DEATH OF 7-MONTH-OLD IS RULED A HOMICIDE

By Darrell Glover P-I Reporter

Thursday, December 29, 1994

Section: News, Page: B2

The death of a 7-month-old baby in a Mountlake Terrace day-care center last month was a homicide, the Snohomish County medical examiner has ruled.

Mountlake Terrace police Sgt. Steve Foster said authorities at first thought the child, Benjamin New, had died of sudden infant death syndrome. But an autopsy revealed death was caused by a blow to the left side of the head.

There are many things that could have caused the boy's injury, Foster said, including falling, hitting or bumping against something, or being hit.

``At this point, we are not contemplating filing charges," he said. ``We are continuing to investigate."

The boy was in the care of a 29-year-old woman who operated a licensed day care in her home, Foster said. Police said she told them she found the child unresponsive about noon on Nov. 30 and called 911. The boy was pronounced dead at Stevens Memorial Hospital in Edmonds.

Foster wouldn't comment on whether the boy had other injuries besides the blow to the head.

Medical Examiner Eric Kiesel was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Foster said there are no reports of previous problems or complaints involving the day-care center, which the woman closed after the boy died.

John Henderson, area director with the state Division of Children and Family Services, also said no complaints had been made against the day care, and added that he was unaware of any other problems there.

The woman looked after six children in her home, including two of her own. Foster said she has been questioned ``on more than one occasion" and has an attorney representing her.

http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1994/9412290037.asp

CARE PROVIDER CHARGED IN DEATH OF BABY

By Darrell Glover P-I Reporter

Thursday, March 30, 1995

Section: News, Page: D1

A 29-year-old woman who operated a licensed day-care center in Mountlake Terrace was charged yesterday with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the death of a 7-month-old boy.

Janine Marie Babcock is scheduled to be arraigned April 12 in the Nov. 30 death of Benjamin New, son of Philip and Ramona New of the Bothell area.

Authorities at first thought the baby died of sudden infant death syndrome, but an autopsy revealed death was caused by a blow to the side of the head.

Babcock's day-care center was closed after the death and her license was revoked, Mountlake Terrace Police Sgt. Steve Foster said. Babcock has not been arrested, but Child Protective Services has taken custody of her children, he said. She is allowed visitation.

Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Stern, in an affidavit of probable cause, said baby Benjamin had several head injuries that ``would have required the infliction of substantial external force."

``These injuries would have been caused in an intentional, and not accidental, manner," Stern said.

The medical examiner believes the child would have died almost immediately after being struck, Stern said, adding that Benjamin didn't arrive at the day-care center with injuries.

According to the affidavit, the News took Benjamin to Babcock's between 8 and 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 30, and he was feeling fine. Babcock fed the baby about 9:30, and put him down for a nap about a half hour later.

Babcock said the child cried for a few minutes as usual, then fell asleep, the court papers said. According to the papers, Babcock said that when she went to wake him up about noon, she found the baby unresponsive and ``still"; his color ``was not normal" and he felt ``cool."

Babcock called 911, and the infant was dead when medics arrived.

http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1995/9503300074.asp

TRIAL OPENS IN HEAD INJURY DEATH OF INFANT

By DARRELL GLOVER P-I Reporter

Friday, July 7, 1995

Section: News, Page: C4

A fatal head injury to a 7-month-old boy occurred when he was grabbed and shaken by his day care provider, a prosecutor said yesterday in the opening of the murder trial of a Mountlake Terrace woman accused of killing the infant.

Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Stern said Janine Babcock, 29 ((age)), was upset and shook the child, Benjamin New, because he was crying.

Babcock didn't intend to cause the death of the child, but she did, Stern said.

She is charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the child's death.

Benjamin, son of Philip and Ramona New of the Bothell area, died of a head injury Nov. 30, while he was in the care of Babcock, who operated a day care center in her home. The center was closed and her state license revoked after the death.

Defense attorney Elizabeth Calvin disputed the prosecution's claims and said Benjamin had suffered a ``pattern of injuries" before Babcock began caring for him in October, almost two months before he died.

Calvin said that the medical examiner was wrong in his ruling that the child died of a blunt-force blow to the head. She said Benjamin died of a blood clot on his spine and that the clot could have been caused by an accidental injury.

Police investigating the death ignored the pattern of injuries to the child because of the medical examiner's faulty finding and didn't investigate other people who had cared for Benjamin, Calvin said.

Philip New testified that Benjamin had bumped his head several times on separate occasions, but said he suffered only minor injuries. He said he bumped the child's head against a door jamb once. The child also bumped his head when his car seat tipped over at a neighbor's house; again when his mother was bathing him in the bathtub; and again when a child hit him with a toy.

