Maria Darlene Joseph Uses Kids For Kindling
January 30, 2008 by impqueen
Update: 2/21/09-Maria Darlene Joseph entered a guilty plea last month to child abuse causing death and four charges of child abuse causing serious bodily injury. She was sentenced to 85 years. Originally charged with 17 counts, including first-degree murder, Maria accepted a plea deal which dropped the murder charge.
Colorado Springs, CO – An “unknown female” called Colorado Springs 911 at 10:01 p.m. Monday night, gave her address, and then dropped the phone. Dispatchers heard a child screaming that his skin was on fire. A child picked the phone up and told the dispatcher that “oil” was on fire, everyone inside the house was hurt and a 10-year-old boy was dead. Then, they heard a child asking: “Why did you kill him?”
Of Maria Darlene Joseph’s five children, an infant girl is now dead, and all four of her sons are in burn units with life-threatening injuries. Joseph, 25, suffered superficial self-inflicted cuts and was caught running from the scene. The house wasn’t on fire when authorities arrived, but it was full of smoke. The flash point of the fire? The kids. All five of them. Joseph had doused them with an accelerant and lit them up one at a time.
Ashia Joseph, 16 months old, was dead in the home. The autopsy showed that baby Ashia died from smoke inhalation and severe burns. Investigators described Ashia’s body as “charred” from the accelerant and flames. Dontrell Gardner, 9, Domenic Gardner, 8, Supreme Joseph, 5, and Amarjahan Joseph, 3, were severely burned. Supreme Joseph also had his throat cut. The throat wound was not fatal, but all of the boys are in critical condition, so the burns might be.
Maria Joseph, whose legal name is Maria Darlene Gardner, was widowed last fall when her husband, Simeon Joseph Jr., committed suicide in the home. Simeon Joseph was the father of the three youngest children. So this mother had five children by age twenty-five. She lost her husband and apparently lost her mind. And yet rather than take herself out first, she poured gasoline or oil on her kids, lit a few matches, and took off running away from the home. Can I just get a giant “WTF?”
Joseph is being held without bond at El Paso County Criminal Justice Center on one count of first-degree murder. Attempted murder and arson charges will likely be filed this week.
12:05 am on January 31st, 2008
It’s very rare that I let the stories get to me, but after spending three months in the Chapel Hill Burn Unit (not as a patient…hold the flowers) I get easily disturbed by the burning stories. Particularly when it comes to kids. If it turns out that she did this on purpose, which it looks like she did, I could personally kill her with my bare hands if given the chance, and the promise of no jail.
Watching adults with their features gone, their skin scarred into lumped shapes…to hear them screaming as their skin is bathed off…that was NOTHING compared to seeing the same thing with the children. The pain and suffering this kids go through is almost unimaginable and they still have to live with the scars, both physical and mental, for the rest of their lives. It was one of the worst things I ever experienced, and my first introduction into the world of assholes, as not all of the patients were there because of accidents.
Anyway, goddamn this lady.
12:20 am on January 31st, 2008
I couldn’t deal with the burn unit as a nurse. Burn unit nurses are a very special breed.
And with that, we have this – The late Simeon Joseph’s Myspace, where he was working on his rap skillz as unknown hip-hop artist Spyda-G:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=128040892
12:23 am on January 31st, 2008
“The Colorado Department of Human Services acknowledged it was involved with the family sometime within the past five years and would conduct a child fatality review in the death of Ashia. Colorado DHS spokeswoman Liz McDonough could not say what the organization’s involvement with the family had been, citing confidentiality laws.”
Lots of other interesting family info here:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/joseph_32529___article.html/year_family.html
Yeah, i should probably edit the article to reflect all this crap but honestly, I’m kind of nauseous. What the HELL is up with all the dead babies and psychotic bitch mothers this week?
12:44 am on January 31st, 2008
Added the video report.
12:50 am on January 31st, 2008
Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang we love you…
What a crazy bitch, Merry Christmas. Look at the pretty lights.
1:02 am on January 31st, 2008
Sick, rotten bitch! WWSD…light a BIG ass fire for this fucking loser!! I acn’t see well enough to type anything else. Eyes are too wet.
8:43 am on January 31st, 2008
Exactly. Burnt flesh is a smell that is unfuckingforgettable. I couldn’t do it either, Imp. Right on, to the nurses who can.
These poor children, I am so sick of parents killing their kids. Goddammit. I feel so depressed.
9:44 am on January 31st, 2008
I didn’t sleep well after posting this last night. Now I remember why I try to get my stories up in the morning.
That both Maria’s husbands beat her really can’t excuse her in this case. Death by blowtorch just seems too easy for this woman. Her children even now are suffering horribly. Her baby got off easy by dying. And she’s sitting in jail, nursing a few superficial scrapes, no doubt feeling sorry for herself.
