Memphis 2yr old left alone at home dies in house fire; relative accomplice has no regret

My parents almost lost me as a child, but they didn’t take me far enough into the woods. I don’t know, but maybe 23-year-old Melanie Dunn of South Memphis should have done the same. Instead, she thought it was a good idea to leave her 3yr old and 2yr old sons at home alone for an hour while she went shopping with her aunt. Yeah, I realize that this is something you and I will never do. But it’s been reported that this wasn’t the first time she had done such a thing.

The only problem, this time around, there was a fire in her apartment which left her 3yr old son dead, and his 2yr brother in critical condition in a local hospital fighting for his life. I don’t want to belabor the finer points of “good parenting” or anything. But just know that as a father of a 2yr old I have a hard time finding confidence in leaving her in my home unattended while I run to the mailbox; much less leaving her unattended at home for an hour like Melanie Dunn did.

Unfortunately Melanie’s aunt who accompanied her while she shopped at a local Citi Trends store doesn’t feel that way. According to Marilyn Wilson – aunt of the children – she has no regrets about leaving them at home alone. When questioned by reporters about regrets, she had this to say:

“No, I really don’t because if they had been there by themselves, I don’t know if the boys set the house on fire or somebody threw something in there to set it on fire. I really need to get in there to see if my purse burned up. I had my Food Stamp Card and everything in there.” (Source)

Obviously she doesn’t see the error in their decision making by leaving the kids at home alone. As I mentioned before, this wasn’t the first time this was done. But what’s eating at my craw right about now, is the fact that she was more concerned about her muthafuckin food stamps! That selfish snaggle toothed heifer!

Now look, I’ve lost a wallet a time or two in my lifetime, and yes I wasn’t too happy about it. However, in a situation where the lives of two toddlers were endangered causing a loss of life to one of them. The last thing I would be worried about is my fuckin’ social security card, my I.D. card, my social security card, my Sam's card or my goddamn EBT card. But yet this is what you’re going to say with a mic in your face after being an accomplice to the neglect of a child, which resulted in death?

Charges are yet to be filed against the mother of these children in this case pending further investigation [click here watch video]. What’s the holdup I don’t have a clue. Last year another mother here in Memphis had the bright idea to leave her two kids at home while she went out partying to ring in the New Year on New Year’s Eve. She was subsequently charged with two counts of criminally negligent homicide after her 4yr old and 7yr old sons were killed in an apartment fire.

The good news in this case is that the mother of these toddlers also has a 5yr old who was at school at the time of the fire. He has since been placed in the care of another relative. Should the 2yr old survive, it has already been determined that the same course of action will be taken. No word on yet on Marilyn's food stamps, but yet people wonder why the city of Memphis ranks as high as it does in infant mortality [Click to read about Memphis & infant mortality].

So You Just Gonna Pull Out A Titty Like That?

"You want to pop your titty out and breastfeed this kid?" - Genine Compton

Just when you thought the infant mortality rate was high enough for Black babies, in steps Genine Compton. Just in case you haven't heard of this woman just yet. She was recently ticketed for child endangerment. You see, Genine thought it was a good idea to breast feed her child while driving. Talk about multitasking, right?

Not only did she find it convenient to pop out a titty for her starving malnourished child - she said that her child was hungry and she wasn't going to dare to deny her child food - she was also talking on her cell phone. Now, I sincerely hope this woman was using one of those Blue Tooth headsets. Its bad enough that the baby had to suffer the ordeal of being fed while she's driving and endangering the welfare of said child. But its another thing that she was also using her cell phone.

What destination was so important that this woman could not take the time to stop and feed her child, if the child was in need of a meal? What person on the other end of a phone call was that important at that time? Thank the lord that it was due to the concern of a fellow driver that this woman was caught. You see, it was through the actions of another driver that the police got involved. After the phone call of another motorist was this woman tracked down through license plate information.

I saw this story on CNN Headline News yesterday, and I was shocked that this woman, even with a camera in her face, declare that she did what she thought was right. I promise you, I wanted to chop her in the throat. According to officials, she she faces up to 180 days in jail and a $1,800 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor. As an advocate for breastfeeding, I applaud any woman who takes it upon herself to breast feed in public. But to do so while driving? Well, you could imagine how I feel. I'm just kinda ticked off that this is only a misdemeanor and not a felony.

As I driver, I've seen people do some of the dumbest things while driving. Anything from reading the newspaper, putting on makeup, to even an act of fellatio. Yes, fellatio; I've seen it. All of which are a danger to not only themselves, but to other drivers. But what this woman did, takes the cake in my book. The real tragedy here is that it involved the life of a child. Personally, when it comes to children, I think we must do better.

FULL STORY HERE

If you click the above link, you can hear the recording of the non-emergency police call.


QUESTION(S): Do you think this woman should lose custody of her child the likes of mothers of crack babies? Do you personally think its wrong for a woman to breastfeed a child in public?