******************************************************************************I will put this notice on my post from now on, every time that I copy a post from Facebook, so all of my readers will know that this is not my work, but that of someone else. This, like so many of my posts have, came from Facebook. The first section came from Facebook. The second section is the story form The Associated Press. Their URL http://www.theprovince.com/life/Massachusetts+indicted+murder+charges+after+infant+remains/10658800/story.html
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WHAT CAN GO ON IN THE HOMES OF ANIMAL ABUSERS
Dear friends,
I have reported to you previously on this story but since charges have now been upgraded to murder I’m sharing it again. The details are graphic, but demonstrate exactly what kinds of behaviours can occur in homes in which animal cruelty is present. Although both accused are innocent until proven guilty, it seems clear from this story that whenever animal abuse is present, others in the home may also be in jeopardy. The officers who went to investigate reports of animal abuse in this home may have been able to save animals and children had legislation granted them the authority to enter the house to check on what was actually occuring in the home. Hopefully laws will be amended to permit all social service and law enforcement agencies, including humane societies and SPCAs, such access. It will save lives!!! Rest in peace to the animals and the children.
Mom indicted on 2 murder charges after infant remains found in squalid Massachusetts house
Erika Murray enters the courtroom by a court officer for her arraignment at Uxbridge District Court in Uxbridge, Mass. on Friday, Sept. 12, 2014. Murray, 31, was arrested Thursday night on charges including fetal death concealment, witness intimidation and permitting substantial injury to a child. Not guilty pleas were entered Friday on her behalf. Detectives investigating a case of reckless endangerment of children found the bodies this week at the house littered with soiled diapers in Blackstone, about 50 miles southwest of Boston. (AP Photo/Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Paul Kapteyn, Pool)
WORCESTER, Mass. – A woman was indicted on two murder charges after the skeletal remains of three babies were found in her squalid home in September, a district attorney announced Tuesday.
Thirty-one-year-old Erika Murray has been held on $1 million bail after pleading not guilty to earlier charges, including fetal death concealment.
“I have never seen anything like the facts in this case,” Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early said at a news conference Tuesday to discuss the indictments against Murray and her live-in boyfriend Raymond Rivera, 38, the children’s father, who was charged with child abuse. “Everyone who went into that house, to a person, said they’d never seen anything like it.”
Murray’s attorney, Keith Halpern, said Tuesday he’s disappointed prosecutors decided to upgrade the charges.
“There’s no evidence that she did anything to cause the death of any of these infants,” Halpern said. “There’s no evidence of how they died.”
The couple’s four children, ranging from 5 months to 13 years old, were removed from the house in Blackstone in late August and placed in state custody after one of the older children went to a neighbour for help with a crying baby. Prosecutors said the 5-month-old and a 3-year-old were found covered in their own feces and had been severely neglected.
Police later searched the house and found the babies’ remains in bedroom closets.
The house was infested with rodents and insects, piled high with dirty diapers and contained dead animals. Workers in hazmat suits spent days cleaning out the house, which was later demolished. It was owned by Rivera’s sister.
Rivera is charged with child abuse and neglect related to the two younger children. Prosecutors said DNA showed he is the father of all seven.
Rivera pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault and battery on a child, two counts of reckless endangerment of a child, two counts of animal cruelty and one count of illegally growing marijuana. His bail was set at $100,000.
Rivera had said he lived in the basement and had no idea what was going on in the rest of the house, but a prosecutor said at his arraignment that Rivera slept with Murray every night in a room near where the younger children were.
Murray also was indicted on two counts of assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury, two counts of reckless endangerment of a child, two counts of cruelty to animals and one count of concealing a fetal death. The murder charges relate to the bodies of two infants found wearing diapers and one-piece infant outfits.
Halpern has said Murray has mental health issues and that she told police she found one of the babies dead after she put the child down for a nap.
Murray is to be arraigned Dec. 29. Rivera has a pretrial conference Jan. 14.
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From reading the complete story, it is hard to tell if the infant deaths came after the animal abuse or before it. However, in many other cases there is proof that the animal abuse comes first. That has the potential of leading into child abuse and possibly death. If the perpetrator is not stopped, the perpetrator could possibly become a serial killer of any age person, not caring if they are a child or an adult. All they want to do is to kill someone and it doesn’t matter who. Many articles have been written showing such progression in many people. After you read the article, I would like to know your feelings on the situation, you can leave a comment below the article if you wish. Thank you.
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