Marine arrested in baby son's death

[ECH1969]

FRESNO, Calif. - A young Marine who was called back from a mission to Iraq to be with his ailing wife just before she died of childbirth complications was arrested on suspicion of murdering his newborn son. snip

"I didn't know how to feel about him. The same day he was born, my wife died," he told KMPH in Fresno. "The feelings inside of me, I kind of wanted to push him away, but he's my son. My wife gave him to me."

Quiroz was jailed on Monday. Investigators said his son died of beating injuries, but they would not elaborate. Authorities planned to file charges Wednesday.

"He was quiet," said Maj. Timothy Rizner. "Like a good Marine, you'd tell him to get mission accomplished and he'd go off and do it."

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/nation/16069918.htm

[Bozita]

1. So goddamned sad!

[ECH1969]

2. yup

very sad

[Chimichurri]

3. Horrible.

"I didn't know how to feel about him. The same day he was born, my wife died,"
He's got an abnormal propensity for vengence. I wonder if it's directly related to being in Iraq, where there seems to be no boundaries or if he had it in him prior to being there.

[Lance_Boyle]

4. Can postpartum psychosis affect fathers?

n/t

[Javaman]

5. What about PTST? God knows what this guy saw and did in Iraq...

What a complete tragedy.



We sow the seeds of war and grow crops of hate.

To that era once more we trod a path

through pain glory and trauma's wrath.

quiet meadows shift and sway

They grow upon humanities past decay

Be not fast when we ponder the fields

for patience brings peace and war is hastes yield.

-Anonymous

[qwlauren35]

6. In his mind, it made sense.

He killed the person who killed his wife.

Perhaps the only time that the "innocence" of a baby gets called into question is when its birth leads to the death of a mother.

Even if its never labeled as "manslaughter", it's probably very hard to live with, especially if you're surrounded by people who grieve and rage in your presence because of the life that was lost when you came into the world.

I am not defending this marine in any way for his actions. I just feel very, very sorry for him.

[booksenkatz]

9. A friend of mine died in childbirth in 1983

and it wasn't like that at all. There was no sadness or rage at all with the baby, because he was her last gift to the world and we knew how much she had loved him before he was born. The baby represented the love between her and her husband; he represented joy. No one ever felt that he "killed" my friend. Any family member in this situation that reacts negatively to the baby, who cannot refrain from demonstrating grief or negative feelings in front of the child, needs to get into intensive counseling.

How sad that this baby in the report was put into the care of this sick, traumatized man. How overwhelmed he must have been in so many ways.

[stillcool]

7. this is what war does...

according to the article he also has an 18 month old daughter. My dad served in WWII, and my mom was diagnosed with cancer prior to my birth. I never lived with him, I don't think. 'he was never the same after the war'...should be on my dad's tombstone it was repeated so often. Those who make war know its consequences, and yet another branch of the family tree is left to succumb to the disease of war.
from above linked article..

After the infant's death on Saturday, authorities took Quiroz's 18-month-old daughter into protective custody....

....Police had started a child abuse investigation in October after Quiroz's son was hospitalized for a broken arm. The infant was placed in protective custody, but the county Department of Children and Family Services released him to his father after a few days, police said.

Child welfare officials said they would investigate why the baby was returned to his father

[951-Riverside]

8. Maybe he had flashbacks and though his baby was an iraqi baby. n/t