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Spec. Ed teacher suspected abuse before 10 yo girl's death
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MuffyBee
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Spec. Ed teacher suspected abuse before 10 yo girl's death
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on:
August 04, 2009, 08:26:33 PM »
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DAUGHTER_STARVED?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Aug 4, 7:42 PM EDT
Minn. teacher suspected abuse before girl's death
By CHRIS WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A special education teacher saw signs that something was wrong with her 10-year-old student. She was skinny, and sometimes the girl's diaper stayed dry all day, suggesting she was underfed. Her wheelchair was sometimes caked in ice, as if it had been left outside in the harsh northern Minnesota winter.
The teacher's lingering questions were answered three years later, when authorities charged Ludusky Sue Hotchkiss, 29, with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the 2006 death of her disabled daughter, Lakesha Victor. The girl weighed just 31 pounds when she died, and prosecutors allege her mother let her die by not feeding her enough for as long as four months.
"I was concerned, but I didn't have the proof," Lori Nohner-Johnson, a special education teacher in the Hinckley-Finlayson Elementary School who taught Lakesha for three years, said Tuesday. She would not comment on whether she raised those concerns with police, but noted all teachers are required to do so under state law.
"That year after she passed, there was a void. The kids missed her. We missed her. I still miss her and think about her frequently. It's good to think that something is in process."
It isn't clear what took so long for charges to be filed in the case. Pine County Chief Deputy Steve Ovick said only that it was a "very lengthy, involved investigation" that took nearly a year before the evidence was forwarded to prosecutors.
Authorities say a sibling found Lakesha dead on Aug. 20, 2006, at the family's duplex in Hinckley, about 80 miles north of Minneapolis. Lakesha had cerebral palsy, autism and a seizure disorder. An autopsy found the girl died from malnutrition and dehydration. A criminal complaint said she also had pneumonia.
Lakesha couldn't feed herself and depended on others to provide her with nourishment through a feeding tube. The complaint said Lakesha's weight had dropped from about 50 pounds to 31 pounds in the months before her death. A change in body weight of more than 20 percent in such a short period could be fatal, according to the charges in the complaint, which was signed by a judge Friday.
Hotchkiss, of Hinckley, was not arrested and authorities said she was expected to remain free until an initial court appearance on Sept. 29. A working telephone number couldn't be found for her, and court records showed she didn't have an attorney Tuesday.
The girl's condition seemed to deteriorate once the school year ended in the spring, Ovick said. She stopped getting fed during the school day, and her teachers weren't able to keep tabs on her. She lost weight and started missing physical therapy appointments.
The complaint said an investigator found that in the months before Lakesha died, her mother did not order enough of the child's food to sustain her and did not feed her enough. The investigator also found that Hotchkiss didn't pick up prescribed seizure medications.
"To me the worst part was that this child was nonverbal," Ovick said. "She couldn't even cry out for help."
The complaint describes a messy house with bare mattresses on the floor of Lakesha's bedroom and dirty dishes and clothes scattered about. Hotchkiss told investigators that on most nights that summer, she was drinking enough alcohol to pass out, the complaint said.
Lakesha was supposed to have a personal care attendant - the brother of Hotchkiss' former boyfriend - but witnesses told police he was rarely at the home, court records say. The complaint alleges that Hotchkiss signed off on time sheets for the attendant, even though he didn't fulfill his duties caring for the girl, and the two allegedly planned to split his pay. The attendant has not been charged, and a phone number for him could not be located.
Ovick referred questions about possible criminal charges for the attendant to the county attorney's office. Pine County prosecutors did not return multiple telephone calls Tuesday to discuss the case.
There were four other children, ages 2 to 11, living in the duplex at the time of Lakesha's death, according to the complaint. Ovick said the children were quickly removed from the home, and Hotchkiss voluntarily gave up her parental rights. Authorities said the children are doing well in foster care.
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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan
MuffyBee
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Re: Spec. Ed teacher suspected abuse before 10 yo girl's death
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Reply #1 on:
August 06, 2009, 09:01:55 PM »
http://wcco.com/local/starved.girl.remembered.2.1114653.html
Aug 4, 2009 4:12 pm US/Central
Starved Girl In Minn. Remembered As A 'Sweetheart'
Lakesha Victor suffered from pneumonia, malnutrition and dehydration.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ―
A former special education teacher for a disabled 10-year-old girl who allegedly starved to death while under her mother's care is remembering Lakesha Victor as a "sweetheart" with beautiful brown eyes.
