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Update: Baby-flinging mom says it was a mistake
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Chytoria Graham, the Pennsylvania mother who used her 4-week-old baby to batter her boyfriend has cleared everything up -- she had been drinking and didn't mean to grab the baby. Deangelo Troop, Graham's boyfriend and the father of the baby, says "People are trying to make a big deal about it, but she did not do it on purpose. ... It was just a mistake." Graham said that during the argument, she "snapped" and didn't realize that she had grabbed her son and hit Troop with him.
I guess, if you were drinking and didn't realize what you were doing, it's okay? I'm sorry, but I don't buy it. I once saw a guy speed into the back of a car stopped at an intersection, then stumble out of his pickup, unsure why the police were surrounding him. The other driver was carried away on a stretcher. I also watched as a man drove his minivan down the wrong side of the street, after injuring several people, looking as if he were doing nothing more than parking carefully in a tight spot.
If you make the choice to drink -- and believe you me, I've done my fair share of heavy drinking -- you still have to accept responsibility for your actions while intoxicated. That means you prepare -- you take the bus to the party, you plan to stay the night, you arrange for someone else to watch the kids while you have your drunken brawl. Sure, it was a mistake, but it's a mistake I hope she pays dearly for. What do you think -- would you let her off the hook?
I guess, if you were drinking and didn't realize what you were doing, it's okay? I'm sorry, but I don't buy it. I once saw a guy speed into the back of a car stopped at an intersection, then stumble out of his pickup, unsure why the police were surrounding him. The other driver was carried away on a stretcher. I also watched as a man drove his minivan down the wrong side of the street, after injuring several people, looking as if he were doing nothing more than parking carefully in a tight spot.
If you make the choice to drink -- and believe you me, I've done my fair share of heavy drinking -- you still have to accept responsibility for your actions while intoxicated. That means you prepare -- you take the bus to the party, you plan to stay the night, you arrange for someone else to watch the kids while you have your drunken brawl. Sure, it was a mistake, but it's a mistake I hope she pays dearly for. What do you think -- would you let her off the hook?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
10-10-2006 @ 6:39PM
ann adams said...They have AA meetings in jail. Often with cookies.
One of the first things we learn (other than to stay away from the first drink) is to take responsibility for our actions - drunk or sober; past or present.
She can't go back and fix her battered child. She can take responsibility by accepting whatever punishment is handed out.
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10-10-2006 @ 6:47PM
my float said...It would be a complete joke if she was let off the hook. Swinging a baby is not an accident. Nor is it an accident. She has damaged the child and goodness knows what she did to her other kids. Why should children have to grow up in that kind of an environment, irrespective of whether or not it's their parents. Keep her away from the kids.
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10-10-2006 @ 7:09PM
lin said...I don't buy it. ALso what are you doing drinking like that when you have a 4 week old?
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10-10-2006 @ 7:12PM
Amy said...When I first read that story I could NOT believe it. Swung her BABY at her boyfriend?? She's insane!! She obviously needs serious mental help. After a lengthy prison term. I wonder though, if she gets her kids right back (because she probably will) and something happens again, who will be at fault?
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10-10-2006 @ 10:20PM
Belinda said...Don't buy it! You shouldn't be drinking with a BABY in the house ANYWAY! I have only seen my mom drunk ONCE in my entire life and I was 18! I have only had ONE drink (barely give me a buzz, I drink the drinks for the taste, not the after effects) when my daughter was in the house and not until she was nearly a year old and she had gone to bed!
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10-10-2006 @ 11:12PM
Nina said...She should NOT get off!! She should be in jail where she belongs. I don't buy that "I was drunk"/I snapped/I'm an idiot excuse for one second. If she was truly sorry, she would just except her punishment, go to jail and while she's there use that time to get the help she needs. She obviously has serious issues.
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10-11-2006 @ 2:15AM
Maria P. said...I think I speak for everyone when I say "friggin' idiot!"
