Whisper
#byefelicia
Kenneth M. Stahli
August 8, 2014
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/.../08/07/milton-toddler-murder-arrest/13726135/[...]
26-year-old Milton man is due in court on Monday to face charges he caused the death of a 2-year-old boy.
Kenneth M. Stahli has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Mason L. Decosmo. He's accused of causing the boy's death by blunt force at the toddler's home
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State police said the boy was the victim of physical abuse over the course of several days at the hands of Stahli, who was dating the victim's mother, Katlin Wolfert.
Wolfert moved into a Walnut Park Lane mobile home
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with Decosmo and her infant son, following a breakup with the boys' biological father
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Kayla Pagan, a 24-year-old
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resident, said Wolfert had begun looking for work following the split with the boys' father; Stahli and a babysitter had watched the children while she searched.
Wolfert "is an amazing person,
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"She doesn't deserve this. No parent deserves this."
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along with two other friends, started a fundraiser to raise money for the toddler's funeral.
"She is a phenomenal mother," said Carolyn Brill, 21, a former
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classmate of Wolfert. "I would go to her anytime I had a question about my child."
Stahli's own family doesn't believe the charges — family members said he loved kids, and has four of his own.
"There is no way my son intentionally would hurt a kid," his mother, Donna Stahli, said in an interview
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"It's horrible," said Robert Stahli, of his son. "I was never a role model father for him but … he lived every day of his life to make his kids' lives better. As far as I'm concerned, he was playing … that's not my son. That's not my son
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started dating a couple of months ago, but they've known each other for years, since they went to the same high school, said Brittany Stahli, Kenneth's sister.
"He loved those kids (Wolfert's two) like his own,"
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"My brother would never abuse a child in his life. You put him around kids, he's like a big kid himself. He would do anything to make a child smile. For my brother to be called a murderer, let alone a child murderer
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Marlborough police and Emergency Medical Services workers arrived at the Walnut Park Lane home shortly after 4 p.m., in response to a 911 call for an unresponsive child.
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responders performed CPR on the boy. He was transported to Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, where he was pronounced dead.
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police announced Stahli's arrest Thursday and ruled Decosmo's death a homicide after an autopsy Wednesday determined the cause of death to be blunt force.
On Thursday, Walnut Park Lane was quiet. Brightly colored toys dotted the lawn outside the home where police said Decosmo was killed.
Heidi Boland lives on Walnut Park Lane with her two children.
"Everyone always says 'it can't happen to me,' but this is too close," B
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Now I want to start a neighborhood watch ... we have elderly people here."
The couple moved in a few weeks ago,
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It was hard to tell if anyone lived there, since the neighbors on the street, while friendly, tend to keep to themselves
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"I've seen (Stahli) walk around … a couple of times, to the mailbox and stuff, and he always had the same look on his face,
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"I only saw kids running around one day," though Boland's mother, who also lives on Walnut Park Lane, saw Decosmo once. "She thought, 'oh good, a friend' " for her grandchildren
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Stahli was sent to the Ulster County Jail without bail. He's due back in Marlborough town court on Monday at 5 p.m.
The investigation is being conducted by state and Marlborough town police, along with the Ulster County Child Advocacy Center, the Dutchess County Medical Examiner's Office and the Ulster County District Attorney's Office.
Mason
Mason & Mom Kayla
Mason had more than 60 bruises, wounds
December 5, 2014
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/.../04/mason-decosmo-coroner-testifies/19923339/More than 60 bruises — old and new — on his face, chest, arms, abdomen, back, groin and legs.
Internal bleeding "on the brain," in his abdomen, in his chest.
Injuries that could be consistent with sexual abuse.
Those were just some of the injuries that 2-year-old Mason DeCosmo had
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according to Dr. Dennis Chute, the Dutchess County medical examiner.
Mason died from abuse suffered over a period of days, allegedly at the hands of his mother's live-in boyfriend, 27-year-old Kenneth Stahli,
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Prior to her son's death, Mason's mother, Katlin Wolfert, did think that Stahli might have abused him, said Timothy Crispell, a Child Protective Services
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who interviewed Wolfert and Stahli.
