New Evidence In Georgia Infant’s Death Points To Parents, Not Two Black Teens

[Horse with no Name]

Anyone truly surprised at this?

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/24/new-evidence-in-georgia-infants-death-points-to-parents-not-two-black-teens/

On July 16th further evidence was released to the public that implicates the parents involvement in the child’s death. Police tests immediately following the shooting revealed gun powder on the hands of both Sherry West and the baby’s father, Louis Santiago. Santiago claimed that he was nowhere near the scene of the shooting. This evidence too, was withheld for months, until the defense attorney in the case demanded that it be released in mid July.

When we look at the Zimmerman case and the Baby Santiago case side by side, what we see is how racism plays out in the United States. When a white man openly admitted to shooting and killing an unarmed black teenager, the public immediately jumped to his defense. On the other hand, when two black teenagers were accused of shooting and killing a white child, the public immediately cried out for their executions. Zimmerman was guilty, the two teens may very well be innocent, but public perceptions about these two cases shows that what matters most is the skin color of the accused killers.

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/24/new-evidence-in-georgia-infants-death-points-to-parents-not-two-black-teens/#ixzz2a0YB7qZM


During the height of the George Zimmerman trial, when media attention was focused heavily on Stand Your Ground Laws and the question of whether or not a white man would be found not guilty of killing an unarmed African-American teenager, the shooting death of 13 month old Georgia infant Antonio Santigio, also made national media headlines. After the mother, Sherry West, told police that her baby was killed by two black teenagers, the right-wing went crazy with this story. Meme’s about the killing could be found on every social media web-site, public page and in every group where the Trayvon Martin story was discussed. Most of these meme’s showed photos of the infant side by side with one of two accused African-American teenagers.

For months, right wingers have levelled accusations of reverse racism against the President, the DOJ and even the media. There have been outcries of disparity against white people because no prominent politicians spoke out about the case, no protests were held, it was not declared a hate crime, the teens weren’t sent to Gitmo to face terrorism charges and especially because the two were not immediately sentenced to execution. To Republicans and racists, the case appeared to be anecdotal proof of everything they believe about black people; that they are scary, they are dangerous -they are baby murdering monsters. The case was repeatedly cited to “prove” that people like George Zimmerman have every right to gun them down black kids, like Trayvon Martin, at will.

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/24/new-evidence-in-georgia-infants-death-points-to-parents-not-two-black-teens/#ixzz2a0XE7Ir8

[Ilsa]

1. Thank you for posting this. I suspect we'll hear

crickets from the RW bigots on this.

[Catherina]

14. And total crickets from some creep here who attacked people for saying Sherry West's story was OFF.

One of the original DU threads about this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022552516

Updated: 7/16 4:03 pm

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- Louis Santiago is now locked up in the Glynn County Detention Center along with the teen charged with murdering his 13-month-old son, Antonio.

...

According to the state's forensic report obtained by Action News, Santiago had a small quantity of gunshot residue on his hands the day their son was killed in March.

Defense attorneys filed a court discovery motion claiming " Santiago, a convicted felon, had discharged a firearm at or about the same time that his son was shot."

But West insists she was walking her baby by herself when two teens, De'Marquise Elkins and Dominique Lang, tried to rob her at gunpoint on a Brunswick sidewalk, shot her in the leg and baby Antonio in his head.

"My baby was shot. I was shot near my head and of course there's going to be GSR (gunshot residue) everywhere," said West.

...

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/content/topstories/story/Sherry-West-says-murdered-babys-father-went-nuts/faabQKMeIkiKfAddU9x7Tg.cspx

And yeah creep, you know who you are. Kiss my fucking grits for your vile and dishonest attacks.

[EOTE]

17. Yep. A lot of those right wingers are on this very site.

I, too, was attacked for suggesting this story was off. A lot of self-righteous assholes telling me what an awful person I was for questioning this story. Of course we'll not hear from them again regarding this.

[Catherina]

18. I put that self-righteous creep on ignore, and they're never coming off. Sorry you were attacked.

DU is much better for it too. People that vile don't deserve the time of day.

[Horse with no Name]

22. Yikes

that was pretty nasty.

[cali]

42. I got more shit over saying that than I've gotten about anything else

I've ever said on DU.

