Off-duty cop kills baby in car-accident. Mother gets charged with homicide. (Yeah, she's black.)

[DetlefK]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/02/off-duty-cop-kills-baby-slamming-car-94-mph-black-mom-charged-homicide/

A Louisiana woman was arrested on homicide charges after an off-duty police officer crashed into the car she was riding in and killed her baby daughter.

Brittany Stephens wasn’t driving when the Baton Rouge police officer wrecked into their car at 94 mph, but police said she failed to properly secure the 1-year-old in her car seat, reported The Advocate.

The 20-year-old Stephens told police she had buckled the child into her seat, but investigators said the girl’s car seat was not secured and the straps were not correctly adjusted for her height.

Officer Christopher Manuel struck a Nissan carrying four adults and four children about 8 p.m. on Oct. 12 while driving his Corvette at speeds approaching 100 mph, police said.

The posted speed limit for that road was 50 mph.

...

The 28-year-old Manuel, who was also hospitalized after the crash, was arrested Feb. 16 on one count of negligent homicide in the fatal crash.

The officer will remain on paid administrative leave until an internal investigation wraps up, but the investigation will not begin until he recovers from his injuries and is released to work by a doctor.

[TheDebbieDee]

1. ABSOLUTELY DISGRACEFUL!

He caused the accident because he was speeding @94 mph but she gets charged for the baby's death because the car seat straps were not adjusted correctly!

[mythology]

9. If both actions led to the kid's death, then both should be charged

If the accident alone wouldn't have caused the death, then they both did.

[kcr]

15. Gotta love DU somedays

Thank you for your part in making it such a wonderful day at DU

[pangaia]

26. LOL!!

[Demsrule86]

28. Sounds like bullshit...straps were not adjusted correctly...sounds like a cop cover up...I hope

they tested the cop for drugs and alcohol.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

49. I'm sure his Union will allow him to be tested. In six to eight weeks...

[WillowTree]

2. Whether he's a cop or not is not relevant to me.

If the child wasn't properly secured I don't have a problem with the Mom being charged as long as the other driver who caused the accident is, as well. It's her responsibility to see to it that her kid is properly protected as far as she is able.

[brush]

3. Something sounds fishy. You really think a white mother would've been charged with something...

Last edited Wed Feb 28, 2018, 08:52 PM - Edit history (1)

like that?

That sounds like a judgement call?

The mother said she secured the seat but the cops said she didn't.

Sorry, I have to side with the mother.

The car was hit by a maniac cop driving nearly 100 mph.

IMO it's ridiculous to think that the straps on that car seat weren't affected by a 94 mph impact.

Come on, it's so obvious they're covering the speeding, cop's ass by spreading the blame for killing the child by charging the AA mother too.

[WillowTree]

7. I don't read race into everything. Sorry.

The cop is also being charged for his responsibility and it would seem unlikely that he'll be able to talk his way out of it considering the speed at which he was traveling.

But I will always say that parents have to be responsible to be certain that their kids are properly protected within the limits of what they can control, and that includes knowing, or learning, how to correctly adjust and secure a child's car seat. We each have our part to play.

Just my POV. YMMV.

[LanternWaste]

10. I can only imagine the convenience of simplistic thought that decision affords you.

"I don't read race into everything. Sorry..."

I can only imagine the convenience of simplistic thought that decision affords you. While we suffer daily by examining all potentials, rather than immediate dismissing that which may not validate our narratives, you get to arrive at a conclusion regardless of nuance or complexity... regardless of your mileage.

[WillowTree]

11. Have a pleasant day.

[LanternWaste]

12. Seven times better than I'd hoped.

Seven times better than I'd hoped.

[uponit7771]

16. You don't have to read race into everything to be aware race plays a difference when it comes

... to how laws are enforced in the US.

How in the hell are they going to tell the baby was secure AFTER the accident and some many other parameters that change once a car gets hit at 94 mph !?!!?

