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Sage

Member
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From The article:
It was last Thursday that emergency officials in the Sacramento, California, area received a tragic call: Zach Prater, a 5-year-old boy, had drowned.

When Orangevale firefighters arrived and rushed the boy to the hospital — where he was pronounced dead — doctors would discover injuries on the boy’s body that, as CBS13 reports, would paint a very different picture about what cost him his life.

Those findings — the specifics of which police have said were enough to “shock the conscience” — have resulted in a number of disturbing charges against Jessica Prater, the boy’s mother, as well as the boyfriend whom the two lived with, Adam Caldwell.
Still, other claims have emerged that continue to paint a very disturbing picture, including an account from neighbor Aaron Cochran.

Cochran, who says he’s lived across the street from the home for years,explained — though he regularly sees other children at the house — that when it came to Zach:

“I’ve never seen him before in my life. I didn’t know he was there at all, didn’t know he existed.”

Prompting him to add:

They weren’t the type of people we ever thought would do anything like that but I guess you don’t know your neighbors.”

Even more disturbing, though, might be a text that Prater sent to a friend about Zach, just days before the boy’s death:
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The text read:

“He’s tougher then [sic] I thought that boy can take a spanking with a real leather belt and not shed one tear.”

Tiffany Guzman, Prater’s friend who received the text, explained:

“She’s told me that he was getting into their guns and losing things and they were getting irritated, so they had to spank him with a belt and that it left marks on him.”

As neither Caldwell not Prater entered pleas this week, the pair’s arraignment will continue on June 20th.

The couple will then face charges of child abuse causing death, torture and conspiracy.

Screen-Shot-2016-06-09-at-1.45.59-PM-1024x425.jpg

Source:http://ijr.com/2016/06/625178-mom-c..._medium=owned&utm_campaign=morning-newsletter
 
“She’s told me that he was getting into their guns and losing things and they were getting irritated, so they had to spank him with a belt and that it left marks on him.”

:mad::punch::rage::mad::punch::rage:
Well if you locked your fucking guns up, then you wouldn't have felt the need to beat him for getting into them, bitch....
 
What can a 5 year old do that's bad enough to deserve getting their ass beat with a leather belt?
If people don't want kids, why don't they give them to someone who will love them?
 
I'm sure mom's boyfriend didn't like him. Maybe he looked like his bio dad or something.

I can't understand this.
I couldn't waste my time with someone who didn't absolutely LOVE my child like their own- And I can say this cuz I would never be with someone who was capable of hurting their own...
 
Not minimizing the true criminals (pictured) but I've gotta say, if I'd been the recipient of such a text I would've shown it to the cops so fast ol' ugly up there wouldn't know what hit him.

Of course he hated him; the constant reminder his girl was with someone else before, the interrupter of his fun, the expense... Dude was bragging about the child being able to withstand leather lashings without tears? I've got five bucks says he'd learned damned early not to cry, lest he "give him something to cry about." Kids beaten with leather belts....5-year old kids definitely.... do not sit unaffected unless history has taught them there'll be worse if they react.

If this child did in fact have hold of a gun, I wish he would've taken steady aim and blown him away.
Think HE'D have shed a tear?
Also: That thing calling herself a mother needs a sentence that matters. No she wasn't afraid of DOTM, no she wasn't unaware, no she's not legally insane. She's a cow who chose THAT over her child's well being or any other lame ass excuses from these "mothers"... Sick of the bullshit, honest to God, something's gotta give.

The person got that text A FEW DAYS before his death, Tiffany? Nice job there, asshat; you KNEW. You had 3 days to get that now-dead boy help and you FAILED. I hope whatever was more important than saving his life was worth it. I hope she (and all these others in the spotlight speaking of the abuse they ignored) I hope they never forget a baby is gone because of their stupidity. No one cares what you've got to say now pig, your time to speak has passed...get the fuck on, Tiff.

"Never saw him before...I didn't know he existed."
Jesus.
 
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I can attest to any display of tears seemed to always rile my abuser resulting in a more sustained attack. At a certain point you learn to become wooden without any display of emotion except of acceptance. After all, you must deserve to be beaten, the silence broken only by the sound the weapon used against you meets your flesh and perhaps a grunt from the inflictor brought on by their exertion. The shame is nothing much has changed in the years following my escape from such abuse in the case of children who are at risk except the growing statistics of those who have died from their hellish neglect and abuse.
 