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10-11-2006 @ 9:15AM
thordora said...There is something seriously wrong with anyone who defends someone for "accidentally using a baby as a weapon."
I mean really, what next, the earth is flat?
I'd be looking at BOTH parties regarding the treatment of the other children.
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10-11-2006 @ 9:55AM
Michelle said...Should she be let off? F*** no. I am so sorry for the "life" that child will now have.
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10-11-2006 @ 10:12AM
VL said...I really can't believe the bf's statement! If my dh injured our children in a drunken rage, I would be grateful that he would finally be forced to get help. I would be appalled if people WEREN'T making this a big deal.
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10-11-2006 @ 10:21AM
VL said...Okay, re-reading my comment, I should clarify that I would not be grateful for the "accident" because it would finally force a spouse to seek help, but that I would not defend his/her actions, as this woman's bf did. Rather, I would want them to get help. Sheesh, I should really read my comments more critically from now on.
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10-11-2006 @ 12:06PM
Christine said...I wonder if she is PPD -- 4 weeks old and Drunk...?? Is this a normal occurance???
I think she should be held accountable... but also be given help if that is the case. Not saying it is... but if this hasnt happened before, and she has other children.. then it is a flag to me. But if anything like it had.. then off with her head! She should have a tight rope to walk either way.
Poor Baby. I cant even imagine.
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10-11-2006 @ 6:16PM
Ginny said...If she was "in charge" of caring for that baby, she shouldn't have been so $hit faced anyway! She's nothin but a neglectful, abusive drunk and is not fit to own a roach as a pet.
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10-12-2006 @ 11:24AM
Angela said...Pardon my superficial response, but this woman is an idiot. I teach high school, am raising my 13 year old niece, and have seen more logic out of 5th graders. Sorry if I sound harsh :)
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10-12-2006 @ 7:59PM
Luna said...She made a mistake?? That is an understatment if I ever heard one. She could have killed that poor baby! NO I do not think she should be let off the hook or have any special treatment. She needs help badly and those children need to be with someone who will care for them not drink and use a newborn as a weapon.
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10-13-2006 @ 11:56AM
Icy said...A mistake is watching American Idol. A mistake is opening the door without looking while parked on a street, resulting in damage to the door.
When you swing your baby by the feet, that's not a mistake.
She got that black eye AFTEr she injured her baby, which means that she was the one who started the real physical fighting.
I wouldn't have stopped with a black eye. She'd be in the friggin hospital in a bodycast if she threw an infant at me.
I don't condone violence against women. But honestly, at this point she's not a woman. She's not even an animal - animals don't do that to their young. That makes her fair game.
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10-13-2006 @ 2:39PM
Eden said...I don't think my priority would have been to beat her. My priority would have been to ensure the safety of the children and my own safety.
Has it occurred to anyone that maybe he's a battered partner? His response sounds classic to me. It's just that we usually hear such nonsense coming from the mouths of female victims, not male.
No she doesn't get a free pass b/c she was drunk. Had she killed that baby, I'm sure the charge would be murder, not manslaughter. She chose to get drunk, she chose to injure that child. This was no accident.
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10-17-2006 @ 10:46PM
gr8face said...I bet she accidently got pregnant too.
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12-10-2006 @ 8:29PM
nelly said...do you think she'll get off with the boyfriend hit the baby while trying to hit her ? but remeber they have her 91 call and a statement from one of her other children that was 8 yrs. old. who said she did it .and will he be charge instead if she gets off interesting case i say but i'm glad the baby is alright thank GOD!
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12-12-2006 @ 10:55PM
pj.davis said...I think she should be let of the hook....as long as the hook was over a pit of spikes and angry sharks, angry sharks with spikes in their head.
Have the sharks be drunk too, so they 'accidentally' stab her with the spikes..and eat her. So they can be let off too. Cause it wouldn't be their fault, right? tThey were drunk.
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