Florida Child Injury Lawyer Blog

The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner, according to a report in the Sun Suntinel, has confirmed that the death of 2 1/2 year old Haile Brockington was caused by heat stroke. While there is an investigation by various law enforcement and child care government agencies, it appears that the death was preventable if the policies and procedures for transportation (namely the driver's log) were properly followed by the day care center - Katie's Kids. Now, the family is grieving and trying to pick up the pieces from this horrific tragedy.

When a child loses both parents at a young age, there is a term for this - orphan. When a husband or wife loses a spouse, there is a term for this - widower or widow. When a parent loses a child, there is no term for this. The pain of the parent and family is also indescribable and unimaginable in many ways. This is especially true when the death is unexpected and wholly preventable. When a parent takes a child to day care, the child should be supervised in a safe and nurturing environment. Day care centers should place safety above everything else for children in the Florida day care center.

You can read more about this story at Family Still Seeking Answers in Toddler's Death at Day Care Center.

In Florida, children are at risk for hyperthermia type of injuries year round due to the warm weather throughout the State. There have been a number of reported incidents of personal injuries, death, and prison time resulting from hyperthermia incidents in Florida. Michael J. Mooney wrote an excellent article posted in the Broward - Palm Beach - New Times Blog titled For Parents Who Leave Children to Die in Hot Cars in Florida - Punishments Vary Widely. Prison time and punishment varied across the State of the Florida for these type of incidents. For instance, Miami Dade County reportedly prosecuted every case while counties like Sarasota County did not. Each case and incident should be evaluated on its own facts.

Parents, babysitters, and other child care providers should read this articles and others to learn about the terrible dangers and tragic deaths that have resulted from leaving a child in a hot car in the State of Florida. The safety and welfare of a child should always take precedence over convenience and other pursuits. See also Death Results from Leaving Children in Cars in Florida. and Don't Leave Children in Vehicles to Go Grocery Shopping - It Is Dangerous to Children and Can Get You Arrested.

In Florida and other states, personal injuries and wrongful deaths continue to take place in and near railroad crossings and railroad tracks. This cases are much more complicated that a typical automobile accident and require the attention of experts trained in the field of railroad safety, equipment and regulations. It is far too simple for a person to say that drivers of passenger vehicles should stay off the tracks and away from freight trains or passenger trains.

When there is a railroad or train accident, legal questions and issues arise. Among them include the following:

What are my rights as an injury victim or family member of an injury victim involved in a railroad accident or incident?

What are the duties and responsibilities of the railroad?

Who controls the railroad crossing or intersection?

What safety precautions were in place? What safety precautions could have been in place?

Finally, was the incident avoidable?

Railroad companies benefit from the commerce and profit of conducting business over Florida's railways as well as railways in other States. While there are business benefits, there are also business and legal responsibilities to the public in general. The duties of the railroad will depend on the location of the crossing, history of accidents occurring at or near the crossing, terrain in and around the railroad crossing, availability of safety precautions including cross gates and lights, and finally the applicability of local, state, and federal railroad laws and safety regulations. Contact a Florida railroad personal injury lawyer to get guidance on these and other issues if you have questions about personal injuries or deaths occurring on or near a railroad crossing.

Teen driving is influenced by 5 major factors: inexperience, distraction, speed, fatigue, and lack of seat belt use.

Inexperience –

One study suggests that about 2/3 of fatal car accidents involve driver error, specifically those stemming from inexperience and distractions. It has been advised that teens should wait 6-12 months before they are allowed to give rides to their friends.

Distraction –

A car with two or more passengers increases a teen driver’s fatal crash risk by 3-5 times. The world of technology has provided drivers, of all ages, with an ample amount of distractions. A driver who uses a cellular device while driving is four times more likely to be involved in a serious car accident and suffer bodily injury.

Speed –

For male drivers, ranging in age from 15-20-years-old, 38% of fatal car crashes involve speeding. It is common sense, speeding kills.

Fatigue –

Driving while tired is the equivalent of driving while drinking. Drivers younger than 25 make up the majority group of fatigue-caused car crashes.

Seat belts –

Drivers of all ages should wear seat belts. Seat belts save lives. Teen drivers who do not wear seat belts are more likely to become a crash statistic than those teen drivers who do.

Parents should communicate to their teens the dangers of driving and emphasize the importance of safety on the road. Driving is very dangerous and everyone should do their part in keeping the roads safe. Beginning drivers should understand the monumental responsibility they take on when they are issued a driver’s license. Inexperienced driving is a major cause of automobile accidents. Car accidents can be devastating to all of those who are involved especially automobile accidents that cause serious personal injuries or wrongful death.

