Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Robert Chaiken, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In Austin, Texas and other cities, parents, caregivers, day care providers, child care providers, and, yes, babysitters should recognize that small children are at risk of serious personal injury from any act of pushing shoving, hitting, shaking, and / or punching. Infants and toddlers will cry. They will disobey and they will throw fits. Child care providers must recognize that small children are small children. In dealing with children, the answer should never be to raise a fist to the child, to push the child, or to shake the child. This is especially important since small children are at risk for Shaken Baby Syndrome which can lead to serious permanent brain injuries and in some instances death.
The parents of Ryan Spence, a youth football player, are suing the North Texas Football Association, an affiliated association and two coaches. According to a report in the Forth Worth Star-Telegram, the complaint alleges that in November 2008, Ryan’s football coach swung a tackling dummy toward Ryan’s legs during a drill in order to teach the players how to avoid illegal blocks. The suit also alleges that the dummy hit Ryan’s left leg and injured his knee. Ryan was 10-years-old at the time of the alleged incident and has since had two surgeries on his knee.
Lexus Campbell, a two-year-old girl recently died at an unlicensed day care in Bertram, Texas. According to a police report, the police responded to a call around 2:45 p.m. stating that a child had fallen from a bed and was unresponsive. The toddler was taken to Dell Children’s Medical Center, in Austin, Texas, where she was pronounced dead.
In Dallas, Texas, a 2 year old (Sir Anthony Smith) was left unattended in the van of a day care center (H.H. Banks Learning Center)- in the heat of Texas. As a result of being left unattended in the day care vehicle for hours, the child died. An autopsy will be performed due to the age and circumstances of the death. It is suspected that the child died from hyperthermia. Deaths like these can be wholly avoided with some common sense and by following some very basic safety precautions. Namely, using a simple checklist and making sure that the day care vehicle is checked and double checked to make sure that all children were removed from the vehicle. The heat in Texas overwhelmed this young and innocent child and ended his short life.
In Tyler, Texas, there was an accident involving the rear end collision of a school bus. Typically, school buses are quite large and a bright yellow color. Despite the size and color of the typical school bus, there continues to be reported incidents of crashed into school buses. Whether the crash involves excessive speeding, driver inattention, or other unsafe driving, all drivers need to a better job of yielding to school buses and keeping a safe distance away from school buses. Furthermore, obey all school zones and slow down in school bus stop areas. School bus accidents similar to the one in Tyler Texas involved a rear end collision that most likely could have been avoided with better driving and less driver distraction. You can read more about this story at 
Manuel Armendariz, a 2-year-old boy from Socorro, Texas, died after he was locked inside a vehicle for several hours. Socorro Police and rescue units were called to Micacita mobile home park where the boy was located. Investigators arrested the boy’s father, Emmanuel Armendariz, and charged him with child injury leading to death, a first-degree felony. Emmanuel Armendariz will be entitled to a criminal defense attorney and the case may go to trial if plea deals or other negotiations prove unsuccessful. If you would like to read more on this story please see 
Eli Rodriguez, 32, was dropping off a family member at Doodle Bug Square Day Care, when he lost control of his Buick Century and his the day care building. Five children were taken by an ambulance to a nearby hospital, all with minor injuries.