Come on man

[nocalflea]

51. I agree on all points. Spot on.

[Demsrule86]

30. Well I do...and white mothers can shoot their babies accidentally with impunity in some

Last edited Thu Mar 1, 2018, 02:56 PM - Edit history (1)

cases. The 'straps were not adjusted to the child's height' sounds like total bullshit to me...don't see how one could tell after the fact.

[WillowTree]

33. Wow. I never heard of a case where the mother, regardless of race.......

.......shot her baby "with impunity". That's a new one on me, but I'll take your word for it.

[Demsrule86]

60. I am missing the word accidental...I will revise...I am referring to the accidental shooting of kids

I still think the charges are a CYA move for the police officer...and race always plays a role in my opinion. The justice system is skewed against people of color.

[WillowTree]

13. By the way, I take it you didn't follow the link and get a look at the police officer's picture.

[uponit7771]

17. Doesn't matter the color of the police officer matters the color of the non law enforcement

... in the US.

Come one, we're more aware than this

[WillowTree]

20. I didn't bring up the race of the cop. Or the mother, either, for that matter.

"Come on, it's so obvious they're covering the speeding, white cop's ass from being charged with killing the child so they charge the AA mother."

For the record, I don't care what the race of any of the players is. What I do care about the dead little girl and I, for one, expect that all of the adults take responsibility for whatever parts they may have had in what happened to her.

[uponit7771]

21. We care that its specious to argue that someone would KNOW without a doubt that the

... child was strapped in correct or not ... AFTER ... a vehicle the child was in has been hit by 2 tons of vehicle at 100 mph.

It's also common for law enforcement IN CERTAIN AREAS to charge PoC in the US with specious claims like this.

There's no way someone would try to take responsibility for something that would be impractical to even try to prove like how high the seat straps where on a baby seat.

No way this should be placed in front of a jury seeing on the face of it this blames the mother for an act of non perfection that can't be proven.

This charge is bullshit on its face

[WillowTree]

23. Have you installed a child seat in a car recently?

Every article that I can find about this accident says that the child safety seat was not secured and, yes, they should be able to tell that.

The seats are to be attached to an anchor on the deck behind the back seat and also either to similar anchors at the bottom of the car's seat or secured with a seat belt through openings in the safety seat. If the seat was properly anchored and forcibly dislodged by the accident, there would be evidence that the anchors were damaged or the straps torn or both.

And he height adjustment is a matter of which openings through the back of the seat the straps are fed through before the child is put I the seat. That wouldn't change because of the force of an accident.

These things being the case, the charge against the mother may not be as "specious" as you are convinced it is. If the safety seat was secured and not just sitting on the car's seat, there should be evidence that it was.

[Demsrule86]

31. They said it was not adjusted for height which is bullshit...and this is after and accident that

could have altered how it was secured before the accident.

[WillowTree]

37. No, it couldn't.

But you're committed to believing that there's no possible way that this mother could possibly have been less than totally diligent in dealing with the car seat, so nothing that I or anyone else says is going to sink in, so I'm done.

Have a good one.

[Lee-Lee]

44. I am betting the are basing that on the autopsy results

There is a mountain of scientific data on car seats out there. Including tons of crash test data and mountains of cataloged results from previous accidnetsZ

The pathologists can tell from the wounds of the straps were properly adjusted or not by the bruising and other damage done to the child’s body.

A seat not properly adjusted for height will leave brushing marks from the straps very different than one properly adjusted, and that can be documented by the pathologists.

[Lee-Lee]

46. The autopsy can tell

The wounds left from being improperly fastened in are very different than if a child is properly fastened. The pattern of bruising left by the straps will show exactly how they were worn at the moment of impact.

There are mountains of scientific evidence and cash test data that the investigatiors and pathologists can use to show if the wounds were consistent with a child properly restrained or one improperly restrained in the swat. They test the shit out of car seats and there is a ton of data out there.