I’m hoping for a nice little axe murder story I can post, just to add some levity. Even Spyda-G’s Myspace (linked above) isn’t that funny under the circumstances.
10:05 am on January 31st, 2008
I agree with Morbid and have also seen first-hand the horrors in a Burn Unit. The families have to bring in a picture of what the patient looked like before they were burned so the doctors and nurses will have some knowledge and insight on what they looked like before, since, in most cases, they will never look like that again. The daily horrific pain of taking the dressings off, scrubbing the dead skin layers away and re-wrapping are more disturbing than any horror movie can ever be. I also agree with Imp – the baby got off easy by dying. I can’t think of anything worse than being burned alive – and to know it was your own mother who wanted you to die like that.
10:18 am on January 31st, 2008
I feel sick. I can’t imagine looking at my children’s faces while I poured that stuff on them and lit the match.
10:38 am on January 31st, 2008
The poor kids, what a bitch man oh man anything but fire. I am really sick now.
11:32 am on January 31st, 2008
When I was editing medical books, I knew I could never handle one on burns. It is just too horrifying a subject. I pray if I ever get burned, I will die. It is so much easier than trying to survive.
I hate this woman.
12:12 pm on January 31st, 2008
There are so many other ways that she could have gotten rid of her children if she wanted to. Just calling the hospital and telling them that she was having thoughts of hurting them would have had them removed. However, if she was truly set on killing these children, there are so many other more humane ways she could have done it. Quick, simple and painless.
She tortured these children. There is no other reason to burn someone except to cause the most physical and emotional pain imaginable. She is a sick sick depraved bitch. She is not human. If only we could punish her the same way.
12:15 pm on January 31st, 2008
From Spyda-G’s band’s website. The part about kids got me:
Whatever your heart desires it shall acquire. At I Spy Entertainment we enjoy making music just as much a kid loves playing in the sand.
We sell beats for
all genres of recording artist,
I Spy Entertainment, is destined to change the World with its assortment of instrumentals. I Spy will provide you with thr perfect instrumental to fill your musical void.
Contact Spyda-G
12:43 pm on January 31st, 2008
A big fire would be waaay to quick for this one. This gaping uterus set her kids ON FIRE!!!! What kind of sick, demented…. Even if she wanted them dead, why would she pick such a painful drawn-out way to do it unless she wanted them to suffer?!?!
Makes me wonder what she did to drive her husband to suicide.
12:43 pm on January 31st, 2008
2 kids sent to Shriners burn center in Texas
By BRIAN NEWSOME
THE GAZETTE
January 31, 2008 – 8:12AM
Two of the four children who survived a deadly fire allegedly set by their mother have been flown to a top burn center in Galveston, Texas, the local chapter of the Shriners said Wednesday.
Their two brothers remain in critical condition at The Children’s Hospital in Aurora, officials said.
Bill Stoner, who heads the Shriners chapter in Colorado Springs, said Dontrell Gardner, 9, and his half-sister, Amarjahan Joseph, 3, were taken to the Shriners Hospital in Galveston because it specializes in treating children with burns.
The two had burns covering 85 percent and 15 percent of their bodies, Stoner said.
Domenic Gardner, 8, and Supreme Joseph, 5, are at Children’s Hospital.
Their mother was advised Wednesday that first-degree murder charges could be filed against her.
According to sources, she allegedly doused her five children with gasoline and set them on fire in the master bedroom.
Colorado Springs police Lt. Mark Smith said the fire started in the master bedroom and was confined to the bedroom in the upper level of the home.
Joseph, who is being held without bond, is scheduled to appear in court again Feb. 8.
Meanwhile, a fund for the Joseph family has been set up at a local bank by local radio station 98.9 Magic FM, which in December selected the Josephs for its Secret Santa benefit.
According to the radio station’s Web site, when Simeon Joseph Jr. — Maria Joseph’s husband and the father of the three youngest children — committed suicide in October, the family had only $10.
The station gave them new coats and shoes, furniture, $1,000 worth of food, two boxes of books, $500 in gift cards and $250 to pay utilities.
“This was one of the families chosen from among hundreds,†station program director John Foxx said Wednesday.
Neighbors said the family appeared to be struggling and had increasingly kept to itself since the suicide. A source said El Paso County child welfare workers had visited the home recently. Department of Human Services would not comment on its involvement, but did say it had contact with the family within the past five years.
The Galveston hospital, according to its Web site, specializes in acute care of burns as well as extensive rehabilitative care and reconstructive surgeries. School-age children are provided tutoring while in the hospital.
