Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Stephanie F. Brown, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In Georgia and other States, children and teens play with pellet guns. Many children and parents for that matter do not realize that a pellet gun injury can actually be deadly. In Waycross, Georgia, 11 year old – Mitchell “D.J.” Maxwell, Jr. recently died from pellet gun related injuries. It was reported in the Florida Times Union that D.J. was at a friend’s sleep over party when the incident took place. Injuries and deaths like these raise many questions for the police to investigate. These issues can be taken into consideration as part of a criminal investigation by the police. These issues can also be considered by the family of the victim if a civil case is pursued for the death of the child.
In three unrelated incidents, Maine infants died while sleeping with their parents. The first death was reported on Sunday, October 4, 2009 when a two-month-old Madison, Maine girl was found dead in her father’s bed. The second incident occurred on October 5 when a two-month-old boy died after sleeping with his mother in Canaan. The third incident took place on October 6 in Windsor when a five-week boy died while sleeping with his mother. According to Maine State Police, no foul play is suspected in any of the cases. You can read more about these incidents at 
Robert Lewis is a civilian police officer based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Tragically, Lewis’ 3 year old son died recently from a reported accident involving a 40 caliber handgun. It was reported at Channel 9 – CBS News that an investigation is being conducted as to the details of this incident. Some of the issues or questions that may be addressed are as follows:
In Mississippi and other states, people run businesses out of their homes. Some businesses are day care centers. Typically, caring individuals and family operate home based day care centers. Unfortunately, there are other day care operators who put children at danger by running drug operations and conducting other illegal activities at the day care center. Recently, drugs and pornography were discovered at a home which also served as a day care center for your children. Investigators and authorities found chemicals and meth lab materials as well as needles and other gear used to manufacture meth. It is well know that meth is highly toxic and labs are high flammable. As such, the possession and / or manufacturing of meth at or near a day care center definitely poses a health hazard to children.
In Fresno County, California, CNN reported the horrible circumstances of the death of a 4 year old boy who ultimately was found in a dryer of a nearby apartment. Alex Christopher Mercato, who was only 4 at the time, was molested, sodomized, and drowned in a bathtub by a 14 year old California boy. The 14 year old (Raul Renato Castro) has been charged as an adult. Raul told police that he killed Alex because Christopher said that he was going to tell on Raul for molesting Alex. Raul faces a criminal sentence of up to 32 years if convicted due to his age and California penal / sentencing laws.