To read more on this topic see Teen Driving Accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recognizes that there are dangers to children when bicycling or simply taking a walk in a neighborhood. Driveways can be especially dangerous to toddlers (1 to 2 years old) due to driveway accidents or back over accidents. The NTSA posted some basic but important safety tips that parents, teachers, day care providers, child care providers, babysitters, and others supervising children should review and print out to review with children. Tip # 7: Play It Safe: Walking and Biking Safely has some nice illustrations as well. Following these safety tips and providing consistent adult supervision of children can help prevent a great number of serious personal injuries and death to children.

Sixteen year old high school student Tiphne Hollis was a sophomore at Ed White High School in Jacksonville Florida. She died after being shot while travelling through the area of Stockton Street north of Interstate 10 in a car full of other young girls.

Tiphne’s cousin reported that she and some other young ladies had been shopping together earlier in the day, and decided to go see a friend in what is considered a rough area of Jacksonville. The girls were driving down the street in an old police car with tinted windows when they heard a shot, followed by several more. Tiphne collapsed into her sister’s lap, and was pronounced dead at Shands Jacksonville Medical Center sometime later.

Tiphne’s family is shocked by her sudden death, saying that she was a peaceful and loving young woman who held a part-time job at a local daycare and had aspirations to attend college and become a real estate agent. Tiphne’s mother, Shanda, said the incident is like a nightmare from which she cannot wake up. Tiphne’s grandmother, Wynoma, is “stunned” by the violence in certain neighborhoods of Jacksonville. Tiphne’s mother agreed, saying she hoped her daughter’s death could serve as a wake-up call for residents to come together and stop crime.

Read more about the tragic death of Tiphne Hollis at Jacksonville high school student dies after being shot.

Serious injuries and deaths to children from driveway accidents are tragedies in every respect. . There are hidden dangers in driveways. Some think that sidewalks are the best place for children, pedestrians, and bicycle riders. In actuality, drivers frequently ignore or do not carefully look for children and others on sidewalks and driveways. When there is a death or serious personal injuries suffered by a child in a driveway or back over accident, it is certainly difficult for the family, extended family, and community to deal with such a tragedy. Unfortunately, driveway or back over accidents continue to be reported across the nation.

After an hour of deliberation, the jury in the DreShawna Davis murder trial returned an 8-4 verdict in favor of the death penalty for Rasheem DuBose, who had been found guilty of the girl’s murder. A separate jury recommended life sentences for his two younger brothers, who were involved in the fatal shooting. The judge in their case agreed with the jury’s recommendations. While Florida judges tend to follow jury recommendations, Dubose’s lawyer plans to argue for a lesser sentence of life in prison for his client.

According to court records, Dubose and his two brothers, Tajuane and Terrell, fired twenty nine shots into DreShawna Davis’ house in retaliation for her uncle trying to rob DuBose and force his pants down in public. Rasheem was found to have fired twenty three of the shots, including the one that killed DreShawna as she shielded her two younger cousins from the gunfire with her body.

The murder was just one in a series that have earned Jacksonville the dubious distinction of having the highest murder rate of any city in the state. Prosecutors hope the verdict sends a message to other would-be murderers that they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Read more about the trial at Jury decides Rasheem Dubose should die for killing DreShawna Davis.

If your child has been injured in an accident that was someone else’s fault, please contact our Jacksonville, Florida law firm to determine the child's rights in Florida pertaining to the injuries.

Two year old Serenity Bergey was found dead in September of 2007, her head wedged between the mattress and the drop railing of her broken Simplicity brand crib. Two days later, the United States government issued a recall of nearly 1 million cribs; several other children were already believed to have been asphyxiated by defective drop-sided cribs made by Simplicity, Inc.

Even though Serenity’s death was ruled an accident at the time, Florida detectives never believed that her death was accidental. The child’s home was dirty and full of drug paraphernalia, and her supposedly defective crib was broken and held together by duct tape. In 2008, detectives sought to charge the girl's mother, Connie Bergey, with aggravated manslaughter charges, but prosecutors declined to take the case due to the lack of evidence. Now a witness has come forward with new information that is allowing detectives to pursue criminal charges against Serenity’s mother.

