Richard McTear Jr. Tossed The Baby Out The Window

I’m sure the story will be updated throughout the day…if anyone comes across a video, throw a link my way, please?

Morbid: Congratulations @DDJaded, on your 301st FP story. Now got take a nap or something.

*pats self on back and stumbles off to coffin*

It’s a dirty game…

McTear’s family and sheriff’s investigators disagree on the meaning.

“As he said, ‘It’s a dirty game,’” said Christina Freeman, McTear’s cousin. Her explanation: “That means there’s more to what it is,” apparently saying that there’s a bigger backstory behind yesterday’s events and McTear’s arrest.

Pressed to be more specific, Freeman said, “It’s probably like an argument through him and her,” meaning McTear and his ex-girlfriend, the mother of three-month old Emanuel Murray, the baby found dead along I-275.

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s investigators say Dirty Game is the name of a local hybrid gang made up of young people who grew up together in East Tampa.

Its unclear how McTear is associated with the group, but court records show McTear has the gang’s name tattooed on his forearm.

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Family members tell 10 Connects, McTear attended Middleton High School before dropping out as a sophomore. He was a talented young baseball player, but had trouble dealing with the death of his grandmother late last year.

His family says “Rico” had a rocky relationship with his girlfriend who attempted to file a restraining order against him.

Two previous girlfriends also took similar action court records show.

In a case from 2008, a former girlfriend reported being beaten unconscious outside her apartment, and in a separate incident from 2007, a 19 year old woman testified McTear threatened to kill her and her baby.

Despite the allegations, McTear’s family members say they stand behind their cousin saying, “We miss you, the whole family will pray for you and just hold your head up.”

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The Department of Children and Families investigated an allegation of abuse against 3-month-old Emanuel Wesley Murray in April, but closed the case once his mother agreed to seek a restraining order against the man suspected of threatening the infant, according to a report released today.
[...]

DCF investigated the child, his mother Jasmine Bedwell, 17, and her ex-boyfriend, McTear a month ago.

According to the summary of a report released today, McTear beat Bedwell and threatened her and her infant son on April 8, but the case was closed after another agency agreed to help Bedwell seek a restraining order. Furthermore, investigators said, the whereabouts of McTear was unknown at the time and that he likely fled the area to avoid arrest.

The report said that investigators opened the case on April 8 after Bedwell said she had been beaten up by McTear, who also kicked in her door. The report said that McTear had threatened to return with a gun.

Investigators concluded that the child would be safe in the home.

“The child appeared to be free of any obvious signs that would suggest abuse or neglect,” the report said.

Another social agency, the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, had agreed to help Bedwell seek a restraining order, which she did. But because she is only 17, her guardian, and the report didn’t say who that was, had a responsibility to help her through the process too, the report said.

Whether the process would be followed was up to Bedwell, the report said.

“It cannot be determined if the mother will follow through with the protection of the child against Mr. McTear,” the report said.

Bedwell was granted a temporary order and was to have appeared for a Monday court hearing for a permanent injunction. She did not show up, and the restraining order was dropped.

Deputies said that on that very night, McTear went to her home and a fight followed. At one point, he grabbed the infant, who was strapped into a car seat and threw the car seat twice, with Emanuel falling onto the concrete floor. McTear then abducted the child and fled in his car. At one point, he tossed the baby out of the window of his car on Interstate 275 near Fowler Avenue.

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Foster care caseworkers were so focused on helping 17-year-old Jasmine Bedwell succeed, they overlooked her romance with an abusive man and underestimated the danger he posed to her infant son.

Early on, they even encouraged her boyfriend, a violent criminal with a history of domestic violence, to help care for her baby.

[...]

Workers neglected to run a background check on Richard McTear Jr., 21, of Tampa, when he got involved with Bedwell, who was living on her own but being supervised by the state.

Twice she told those watching out for her that McTear had beaten her. She said he had threatened to kill her son. Still, they trusted her when she agreed not to see him again and allowed her to decide whether to take her son to live elsewhere.

[...]

“We dropped the ball,” said Jeff Rainey, chief operating officer of Hillsborough Kids Inc., the Tampa agency that oversees local foster care programs for the state.

The 13-page Florida Department of Children & Families investigation comes three weeks after a preliminary report found Bedwell was a capable mother doing everything she could to keep her son safe.

“It would have been nice if we would have looked a lot harder at Mr. McTear as a potential threat to the child, and that was not done,” said Nick Cox, regional director for DCF’s SunCoast Region, which includes Hillsborough County.

It is unclear when the background check on McTear was completed.

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