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Author Topic: Mother accused of mutilating 5 wk old boy's genitals going to trial-boy survived  (Read 10676 times)
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MuffyBee
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« on: August 01, 2009, 09:43:41 AM »

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Mutilated_Infant.html
Mother accused of mutilating infant going to trial
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON — Five-week-old Holden Gothia was sleeping one morning in March 2007 inside the suburban Houston apartment he shared with his parents when he was viciously attacked.

Authorities found Holden lying on a queen-size bed, the lower half of his tiny body covered in blood after his genitals had been severed.

His mother, Katherine Nadal, told police that the family dog, a 12-pound tan and black dachshund, attacked her son. But prosecutors say it was Nadal, high on drugs at the time, who used a sharp object to mutilate her son.

Holden survived, but the severed body parts were never found.

Nadal, in jail since being charged with injury to a child, is set to go on trial as jury selection begins Aug. 6. She faces up to life in prison if convicted.

"The dog inflicted the injuries. My client did not do anything to cause those," said Allen Isbell, Nadal's attorney.

Isbell said he will present expert testimony to show the wounds were consistent with those caused by a dog.

Nadal had been sleeping next to Holden when she woke up and found her son had been attacked by the dog, Isbell said. But Isbell added his client did not see the dog attack her son.

Police say Nadal was the only person in the apartment with her son. Holden's father, Camden Gothia, who was not married to Nadal, was at work and later told police that his son had colic and had been crying a lot for several days before the attack.

George Flynn, a spokesman for the Harris County district attorney's office, declined to comment before the trial.

But the criminal complaint in the case says a veterinarian employed by Houston Animal Control and a doctor at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston both concluded the dog, which was 6 to 8 months old at the time, could not have caused Holden's wounds.

The doctor "stated that the injuries were certainly not caused by a dog (which would have produced ragged edges), but rather by a person using a sharp cutting instrument," according to the criminal complaint. The dog was later adopted.

Investigators were not able to find the "unknown object" they allege was used against Holden. Isbell said authorities tested all sharp instruments in the apartment, including the garbage disposal, and found no blood or DNA evidence.

Nadal was originally indicted in August 2007 but last month she was reindicted to further allege that she failed "to provide care and protection for (Holden), caused by abusing dangerous drugs and controlled substances, when (Holden) was in the sole physical possession of the defendant."

Officials have said Nadal, 28, had a history of prescription drug abuse and tested positive for cocaine and methadone the day after Holden was mutilated.

Nadal had been at an inpatient treatment program outside Houston before police arrested her two months after the attack. She had also been arrested in 2006 on a drug charge but the case was dropped after a grand jury declined to indict her.

"I'm sure they will try to portray her as a user of drugs," Isbell said.

Joel Androphy, a Houston attorney not connected to the case, said the nature of the crime and the fact that it involves a child already gives Nadal "2.9 strikes."

"All this jury will think about is the mutilation and this poor boy will have to grow up deformed," he said. "They will want to protect the child and the only way to protect the child will be to convict the mother."

Holden, now 2 years old, lives with Camden Gothia's sister and her husband, who were given permanent custody after Nadal and Gothia relinquished their parental rights. But Holden's father still sees him regularly, said Child Protective Services spokeswoman Estella Olguin.

"He's doing great," Olguin said of Holden. "He's very talkative, smart, healthy and happy."

Holden does have to wear a lift on his left foot because of a bone malformation on his left leg, which was also injured. It's uncertain if he will have surgery to reconstruct his genitals because the procedure could cost millions of dollars and Medicaid won't pay for it because it is considered cosmetic, Olguin said.
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« Reply #1 on: August 11, 2009, 03:06:31 PM »

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MUTILATED_INFANT?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Aug 10, 8:01 PM EDT

Defense: Family dog could've mutilated Texas baby


By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press Writer
 HOUSTON (AP) -- Prosecutors told jurors Monday that a Texas woman accused of cutting off her infant son's genitals two years ago was a drug abuser who showed no remorse or concern for her child as he was on the verge of death.

Katherine Nadal's defense attorneys, however, said an expert will back up the 28-year-old woman's claim it could have been the family dog, a 6-to-7 pound dachshund, that mutilated her son in their suburban Houston apartment in March 2007.

Nadal is on trial on a charge of injury to a child, a first-degree felony. She faces up to life in prison if convicted of attacking her then-5-week-old son, Holden Gothia. Her trial is expected to last at least a week.

During opening statements, prosecutor Denise Oncken told the jury that the night before Holden was attacked, Nadal indicated she was going shopping with a friend but actually "went to a dope house" with her son and got high.

Camden Gothia, Holden's father, testified that when Nadal came back, she was "not sober." Nadal, who authorities say has a history of drug abuse and has prior drug arrests, later tested positive for cocaine, methadone and another drug.

