False Child Abuse Accusations end in murder/suicide

[Deven]

Alyssa (3 months old) had Spinal muscular dystrophy.
This is truly heartbreaking:

William "Dave" O'Shell, distraught over charges of child abuse that were being leveled against him, snapped on June 30, 2008, killing his wife, Tiffany O'Shell, in their Henderson, Colo., home before taking his own life.
Just a few weeks earlier, their green-eyed, 3-month-old daughter, Alyssa, had been placed in a foster home because x-rays revealed 11 broken bones and doctors assumed that she had been beaten.
But they were wrong.
On the same day as the murder-suicide, a doctor at Colorado Children's Hospital suspected something else and was later proved right: Alyssa had a rare genetic disorder that caused her bones to fracture -- one that authorities had confused for abuse.
Alyssa died of spinal muscular atrophy on Oct. 28, 2008, but the tragedy has rippled through a family and an aggressive social services system that is meant to protect children.
Now, four years later after all lawsuits have been unsuccessful, Alyssa's maternal grandparents are saying the tragedy could have been averted.
"We were looking for action. We could care less about the money," said Paul Cuin, Tiffany O'Shell's adoptive father. "We wanted someone to sit up and say, 'This is wrong and we need to change things.'"
Cuin said there were no avenues for the O'Shells, both respected police officers, to plead their innocence.
"If our kids had some sort of outlet or grievance process or gone to someone, we would have a whole different story today," he said. "The system has to change."

After she was taken away, they had a supervised visit with her. And this is the "evidence" the state had against them.

The O'Shells had one supervised visit with Alyssa, according to Paul Cuin. The baby turned her head away from her parents several times and authorities interpreted that as confirmation of abuse.

She was THREE MONTHS OLD! Last I checked, besides sleeping, babies did things like look around. When they get a few months older, everything else isn't so interested, but they've discovered they've got feet, so that's cool.

I'm all for intervening in child abuse cases. The family pleaded for them to check out what other possibilities could be, that there had to be some other cause. They refused... until the very day the father kill himself and killed his wife. Alyssa, the baby, died 4 months later from respiratory failure.

And to stop if off, they were both respected police officers. People that we trust to put away people that are actually hurting kids. 2 people are dead.
From a different article:

Cuin said the signs of SMA were evident in Alyssa, "but no one saw it" until the baby's foster mother took her to the doctor because she was failing to thrive.

She had been seen by doctors before (when they diagnosed the broken bones,) the parents begged social services to try a doctor, and were denied. Their inaction possibly cost her the rest of her life. This is such a shame and evidence that our system isn't working.

 

[bigmac]

 

[penguin]

 

[mediaboy]

 

[Deven]

 

[Rojodi]