Child is shaken to death: mother's friend in court

Created: 04/20/2022Updated: 04/20/2022 16:06

Shadows of an adult's hands and a child's head are seen on a wall of a room (posed shot).

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If parents lose their nerve for a brief moment and shake their crying infant or child, the consequences can be deadly.

In Stuttgart, a man must now answer for the shaking death of a five-year-old boy.

It's not an isolated case.

Stuttgart - At some point this afternoon last July, the man's nerves must have been on edge.

Why he finally grabbed, shook and fatally injured his girlfriend's disabled son remains unclear even after the first day of the trial against the accused 25-year-old.

Because the Böblinger native only wants to comment in just under three weeks (May 9, 9:15 a.m.) when the jury chamber of the district court is hearing again about the act of violence and an expert is also expected.

A judgment should not be spoken before the end of May.

According to the public prosecutor's office, the man accused of manslaughter killed his girlfriend's severely disabled son by shaking him violently in the summer of 2020 in Sindelfingen, while he was actually supposed to be taking care of him and his little brother.

"The child could hardly see, could not speak and could only crawl on its back with severe restrictions," the prosecutor said of the victim on Wednesday.

Four days after that afternoon, the boy had died as a result of brain damage.

"He had no concerns or sympathy for the child," said the prosecutor at the start of the trial.

The man also knew the danger, because there had been a similar incident four years ago.

After the fact, the 25-year-old informed his girlfriend via chat message and added a photo of the child.

When the alarmed mother got home, she found the boy wrapped in a towel, lifeless, the prosecutor said.

It was initially able to be revived, but the injuries were ultimately fatal.

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A shaking death like the boy from Sindelfingen is anything but an isolated case in Germany.

Again and again, criminal courts have to deal with the often fatal consequences of severe shaking - very often those responsible have to go to prison for many years.

It is not uncommon for parents to lose their nerve and shake their baby or toddler violently, for example because it is constantly crying.

For several years now, an alliance against shaking trauma has been trying to explain the dangers.

According to his estimates, between 100 and 200 infants and small children with shaking trauma are brought to clinics across Germany every year.

Every fourth child abused in this way dies as a result, and most of the survivors suffer permanent damage.

But the number of unreported cases is high because lighter cases are difficult to identify, as reported by the National Center for Early Help (NZFH) in the Federal Center for Health Education.

According to a study conducted between 2006 and 2009 (ESPED or “Survey Unit for Rare Pediatric Diseases in Germany”), fathers are responsible for up to 60 percent of cases, while the mother’s partner is responsible for nine percent of cases.

Children between the ages of six and eight weeks are particularly affected, but older boys and girls can also die from shaking.

dpa