Posted on Wed, Apr. 22, 2009

By JUAN A. LOZANO
The Associated Press

HOUSTON — A 12-year-old who had been suspended from school for fighting killed a 10-month-old boy at a home where several young children were left unsupervised, officials said Wednesday.

The 12-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, may be charged as a juvenile with capital murder. He is not eligible for the death penalty but could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted. A judge Wednesday ordered him held in juvenile detention.

The 10-month old, Deandre Washington, was injured March 12 and died two days later at a hospital, said Child Protective Services spokeswoman Estella Olguin.

Authorities are still investigating the case and have several unanswered questions, including how many children were in the house when the mothers of the two sets of siblings left them alone and whether the 12-year-old, who was the oldest in the group, was specifically left in charge, Olguin said.

It is legal to leave children alone as long as one child is 12 or older.

The boy was not in school that day because he had been suspended for fighting, authorities have said.

Deandre’s mother first told CPS investigators that she was home when she heard the baby cry and discovered he had fallen off the couch.

But later she and Tawanna Scott, the mother of the 12-year-old, changed their stories, telling authorities that they had left the children alone at the house.

The 12-year-old has nine siblings, ranging in age from 5 months to 16 years old. Eight of the 10 children, including the 12-year-old, live with their mother. The other two, a 14-year-old and a 2-year-old, live with their fathers.

Deandre’s mother has three other children.

The two mothers came home after the 12-year-old boy called them to say Deandre was not breathing, calling 911 after they got home, Olguin said.

"It’s believed [the baby] was thrown. We’re not sure how far he was thrown," Olguin said. "Somehow he was thrown on the floor and received his injuries. The other kids said they saw him do that."

Deandre’s skull was fractured in two places, and he suffered bleeding in the brain and internal injuries to his pancreas, spleen and liver, among his other injuries.

CPS scrutiny

Scott told Houston television station KHOU-TV that police told her the boy confessed, but that her son denied that to her.

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Scott were unsuccessful Wednesday. Authorities have not released the name of Deandre’s mother.

CPS has not taken custody of any of the other children.

Both mothers have come under CPS scrutiny before. Deandre’s mother was investigated in 2004 for not following through with medical care for one of her children. That investigation was not completed because the mother could not be located. The 12-year-old’s mother had been investigated by CPS after a report that her children had been left home alone, but CPS decided she wasn’t at fault.

http://www.star-telegram.com/crime_courts/story/1334043.html

Emphasis added by H4K Editor