[Catherina]

45. I remember that thread

http://sync.democraticunderground.com/10022567828


Good morning Cali

[allin99]

50. Looks like a lot of people were attacking the persons questioning the account...

and not 1 of them has come out to apologize. people are ridiculous.

common behavior though, very few people can admit that they were wrong.

the trippy part is how many people used "the boys have been arrested" as absolute proof that the mother had nothing to do with it. ???

[Blue_Tires]

29. Sadly I'm not holding my breath for an exoneration...

Most police forces and prosecuting attorneys are inept/lazy/corrupt, and once they get "their man", they tend to follow through all the way to the electric chair, regardless of what evidence turns up...

[Puzzledtraveller]

2. What are the particulars of the case

I thought there were witnesses.

[ceonupe]

3. Addictinginfo is short on info and facts

And this would not be the first time.

At first I thought this story was crazy but then when the arrests and confession came I was like whoa. But then remember the Central Park Five and how the police were able to get them to admit to a crime they did not commit.

What will be of good note in this case will be forensic evidence. And the fact that some people have gun residue on their hands may not mean anything besides they shot a gun in the past few days or it could mean they did the shooting themselfs.

[Horse with no Name]

6. Here is a link to CBS

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57594017-504083/antonio-santiago-update-gunshot-residue-found-on-slain-ga-babys-parents-report-says/

While the fact that Sherry West, the baby's mother, was also shot during her son's killing could explain why residue was found on her, it is unclear how or why the baby's father, Louis Santiago, would have been exposed to gunshot residue.

A conclusion from the state forensic report says, "This supports the possibility that [Louis Santiago] discharged a firearm, was in close proximity to a firearm upon discharge, or came into contact with an item whose surface bears GSR [gunshot residue]."

According to the station, Louis Santiago is currently in jail on charges of aggravated stalking. An arrest warrant from June 6 reportedly says Santiago was stalking Sherry West, in violation of police orders. He was reportedly convicted of the same charges in another case from 2009.

West claims Santiago "went nuts" in the months following their son's murder and violated a restraining order, according to the station.

[ceonupe]

9. Way better article

I hope they get down to the bottom of this.

But something is not right here. I wonder how this will end

[kelliekat44]

4. Has this been reported anywhere else? MSM says nothing about it. nt

[Horse with no Name]

7. Post 6. n/t

[bunnies]

5. Hannitys going to be very upset to learn this.

I heard him blathering on and on about it the other night in the car. I'll be holding my breath waiting for his correction. Yeah, right.

[kestrel91316]

8. My RW cousin who posted the screed about the baby has nothing to say so far about this

evidence against the parents............she was so offended that Trayvon was the center of everyone's attention and not this kid, because you know............(IOW the NERVE of that black kid to get all the air time).

[Horse with no Name]

10. I know

I have seen several that breathlessly pointed to this case...what now? LOL

[maryellen99]

43. There is a case here in the Detroit area that happened a week ago

Where two white dollar store employees were killed and a black man was arrested (who was a convicted sex offender) and white people posting on our local media fb pages are 1000% it is a hate crime even it is coming out that the person wanted to date the female victim and was stalking her.

[MrScorpio]

11. If the parents really did kill their kid...

Then it looks as if they really never learned the lessons of both Charles Stuart and Susan Smith.

[Horse with no Name]

13. Yep...but understand...it is Alabama...:( n/t

[Ilsa]

35. Not Alabama; Georgia.

Very southern part of Georgia.

[Horse with no Name]

44. for some reason

those states blur together for me...
thanks for the correction!

[Ilsa]

47. Understandable, but I think GA excels

over Alabama in some things like wealth, taxation, and education. And as bad as racial relations can be in the South, Atlanta is considered "the Capital of the South", and it is a very integrated and diverse city, from what I've read.

I'm willing to accept corrections here, though, because it's been a while sine I've looked at numbers on the two states.

[Zen Democrat]

51. There's Atlanta .... and then there's the rest of Georgia.

I happened to visit Brunswick two years ago and was appalled by the blatant racism ... in the supermarkets, restaurants and on the street. There were a lot of "crackers" in this town who used the "n" word out loud in public and were proud of it.

[CakeGrrl]

19. Or maybe they figured they could STILL make it work. The public sure bought it.

[malaise]

12. Holy Effin' shite

At least two DUers were suspicious. One was Cali

[JI7]

15. does anyone remember what evidence there was against the teens

which resulted in their arrests ?

