Shaken Baby Syndrome
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Case Category |
6 Cases |
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AZ - Maricopa - Shannon & Tony Whittle 1998 CA - Los Angeles - Jose Salazar 1996 FL - Orange - Alan Yurko C1998 TN - Coffee - Andy Houser 2003 TN - Davidson - Russell Maze 1999 WI - Dane - Audrey Edmunds 1995 |
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Location |
Defendant(s) |
Date of Alleged Crime |
| Maricopa County, AZ | Shannon & Tony Whittle | 1998 |
| The Whittles were convicting of abusing and "shaking" their quadruplet babies, but the babies, who each would fit into an adult hand when born, have medical problems and show symptoms of Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a genetic disorder characterized by bones that break easily with little or no apparent cause. The two were sentenced to 172.5 and 5 years respectively. (AZ Quads) [5/05] | ||
| Los Angeles County, CA | Jose Salazar | Nov 1996 |
| Jose A. Salazar was convicted of murdering Adriana Krygoski, an infant girl, by shaking her to death. Salazar's conviction was due largely to the testimony of deputy coroner James Ribe. In 1999, veteran prosecutor Dinko Bozanich broke the "code of silence" in the DA's office and exposed the fact that Ribe had given false and misleading testimony in a number of baby death cases, making innocent deaths appear to be the result of sexual abuse or violence. Salazar's conviction was vacated in Aug. 2003 based on the prosecution's withholding the deputy coroner’s mistakes, altered findings, and changed testimony in other homicide cases. (LA Weekly) [12/05] | ||
| Orange County, FL | Alan Yurko | Nov 24, 1997 |
| Yurko's 10-week-old son, Alan Jr., was killed by an adverse reaction to a vaccination and by subsequent iatrogenic complications in the hospital. Medical conditions mimic shaken-baby syndrome and Yurko was convicted of his son's murder and aggravated child abuse. The medical examiner who testified at his trial did not check child's medical history and issued an autopsy report that was riddled with mistakes. He later admitted these mistakes in court. In 2004, following a four-day evidentiary hearing, Yurko's first degree murder conviction was overturned. That same day he pled no contest to the manslaughter death of his son and was sentenced to time served. (Free Yurko) (Orlando Weekly) [11/05] | ||
| Coffee County, TN | Andy Houser | June 3, 2003 |
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Andy Houser’s son Ethan died suddenly while in his care. After the medical examiner ruled that that Ethan died of “shaken baby syndrome,” police arrested Houser for Ethan’s murder. Besides the police, Houser’s in-laws and wife soon believed he was guilty. Houser’s first child was born with a chromosome disorder and a hole in his heart, and died days after birth. His wife became pregnant again, but miscarried in the first trimester. Ethan, Houser’s next child, appeared healthy for the first 9 weeks of his life. He then had three bouts of projectile vomiting, after which doctors could find nothing wrong with him. While in Houser’s care, Ethan then stopped breathing. Houser resuscitated him using CPR, but Ethan stopped breathing again while Houser was driving him to the hospital. The hospital declared Ethan dead. Houser’s trial was delayed because the medical examiner died. The prosecution needed time for an assistant to examine the autopsy findings so that a witness could present medical testimony. The assistant found nothing to indicate that Ethan was shaken. Instead he found that Ethan had suffered a series of strokes over time including possibly prior to birth, and that he had died from these. The assistant amended the autopsy findings and charges against Houser were dropped. (Tennessean) [3/07] |
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| Davidson County, TN | Russell Maze | May 3, 1999 |
| Maze’s 5-week-old child, Alex, suffered internal head bleeding on May 3, 1999 consistent with “Shaken Baby Syndrome.” Alex died 18 months later in Oct. 2000. Maze was convicted of Alex’s death and sentenced to 51 years in prison. Recent biomechanical studies have shown “Shaken Baby Syndrome” to be a largely imaginary diagnosis as it is almost impossible for an adult to shake a baby hard enough to cause brain injury. Alex had been born underweight and 6 weeks premature. (www.truthforalexmaze.com) [3/07] | ||
| Dane County, WI | Audrey Edmunds | Oct 16, 1995 |
| Edmunds, a day care provider, was convicted of killing 7-month-old Natalie Beard, who died allegedly from “shaken baby syndrome.” Dr. Robert Huntington, the forensic pathologist who testified against her in 1996, "now unequivocally rejects his prior opinion and its implications and will testify to that effect," according to an appellate brief. New studies show that “shaken baby syndrome,” as previously understood, does not exist. The studies show that if infants could be shaken hard enough to be injured or killed, they would have severe injuries to their necks–injuries Natalie Beard did not have. Hearings on the matter are scheduled in Jan. and Feb. 2007. (TruthInJustice) (Jan. Hearings) [3/07] | ||