Ms. Bergey’s lawyers have denied that she did anything wrong. Ms. Bergey is suing Simplicty, Inc., which has gone out of business, and Wal-Mart, where she purchased the crib. Read more about the recall of Simplicty cribs and the death of Serenity Bergey at Investigation reopened into toddler death that led to crib recall.

If your child has been injured by a defective product, please contact our law firm for child injury legal counsel.

Last January, two year old Anthony Jesy “AJ” Cabral was home alone with his mother’s boyfriend, Jason Lenz, one evening when he suffered a complex skull fracture and died sometime the next day. Lenz never alerted anyone that the child had been injured, including the child’s mother, who was a registered nurse and returned home a few hours after the injury took place. She was the one who found her son dead the next morning.

Lenz claims that he was carrying the boy when he tripped and fell, dropping the child to the floor. But according to prosecuting attorneys, Lenz beat the child to death by “bashing his head into something.” The jury agreed, convicting Lenz of felony murder and sentencing him to life in prison with no chance for parole. He was also sentenced to thirty years in prison for aggravated child abuse.

Lenz had been living with the family for eight months prior to AJ’s death. It is very sad that children are abused, neglected and even killed by the people closest to them; people who have been entrusted with their care. A person with a bad temper or history of abuse does not make an appropriate babysitter. Parents need to be very careful who they leave their children with, whether it is a friend, a relative or a daycare provider.

Find out more about this story at Jury finds Oviedo man guilty in child's death.

Gabriel Delrisco has been accused of killing three children from Homestead, Florida in a drunk driving incident that took place last year. The children, Hector, Esmeralda and Amber Serrano were killed when Delrisco allegedly ran into the back of their minivan with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit.

The Serrano family’s attorney has filed a civil lawsuit against the El Paso bar for damages and compensation, charging that employees of the bar should have known that Delrisco was a habitual drinker and refused to serve him. Details of this case and disputes regarding some of the facts were reported in the Sun Sentinel newspaper.

There are factual disputes that may be litigated in the civil case including the following:

How much alcohol did Gabriel Delrisco consume prior to the automobile accident?

Where did Delrisco consume the alcohol?

What individuals / businesses sold or provided alcohol to Delrisco?

Did the individuals / businesses who sold or provided alcohol to Delrisco know that he was a habitual drunk or intoxicated at the time that the alcohol was sold or provided?

Whatever results from the civil suit, the case is tragic in that children died as a result of a drunk driving crash.

Tonuya Rainey, of Miramar Florida is a mother to eight children. Reportedly, when her sixteen year old daughter became pregnant, Ms. Rainey did not want her to have the child, fearing that it would cause her daughter to miss out on a lot of things. Since she did not have the money to pay for an abortion for her daughter, Ms. Rainey gave the twenty four week pregnant woman pills to induce labor. Ms. Rainey’s daughter claims that the child was born alive, Ms. Rainey claims that the child was stillborn. They both admit that Ms. Rainey then discarded the body in the trash.

Ms. Rainey pleaded guilty to seven charges, including child abuse, termination of a pregnancy and practicing medicine without a license. Her attorney asked the judge for leniency, saying that Ms. Rainey took these actions out of a misguided attempt to provide her daughter with a better life. The Judge sentenced Ms. Rainey to two years of house arrest and five years of probation.

Read more details of this story at Tonuya Rainey Avoids Jail After Forcing Daughter to Have Abortion; Dumped Boy in Trash.

The disappearance of two year old Caylee Marie Anthony has been the subject of many headlines since the girl went missing from her home last June. Caylee’s mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with killing her own child, but Caylee’s grandparents have insisted that the girl was kidnapped by a babysitter. Recently, a plastic bag containing a child’s bones was discovered by an Orange County, Florida utility worker only a few blocks from Caylee’s home, which she shared with her mother and grandparents.

While the identity of the victim has not been confirmed, the bones are strongly believed to be Caylee’s due to their proximity to her home and the fact that no other young children are believed to be missing in Orange County Florida. The bones were not found earlier because the area where they were found was flooded by record summer rains at the time when the massive search for Caylee was underway. DNA tests will confirm whether the bones are Caylee’s in a few days.

Casey Anthony is being held at the Orange County Jail on first degree murder charges and is not eligible for bail. Her trial is set for March. To read more about the discovery and the background of the case, visit Is It Caylee?

Sanchia Xavier-Velez gave birth to her daughter, Jazmyne Rayne Gowers-Velez, at home in early November. Ms. Xavier-Velez brought the infant’s body to the hospital the next morning, and reported to authorities that she gave birth to the child in a toilet, and that the child was stillborn. But police suspected that the child had been a victim of foul play.

