Boyfriend disputes murder charge against a mother, 16
- From: "tiny dancer" <tinydancer@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 13:46:12 -0500
***Truong's defense attorney said that no one will know what caused the
child's death until the autopsy is complete. Khyle had been diagnosed with
asthma or bronchitis and had been prescribed a nebulizer to help him
breathe.***
Sounds to me like this could be an over-zealous prosecution.
Boyfriend disputes murder charge against a mother, 16
WORCESTER -- The boyfriend of a 16-year-old mother accused of suffocating
her baby boy disputed the police version of the child's death in an
interview today.
Police allege that Nga Truong used a teddy bear to suffocate 1-year-old
Khyle on Sunday morning. Her boyfriend, Edwin Vasquez, 17, said today that
he was sleeping in the same room as Khyle when the alleged crime occurred.
"I didn't hear anything, and I was sleeping right next to him," Vasquez said
in an interview outside Worcester District Court where Truong pleaded not
guilty at her arraignment on a murder charge.
During questioning by detectives on Monday, Vasquez said, police told him
that Truong admitting killing her son. Vasquez disputed that confession this
morning as he spoke calmly in a soft, matter-of-fact voice.
"That's impossible," Vasquez said with his hands stuffed in pockets. "Crazy.
I know they pressured her to say that."
Truong's attorney, Edward P. Ryan Jr., said today that her client was
subjected to a lengthy interrogation without her lawyer or legal guardian.
Ryan entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of Truong, who was ordered held
without bail. Prosecutors did not describe the allegations in detail during
today's arraignment.
Truong' face was red from crying and she kept her head cast toward the floor
during the brief proceeding. The junior at South High Community School has
long brown hair and wore a T-shirt and blue jeans.
"She was not the instrument of death," said Ryan.
The 1-year-old was found at the family's home on Henderson Avenue at 11:15
a.m. on Sunday after a relative called 911 for the child, who was not
breathing, police said. He was in respiratory and cardiac arrest. Police
performed CPR before emergency personnel arrived and started advanced
cardiac life support.
The child was taken to St. Vincent Hospital, where he was pronounced dead
less than an hour after the initial call, police said.
Police did not release the name of the teenage mother when she was arrested
on Monday and charged with murder after being interviewed by police. Vasquez
identified her as Truong.
Vasquez said that he was not Khyle's father, and that he and Truong had been
dating for seven months and she was pregnant with his son.
Police allege that the mother smothered the baby with a teddy bear in a fit
of frustration because he was ill, an official said last night, speaking on
the condition of anonymity. The death, the first alleged homicide of a child
in Worcester this year, is being investigated by Worcester Police.
An autopsy was conducted on the child yesterday morning at UMass Memorial
Medical Center; results are pending. The child showed swelling of the eyes,
an indication of strangulation, according to the police official.
Vasquez said today that he lay down in the same room on Sunday morning as
Khyle, who had gone down for a nap after drinking a bottle of whole milk.
The child had been running a fever, Vasquez said, and the night before they
had given him 0.5 ml of infant Tylenol.
At about 11 a.m., Vasquez said he awoke to his girlfriend screaming, "He's
not breathing! He's not breathing!"
Khyle was lifeless with blue lips and a gray head, Vasquez said. Both Truong
and her mother tried to give him CPR and they called 911, he said. Truong
rode with Khyle in the ambulance to the hospital.
Police questioned Vasquez and Truong on Sunday afternoon. "They were asking
us what we were doing with the baby," Vasquez said.
At noon on Monday, officers picked up Vasquez and Truong and took them back
to the police station for more questions, Vasquez said. It was than that
officers told him that Truong had confessed.
"I didn't believe that at all," Vasquez said.
Truong's defense attorney said that no one will know what caused the child's
death until the autopsy is complete. Khyle had been diagnosed with asthma or
bronchitis and had been prescribed a nebulizer to help him breathe. Asked
whether Truong maintained her innocence, Ryan was clear.
"Yes she does."
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/12/boyfriend_dispu.html
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