New Zealand Man Kills a 6-Month Old Through Violent Shaking - Green Eggs & Moms
From the archive. This post was first published on the original Green Eggs and Moms blog and is kept here as it was.
Infants can be tough to deal with. They are demanding little creatures who cry every few hours or so, especially in wee hours of the morning. And when sleep deprivation plus exhaustion kick in, parents can struggle to keep frustrations at bay.
Anyone and everyone who has lived with the tiny screamers understands this. However, it does not give anyone the right to abuse them. Infants are just that- infants. Their purpose in life is to cry, eat, poop, pee, sleep and then repeat the cycle again.
Unfortunately, not everyone understands this. A man from New Zealand was accused of killing his girlfriend’s 6-month old son.
James Allan Hemana lived with his girlfriend and her infant, Cezar. According to reports, Hemana resented the baby which perhaps led him to abusing the child. Stuff.co.nz said that there were instances wherein when Cezar would cry, Hemana would swear and shout at him, or worse, hang him upside down or shake him violently.
Where was the mother of the child while all this was happening?
Victoria Taylor, according to reports, tried to intervene but I suppose it was to no avail. Hemana also prevented her from immediately bringing the 6-month old to the hospital, after she noticed that her baby was not right following the abuse from Hemana. The child became unresponsive and threw up a lot.
After a few more days, Taylor was finally able to bring the baby to the hospital where doctors found him to have suffered brain injuries.
Oh, did I mention that Hemana, in his defense, said that he was unaware that shaking an infant can cause death?
What would you have done if you were in Victoria Taylor’s shoes? I would have bolted out the door, child in tow, if my partner showed the first signs of violence towards my 6-month old.
Sources:Stuff.co.nz – CYF worker in tears at baby’s murder trial
Childabuseinnz.wordpress.com – Killer referred to dying baby as ‘zombie boy’
Photo:
Creative Commons from .Dianna.
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