A doctor has examined the child and found that she was breathing before she died and that she had water in her lungs – both indications that the child died by drowning. Ms. Xavier-Velez, who also has a seven year old daughter, has been arrested and charged with first degree murder and aggravated child abuse. She is being held without bond in the Orange County jail. Her seven year old has been placed in the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families.

In Florida and other States, a person, who is charged with a crime, is entitled to defend herself from the charges with legal representation by a private criminal defense attorney or, in the alternative, the public defender. Whenever there are medical issues involved, cases of this nature can be quite complicated especially when each side presents competent testimony from expert witnesses and medical providers.

Ms. Xavier-Velez told authorities that she was at home alone with her other daughter when she felt the urge to go to the bathroom, and unexpectedly delivered her child into the toilet. She claims that she then passed out for as many as three hours. When she awoke she went to sleep on the couch. She says that she did not take further action because she did not feel well enough to drive and her cell phone service had been turned off. Authorities report that Ms. Xavier –Velez has a history of unwanted pregnancies, having given one child up for adoption and aborting another two years ago. They also report that there were no baby items in the woman’s home. Ms. Xavier-Velez claims that she was laid off from her job recently and returned the baby items because she needed the money. She also had reportedly not told close friends or her former employer that she was expecting. Find out more about this sad story at Mother accused of drowning newborn in toilet.

Hayli Murphy was given two H1N1, or swine flu, tests after she became ill a few weeks ago. Both of the tests came back negative, but Hayli did have the H1N1, and it almost killed her. Hayli was sent home from the emergency room after her first H1N1 test came back negative. The next day, after her fever climbed to 104 degrees, Hayli’s mother took her back to the emergency room, where a second test also came back negative. They diagnosed pneumonia and gave the girl antibiotics.

The next day, Hayli was so weak that her mother had to carry her back to the emergency room, where she was finally admitted and given Tamiflu; unfortunately Tamilflu is most effective when given within forty eight hours of the onset of flu symptoms. Once she was admitted, a more sophisticated test that takes days for results showed that Hayli really did have H1N1. She spent forty three days in pediatric intensive care at Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida with her lungs nearly destroyed by the virus.

The chairman of the pandemic influenza task force for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Dr. Andrew Pavia, believes that doctors are relying too heavily on quick H1N1 tests, overlooking a patient’s actual symptoms if the test comes back negative. He says that the tests are cheap and fast, but “they’re not terribly accurate.” He referred to studies of the rapid tests that show that 50% of negative results are false. Companies who make the tests say that doctors should use the results with care, proceeding with more advanced tests if the rapid test gives a negative result but the flu is suspected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends antiviral medications if the patient is severely ill, is deteriorating rapidly or belongs to certain high-risk groups even if the rapid flu test came back negative.

Get the full story about Hayli and her illness at Flu Test Wrong, Girl Almost Dies.

Juan Carlos Rivera, age 17, was stabbed to death in a South Florida high school hallway last September. At the time, not many details were released. Andy Rodriguez, age 17, has been arrested for the fatal stabbing, and police and prosecutors are now reporting more details of the crime.

According to prosecutors, Rodriguez took a knife to school because Rivera had given him a dirty look. Rodriguez told investigators that he and Rivera later bumped elbows in the hallway, prompting him to stab the other teen with a box cutter. In a video statement released by prosecutors, Rodriguez admitted that he stabbed Rivera in the side with the knife. The statement also included school surveillance tapes, witness transcripts, police reports, and the autopsy report on Rivera. According to the autopsy, Rivera was stabbed five times, including a fatal stab to his heart.

The surveillance tapes show Rodriguez running away from the scene in a bloody shirt. Rodriguez's attorney has stated that his client was threatened by Rivera and believes that his client has a solid self-defense claim. Rodriguez himself has no criminal history, but police records indicate that they have responded to domestic violence calls to his home on numerous occasions, at least one including a report of a knife fight including several family members. Rodriguez has been charged with second-degree murder, and has pleaded not guilty.

It is very sad that a young person's life was cut short due to senseless violence. Teens settling matters with fists, knives, and / or guns has become all too common in our schools. When children have a problem at school or with others, it is vital that they feel comfortable to seek advice from parents, elders, and mentors. Revenge for a dirty look is not worth the loss of a teen's life, or the consequences to be paid by the guilty party. Read more about this tragic teen stabbing at Police release statements in school stabbing case.