[Horse with no Name]

16. I found this

Antonio Santiago, 13-months-old, is shot while being strolled by his mother, Sherry West, on a quiet, tree-lined street in Brunswick, Georgia. The distraught mother claims that two young Black men tried to rob her and when she said that she didn’t have any money, one of them shot her in the leg and ear then coldly walked over to the stroller and fatally shot her baby boy in the face.

911 callers could be heard screaming as they tell the dispatcher that the baby had been shot and his mother had him on the ground trying to perform CPR. One man told the dispatcher that baby Antonio was not breathing and that he had been shot “right between the eyes.”

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. The aunt of the younger gave them a ride, says she saw the elder had a gun

and reported it to the police. Elkins was then picked out of 24 pictures by the mother, but she didn't think the younger one was the right one:

"When he got in the car, he laid down in the backseat," said Obley. "He kept looking around, peeping up and I said, 'Boy, what you doing? You skipping school?' You know, he said 'No ma'am.'"

When she started asking for more questions, Obley said Elkins cut the ride short.

"When he got out of the car, he had something hid up in his pants. It was a gun," said Obley.
...
Even though he wouldn't talk to her, Obley decided to talk to police. While it's hard to see her nephew behind bars, Obley said she feels she did the right thing.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/Brunswick-mother-certain-suspect-shot-toddler/-/475880/19439744/-/item/1/-/8t4s9y/-/index.html

West expressed doubts regarding the 14-year-old who was arrested, however, noting that the younger of the two boys she encountered was a “little boy” who “did not look 14.”
...
Elkins, the 17-year-old arrested, was reportedly selected by West out of 24 mug shots police showed her.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/two-teenagers-arrested-13-month-old-baby-fatally-shot-in-the-face-while-on-stroll-with-mother/

A gun was found, and the family has been accused of disposing of it:

Women accused of trying to dispose of gun used in killing

Karimah and Sabrina Elkins, 36 and 19 respectively, are charged with trying to dispose of the gun investigators believe De'Marquise Elkins (pictured below on right) used to kill 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. Police said the women disposed of the gun in a saltwater pond about two miles away from the killing.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/Mom-sister-not-granted-bond-in-child-killing/-/475880/19522732/-/ldu28x/-/index.html

[yardwork]

25. That doesn't provide any real evidence that the boys were involved in shooting a baby.

It sounds like they were up to something, but it might not have been what they are accused of doing. The aunt might have been wrong. It wouldn't be the first time that teens guilty of breaking a law or a rule got accused of doing something much more serious.

The family might have disposed of the gun because they thought that the boys had killed the baby. The family might have been wrong.

[Igel]

28. Eh.

Didn't see a reason to form an opinion before.

Don't see a reason to form one now.

Residue on the father's hands is suspicious but ambiguous. Ballistics on the gun should link it to the bullet, uless it's too fragmented, or show that it's unrelated (the kid might have had a gun but it wasn't used in that instance); other witnesses--it appears there should be some--are involved.

Wait. See.

[OldRedneck]

49. However . . .

The father claimed that he was nowhere near the scene when the shooting occurred.

GSR indicates he was there and may have done the shooting.

[JI7]

39. can they do testing to see if the bullets came from that gun ?

[LanternWaste]

20. This new turn will certainly frustrate many right-wing hacks and humpers.

This new turn will certainly frustrate many right-wing hacks and humpers... bless their little hearts.

[yardwork]

23. Some people here on DU who were suspicious about the mother's story were attacked viciously.

iirc, a grown daughter of the mother told police that she thought that her mother might have killed the baby.

This case is starting to look like the one where the white guy killed his wife on a bridge and blamed it on black men. And Susan Smith killing her children and blaming it on a black man. Both those people were eventually convicted of murder, but not after half the country believed their outrageous racist lies.

[Blue_Tires]

30. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop in the Lisa Irwin case, too...

That mom's story never made any sense whatsoever...

[yardwork]

23. dupe

[OneGrassRoot]

26. Please keep us posted. I don't expect to see anything else on MSM...

and, yes, the right-wingers stopped sharing this latest grasp for a comparison when I pointed out the latest.