FUNDS FOR CHILDREN
Two funds have been established to help the children injured in Monday night’s fire at 3225 Galena Court:
Memorial Fund for Joseph Children
Donations can be dropped off or mailed to Colorado Springs Credit Union’s downtown location, 426 S. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903.
Bank hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; closed Sunday
The Joseph Children’s Fund
Donations can be dropped off at any U.S. Bank location in the Pikes Peak region. They can also be mailed to U.S. Bank, Chapel Hills Office, ATTN: The Joseph Children’s Fund, 1520 Briargate Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80920.
12:56 pm on January 31st, 2008
Fuck 85% burned, crying again, shit fire. Why, why subject these kids to such a painful ending? What the fuck. I’m so hurt and so angry.
My stepfather was burned severely and ended up dying from his wounds. 45% burned.
My husband was also burned in a mobile home fire when he was 19 or 20. He was lucky he got out, and was young, healthy and he survived. Only his hands and arms were burned.
These little children are so young. I’m sure they are sedated as well as they can be, but yeah, 85% burned….I’d wish for death to come soon.
Fucking sick ass bitch.
1:04 pm on January 31st, 2008
OK, it is REALLY getting to me now. I feel so powerless. My kids are 5 and 2 and I cry about all these other abused and tortured babies. It has me wondering if little Aiden might be up for out-of-state adoption…I think I will take a breather from DD. See you later guys:)
1:09 pm on January 31st, 2008
When my cousin was 9 he sneaked out and somehow got a gas can and lighter/matches blew himself up. His leg, where the gas landed or was spilled, had 3rd degree burns.
I am a year older than him and you can bet that I will never ever forget hearing him scream when it came time to remove the dead tissue each day. I remember the nurses coming in and giving him injections (pain meds I assume) in both of his legs and about 20-30 minutes later he could hardly hold his eyes open. But when they came and took him to that room, it was like he had never been given a thing.
When I think about it now, I can still hear his screams and it will send chills down me sometimes. I also, never played with fire after that – wanted nothing to do with it.
It is beyond my comprehension, how a mother could kill her own kids, but to actually light them up……
Like Kathy said, there were so many other ways to off her kids, without it being such a long, slow, painful death. WTH? Seems as if she was trying to make them suffer.
1:13 pm on January 31st, 2008
Yeah. How about a Xanax cocktail? I mean JesusfuckingChrist, if you’re going to off your children and least be a tad merciful about it.
I really dislike this bitch. There are some sick fucks in this world, but setting your children on fire with gasoline. Holy shit. I cannot, for the life of me, imagine such a horrid thing. The whole thing makes me nauseous.
1:42 pm on January 31st, 2008
If she sought the cocktail before this, I would have shared. But, now I wouldn’t give her air in a jug. Sorry, sorry bitch.
1:48 pm on January 31st, 2008
I think what gets me the most is that she fled the home. As though she figured she could actually live with herself after doing that.
2:41 pm on January 31st, 2008
there is no place in any life-now or later-for sick fucks like this
examine her defective brain to learn something of this insanity but
put her out of the world’s misery
4:30 pm on January 31st, 2008
Sick ass fucking bitch, set her and her crazy hair ablaze ASAP!
8:56 pm on January 31st, 2008
Wow….yet another crazy fucking bitch. Fuck her.
12:48 am on February 1st, 2008
I think she had some notion that the whole house would go up and everyone would die instantly, including herself. She didn’t count on five kids waking up on fire, screaming and looking for help from mommy in a house that was catching fire too slowly for her taste. So she ran away. It was all just not what she wanted! She had to go! Spida-G and her dreams ruined! I hate this woman.
12:55 am on February 1st, 2008
This woman must seriously have fucking issues to set her children on fire only to run away like a fucking coward. My guess is her lawyer will probably go for some insanity defense but it sounds like she knew what she was doing calling the 911 operator afterwards. If she was so depressed about her husband’s suicide, and just couldn’t live with the world anymore she should have taken herself out and left her children alone, instead of going to such inhumane lengths. Who is she to decide that just because she can’t deal with life her children shouldn’t be able to live the rest of thier lives either? 85% burnt is horrific it’s hard to even comprehend the extent of such pain that poor child, the way these kids suffered really gets to me, I only hope for the end of thier suffering and the beginning of thier so-called “mother’s” suffering
9:01 pm on February 1st, 2008
I remember a case from I think about 20 years ago. I saw this disfigured boy on Oprah. His father had taken him for weekend visitation as his parents were divorced. Well dad took him to a hotel room doused him with gasoline for revenge on his ex. If I remeber correctly he was burned on 90% or so of his body. He survived. Dad went to jail, he was up for parole 2 or so years ago if I remember correctly. DENIED thank god.