Lori Nohner-Johnson taught Lakesha for three years at Hinckley-Finlayson Elementary School before the girl died in August 2006.
Lakesha depended on others to provide her with enough nourishment to survive through a feeding tube.
Prosecutors in northern Minnesota recently charged 29-year-old Ludusky Sue Hotchkiss with second-degree murder for allegedly neglecting to feed her daughter enough. Lakesha weighed 31 pounds when she died.
Nohner-Johnson says Lakesha loved to listen to music and have books read to her. She says she still thinks about the little girl.
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MuffyBee
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Re: Spec. Ed teacher suspected abuse before 10 yo girl's death
«
Reply #2 on:
August 06, 2009, 09:03:36 PM »
http://isanti-chisagocountystar.com/read/detail/46701.html
8/4/09 |
Sandstone woman charged with murdering daughter
by Mike Gainor
Three years after the death of 10-year-old Lakesha Victor, Pine County investigators have mounted a murder case against her mother.
A Sandstone woman Ludusky Sue Hotchkiss, 29, of Sandstone, formerly of Hinckley, has been charged with second-degree murder and three counts of second-degree manslaughter in the death of her 10-year-old daughter on Aug. 20, 2006
Hotchkiss was accused of felony neglect and endangerment for failing to provide her severely-disabled daughter with proper nutrition, health care or supervision, which led directly to her death.
Charges were filed against Hotchkiss in Pine County District Court on July 15.
According to police reports, Pine County Sheriff’s Department deputies were dispatched to a home in Hinckley on the night of Aug. 20, 2006 on a report that a child was not breathing. In the residence, Victor’s body was lying on the sofa next to Hotchkiss. Her arms and legs were stiff, and blood had pooled in the lowest parts of her body, indicating that she had been deceased for some time. Hotchkiss went out to the front lawn where she was “crying and vomiting on the ground,” and told a deputy that her home had been broken into the night before, and now felt “like she was raped too.”
She asked a deputy to take pictures of bruises on her body. When the deputy replied that they had to complete the death investigation first, Hotchkiss left the premises and did not return.
In the Hotchkiss residence
Police determined that four other children, ages ranging from 2 to 11, lived on the premises with Hotchkiss. No other adults lived there.
They learned that Victor had suffered from cerebral palsy, seizure disorder, autism, and had used a feeding tube since 2005. She was not able to talk, and was very limited in other forms of communication.
In the girl’s room, deputies found two bare mattresses on the floor, which was strewn with clothes, dirty dishes and other items. In an autopsy, medical examiners determined that the child had been suffering from pneumonia, malnutrition and dehydration.
They also found a bottle of seizure medication, dated March 18, 2005, with 24 pills inside. Victor was supposed to be receiving this medication twice a day.
Medical records also showed that when the girl was last seen by a doctor on May 9, 2006 she weighed 47 pounds. At the time of her death on Aug. 20, she weighed 31 pounds, a 34-percent weight loss.
Victor was prescribed eight cans of Pediasure a day to maintain her nutrition. Records showed that 116 cases of 24 cans of Peidasure were delivered to the Hotchkiss residence between March 17, 2005 and April 12, 2006, enough for 348 days. However, no Pediasure was ordered or delivered to the Hotchkiss residence in May or June of 2006. Eight cases of Peidasure – enough for 24 days – were delivered on July 7. No Pediasure was delivered in August.
A personal care attendant was supposed to be looking after Victor on the night of her death, but though his timesheet recorded he was working at that time, he admitted he was not there that day. Hotchkiss’ son told police that the attendant was rarely at the house, though the attendant had submitted timesheets purportedly showing he had been working most days. A neighbor reported to police that Hotchkiss had said that she signed off on the attendant’s timesheets, and then she and he split the money he received.
An assessor from Community Alternatives for Disabled Individuals visited Hotchkiss and her daughter on Aug. 17 and noted that the girl was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt even though the weather was hot. Hotchkiss has repeatedly told investigators that Victor “was fine” on that date, three days before her daughter’s death.
The maximum penalty for second-degree murder is 40 years in prison. The maximum penalty for each of the three second-degree manslaughter charges is 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine, or both.
Hotchkiss is not in custody at this time. Her first appearance in Pine County Court is scheduled for Sept.29 at 9 a.m.
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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan
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