[BlueStreak]

27. I bet those "two black teens" were the same ones that killed Jon Benet Ramsey

[Rebellious Republican]

32. BlueStreak, you are missing the boat here at DU. It is only popular to post examples

of stories occurring south of the Mason/Dixon Line and east of the Mississippi. Come on, get on board dude or dudette as the case may be.

Six-year-old JonBenet was found dead in the basement of her family's upscale Boulder, Colorado home.

[BlueStreak]

33. But they were from Georgia

I bet those "two black teens" carjacked their way from Georgia to Colorado to kill the girl.

(Or, maybe the Ramsey parents did it.)

[Rebellious Republican]

34. You may be on to something there.

[Hekate]

36. Reminds me of Susan Smith, who blamed "a black man" for the death of her two little ones

She herself strapped them into their car seats and sent the car into a body of water (lake, river) then claimed carjacking.

What's really sick is that someone here at DU flashed out an angry comment about black thugs "shooting white babies in their faces" and I didn't know what the hell s/he was talking about, but I sure had a feeling it was a bogus accusation from someplace. Now I know.

[REP]

37. I remember bringing up Charles Stuart and Diane Downs when that story broke ...

[JI7]

38. Father of murdered baby charged with aggravated stalking (story from 7/12/13)

The father of Antonio Santiago is in jail on charges of aggravated stalking, according to a warrant obtained by Action News.

ut an arrest warrant from June 6 says Louis Santiago was stalking West and is now in jail. Police say Louis Santiago was found standing on her porch, in violation of police orders.

Santiago is charged with Aggravated Stalking. He was convicted of the same charges in another case from 2009.

That 2009 conviction is also cited in a motion filed by lawyers for baby Antonio's accused killer, DeMarquis Elkins. The motion also asks a judge to put the full GBI report from the March shooting on the record.

The GBI found gun shot residue on both Sherry West and Louis Santiago shortly after the killing.

The fact that West was shot during the robbery attempt could explain why investigators found residue on her.

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/content/topstories/story/Murdered-babys-father-in-jail-on-unrelated-charge/5mU6-uadKkOD-fSX9avckw.cspx

another thing i remember after the shooting was the Father blamed the Mother more than the teen boys for the baby being killed. i took it as a parent who was in greif. but maybe there is more to it ?

and they explain the residue on the mother by saying it could be because she was shot. but why was it on the father ? he was not with her then .

[Kennah]

40. At least two ideas concerning the father

#1 - It's my understanding that a positive test for GSR (gun shot residue) can be a false positive and actually be from automotive or industrial sources.

#2 - Father was arrested for stalking, so it's possible he was involved in an unrelated gun crime about the time of the baby's murder.

[Kennah]

41. The case is looking more and more odd but ...

... aside from asking about the insurance check, still nothing really clear and convincing that the mother was involved. Impossible to know what goes through one's mind when their kid gets murdered. She might have been asking because she wanted to give the baby a proper burial since it seems she's at the bottom of the economic strata.

I am also more than a little fuzzy about the connection between the two accused and this crime.

[RebelOne]

46. Here is another senseless killing of a child in my state.

Arrests made in shooting death of 13-year-old

FOREST PARK, Ga. — Police confirmed to Channel 2 Action News early Thursday morning that they arrested two people in the shooting death of 13-year-old Steven Galindo, of Clayton County.

Police said the suspected shooter, Gilberto Gomez, 18, confessed to the crime and revealed who he was with. He and Sergio Alvear, 18, were arrested on murder charges.

Channel 2’s Darryn Moore questioned Gomez as police escorted the suspects to the county jail in the pre-dawn hours, but he didn’t want to discuss the case.

“All I got to say is, ‘Get out of my face.’ That’s all I got to say,” Gomez told Moore.

Galindo was shot and killed Monday night after police say two gunmen approached him and his sister, Samaria Diaz, at the Bradford Ridge apartments where they live. Galindo was working on his sister’s pickup truck at the time.

[dionysus]

48. very sketchy... but what accounts for the "murder weapon" deal?

[Iggo]

52. This is going to upset the people who hate black people.

[wild bird]

53. So, what do you all have to say now?

[Horse with no Name]

54. that a Black man can't receive a fair trial in Georgia?

Not sure what else you would want said?

[wild bird]

55. Despite the overwhelming evidence against them

you still insist they're innocent and that the mother had something to do with the toddlers death?