I say all this cause I looked at that boy on the show. He barely had fingers as they were burned away. Even after numerous plastic surgery’s he had no lips, ears, no hair on any part of his body. His skin was horribly scarred and tight and taunt over his remaining flesh and muscle (Freddy Kreugar would have said -DAMN!). I have no criticism of this amazing young man. He was an inspiration because regardless of his afflictions he chose life. Now 4 more kids have this awaiting for them.
POS, kill her.
11:31 pm on February 1st, 2008
This one has stayed on my mind, too. Learning about the charity and money the family received explains to me how Spida-G got the cash to start up the production co. Then he commits suicide in his house — nice. Then Momma decides they should all go to heaven together.
2:41 am on February 3rd, 2008
Wry, they didn’t go to heaven all together. She didn’t set herself afire.
8:27 pm on February 3rd, 2008
Yeah, you’re right. If she’d really been serious, she would have dowsed herself, too. But that little bit of self-preservation kicked in. Maybe she was counting on smoke inhalation. This story really bothers me; I just keep thinking about those poor kids paying for their parents’ mistakes, paying for the rest of their lives.
5:58 pm on April 24th, 2008
Update: They’re using the surname Gardner for her now, but whatever name she goes by, Maria Darlene Gardner Joseph will be standing trial after a judge has ruled “enough evidence exists” to try her. Um, yaTHINK?
Gardner-Joseph has been charged with 17 felonies including murder, child abuse, attempted murder and arson.
6:07 pm on April 24th, 2008
Any update on the children who survived? Fuck I still cannot get their pain out of my mind.
Maria just off your fucking self. However possible, but bitch, do yourself the fuck in. You are not worthy to breathe the same air on this Earth as your children do. Cunt.
6:37 pm on April 24th, 2008
Not really, Hippie. I haven’t found anything other than that they’ve been treated or are still undergoing treatment for their burns.
8:35 pm on April 24th, 2008
Thanks Imp, damn those poor children….I just cannot imagine what they thought….what they felt, (besides horrendous pain) when their mother did this to them. It is so fucking sad.
6:58 am on February 21st, 2009
*shudders* That is probably as accurate a representation of her “thoughts” before, during and after the fact as we are going to get……
7:00 am on February 21st, 2009
That’s the worst thing I’ve read in a while. Which is saying something considering all the sick shit we read here.
8:24 am on February 21st, 2009
Still not enough time for the pain and suffering she has put her children through! They should have NEVER dropped the murder charge, IMO!
10:13 am on February 21st, 2009
I agree, they should have fucking fried her ass for murder. I remember seeing this case last year, but I was too horrified to read it. I was 9 months pregnant at the time, and I knew there was no way I could handle it.
Those poor, poor kids. Stories like this fill me with such a helpless rage. How could you do that to your babies? How the fuck could you set your children on fire???? Little people that you brought into the world, that you are responsible for, that rely on you for everything and love you unconditionally…that you are supposed to protect and love more than anything else??? It is that unconditional love and trust for this sack of shit that let these poor babies all stand there together in “Mommy’s” bedroom, only to be betrayed in a way that is totally unfathomable. They followed her in there, because she was their mommy and they loved her and trusted her, and she fucking LIT THEM ON FIRE. I cannot comprehend this. I don’t give a shit if you’re 25 and have 5 kids. I don’t care if your two worthless husbands beat you. There is no excuse for taking it out on your children, and in this fucking sickening, torturous manner??? If you’re so depressed about your piece of shit husband committing suicide, take the kids to grandma’s house, go check into a motel, and blow your fucking brains out.
I fucking hate this selfish bitch. I guarantee you that a year later, those kids are still suffering daily. What a nightmare they have had to endure, and will continue to endure for the rest of their lives. As if it wasn’t bad enough that they were cursed with a stupid bitch of a mother and an abusive father…and then their father committed suicide…but, no, after all of that suffering, their mother fucking lit them on fire!! They watched their sister die after THEIR OWN MOTHER SET THEM ALL ON FUCKING FIRE!!! Jesus!!!
I know I am rambling, but I just can’t comprehend this. I really can’t. She doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as the rest of us–prison is too good for her. The death penalty is way too good for her. I truly hope there’s a Hell, just so she can go there and have her entire body slowly burned, starting with her hair, be left alone to suffer untreated burns over her entire body for a day, then be healed only to have it all start over again. EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR ETERNITY.
Selfish bitch.
12:02 pm on February 21st, 2009
Did anyone Notice that this chick looks like that “alf” girl on paranormal state?
This bitch is evil.
She will be Charles Manson’s concubine in hell.
12:09 pm on February 21st, 2009
lol. No kidding.
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