would stay in the mind of even a child. After reading several articles on this case…the offenders alibi was, “I was too drunk to remember.” Wow. But after alot of probbing, I vaguely remember the child recanting some of his tale. Hmmm…
I guess, but why would you put an 8 year old through that?
I’m pretty fucking sure that if when you were five, you saw a lady put her own baby in a microwave, set the timer for, I don’t know, defrost-poultry, and you were both just standing there, watching as the baby just spun on that plate until it either exploded, or she realized she was a fuckng retard and took the dead, burned baby out.
That reminds me of a funny anecdote. My wife was pregnant, about six months and I was tired of it, but she refused to get an abortion, so when she was at work, I coated the kitchen floor in cooking oil.
When she came home, she slipped, fell and shot that thing out of her so fast that it was just a red blur. Funnier part is I was looking for something in the fridge and it landed in the butter dish!
Yes and no. Funny you asked this because I’m a psychology student and my research project for the course I’m taking is about children’s competency as witnesses.
Research shows that generally children are honest when it comes to testifying. An experiments show that most children will not lie about a parent’s transgression even if the parent explicitly tells him/her to lie.
On the other hand, children’s memory aren’t always reliable. In the experiment above, the child was asked about the parent’s transgression right after it was committed so it wasn’t an issue.
It’s impossible to give a generalized answer to your question here. The child would have to go through a thorough competency test to see whether he has the concept of truth and lies. Also, often his testimony would be video recorded as soon as possible, not 3 years later. A group of psychologist would often act as expert witnesses to analyze the child’s testimony.
First of all, Good god! Who does something like that. Do you think first or what?? It’s sad what this world is becoming. Secondly, I think there are somethings that you never forget. And if the child really did witness that, then it is possible for him to be able to remember something like that. I do have to agree that a therapist should talk to the 8 year old intensely.
If a 5 year old can be sued for negligence, then of course. This child’s testimony is not the only thing here. There is a chain of causation.
Wow, that’s messed up. If his story fits with the evidence, then I say yes. Otherwise, I wouldn’t believe a kid if he told me his sister was cooked in the microwave.
how else can you explain how the baby got into the microwave…….
5-year-olds are very observant. My 2 1/2 year old niece can converse with adults and speaks concisely. That poor little child for having to witness that. He may not have understood it but he would be able to tell what he saw. He’s got a rough time ahead.
That woman deserves harsh punishment. I think keeping her alive and drug-free in prison would be a more fitting sentence. She’d never be able to forget what she did to her child. If she dies, she gets away from the murder she is responsible for.
I am not quite sure.
I am only 15, but I do not remember anything from when I was eight, let alone five except the big things like my father and that whole thing.
I don’t think an entire case should lean on the testimony of such a young child. Too much pressure. Who knows what he was told to say?
That’s fucked up.
I hope the lady rots in prison.
Yes,no telling what he has seen or what has been done to him.So,yes,he should be able say that against that creature.She deserves to be sent to life in prison,so she can be tortured by other women in jail who hate people who hurt children..
haha, i hope I’m not the only one that sees the post about a woman microwaving her baby and wonders why the focus is on the age of a witness in court…
I don’t know but, watching a murder that young can leave a mark in his memory. You tell me.
Yes. But a child could easily lie with no regard to the weight of his words.
You tend to remember someone sticking a kid in the microwave, no matter how old you are.
Heck yes he can. And she should be jailed for life or executed.
WTF?!?!? i wish there was a test u had to take b4 you could reproduce, just like there is a test for driving. that would also be an answer to the overpopulation problem.
and yes, power to the 5 year old. traumatic events tend to stick in your mind. i should know.
Yes. He probably had to relive it everyday of his young life.
That mother is not going to survive prison. I’m sure they are going to kill her once she arrives.
Crazy women….
But really who cares for her, THE BABY! Poor child, it was not her fault that they fought. It really bugs me to hear when parents kill, sell, rape or hurt children. There are so many people in this world who will die to have a baby. I can’t believe there are people like this Bi**h who will just do such a thing. :’(
God bless baby Paris Talley and every other child who’s life has been taken away…
<3
when’s lunch?
how do you stand to watch that these kids in cnida cause 25 grand of damge and micorwaved a cat and only 100 hour of commity service and band from video games
a 11 year old kid blew his head off with a 22 caliber rifle and they blamed halo
halo rated M(yes kids play)the kid is 11 and theres a load gun ling around.
how the hell dose that relate to halo?
Yes, as long as it can be proved the child knows right from wrong and understands what “the whole truth and nothing but the truth” means.
I am sure that isn’t the only evidence to what happened. I think there is a possible a child could lie about what they saw. But your baby brother or sister being microwaved to death…I imagine that is something that will stick with that child forever.
My question is besides a fight with a boyfriend why the heck would you put your baby in a microwave to begin with? That is a little retarded.
How can someone kill their fucking baby? Fucking fat ass stupid ugly cunt bitch deserves to die in some horrendous slow painful torturous death. Stupid loose whore.
ummmmmmm… can’t say
an eight year old child can’t even remember if he took a dump today or yesterday…how in the world is he supposed to remember something from when he was only 5?
eye-witness accounts, even by trained observers (including police) have been proven wrong a goodly proportion of times…your mind wants to see something, or thinks it saw something, but it may not have happened the way you remember it. in fact, it may not have happened at all.
Yes, an 8 year old can, they will check the child out, and in their questioning, as well as the other people in the house, then in this case this child who was 5 at the time, will have to testify. thank God he did, because she retracted a staement she made, and , who knows she would probably kill something else, if she had gotten away with this. Everyone lost out in this, the child and the baby that was cooked and suffered a horrible death. And this freak goes to jail for life, for what, the baby is dead, the child witnessed a horror, and had to deal with that fact after it came out of the microwave, and her threats. She should die like the baby did. In a microwave.
Somethings you just can not lie about.
this is just sad and disturbing.
Has no one heard of a Polygraph test??????????????????????????????????????????
I don’t think the kid would work as a witness. I don’t think his memory would hold up on a three year old incident. It’s not just the story he has to remember, but the finer details as well. Even if he could say, “Yes, I saw mommy put the baby in the microwave.” He would be able to cover details that would likely come up during a cross examination. What did mommy say to her boyfriend? Was the boyfriend there when mommy put the baby in? Questions like this would surely turn up and the defense attorney wouldn’t go easy on the kid with the client’s life on the line. I think it would really be pointless to have the kid testify. Since there is other evidence, a case can still be built, but I don’t think the kid should be allowed to testify. There’s no point.
This baby was killed three years ago? What did people think happened to it before?
OMG
my heart just cracked
No, I dont think children should be used as witnesses at all.
Surely they can phyco analyze the lady to find out whether or not she’s capable.
Apparently the poor kid’s been through enough
I think the child would be reliable. At that age, they don’t know how to lie. As for their memory… you might need to work on that.
@awokenfatality - I agree with you.