Weep for the Children

I was in tears by the time I finished reading this article. The short life of this infant was a horror show gone bad. Everyday I care for my 22-month old daughter. I feed her. I cherish every sound and every movement she makes. I'm full of wonder as I see her grow and learn. I see unconditional love in my daughter's eyes and I am blessed.

And I mourn for this other child who probably still would have loved her aunt if given the chance. Such is the bond and the beauty of children. Such sadness.

A 24-year-old Milwaukee woman was charged today with killing her infant nephew and abusing her two-year-old niece while the children were in her foster care since June.

Officials at the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare have vowed to review the case, which one homicide investigator likened to torture and called one of the worst infant abuse deaths he has seen.

"You have broken bones that aren't being medically tended to. You have burn marks that aren't being medically tended to," said Milwaukee police Lt. Alfonso Morales. "And I'm not talking for a day or two. I'm talking for weeks or months."

Crystal P. Keith is charged with first-degree reckless homicide and physical abuse of a child causing great bodily harm and is being held on $200,000 bail at the Milwaukee County Jail. Keith is married to the brother of the children's biological father. Her husband has not been charged in the case.

According to the complaint, Keith told police who responded to her home in the 3000 block of S. 12th St. on Monday that she repeatedly slapped Christopher L. Thomas in the face for not eating. She said she choked him, hung him upside down and pressed his head on the floor. At some point, the infant's eyes rolled back into his head and he began to vomit. He stopped breathing. She then stuck the handle of a hair brush down Christopher's throat, she said, in order to revive him.

The boy died the next day at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. He suffered blunt force trauma to his head, had a broken right arm, bruises on his thighs, throat and neck, multiple scalp injuries and a lacerated tongue. Keith described to police a number of beatings she had given the child since he began crawling.

I took CPR. I don't recall that hand brush handles were part of any technique for reviving a victim.

"With the police department, medical examiner and other authorities, we are investigating this tragic incident," said Denise Revels Robinson, director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.

"When we learn all of the facts surrounding this situation, we will take all necessary and appropriate action," Robinson said.

I'm sure that's comforting to this little boy.