I can attest to any display of tears seemed to always rile my abuser resulting in a more sustained attack. At a certain point you learn to become wooden without any display of emotion except of acceptance. After all, you must deserve to be beaten, the silence broken only by the sound the weapon used against you meets your flesh and perhaps a grunt from the inflictor brought on by their exertion. The shame is nothing much has changed in the years following my escape from such abuse in the case of children who are at risk except the growing statistics of those who have died from their hellish neglect and abuse.

I can remember so well when my dad got his belt, I'd steel myself, vowing not to give him the satisfaction of hearing my screams. I became good at it, and when it got (bloody) I'd get scared and if I didn't pass out, I'd pretend to. He'd stand there staring down at me before moving to my brother's room, and I knew the importance of staying down when I was knocked down.

My brother Steven though, he always got it worse than I, and his screams were and remain the worst sounds I've ever heard. I'd tell him to just lay limp and close his eyes, but he never did. Broken ribs often resulted because he wouldn't just... well, lay dead as it were. Dad wore steel toed boots and the horror of hearing Steven scream for me, or for Mom... were beyond horrific.
I say that to say this: This damnable day was the day (6/25) my brother ended his life with a shotgun. Nobody can tell me it wasn't a direct result of having been shown so much pain...been told SO many times he was worthless, a fucking disappointment...well hell, he believed it. He had zero self confidence, rarely met anyone's eyes; always looking down as though he'd done something wrong. He got through two years college, was a hell of a musician. ..but he only seemed to hear Dad's words...God it was so obvious.

These weren't punishments for bad behavior. They just meant Dad was home. I can hear my brother's voice so clearly even now going, "Was that Dad's truck?" Then, always, "Is he mad?" I hated saying yes because of how Steven's face would be just...
just all fear. He had this frantic look, then a sort of panic, then he'd try pleading... oh God when that...when that's someone you love... oh God it hurts.

My point is this: Just because there's no casket doesn't mean there's been no loss of life. It may not happen in infancy or childhood, but you cannot take a child's confidence, his worth, his very will to live away and expect no repercussions.
It's gonna come up...whether they ever mention it or not...it's in there. And it's still hurting... and killing.

No way were we the only kids living in Hell then, no chance there's no pathetic excuse of a mother taping up broken ribs so her child won't miss school. And God help me, but somewhere a little girl's rage grows inside her as she hears her brother's screams for ...mercy. Not a toy or a phone or a certain cereal at the market... just mercy.

My brother got his 12 years ago today. I still forget he's gone sometimes. When a well-meaning someone mentions how he "took his life"... I don't bother correcting them, but I know. Steven's life was taken slowly, brutally, by a monster I still call Dad.

Child abuse is so much more than what we see. I know, I watched it happen. What I don't know is the answer to this epidemic-level war on children. Judges need to consider this when sentencing these monsters. Let's stop pretending the child is healed when the bruises are gone.
And just because he's now forever silent, doesn't mean I don't still hear those screams, and they'll always be there, clear as six-year-old me heard them, same as these children will always hear them.

I wanna put, "And the band played on..." But I can't. We put these judges in their robes. And we can vote the lenient ones the hell out of office, damn the torpedoes and campaign funds. If any of us isnt paying attention to which judges get real, we're all going to pay. I wish there was more I could do, but damn its better than many are doing. Write letters preventing parole, write to anyone who'll listen (I do... its therapeutic as hell) -- and speak for those who were unable to speak for themselves. It won't change the world, but it sure won't hurt.


**Apologies for my ridiculously long posts... I swear I try to edit. Clearly, I should try much harder! I am sorry, though. --TJ
 
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I'm sure mom's boyfriend didn't like him. Maybe he looked like his bio dad or something.

Lot's of times a mother just has to appear to love her kids at all, and that's enough,

most abusive men start there...picking apart a woman's relationship with her

children, they take steps to shatter that bond.
 
I can remember so well when my dad got his belt, I'd steel myself, vowing not to give him the satisfaction of hearing my screams. I became good at it, and when it got (bloody) I'd get scared and if I didn't pass out, I'd pretend to. He'd stand there staring down at me before moving to my brother's room, and I knew the importance of staying down when I was knocked down.

