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A 5-month-old baby was taken off of life support this weekend after police say he was brutally beaten by his mother's 27-year-old boyfriend.
Little Andres Bravo was brought to the hospital in horrific condition: he had brain injuries, a lung contusion, two black eyes, and bruises on his buttocks. It didn't take investigators long to figure out that the story mom Sascha Marie Garcia and boyfriend Antwan James Sawyer told them -- that Andres had fallen out of his crib -- didn't ring true. Sawyer, who was reportedly caring for the child at the time of the incident while the baby's mother allegedly worked her job as an exotic dancer, was first charged with aggravated child abuse until the charges were upgraded to attempted felony murder.
If the allegations against him are true, Sawyer deserves the book thrown at him for killing an innocent infant. But his mother, despite her poor decisions in life, does not deserve the same fate.
I feel for Adolfo Bravo, Andres' father. The 32-year-old, who reportedly broke up with Garcia just four months ago, says she called him after she returned home from work and found Andres with bruises and wounds to his head and lower body, but that she downplayed the severity of his injuries. He never expected the last meeting he would have with his son would take place in a hospital room.
What happened to his little boy was absolutely harrowing and monstrous. Perhaps in anger -- or maybe with the clearest of heads -- Bravo has called for the mother of his child to be arrestedand says she, too, deserves to be punished for their son's death for letting it happen.
I can't blame him for feeling this way -- I'd want my husband's head on a platter if we split and I found out he had entrusted our baby with someone I considered to be unhinged. But hooking up with men who may not be the best babysitters is not necessarily a crime. Few people are going to deny that Sawyer's history with the law is highly, highly concerning -- police say he has been arrested 10 times since 2005 and charges against him have included aggravated assault with a weapon and grand theft.
Not exactly the male role model most of us would choose for our sons.
But plenty of women make that call to get involved with men who aren't law-abiding citizens. Some of them are able to see the good inside of that person -- and sometimes they're right and deserve respect for giving a person who made a mistake another chance at love. Other times, they discover that person is incapable of changing his bad ways.
Right now, all we know is that Garcia needed a babysitter and, for whatever reason, felt she could trust Sawyer. We don't know if she had any idea Sawyer could allegedly be capable of this kind of violence, and until there is proof that she did, police have no reason to detain her.
Do you think this mom should be held responsible for her baby's death?
Image via justiceforandres/Facebook
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