Nadal was still high the day Holden was mutilated, when she claimed the family dog, Shorty, attacked the infant in her bedroom as they slept, Oncken said.

Camden Gothia, 38, who was not married to Nadal but lived with her and his son, was at work when the attack happened.

Doctors who examined Holden will testify the genitals were cut in a perfect square by a sharp instrument, Oncken told jurors. An animal control officer who examined the dog found no blood in its mouth, on its fur or on its paws, she said. Camden Gothia said the dog was not aggressive.

Nadal told authorities there was a torn, bloody diaper that showed the dog had attacked her son, but no such diaper was ever found, Oncken said.
Edward and Rita Vega, neighbors whom Nadal called for help, testified they didn't find any blood on the dog or anywhere else away from the bed where the infant was found. They also said that Nadal didn't seem upset.

"She showed no compassion for the baby's injury," Edward Vega testified.

Skip Cornelius, one of Nadal's attorney, suggested his client's lack of emotion was due to shock and disorientation.

Holden, who lost half the blood in his 9-pound body, survived the attack, but the severed body parts were never found.

Allen Isbell, another attorney for Nadal, told jurors investigators did not find DNA or blood evidence on any instrument or sharp object they tested or in the sink or the garbage disposal.

"There is another reasonable explanation for the injuries to this child," Isbell said. "An expert on dog behavior ... will testify that in her opinion it is possible a dog could have made those injuries."

Holden, now 2, lives with Camden Gothia's sister and her husband, who were given custody after Nadal and Gothia relinquished their parental rights. His father sees him regularly.
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« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2009, 11:26:42 AM »

When I was 12 I got bit by a dog -- it got infected and I almost lost my leg.
There is a profound difference between a dog bite(s) and cutting.  It assuredly isn't in neat square.
Could the dog have done it, as probable as a bird flying in the window and doing it.  Whoever that expert is testifying for the defense should be ashamed.
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« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2009, 12:13:21 PM »

I have a black and tan dachshund, and am outraged that they for one minute could consider that this type of dog could do such a thing!!  Esp. a young pup is typically not aggressive.  My doxie is sev. years old now, and the worst he could muster up would be to overeagerly lick someone while giving kisses. 
 
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« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2009, 12:54:26 PM »

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/090812_pediatrician_testimony_mutilated_boy
Doctor: Boy Not
Mutilated by Do
g

Updated: Wednesday, 12 Aug 2009, 5:42 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 12 Aug 2009, 12:17 PM CDT

    * KRISTINE GALVAN
    * ALEXANDER SUPGUL

HOUSTON - Jurors learn in court how much surgery was needed to save a baby who prosecutors say was mutilated by his mother.

The chairman of pediatric surgery at University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine appeared before the witness stand on Wednesday morning in the trial of 28-year-old Katherine Nadal, who has been charged with injury to a child.


The doctor operated on then 5-week-old Holden Gothia after the boy's genitals were found mutilated by emergency responders. He said during testimony that the injuries that Gothia suffered were not consistent with a dog attack.

The presiding judge insisted that images from the surgery be shown only to the jury and not to others in the courtroom because of their graphic nature.

Testimony on Tuesday revealed that first responders were not able to distinguish whether Holden Gothia was a boy or a girl because of the damage done to his genitals.

The boy survived the attack, but his mother faces live in prison if convicted.

Nadal insists the family dog caused the injuries on her son.

The trial is expected to end within the week.

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« Reply #5 on: August 13, 2009, 02:52:36 PM »

Muffy, thank goodness this doctor testified.
Prayers for this child!
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« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2009, 07:01:50 PM »

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6572853.html
Jury convicts mom in baby-mutilation case
By BRIAN ROGERS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 14, 2009, 5:30PM
Jurors on Friday convicted Katherine Nadal of serious bodily injury to a child, determining that she cut off her 5-week-old son’s genitals. The jury deliberated for about three hours.

Nadal shook her head as she heard the jury’s finding that she used a deadly weapon, an enhancement that may affect the punishment. Nadal could get up to life in prison.

Members of the baby’s family sitting in the audience clutched each other as they wept. Some buried their heads in their hands as they cried.

Earlier Friday, prosecutors had argued that Nadal mutilated her son and called her claim that a family dog attacked the child as unbelievable as the injuries inflicted.

"Nobody wants to believe that a mother would do this to her own child," said Harris County Assistant District Attorney Tammy Thomas.

Nadal had said a small dachshund chewed the baby's penis and testicles off while she slept. Her lawyers, Allen Isbell and Skip Cornelius, argued that there wasn't enough evidence to convict Nadal.

"That's why parents should be careful with dogs around small babies," Isbell said.

A defense expert testified the baby's wound could have been caused by a dog.