My brother Steven though, he always got it worse than I, and his screams were and remain the worst sounds I've ever heard. I'd tell him to just lay limp and close his eyes, but he never did. Broken ribs often resulted because he wouldn't just... well, lay dead as it were. Dad wore steel toed boots and the horror of hearing Steven scream for me, or for Mom... were beyond horrific.
I say that to say this: This damnable day was the day (6/25) my brother ended his life with a shotgun. Nobody can tell me it wasn't a direct result of having been shown so much pain...been told SO many times he was worthless, a fucking disappointment...well hell, he believed it. He had zero self confidence, rarely met anyone's eyes; always looking down as though he'd done something wrong. He got through two years college, was a hell of a musician. ..but he only seemed to hear Dad's words...God it was so obvious.

These weren't punishments for bad behavior. They just meant Dad was home. I can hear my brother's voice so clearly even now going, "Was that Dad's truck?" Then, always, "Is he mad?" I hated saying yes because of how Steven's face would be just...
just all fear. He had this frantic look, then a sort of panic, then he'd try pleading... oh God when that...when that's someone you love... oh God it hurts.

My point is this: Just because there's no casket doesn't mean there's been no loss of life. It may not happen in infancy or childhood, but you cannot take a child's confidence, his worth, his very will to live away and expect no repercussions.
It's gonna come up...whether they ever mention it or not...it's in there. And it's still hurting... and killing.

No way were we the only kids living in Hell then, no chance there's no pathetic excuse of a mother taping up broken ribs so her child won't miss school. And God help me, but somewhere a little girl's rage grows inside her as she hears her brother's screams for ...mercy. Not a toy or a phone or a certain cereal at the market... just mercy.

My brother got his 12 years ago today. I still forget he's gone sometimes. When a well-meaning someone mentions how he "took his life"... I don't bother correcting them, but I know. Steven's life was taken slowly, brutally, by a monster I still call Dad.

Child abuse is so much more than what we see. I know, I watched it happen. What I don't know is the answer to this epidemic-level war on children. Judges need to consider this when sentencing these monsters. Let's stop pretending the child is healed when the bruises are gone.
And just because he's now forever silent, doesn't mean I don't still hear those screams, and they'll always be there, clear as six-year-old me heard them, same as these children will always hear them.

I wanna put, "And the band played on..." But I can't. We put these judges in their robes. And we can vote the lenient ones the hell out of office, damn the torpedoes and campaign funds. If any of us isnt paying attention to which judges get real, we're all going to pay. I wish there was more I could do, but damn its better than many are doing. Write letters preventing parole, write to anyone who'll listen (I do... its therapeutic as hell) -- and speak for those who were unable to speak for themselves. It won't change the world, but it sure won't hurt.


**Apologies for my ridiculously long posts... I swear I try to edit. Clearly, I should try much harder! I am sorry, though. --TJ

I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I grew up in a very abusive home as well, it warps how your mind works. Stepdad/mum's bf was always mad, it didn't matter about what, we were always wrong. I had no idea other people didn't beat their kids or scream at them constantly, I just assumed other kids were better than us and that's why they seemed happier. Or I thought maybe it was cuz we were poor, and we kids were constantly reminded how much of a financial drain we were.
Idk where I was going with this, your post just really struck me, I can relate but I don't really know what to say. A mutual nod of understanding.
 
:mad::punch::rage::mad::punch::rage:
Well if you locked your fucking guns up, then you wouldn't have felt the need to beat him for getting into them, bitch....
Or put them in obvious places.. Or put ammunition with gun.. Or let a child that young know where the fuck you keep them.. Who else plays with guns?
[doublepost=1466901409,1466901081][/doublepost]
What can a 5 year old do that's bad enough to deserve getting their ass beat with a leather belt?
If people don't want kids, why don't they give them to someone who will love them?
I can remember when my itty-bitty was 5 year old - unsupervised - NEVER - I could get mad I would not talk - but NEVER a belt. I came from an abusive home - I have NEVER REALLY spanked any of my children - got their attention - Hell yeah!
 
She reminds me of someone...
hmmm lose the hair and...
oh sweet baby jeebus!..........

http://statici.behindthevoiceactors.com/behindthevoiceactors/_img/chars/char_26721.jpg
char_26721.jpg


To all the commenters here sharing their experiences in receiving abuse, you have my utmost empathy and sorrow. I grew up in a loving safe home and never knew what these kinds of horrors were until as an adult in law enforcement, a journalist and later working with at risk youth.

