In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
She Locked Her Boy in the Trunk
allen griggs
Member Posts: 35,690 ✭✭✭✭
from citizen-times.com Asheville NC
Mother's murder trial begins in son's death
Child care funding down 1 year after tragedy
by Jon Ostendorff, jostendorff@citizen-times.com
published May 15, 2006 12:15 am
SYLVA - A Power Rangers toy and a teddy bear would have comforted 8-year-old Devin Gibson in the hours before he died from heat exposure in his mother's car.
Michelle Gibson left him in the 2001 Ford Escort outside the nursing home where she was putting in a 16-hour shift as a nurse's assistant almost a year ago. The 37-year-old single mom later told investigators she had nowhere else for her son to stay while she worked double weekend shifts.
So she left the toys, a blanket and pillow in the car where Devin would die as temperatures reached the mid-70s. Investigators believe she kept her son in the trunk for at least part of the time on May 21 and 22. Her attorney has challenged that theory.
Gibson goes on trial for murder today in Jackson County with North Carolina having done little to address problems exposed by her case.
In the year since Devin's death, the state is doing less to help working-poor parents pay for child care, according to child care officials, watchdog groups and a review of state funding. That includes:
Government subsidy rates given to businesses caring for children are almost 10 years old and lower than the cost of doing business.
Subsidy funding is down $1.2 million in the state's westernmost counties.
Subsidy funding in * County, the region's largest community, was down $171,000 this year from $7,566,907 in 2005 to $7,395,524 in 2006.
Spending on child-care subsidies has increased 26 percent since 2000, while a waiting list for help has more than doubled.
An electronic child welfare tracking system, which could have saved Devin's life, is not in place in Western North Carolina.
Prosecutors have said Gibson knew the risks and is responsible for death of her son, regardless of whether she had adequate child care.
She has been charged with second-degree murder. Under North Carolina's structured sentencing law, second-degree murder is a Class B2 felony. That means a judge can sentence her to a minimum of seven years and a maximum of 16 years.
"Her actions were cruel, reckless and indicated on her part a complete, total, utter disregard for human life," Assistant District Attorney Roy Wijewickrama said during a court hearing last year.
District Attorney Michael Bonfoey declined to comment about the case ahead of the trial, citing the amount of publicity it has already received.
Gibson's lawyer, Randal Seago, also said he could not talk about the case ahead of the trial. In previous court hearings, he has challenged law enforcement's version of events.
Mother's murder trial begins in son's death
Child care funding down 1 year after tragedy
by Jon Ostendorff, jostendorff@citizen-times.com
published May 15, 2006 12:15 am
SYLVA - A Power Rangers toy and a teddy bear would have comforted 8-year-old Devin Gibson in the hours before he died from heat exposure in his mother's car.
Michelle Gibson left him in the 2001 Ford Escort outside the nursing home where she was putting in a 16-hour shift as a nurse's assistant almost a year ago. The 37-year-old single mom later told investigators she had nowhere else for her son to stay while she worked double weekend shifts.
So she left the toys, a blanket and pillow in the car where Devin would die as temperatures reached the mid-70s. Investigators believe she kept her son in the trunk for at least part of the time on May 21 and 22. Her attorney has challenged that theory.
Gibson goes on trial for murder today in Jackson County with North Carolina having done little to address problems exposed by her case.
In the year since Devin's death, the state is doing less to help working-poor parents pay for child care, according to child care officials, watchdog groups and a review of state funding. That includes:
Government subsidy rates given to businesses caring for children are almost 10 years old and lower than the cost of doing business.
Subsidy funding is down $1.2 million in the state's westernmost counties.
Subsidy funding in * County, the region's largest community, was down $171,000 this year from $7,566,907 in 2005 to $7,395,524 in 2006.
Spending on child-care subsidies has increased 26 percent since 2000, while a waiting list for help has more than doubled.
An electronic child welfare tracking system, which could have saved Devin's life, is not in place in Western North Carolina.
Prosecutors have said Gibson knew the risks and is responsible for death of her son, regardless of whether she had adequate child care.
She has been charged with second-degree murder. Under North Carolina's structured sentencing law, second-degree murder is a Class B2 felony. That means a judge can sentence her to a minimum of seven years and a maximum of 16 years.
"Her actions were cruel, reckless and indicated on her part a complete, total, utter disregard for human life," Assistant District Attorney Roy Wijewickrama said during a court hearing last year.
District Attorney Michael Bonfoey declined to comment about the case ahead of the trial, citing the amount of publicity it has already received.
Gibson's lawyer, Randal Seago, also said he could not talk about the case ahead of the trial. In previous court hearings, he has challenged law enforcement's version of events.
Comments
What a horrible story.