Monday, January 31, 2011

Dad with history of child neglect arrested for manslaughter in death of 14-month-old son (Gainesville, Florida)

If you were to casually glance at this article, you'd think "such a pity." It's just one of those "tragic accidents." And then move on.

But look carefully, and you'll see that there are a lot of strange clues here that something is amiss.

For starters, notice that there is no mention of a mother in this story (though Daddy had a "roommate"), and that the baby died while in Daddy's bed at Daddy's house. Apparently because Dad ANTHONY ENCLARDE "rolled over" the baby. Or so we're told. (More on the mother issue later).

Also notice the following:

1) The "roommate" (not Daddy) was the one who called 911.

2) That there was an inexplicable delay of an entire hour between the time Daddy woke up and apparently noticed that something was wrong with the baby, and the time that the "roommate" finally phoned 911. Why?

3) More suspicious still: Daddy was already on PROBATION for a previous incident of child neglect back in South Carolina.

4) And notice this curious sentence: Daddy was informed when the baby was born in North Carolina about the dangers of sleeping with a baby.

What the hell? Object lesson in how to eliminate an actual human mother from the story completely! Let's make this a little more concrete, shall we?

It's apparent that a HUMAN MOTHER gave birth to a child in North Carolina--a fact that appears to have been purposefully obfuscated here. The father was present at the birth, but was not married to the mother or I'm sure we would have been notified of that fact. Somehow, this unmarried daddy either gets full custody, joint custody, or visitation of an infant despite the fact that he lived OUT OF STATE or moved out of state shortly thereafter. Notice that moms are routinely denied moveaway rights, and yet this daddy has no problems. AND he gets custody/visitation despite a previous history of child neglect. And then, somehow, manages to "accidentally" kill the child during his "caretaking" time.

I think a little more investigation is needed here. Who gave an unmarried father with a history of child neglect custody/visitation of an infant, and why? And why was this poor baby apparently shuttled between North Carolina and Florida? (And that's assuming that the mother hadn't lost her custody rights. In which case, why?) Who's responsible for this fiasco? Why the confusing coverage of this story? And why has Mom been erased from this story?

INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT.

http://tdn.com/news/local/article_cccfe3d2-2b4f-11e0-98e3-001cc4c03286.html

Father charged in death of infant son
Anthony Enclarde rolled on top of the baby while they slept in the same bed.

By Karen Voyles
Staff writer

Published: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 2:08 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 2:08 p.m.

A Gainesville man has been arrested for manslaughter in the death of an infant on Jan. 10.

The baby apparently died when the man rolled on top of it while they slept in the same bed, according to the Gainesville Police Department.

It is the second recent death involving adults rolling over children sleeping in the same bed with them. The cases are unrelated.

On Tuesday, Anthony Scott Enclarde, 23, was arrested in connection with the death of his 14-month-old son, Ashton, after they both fell asleep on the same bed at Enclarde's home at 563 NW 31st Ave.

A week ago, Todd Jeremy Metten, 33, was arrested and charged with manslaughter in the death of his 6-month-old niece, Alyssa Catherine Metten, the daughter of his late brother.

Enclarde told Detective Victoria Young that he woke up at 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 10 with his arm and part of his body on top of Ashton's chest.

Enclarde said his son exhaled a single breath but was otherwise unresponsive, so he performed CPR on the boy.

Enclarde's roommate called 911 around 11:30 a.m. after realizing the child was not responding.

Young said Enclarde could not explain the hour-long delay between when he awoke and when help was summoned.

An ambulance arrived within seven minutes, and emergency personnel found Ashton had no pulse or blood pressure and was not breathing.

He was taken to Shands at the University of Florida, where he was pronounced dead two days later, officials said.

Enclarde told investigators that when Ashton was born in North Carolina he was given information about the dangers of sleeping with a baby.

In her report on Enclarde's arrest, Young wrote that he was on probation for child neglect involving another child in Anderson County, S.C.

Enclarde was being held at the Alachua County jail Wednesday afternoon awaiting a first court appearance.

In Metten's case, detectives said he put the baby girl on a king size mattress and fell asleep next to her.

Metten told officials he realized something was wrong with Alyssa as soon as he woke up and called for help.

Alyssa was pronounced dead at Shands a short time later.

Metten posted a $75,000 bond.

In both cases, detectives said the men “failed to provide proper care” for a baby that “a reasonable and prudent person would use under the circumstances of being the caregiver.”