Yes, they can know very well how the sat was adjusted without even looking at the seat, by looking at the body of the dead child and what mechanisms of injury left damage.

[uponit7771]

47. The problem is the word "exactly" which no parent on a jury who's ever dealt ...

... with a child seat would convict this woman.

There's no "exactly" to car seats, there approximate seeing how many times an infant to toddler would get in and out of a car seat.

This is like an insurance company saying your strap was 2 inches too tall so your whip lash isn't our fault after that semi hit you at 100 mph.

[Lee-Lee]

58. If you follow sources you will find she didnt even have the seat buckled into the car

To the the link provided in the story, as in typical fashion Raw Story leaves important details out:

Brittany Stephens, 20, was arrested Tuesday after police found that her daughter's car seat was not secured and the straps were not adjusted correctly for the child's height, according to her arrest report. Police said the "lack of securing the seat to the vehicle and the loose straps are a contributing factor in the death" of the child and "show gross negligence" on the mother's part.

She didn’t even have the seat secured to the vehicle in addition to having the straps loose.

This isn’t a case of a minor misadjustment. She literally didn’t even have the seat buckled into the car.

[EL34x4]

22. "speeding, white cop's ass"

Cop was also black.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mom-baby-died-crash-arrested-not-securing-car-seat-article-1.3846743

[brush]

38. Thanks for the info. That changes things. Makes one wonder even more why they don't think...

a 94 mph crash wouldn't affect the car seat straps.

[angstlessk]

4. I recon one needs to hire engineers nowdays

to figure out how to secure a child in a seat properly...

I find this tragic, but the mother put her child into a car seat which she assumed was secured properly!

The 20-year-old Stephens told police she had buckled the child into her seat, but investigators said the girl’s car seat was not secured and the straps were not correctly adjusted for her height.

Perhaps it was secured until it was hit by a car going 100 mph, and adjusted for height?

All things considered it CERTAINLY IS NOT HOMICIDE!

It's an attempt to blame someone other than a fellow police officer for the death of that child, and in the harshest charge possible

[WillowTree]

5. But he is being charged.

[angstlessk]

6. With Homicide?

[WillowTree]

8. Did you read the OP to the end?

"The 28-year-old Manuel, who was also hospitalized after the crash, was arrested Feb. 16 on one count of negligent homicide in the fatal crash."

[Honeycombe8]

40. I did. I think most did not. The title of the article is misleading. The cop WAS charged, too. nt

[uponit7771]

18. RIGHT !!! How in the hell are they going to tell the straps didn't move or anything after 2 tons

... of matter crashes into their car at 100 mph !!

I don't see how in the hell this got past a magistrate

[WillowTree]

24. See post #23

[uponit7771]

25. OK, WT ... read the first line and its BS. Anyone with any experience with child

... seat knows there's no perfection in it.

Number 1 - It's impractical to expect someone to ... CONSUMMATELY ... measure the car seat straps to make sure they're the nats ass'd length every time the child gets in and out of the seat.

Number 2 - Again, there's no telling where the straps moved post being hit by a 2 ton car at 100 mph ... NO ... you CAN NOT tell where everything was BEFORE a hit at 100 mph by 4000 lbs worth of car.

That's not even a rational thought !!!

There's no science behind that thought that is backed up to any degree.

Number 3 - All she has to say for now on is say the straps were placed appropriately and that's it ... done deal case closed. The DA will have to prove without a shadow that she didn't do such and how in the hell is he going to do that after the fact of being hit.

There is no way the car company and the seat company and the seat belt company tested that system at the angle she got hit ...

this should have never gone past the magistrates BS test

[WillowTree]

29. It isn't a matter of measuring the straps.

And yes, you can tell where the shoulder straps were before the accident. There are slots at different heights through the back of the seat that the straps are threaded through and left there between uses and then strapped around the child when she's put in. Just use the ones closest to the child's shoulders. This isn't rocket science. And they're not going to be pulled out of one set of holes and threaded back through a different set by the force of the accident. That makes no sense at all. My guess is that she was still strapped into the seat, so they could tell if the shoulder straps were threaded through at the wrong level.