My father by his admission grew up in a home of hard beatings and stern eastern european standards of patriarchal rule. He vowed to never be his father and never raised a hand to us boys. He showed my what true strength, character and love is by his examples both spoken and unspoken. Thank you dad, I miss you.

Stories of adults unleashing terror on innocent kids make me white with rage and I very much want them locked away in the most horrific cages man could devise and left there to rot forever.
 
I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I grew up in a very abusive home as well, it warps how your mind works. Stepdad/mum's bf was always mad, it didn't matter about what, we were always wrong. I had no idea other people didn't beat their kids or scream at them constantly, I just assumed other kids were better than us and that's why they seemed happier. Or I thought maybe it was cuz we were poor, and we kids were constantly reminded how much of a financial drain we were.
Idk where I was going with this, your post just really struck me, I can relate but I don't really know what to say. A mutual nod of understanding.
I was/am reminded every day how much of a financial burden I have always been. Yet I give her money now!?
 
So, can any Americans help me out with this one?

Given the kind of charges and given its Texas, what kind of sentencing is on offer?

Someone please make my day and say the DP is an option.
 
I can't understand this.
I couldn't waste my time with someone who didn't absolutely LOVE my child like their own- And I can say this cuz I would never be with someone who was capable of hurting their own...
You are a parent that loves ur children.These people should be drowned.
 
I wish I was familiar with Texas law too, Sarah.
What I do know is if any state can swing the Death Penalty for one (or both...dare to dream!) it's going to be Texas.
Almost set for execution is one Darlie Routier, for... well, murdering her five-year-old son Damon. Her six-year-old was also murdered, but she's awaiting execution for the youngest.
Not the same circumstances, but again... Texas doesn't play. I didn't realize it was Texas 'til your post. Gives me great hope!
 
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@sarahdownunder @TaupinJohn

While the coroner has yet to reveal the child’s cause of death — and investigators are not releasing the specifics of the case — the district attorney has said he’s confident that there is enough evidence to pursue a murder charge against the couple, one that stems from severe child abuse.

While they claim that Prater has had run-ins with Child Protective Services before — and Caldwell reportedly has an arrest record reaching back 20 years — friends and family say they’re stunned by the charges.
DP depending on type of murder charges

murder while committing child abuse, may get offered a deal to plead guilty to second-degree murder???
 
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A Northern California mother and her boyfriend have been convicted of murdering a 5-year-old boy after inflicting “extensive abuse” on the child.

The boy’s mother, Jessica Prater, 37, and her boyfriend Adam Caldwell, 45, were found guilty on several counts related to the 2016 death of Prater’s son, Zachary Prater-Stokes, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday.

The mother and child had moved into Caldwell’s home in the Sacramento suburb of Orangevale in April 2016, the district attorney’s office said in a statement.

“Caldwell began to punish and abuse Zachary, both psychologically and physically,” the statement said. “The physical abuse became more frequent and more violent. The abuse was also inflicted by Prater.”

Roughly two months after moving in with her boyfriend, Prater called 911 "to report that Zachary had swallowed water in the bathtub and was not responsive.”

Fire personnel arrived and found Zachary clothed and dry in a bedroom, and transported him to a hospital where he never regained consciousness.

“Medical evidence confirmed extensive abuse,” the statement said. The autopsy showed Zachary’s death was caused by “blunt force injuries and water submersion.”

Prater was convicted Friday of first-degree murder by torture, child assault causing death and child abuse with great bodily injury causing death, the district attorney’s office said.

Caldwell was convicted last month of second-degree murder and child assault causing death.
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A couple convicted of an abuse case that led to a young boy’s death has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office says Jessica Prater and her 5-year-old son Zachary Prater-Stokes had moved into Adam Caldwell’s house back in 2016. Prosecutors say Caldwell and Prater then began to physically and psychologically abuse the boy.

In June 2016, Prater called 911 and reported that her son had allegedly swallowed some water in a bathtub and was unresponsive. First responders noted how the boy was found clothed and dry in a bedroom.

The boy was rushed to the hospital but never regained consciousness, prosecutors say. He was later pronounced dead.

An autopsy showed that the boy had suffered extensive abuse, with his death being caused by blunt force injuries and water submersion.

Prater was convicted on first-degree murder and child abuse charges. Caldwell was convicted on second-degree murder and child assault causing death charges.
 
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