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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Baby Murdered

Please click onto the comments for the post. This is the second homicide in Highland in just a matter of weeks.

posted by Bob at Tuesday, February 13, 2007

4 Comments:

Blogger Bob said...

MEDIA ADVISORY

Saint Paul Police Department

367 Grove Street

Saint Paul, MN 55101


Officer Paul Schnell

Chief’s Assistant for Media Relations


John M.Harrington


CHIEF OF POLICE


February 13, 2007

Infant’s Death Ruled A Homicide

At 12:30 A.M. Saint Paul Fire Paramedics were called to the 1300 block of Maynard Drive. They found a 15 month old girl in obvious distress. They felt the nature of her injuries was suspicious and called for police officers who contacted investigators from the Homicide and Family and Sexual Violence units. The child was transported to Regions Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The child, Destiny Jackson, age 15 months, experienced blunt force trauma to her torso resulting in internal injuries that caused her death.

Beauford Craig Jackson III, age 18, of Saint Paul, is in the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center, booked for homicide.

Saint Paul Police Department - Committed to Excellence, Ethics, Empathy & Education

6:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Police have their suspect in both cases.

6:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

These stories of abused children are becoming all to common lately. It is just so difficult for me to understand how a person could do such things to an innocent child, my god all they have to do is walk away from the child, there are emergency drop off centers for parents if the stress reaches a level where you can't handle it no longer, these places also offer that parents can drop off their children if they just feel they need a break. This option is such a better path to take than risking losing control of yourself and having a tragic ending such as this one. Anyone that knows a family that is struggling with handling their children should offer a helping hand to give the parents a break and possibly save a future incident such as this one. These stories just break my heart.

Nancy

8:50 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

For a moment, she saw safe
BY MARA H. GOTTFRIED and TAD VEZNER
Pioneer Press

Photo courtesy Mikel Clifford
St. Paul police found Destiny Jackson, 15 months old, dead in a St. Paul apartment on February 13. Her father, Beauford Jackson, 18, is under arrest on suspicion of homicide.
More photosHer father said she cracked her skull when he accidentally dropped her. Suspicious social workers sent Destiny Jackson to live in foster care.

The baby was safe for two months. When police couldn't make a case, she was sent home.

On Tuesday, 15-month-old Destiny died from new injuries, two weeks after being reunited with her parents, Beauford Craig Jackson III and Maeve Clifford, both 18.

This time, St. Paul police say the evidence is strong. They accuse Jackson of beating her to death in their Highland Park apartment.

Mikel Clifford, Destiny's maternal grandmother, said that even after Destiny fractured her skull in November, she didn't think Jackson was violent.

"We always want to believe the best in people, but now I think it's pretty obvious that he was not telling the truth," she said.

Paternal grandmother Sharise Drown said she never saw evidence of Jackson hurting Destiny or his other child, a 20-month-old boy.

"I just cannot see B.J. doing her like that. He loved that girl. He's got other kids — he takes care of his son, his other cousins," Drown said.

What the grandmothers agree on is their love for Destiny. She was "the sunniest, sweetest, nicest little person," said Clifford, who said she called the baby "Pinky" because she was always wearing pink. Destiny was quiet and well behaved, "so tiny and cute," Drown said.

Susan Ault, Ramsey County's director of family and children services, said she couldn't comment about specific cases her office handles.

"It's always a very grave situation when something happens to a child, whether it's before we get involved or after we get involved," Ault said. But "we really see more horrible situations that happen to children before we become involved."

Mikel Clifford said she's grieving, but she doesn't blame social workers or police.

"I certainly wonder about what my daughter could possibly have been thinking," she said. "I can't explain that relationship. I can't explain why she stayed with him."

On Tuesday, paramedics called to an apartment at 1359 W. Maynard Drive shortly after 12:30 a.m. found Destiny in "obvious distress," said Tom Walsh, a police spokesman. The baby was taken to Regions Hospital and pronounced dead.

The Ramsey County medical examiner's office ruled Destiny's death was caused by blunt-force trauma to her torso resulting in internal injuries, Walsh said.

Police arrested Jackson on suspicion of homicide. He hasn't been charged and was being held in the Ramsey County jail.

It's not the first time the child was injured while in the couple's care.

Just after Thanksgiving, child protection officials took Destiny away from her parents when she was found to have a skull fracture, Mikel Clifford said.

Jackson wouldn't say what happened until he took a police lie detector test and failed, she said.

"His story was he dropped her, but he had no explanation for why he did nothing for two days," she said.

It was only when Destiny's mother noticed something amiss and took the child to the hospital that the skull fracture was discovered, Mikel Clifford said.

But Drown said it was she who first noticed the large bump and soft spot on the side of Destiny's head, adding she did not know how the bump got there.

Police investigated Destiny's injury but couldn't bring charges because medical experts determined Jackson's account of the injuries being an accident was possible, Walsh said.

Speaking generally, Ault said hospital personnel are required to make a report with police and child protection if they suspect a child's injuries were caused by maltreatment.

It is up to police to determine whether it is safe for a child to return home; if not, social services could take steps to keep the child out of parents' custody, Ault said.

Though Drown's son is the one locked up, she said she wonders why Maeve Clifford isn't, too.

"Both of them were there. They both should be in jail," Drown said.

Maeve Clifford and Jackson met at a St. Paul charter school in September 2004, Mikel Clifford said.

Drown said her son spent time in jail for burglary and joyriding in a stolen car. He recently spent time in Boys Totem Town for a fight at school while on probation, she said.

Family members said Jackson was sexually abused when he was 7, but no charges were ever brought.

Half-sister Misah Dameron said Jackson's background shouldn't be held as evidence he would become an abuser.

"You can go the right way, or you can go the wrong way," she said.

Mara H. Gottfried covers St. Paul public safety. She can be reached at mgottfried@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5262. Tad Vezner can be reached at tvezner@pioneer press.com or 651-228-5461.

10:05 AM  

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