11 year old held in sister's death

**Willowdared** · 08-28-06, 12:42 AM

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...m27sister.html

RANCHO SAN DIEGO – An 11-year-old girl was being held in Juvenile Hall last night in connection with the apparent beating of her 5-year-old half sister, who was being kept alive by artificial means and is not expected to survive.

The girl was detained after being questioned by sheriff's homicide investigators yesterday.

Lt. Dennis Brugos said the girls' single father went out for several hours Friday evening and left the 11-year-old in charge of her half sister and 6-year-old brother.

The family lives in a condominium complex west of Jamacha Road. Their identities were not released by authorities.

When the father came home about 9 p.m. Friday, the older girl told him the 5-year-old wasn't breathing. Brugos said the father called 911 and began performing CPR on his daughter until paramedics arrived.
At that point, Brugos said, sheriff's deputies and paramedics who responded to the emergency call assumed that the girl was suffering from a medical problem.

The girl was then taken to Rady Children's Hospital. At 2 a.m., Brugos said, a hospital official called the Sheriff's Department and reported that the girl had suspicious injuries.

He said the girl had suffered severe head trauma and might have other injuries.

Yesterday, while being questioned by detectives, the 11-year-old admitted to “getting involved in a physical confrontation” with her sister, Brugos said.

Brugos said the 5-year-old girl is not expected to live.

“It's not good,” he said.

The girl's mother, who does not live with the family in the condominium, and father were both at their daughter's bedside last night.

The boy has been taken to Polinsky Children's Center in Kearny Mesa, the county's central emergency shelter.

Brugos said that after the investigation into the child's injuries is complete, he will get the juvenile authorities' recommendations on what should be done with the 11-year-old. He said the extent of the 5-year-old's injuries was not yet known.

“We just don't know yet,” he said.

Whether the father might be held legally responsible in some way for having left the children home alone also was unclear.

**Willowdared** · 08-28-06, 12:43 AM

Oh yeah - my agency - my neighborhood.

**slamdunc** · 08-28-06, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by PDawg

Lt. Dennis Brugos said the girls' single father went out for several hours Friday evening and left the 11-year-old in charge of her half sister and 6-year-old brother.

The 'single father' who went out for several hours, needs to be in jail.

CopsRCool302 · 08-28-06, 10:25 AM

Kids live in a enviroment, they become that enviroment, it's not normal for a child to kill another child, unless they have scum for parents or now these days "Parent".

**BigDawg** · 08-28-06, 12:06 PM

They need to fry that dad on this one in my opinion. You don't leave an 11 year old home alone, and especially with the responsibility of watching the other child. If he got custody just think how bad the mom is!!

**Willowdared** · 08-28-06, 12:46 PM

The article I posted says she's still on life support, she was pronounced at about noon Sunday.

Before you paint her as evil, try to remember that she doesn't have the coping skills of an adult.

I'll update as soon as I hear about whether the dad gets charged.

CopsRCool302 · 08-28-06, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by PDawg

The article I posted says she's still on life support, she was pronounced at about noon Sunday.

Before you paint her as evil, try to remember that she doesn't have the coping skills of an adult.

I'll update as soon as I hear about whether the dad gets charged.

I agree with the coping skills.. 11 years old is young, I agree that daddy should be punished, after all, he's the adult right?

My Thoughts are with that Little one....

**HockeyChick** · 08-28-06, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by BigDawg3533

They need to fry that dad on this one in my opinion. You don't leave an 11 year old home alone, and especially with the responsibility of watching the other child. If he got custody just think how bad the mom is!!

I was often left alone at 11yrs old and turned out perfectly fine. I don't think I was an extraordinary kid.

Would I consider leaving my step-daughter alone at 11yrs? Hell, no! But I have seen some pretty mature youngsters, where leaving them for a couple of hours wouldn't be a far stretch at all.

It's entirely possible that the father misjudged the 11-yr old's maturity level.

**Just KC** · 08-28-06, 03:34 PM

Such a sad, sad story. I wonder what provoked the 11yr old to do that?

**Willowdared** · 08-28-06, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by Just KC

Such a sad, sad story. I wonder what provoked the 11yr old to do that?

Try spending a couple of hours with two little kids...without the option of taking them to the pool, the park, the movies, running to Blockbuster to rent a movie, or all the many other things you can do as an adult to entertain them.

How likely is it that a 5 y/o and a 6 y/o would even listen to an 11 y/o?