Benjamin was fine when he was left at Babcock's home the day that he died, New testified.

According to court papers, Babcock found Benjamin unresponsive about noon and called 911. Medics found the child dead.

At first it was thought the infant had died of sudden infant death syndrome. But an autopsy revealed death was caused by a blow to the side of the head.

http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1995/9507070081.asp

JURY GETS CASE IN BEATING DEATH OF BABY BENJAMIN

By DARRELL GLOVER P-I Reporter

Wednesday, July 12, 1995

Section: News, Page: B4

A Snohomish County Superior Court jury will resume deliberations this morning in the trial of a Mountlake Terrace woman accused in the death of a 7-month-old boy at her day care center.

Janine Babcock, 29, is on trial on three charges: murder in the second-degree, first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter.

Jurors, who received the case shortly after noon yesterday after a 3 1/2-day trial, can find her guilty on one of the charges or innocent on all of them.

According to court papers, Babcock found Benjamin New unresponsive about noon Nov. 30 and called 911. Medics found the child dead.

Personnel at a hospital first thought that Benjamin had died of sudden death syndrome. But Snohomish County Medical Examiner Eric Kiesel, who conducted an autopsy, said Benjamin died of a blow to the side of the head.

In closing arguments yesterday, Snohomish County Prosecutor Paul Stern said Benjamin died within minutes of a blow to the head with ``enough force to cause the brain to shut down."

Stern, in his opening statement, said that Babcock was upset with Benjamin's crying and shook him, causing him to strike his head on an object. Benjamin died within minutes of being hit.

But defense attorney Jeff Robinson said in his closing argument that a blow to the left side of the baby's head occurred a week before he died.

Robinson said ``Benjamin was being injured long before Janine Babcock knew he existed."

http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1995/9507120044.asp

WOMAN ACQUITTED IN DEATH OF BABY

By DARRELL GLOVER P-I Reporter

Thursday, July 13, 1995

Section: News, Page: B1

A Mountlake Terrace woman accused of killing a 7-month-old boy left in her care was acquitted yesterday.

A Snohomish County Superior Court jury found Janine Babcock, 29, innocent of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter in the Nov. 30 death of Benjamin New in her home.

Babcock burst into tears and hugged defense attorneys Elizabeth Calvin and Jeff Robinson when the verdict was read. She declined to comment afterward.

``There is very little joy because a 7-month-old died," Robinson said. ``That is the overwhelming tragedy in this case, and we are just glad the tragedy didn't go any further (by resulting in a conviction)."

Deputy Prosecutor Paul Stern accused Babcock of shaking the child, causing his head to hit an object. He said Babcock didn't mean to cause Benjamin's death, but she did.

Court papers said Babcock found Benjamin unresponsive about noon on Nov. 30 and called 911. Medics found the child dead.

Snohomish County Medical Examiner Eric Kiesel said an autopsy showed Benjamin died within minutes of a blow to the head.

Philip New, Benjamin's father, was visibly upset with the verdict and hurried out of the courtroom with his wife.

Later at their Bothell home, New and his wife, Ramona, said they were in shock.

``It just doesn't make sense," Ramona New said.

``At the very least, we thought she would have been found guilty of second-degree manslaughter."

Jurors declined to comment on their innocent verdict.

Meanwhile, the News have filed a wrongful death suit against Babcock. Philip New said he expects more to come out about his son's death in the civil suit than was allowed in the criminal trial because the rules of evidence are different.

Philip New said he didn't want Babcock to be convicted of second-degree murder or first-degree manslaughter, but he felt she should have been convicted of second-degree manslaughter because her negligence caused his son's death.

``We don't know why he's dead," Ramona New said of Benjamin, adding that he wasn't neglected or abused at home. She said only Babcock knows what caused his death.

``There was nothing wrong with Benjamin that day (Nov. 30)," she said. ``He was fine."

Defense attorneys speculated that medical evidence and Kiesel's testimony might have influenced jurors.

Kiesel testified during the 3 1/2-day trial that a blow to the left side of Benjamin's head also caused an injury to the right side of his head, leading to death within minutes.

Kiesel returned a day later and testified that he had done more studies and concluded that there were injuries to Benjamin's head that had occurred before the day he died.

While it was not explained if there was a new injury that killed Benjamin, Kiesel maintained in his testimony that the child died within minutes of a blow to the head.

``The only true victim in this whole thing is Benjamin," Philip New said. ``Nothing can bring him back."

Added Ramona New: ``We won't have any more precious memories of Benjamin again."

http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1995/9507130035.asp

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