But the bigger issue is that, as I said before, every article that I've been able to find says that the seat was not secured to the car. If that was the case, it would have been less than useless to actually protect the child as it would become a missle.......with her in it.......flying around in the car at and after impact. And if it was anchored, there would be evidence of damage where it was torn away from the anchors, which would help the Mom's case but will not bode well for the cop.

All of this was almost certainly photographed, so I'm perfectly comfortable if this goes before a jury of citizens who can make their own judgements, with the evidence before them and not just suppsition, as to if that little girl was properly protected.

[Demsrule86]

32. Yeah and who is to say the evidence wasn't tampered with after the accident...sorry cops have no

credibility in these situations.

[WillowTree]

35. OMG.. Now you really are reaching.

Believe whatever you want.

Have a great evening.

[uponit7771]

41. +1, she's got witness's saying she strapped the baby in according to regulations the cops ...

... got someone who's stupid enough to say in court that they KNOW without at shadow of a doubt that the straps weren't in the place they were supposed to be BEFORE 4,000 lbs of car hit her at 100 mph

[kcr]

19. There are high rates of car seat misuse

charging parents for the reckless driving of others is beyond ridiculous http://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(15)01459-6/fulltext

The reasons behind misuse are many and not always the fault of parents, which is why they usually aren't charged. It's cruel to charge her for this.

[sinkingfeeling]

14. Sorry, but very few backseat car seats would withstand a 94 MPH car

crashing into it. I find it ridiculous to charge mother.

[uponit7771]

27. +1, there's no one in their right mind who's going to argue they know where the car

... seat straps were before the car got hit other than the people in the car.

100 mph hit with 4000 lbs of anything can move everything out of place.

This is very cruel

[Demsrule86]

34. but but she is Black and they could be in trouble. (sarcasm)

[arthritisR_US]

36. I sure as hell hope the ACLU is on this one, what an absolute disgrace

to justice this is!

[Lee-Lee]

43. Why? She legally had a responsibility to ensure the child was properly secured

She didn’t do that. As a result the child is dead.

She isn’t the only one that contributed to yeh child’s death, but her negligence is a big enough factor to justify those charges.

[USALiberal]

48. Another expected post from you! Nt

[Honeycombe8]

39. The officer was charged, too. Article title suggests only the mother was.

I don't know if that's legal...charging someone for negligent homicide if they don't strap the child in properly. Not having him in a carset at all...I can understand that. But.....wow.

[Lee-Lee]

42. When I was a deputy one of the things that NEVER let pass was kids not secured

I rarely wrote traffic tickets, the Sheriff was a huge proponent of warnings whenever possible for several reasons.

But two things were guaranteed to always get you a ticket or trip to jail. DUI and failure to have your child properly restrained in a moving vehicle.

I’ve heard every excuse in the book.

I can’t afford it. Bullshit, Medicaid provides them, there are ones for free at every fire department in the county, there are free ones at our sheriffs office, a half dozen church’s in the county have them free.

I am just going down the block. Don’t care, short rides have accidents too.

My kid unbuckles themselves and doesn’t stay in the seat. Don’t care, your the parent act like one.

If I saw a kid not in a child seat or in one improperly you were getting a ticket. Period. And if they were not in a seat or were in the wrong one you were going to wait there until a seat was brought to us and I made sure it was in properly.

She doesn’t get to evade responsibility for not doing her job as a parent. That she also had the child not just in an improper seat but in a car with an unlicensed driver speaks to a pattern of careless behavior.

