Boy, 9, Charged in Baby's Fatal Beating
- From: "tiny dancer" <tinydancer357@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:26:11 -0400
Boy, 9, Charged in Baby's Fatal Beating
By MATTHEW VERRINDER
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - An 11-month-old boy was fatally beaten at a home day
center, and authorities have charged a 9-year-old boy also attending the day
care with the death and the center's owner with putting the child in harm's
way.
Authorities said the older boy repeatedly hit Tahir Francis in the head a
week ago, causing skull fractures. Tahir was taken to a hospital and died
about six hours later while undergoing surgery.
``I want to know what kind of home the 9-year-old comes from,'' father
Tafawah Francis told The Associated Press on Thursday. ``He doesn't
understand, you can't do these things to a baby.''
The child was buried on Wednesday, the Francis said.
``Right now, it's still devastating, and I don't know when it will not be
devastating,'' he said. ``We're trying to cope as best we can.''
Francis said that while he doesn't blame the center's owner, Beverly Bryant,
64, for his son's death, he does think she tried to cover up what happened.
``I found out about the bleeding in my son's brain, and I asked her what
happened and she wouldn't tell me,'' Francis said. ``She knew and she tried
to cover it up.''
He said Bryant, who operated the licensed day care center out of her
basement in Woodbridge in central New Jersey, called him at work to say his
son was being rushed to the hospital with head injuries. After that, Francis
said, Bryant would say nothing.
Bryant has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child and was
ordered to close the center. Her lawyer, Christian Fleming, said she pleaded
not guilty Wednesday.
The 9-year-old has been charged with the juvenile equivalent of aggravated
manslaughter and has been released on house arrest to his parents.
Bryant's lawyer said that ``things were moving quickly'' when she found out
about the beating and that ``maybe something went wrong with the
communication'' between her and Francis' father when she called him.
``She called 911 immediately, she called (Tahir's) mother, and she called
neighbors to help,'' Fleming said. ``This was a medical emergency that was
occurring.''
Fleming said that Bryant had watched over the 9-year-old for the past seven
years and that he had never shown signs of violence. ``From everything I
understand, he was just a normal kid,'' Fleming said.
Fleming also said his client initially thought the toddler was having a
seizure and ``didn't suspect any sort of assault.''
Tafawah Francis said he and his wife started taking Tahir to Bryant's
facility five months ago after researching day care centers in the area.
Originally from Jamaica, he and Tahir's mother lived in New York City before
moving to Carteret a few years ago, he said.
``She did take good care of our son,'' Tafawah Francis said. ``This was the
only thing that ever happened that indicated she couldn't take care of our
son, and it was a fatal problem.''
Bryant's husband, Stanley Bryant, is a case worker in Middlesex County for
the state Division of Youth and Family Services. Spokeswoman Kate Bernyk
said Bryant has worked for the agency since September 2003.
The state office of the public defender will investigate to avoid a conflict
of interest, Bernyk said.
In 2003, also in Woodbridge, a 10-year-old boy was accused of luring a
3-year-old boy from a library and bludgeoning him with a baseball bat. The
younger boy died the next day. The 10-year-old pleaded guilty to the murder
and was sentenced to up to 18 years in the custody of the state juvenile
justice system.
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