Mason was an active child and Wolfert told
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that she chalked his bruising "up to boys will be boys, rough-housing," said a state police investigator
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But she didn't take Mason to the doctor, because he was covered in bruises and Wolfert was afraid Child Protective Services would be called, according to testimonies over a period of days from Crispell, and state police investigators Mario Restivo and Dina Pavloudakis.
Stahli was indicted on felony second-degree murder, depraved indifference murder of a child.
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Ulster County public defender Andrew Kossover, has been in court, answering a severe abuse petition on his behalf. Stahli's in Ulster County Jail on no bail.
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Ulster County Department of Social Services will seek "a finding of severe abuse against" Wolfert, who has been answering a neglect petition in the family court, announced Heather Harp, representing the department,
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They are not seeking to terminate Wolfert's parental rights completely, Harp said.
Wolfert
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told investigators that Mason wasn't "acting normal," had "pooped out a blood clot," and vomited a "black" substance in the days leading up to his death, according to testimony
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But fearing involvement from Child Protective Services, seeing that Mason seemed to be feeling better at times — he was "up and down like a roller coaster" — and being a mom who didn't "run to the doctor for every little thing," Wolfert did not seek medical treatment, she told Crispell, according to his testimony
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Wolfert also "didn't need that because there was a custody case" she was involved in, with the father of Mason and her younger son, Jaxon DeCosmo,
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Jaxon is in the custody of his and Mason's father, Louis DeCosmo. Wolfert was denied supervised visitation with Jaxon
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Mason was declared dead at Vassar Brothers Medical Center on Aug. 5.
Chute performed his autopsy on Aug. 6. and determined Mason's cause of death was blunt impact to the head, torso and extremities
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Mason had more than 60 bruises and 10 scrapes, had been internally bleeding in multiple places, had a fractured rib, signs of possible sexual abuse and a lacerated pancreas and liver
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"Essentially, I think it's a beating that took place... over a couple of days... not accidental,"
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"When I see a collection of injuries like this, my interpretation is that it's abuse."
Family Court Judge Anthony McGinty asked Chute to look at one of Mason's autopsy photos.
"Can we agree that it's readily apparent... visible to anyone who saw the child's body" that there are bruises across Mason's face, chest, abdomen, pubic area and on other parts of his body, McGinty said to Chute. "Which of those would have been visible 24 hours earlier?"
"All of them,"
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They might not have been as pronounced."
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said the rip or tear in the skin of Mason's anal canal could also be caused by constipation.
Evidence was gathered with a rape kit but "I don't have the results,"
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Some of Mason's injuries — external and internal — were older
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"He sustained the injuries to the pancreas and liver at least a few days prior to his death... I think there was another event that caused blood to start to accumulate... another trauma
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Investigator Restivo said Stahli admitted to placing his knee on Mason's lower abdominal area after the boy bit him on Aug. 2.
Wolfert knew Mason "had injuries," said investigator Dina Pavloudakis, who interviewed Wolfert after Mason's death. "She just never sought medical attention. Every time I asked" her why she didn't go to the doctor, Wolfert said she was worried that Child Protective Services would be called if she took him.
Mason was an active child and Wolfert told police that she chalked his bruising "up to boys will be boys, rough-housing,"
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Wolfert's attorney Amy Ingram argued that a regular person might not know to take a child to the doctor if they weren't exhibiting too many symptoms, or if the ones they were showing were consistent with illnesses like a stomach virus.
It would also be hard to determine when to visit a doctor if the child would show signs of feeling better
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Stahli told investigators that he wanted to take Mason to the doctor, but Wolfert was against it
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Crispell testified that Stahli told him Wolfert was going to take Mason to the doctor on Wednesday, Aug. 6 — a day after the toddler died.
that poor boy was bleeding to death internally and they just let him suffer and die. I can't. That sweet little baby .