The child's father, Camden Gothia, 38, testified that Nadal spent the previous day injecting cocaine and then arguing that the baby needed to be circumcised. Gothia opposed it.

The baby was attacked on March 13, 2007. Prosecutors said Nadal watched dispassionately as emergency workers saved the infant's life. The next day, she tested positive for cocaine, methadone and a mild tranquilizer.
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« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2009, 11:21:40 PM »

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6576179.html
Jurors in mutilation case sentence mom to 99 years
By BRIAN ROGERS Copyright 2009 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 17, 2009, 9:30PM
A Houston mother was sentenced to 99 years in prison on Monday for severing her infant son’s genitals in a 2007 attack she blamed on a dog.

Katherine "Katie" Nadal, a former Anahuac cheerleader, was also fined $10,000.

Harris County jurors on Friday convicted the 28-year-old woman of serious bodily injury to a child. The punishment they determined was the maximum allowed.

In an emotional outburst after the punishment was read, Nadal shouted at Patches DeShazo, the child’s aunt, who is also his legal guardian. DeShazo, on the witness stand, was reading victim impact statements from five family members.

As DeShazo chastised Nadal for her hurting the boy, Nadal shouted back, "No I didn’t. I didn’t hurt him, I failed him."

At the outburst, Camden Gothia, the boy’s father, jumped from his seat and shouted, "You abused him while he was still in the womb!"

Nadal shot back, "You didn’t help with that?"

Then she tried to stand while DeShazo kept reading.

"Can I go?"

As deputies seated Nadal, Gothia stormed out of the courtroom and could be heard shouting in the hallway.

He had written that the Nadal should seek Christ for forgiveness.

"It is I who is left to tell (the baby) where he was failed," DeShazo read. "Any punishment that you receive is too little."

In her own letter, DeShazo read that she was relieved and thankful that she no longer has to look over her shoulder for Nadal, who glared at DeShazo. Family members cried as DeShazo continued to read outpourings of emotion.

"Katie, may God have mercy on your soul," she read.

Earlier today, jurors in state District Judge Denise Collins’ court listened to details ranging from the woman’s suburban childhood playing sports through her adult descent into drug addiction before March 13, 2007, when she mutilated her 5-week-old son.

She had said a small dachshund chewed the baby’s penis and testicles off while she slept in the family’s Clear Lake-area apartment. The baby’s wound had straight edges and an even base, leading investigators to rule out a dog bite, prosecutors said.

They also heard about her son’s life since that day.

Prosecutors had asked jurors to sentence Nadal to life in prison and a $10,000 fine. Her lawyers asked for probation.

Prosecutors asked for "the maximum with a message," noting the child’s severe injuries.

"That can’t be fixed,"  Assistant Harris County District Attorney Denise Oncken said Monday. "She has given him a horrible life to deal with."

Defense attorney Allen Isbell asked for mercy for a "promising young lady" who wasn’t strong enough to deal with the death of a close friend in high school.

"Mitigation does not excuse what someone has done, but it brings compassion for the person," Isbell said.

Skip Cornelius, another of Nadal’s lawyers, said the mother maintained her story about seeing a 6 lb. mini-dachshund licking the bloody baby after waking up.

He also floated an argument that someone else may have cut off the baby’s genitals—a theory without any evidence at trial.

He went on to say Nadal had a "drug-diseased mind," but no motive for mutilating the boy.

"This whole case is about drugs," Cornelius said. The day after the attack, Nadal tested positive for cocaine, methadone and Xanax, a tranquilizer.

Assistant District Attorney Tammy Thomas gave her closing arguments with a picture of the child, smiling for the camera, displayed on the courtroom’s big screen television. Testimony from doctors showed that the boy would have to endure myriad more surgeries and hormone treatment for the rest of his life.

"This kid has so many problems coming toward him in the future, a pill’s not going to fix it," Thomas said. "She took his identity, folks. And she either flushed it or threw it in the trash can somewhere."

None of the baby’s parts were found.

"This is one holy nightmare," Thomas said. "This is a case that life sentences are made for."

Thomas also noted evidence presented of Nadal’s extensive drug use. Testimony showed she went to a drug house to buy cocaine, then injected it while watching her son the day before the assault. She also argued over whether the baby needed to be circumcised.

Gothia, his father, opposed it. Gothia was at work when the boy was injured and immediately ended his relationship with Nadal.

"We’ve not prosecuting her because she is a drug addict. She crossed a line. Make no mistake about it, she crossed a line," Thomas said.
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« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2011, 06:43:30 PM »

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Whats-right--Boy-mutilated-by-mom-as-infant-thrives-with-new-family-125083689.html
Video
What's Right: Boy mutilated by mom is thriving with new family
July 6, 2011

Warning:  This story involves some graphic and disturbing details.

