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« Wind farm site off Fairhaven, Mass., scrapped | Today | Pharmacist, 73, Providence man, 81, face drug charges » May 6, 2008Bunnell trial: Placing blame for toddler's deathPROVIDENCE -- Three-and-a-half years after a 3-year-old boy was brutally beaten to death in Woonsocket, a prosecutor sought today to blame the beating on his 24-year-old aunt and her boyfriend. In his opening statement at Katherine Bunnell's murder trial, prosecutor Scott Erickson said Bunnell dragged Thomas "T.J." Wright, a child in her care, out of bed, slapped him, and struck him repeatedly because she was angry about the mess he had made in the living room of her Diamond Hill Road apartment. "What is this mess? What is going in on in my house?" Erickson said Bunnell said as she dragged the crying toddler around the first floor. Bunnell repeatedly pushed T.J. to the floor, picked him up and pushed him down again, Erickson said. She hit him over and over again, then dragged him into the kitchen and poured a container of milk over his head. The beating took place in front of T.J.'s 15-year-old babysitter after Bunnell, her boyfriend, Gilbert Delestre, and Delestre's cousin, Jose Santiago, returned to the apartment after a night at a Milford, Mass., bar. T.J., one of three children placed in Bunnell's care after her sister -- T.J.'s mother -- was imprisoned for marijuana possession, was taken by ambulance to Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, then to Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence. Erickson said T.J.'s injuries were so severe a day and a half after the beating that he was found to be brain dead, taken off life support and allowed to die. Bunnell is being tried separately from Delestre who, like her, is being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston. Each is charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. But in his opening statement, Bunnell's lawyer, Gerard H. Donley, said that while Bunnell did push, drag and slap T.J., Delestre caused the injuries that led to the toddler's death. "The evidence will show that the slaps, the pulling, the dragging, and the pouring of the milk, however objectionable that was, wasn't the cause of the death of this child. A vicious beating was, and the evidence will show who did it," Donley said. The first witness to take the stand was a Fire Department rescue worker, Lt. Edward Bertholic, who administered first aid to T.J. He is scheduled to return to the stand this afternoon. Posted by Mike McKinney Commentstrial | May 6, 2008 2:33 PM link I blame the DCYF for allowing this little boy to live with obviously unfit two drug users. If I am not mistaken, these two had been arrested in the south for driving with pounds of weed in their car. The DCYF has a habit of picking on the wrong people in this state. How ANY pigs like these two in Woonsocket can get custody of ANY child is beyond me. The fifteen year old was also a lousy babysitter. Instead of cleaning up the mess the boy made, she left if for the other two idiots to find. I look at my two beautiful boys each night as they sleep, and I gently kiss them on their cheek. I can't imagine anyone waking a sleeping kid up in order to pummel them into death. It's so evil, it's hard to accept. Whoever the case worker was should also lose their license. I am SO sick of people in charge NOT being accountable for their actions. Sarah | May 6, 2008 3:24 PM link I don't care which injuries caused this little boy's death...Bunnell should definitely be charged as accessory and LOCKED UP! CC | May 6, 2008 3:30 PM link Whether she administered the precise blow that caused this poor innocent child to become brain dead or not she WAS THERE and ALLOWED it to happen. She is as GUILTY!!! Claudia | May 6, 2008 3:56 PM link I'm so glad I moved out of Woonsocket to start my family.
Former Woonsocket Resident | May 6, 2008 4:38 PM link I Can't even imagine how anyone can live with themselves after doing such an inhumane act. She is a coward and should get smacked around while she is in jail. She wouldn't do that to an adult because she's a wimp. Let's face it some adults deserve to be smacked around. This one is a perfect example. Never does a child deserve this kind or any kind of abuse. They are innocent and don't know any better. They need love. Mary | May 6, 2008 8:20 PM link Mom has been out of prison for more than a year. DCYF failed badly on many counts. How can one think that two unemployed, young, ex-drug runners/users (check police and DCYF files) with three foster children and two of their own be adequate parents in a small two bedroom subsidezed apartment. They had records and history that were definate red flags. But even in a perfect world, the situation was tenuous at best. TJ deserves justice. jake | May 6, 2008 9:07 PM link How did these low lives ever get custody of a child? This state really needs an agency devoted solely to the protection of kids who are alone in this world (in place of the joke that exists now.) These two adults are now 'protected' by our laws (not to mention the bleeding hearts who'll scream loudly if these two get treated the way that poor child was), but Thomas had no one... Great system we have... RIP little one, hopefully you are in a place where you are cared for now. ml | May 7, 2008 7:50 AM link DCYF is a racket. Employees there make 60-100k and up per year, including benefits, pensions, and so on. Their lives are very good. Yet they place kids in homes that are paid $10 or so per day per child, which barely feeds them. If the kid is placed in a group home, another racket, the home makes 10 times that amount per day. Our tax dollars at work. There are lots of old grannies in high-rises across the state - why aren't they placing the kids there, and for a decent pay to supplement their paltry social security benefits? (Of course if they are retired state workers they are able to afford waterfront homes in south county.) System reform has long been needed, and the time is now. DCYF system reform | May 7, 2008 9:16 AM link Right here will we see what kind of justice system we have. I'm waiting to hear the outcome of the time they serve for killing a innocent child who belonged to nobody "important" in Rhode Island. No bruises on their faces for commiting such a horrific crime hmmmmmmmmm. Laurie | May 14, 2008 10:03 AM link Post a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006
This is awful. I can't belive that someone could do that. This story made me cry the way it was written. Pulled off life support and allowed to die. Oh, that's so upsetting. I'm sure these murders will pay!