The school board of Miami-Dade County will soon be discussing a proposed rule that would ban school bus drivers from texting while on the job. Under the new rule, drivers would still be allowed to carry cell phones, Blackberries, or other communication devices, but would be limited to using them in case of an emergency. If approved, the rule would affect any employee of the Miami-Dade school system while they are driving a district-owned vehicle. The measure also requires that a hands free device be used for any phone calls while driving.

Texting while driving is undoubtedly dangerous. Driver distraction caused by electronic devices is unfortunately a growing trend that can lead to automobile accidents, serious personal injuries and wrongful death. It is a shame that adults cannot simply use common sense and pay careful attention while operating a moving vehicle. As a child safety advocate, I support rules and legislation that will protect innocent lives on the highways. The price of wating a few minutes to send or read a text message is more than worth the cost of preventing potential injuries and lost lives.

Read more about the proposed ban on texting school bus drivers at Board considers texting ban for school bus drivers.

In Florida and other States, homeowners have a right to bear arms. While there is a right to own gun, there are also responsibilities that go along with gun ownership. In particular, the gun should be stored in a safe and secure location away from the reach or access by young children. Furthermore, gun owners should take all necessary precautions to make sure that the gun is not fired in the home except for instances involving self defense. In South Florida (Cutler Ridge), a 14 year old girl was accidentally shot to death according to a story reported at the The Miami Herald Newspaper Website and the Florida Times Union Newspaper Website. The bullet hit the child in the head. The girl was transported by emergency helicopter to Miami Children's Hospital but rescue efforts were unsuccessful in saving her life.

Police detectives and crime scene specialists will investigate this incident to determine the following matters:

Was the gun registered?
What type of gun was involved in this incident?
Who was the registered owner of the gun?
Why was the gun being handled at the time of the shooting?
What safety devices were available on the gun?
Who last handled the gun prior to the shooting?
What was the child doing prior to the shooting?
Were there witnesses to the incident?

When a child visits a home, it is the responsibility of the homeowner to provide a safe and secure environment for the child. Tragically, incidents like these do happen and will continue to happen in the future. You can read more about this story at South Florida Teen Accidentally Shot in Head in South Florida (Cutler Ridge).

Angela Stone’s daughter, Shelby Taylor Hagman, was killed in a drunk driving accident in Hernando County, Florida in 2007. She was riding in a minivan with her grandparents, Larry and Deborah Wynn of Brooksville, Florida, when Christopher Marcone ran a stop sign and crashed into their car. Marcone pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter and three related charges and is currently serving 13-years in prison.

Angela Stone then filed a civil lawsuit against Marcone for the death of her daughter. She has said that she does not have any hope of collecting a settlement from Marcone, but she is not doing it for the money; the lawsuit is an effort to send a message to would-be drunk and reckless drivers.
A jury of six women awarded Stone the one of the largest verdicts in Hernando County history, and possibly in the state of Florida - $55 Million in compensatory damages and $275 Million in punitive damages. Stone is also suing Kia Motors Corp. and a local auto dealer who sold her grandparents the minivan they were driving on the night of the accident. She claims that a defective seat belt in the Kia minivan also contributed to Shelby’s death.

In Florida, there is no cap on punitive damages in cases involving intoxicated defendants. As this case shows, drunk drivers who kill or harm others face not only legal but financial repercussions. While punitive damages, especially won from an incarcerated person of little means, are rarely paid to plaintiffs, they do make for great headlines. And those headlines can send a strong message to drivers everywhere.

Find out more about this story at Hernando jury awards mother $330 million in drunken-driving death of teen.

In Daytona Beach, Florida, a teen was stabbed at an amphitheater over a fight involving text messages and a girlfriend. As a result of this meeting / fight, the teen, 16 year old Robin Munsch, died. Police charted Raymond North (age 23) with first degree murder and charged Carl Bech and Dallas Mobbs as accessories to this crime according to a story posted at the Orlando Sentinel and Florida Times Union websites. A young person's life was ended short due to senseless violence. News reports did not indicate very many details of the crime; however, it is clear that the senseless death and injuries could have been avoided. Settling matters with fists, knives, and / or guns is not a solution at all. When children have a problem at school or with others, it is vital that children seek advice from their parents, elders, and mentors. The best advice for this situation would have been to stay away from the amphitheater and let time pass over this matter. Neither a girlfriend, insult or pride are worth the loss of a teen's life.