HOUSTON -- Four years ago the world was horrified by a most unusual case of genital mutilation. The victim was a five-week-old baby boy.

In March of 2007, Holden Gothia’s mother, Katherine Nadal, took a knife and cut off all his private parts. She also cut deeply into his leg.

"His femoral vein was severed and his artery was punctured," said Patches Deshazo, Holden’s paternal aunt who adopted him.

Nadal got 99 years in prison for what she did. She claimed the small family dog was responsible for Holden’s brutal injuries. During trial, it was revealed that she used cocaine and appeared unconcerned in the minutes after she mutilated her baby.

Four years later, Holden is having the best life possible in Deer Park with the only family he has ever known. Not only did he survive the brutal attack, he is thriving.
 ::snipping2::
His family has created a website: Heroes for Holden.org for those wishing to show support.
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2011, 09:58:11 PM »

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Whats-right--Boy-mutilated-by-mom-as-infant-thrives-with-new-family-125083689.html
Video
What's Right: Boy mutilated by mom is thriving with new family
July 6, 2011

Warning:  This story involves some graphic and disturbing details.

HOUSTON -- Four years ago the world was horrified by a most unusual case of genital mutilation. The victim was a five-week-old baby boy.

In March of 2007, Holden Gothia’s mother, Katherine Nadal, took a knife and cut off all his private parts. She also cut deeply into his leg.

"His femoral vein was severed and his artery was punctured," said Patches Deshazo, Holden’s paternal aunt who adopted him.

Nadal got 99 years in prison for what she did. She claimed the small family dog was responsible for Holden’s brutal injuries. During trial, it was revealed that she used cocaine and appeared unconcerned in the minutes after she mutilated her baby.

Four years later, Holden is having the best life possible in Deer Park with the only family he has ever known. Not only did he survive the brutal attack, he is thriving.
 ::snipping2::
His family has created a website: Heroes for Holden.org for those wishing to show support.
 ::snipping2::

Muffy Bee, what a wonderful word -- "thriving" -- how grand!
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RIP Grumpy Cat :( I will miss you.


« Reply #10 on: September 29, 2011, 09:16:23 AM »

http://pysih.com/2009/08/13/katherine-nadal/

Long article

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« Reply #11 on: September 29, 2011, 09:47:31 AM »

What an evil witch!  I hope her time in prison is true punishment for what she did. 
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« Reply #12 on: September 29, 2011, 10:51:19 PM »

horrible horrible story! uggghhhh!
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« Reply #13 on: December 01, 2011, 06:41:52 AM »

I read she has posted for a penpal under PrisonPenPals.com
Katherine Nadal # 1593669
Crain Unit
1401 State School Road
Gatesville, TX 76599 USA

list her release date as 2037
http://www.prisonpenpals.com/1593669.html
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« Reply #14 on: June 09, 2012, 10:06:38 PM »

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/18743366/2012/06/08/benefit-concert-for-child
Benefit concert for child whose genitals were cut
June 8, 2012

HOUSTON (FOX 26) -

A benefit concert is being held this weekend for a 5-year-old Houston boy who had his genitals severed by his mother when he was just 5 weeks old.

It is such a disturbing story and over the years, the little boy has had a lot of medical issues and expenses and he will continue to for the rest of his life.

Remember he's only 5 years old.  He's not even old enough to realize what he's missing and understand what happened to him.

Holden Gothia acts like you're typical rambunctious 5-year-old boy.  He plays in the yard, sings while standing on living room furniture, teases the family dog, and plays video games with his older brothers.

But Holden is not built like most 5-year-old boys.  He doesn't have any genitals.  It's because his mom, who was high on drugs, used a sharp instrument to slice them off when he was just 5 weeks old.

Katherine Nadal blamed the attack on the family dog, but a jury found her guilty and she is currently serving a 99-year prison sentence.

Since the incident, Holden has been living with his aunt Patches DeShazo, who he calls "mom."

"It's hard to believe it's been 5 years, but on the other hand, it's hard to remember before we had him," said Patches.

The past 5 years have been filled with many surgeries and some hefty medical bills.

"A lot of scar tissue, he looks as though he's been severely burned in the genital area, so it's that type of scar tissue," said Patches.

Even though he's only 5, Holden is starting to ask questions.

"I think in his mind, genitals are something he gets when he gets older and the response to that comment is: you're exactly right, you will, when you're older, which is not untrue," said Patches.

Patches says these are the easy days.  The hard part is yet to come.
 ::snipping2::
For now, the focus is on saving up for Holden's future reconstructive surgery.

The "Heroes for Holden Foundation" will be holding their 2nd annual benefit concert this Sunday in Pasadena.

 ::snipping2::
The goal is to raise half a million dollars that will go into Holden's special needs trust.  The longer term goal is to help other children.

Video at Link
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