The officer needs to face the charges he is also.
Not sure why he is still on paid admin leave in my old department he would have been gone, but like any other workplace strong unions bring strong contracts that protect workers. But the negligent homicide charges are totally appropriate. I can only imagine, however, that whatever defense attorney he hired will try to bring in accident reconstruction experts to argue that had the shield been properly restrained that there wouldn’t have been any deaths. If that will work is all on the jury, I hope not.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

50. How many fellow cops did you let slide for speeding or DUI or other traffic offenses? Tell the truth

[Lee-Lee]

52. None

I never in 10+ years wrote a single speeding ticket to anyone. I never had a radar gun and never went to school to get radar certified.

Nobody got a pass on DUI. I never pulled a cop for it but if I did I wouldn’t have cut them any slack- in fact I would have been harsher on them. Had I ever done that my Sheriff would have fired me then and there.

My only interactions legally with another officer was one that lived in my county but worked in another who we responded to a domestic violence call on. I arrested him, his spouse went and got a protective order while he wasn’t being processed, I went back with her and we siezed all his firearms, including the department issued ones, pursuant to the protege order before he processed and made bail.

The next morning I was at his agency with a copy of the arrest report and his department issued weapons to hand them over to them. By noon he no longer had a job there.

Now, the kind of behavior you talk about does happen. Some areas are far worse for it than others, especially in the northeast where the agencies and unions have almost codified it by issuing “PBA cards” and “spouse badges” and other things that evidently get you special treatment. I was dating a NC State Trooper who had part of I-95 in his county and he and his others there had a huge collection of those things that people tried to use to get out of speeding tickets and such. And instead of working they were a sure way to turn what may have been a warning into a ticket, then they siezed them as something used in an attempt to improperly influence an officer.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

55. It's funny. I've known dozens of cops in real life. Cops who never met or knew each other.

Some were County Sheriffs. Some were Chicago cops. Some were suburban cops.

Every. Single. One. Of. Them. Talked about the "golden ticket" (or some other term for their badge re: traffic tickets).

But I've never met an online cop who will even admit to ONE.SINGLE.INCIDENT of giving another cop a pass. Not one. And that goes for spouses (my husband never ... yada yada yada)

Oh well. My search continues...

[NCTraveler]

45. There is no 90+ mph crash safety rating on these seats.

I don’t like the thought of a mother being charged for the way it was installed.

I trust very little that comes out of the shit show called raw story. Horrible writers with a flare for the dramatic and little concern for the truth. I put them up there with outlets like “Chicks on the Right.”

[PoliticAverse]

53. Story on the incident from a different source than raw story...

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/article_7c7f4602-1cb0-11e8-a723-0bc2db424e30.html

[NCTraveler]

54. Thank you. nt.

[WillowTree]

56. The biggest problem is.......

.......from literally every account that I can find, it isn't a matter of how the safety seat was installed, it sounds like it wasn't "installed" at all. Every account says that the seat was "not secured". Not the baby in the seat, the seat itself. So if that is the case, then on impact the seat with the child in it becomes a missle being thrown around inside the car. And if it was secured before the accident, either properly with the anchors that attach to the car or even just by a seat belt, there would certainly be evidence of whatever attachment(s) was employed being torn away.

I honestly think that a court might be the very best place for a situation like this. Let a jury see the evidence and decide 'cause I don't think news reports can give people enough hard information to know with any certainty what happened.

[NCTraveler]

57. I think you might be right about the state of the seat. I'm not completely sure.

If that is the case, I would agree that a court is the place to work it out.

There is one place I still would take issue. It should have been the driver/owner of the vehicle that was cited with negligent homicide, not the mother.

I do see a sentence in the article posted above that clearly states is was not secured to the vehicle.

If that isn't the case, and the seat was not properly secured, then it would seem they are doing nothing more than giving the officer a mitigating argument when it comes time to his sentencing phase.

[Egnever]

59. Would be interesting to know

how a cop is buying a Corvette.. Not that it isn't possible but that is a pretty costly car for a job that pays less than spectacular wages.