Tazzzz
May 31st, 2009, 07:59 PM
Tjuanda Lynae Drew, 29
http://cmsimg.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C5&Date=20090531&Category=NEWS18&ArtNo=905310333&Ref=AR&Profile=1035&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Returning a guilty verdict for child abuse in the second degree, an Oakland County Circuit Court jury believes a Royal Oak woman burned her 5-year-old son with a hair straightening iron the same day she turned 29.
Tjuanda Lynae Drew will be sentenced at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 4, by Judge Michael Warren, according to a court spokesperson.
The verdict came Wednesday, May 20, after two days of testimony, the spokesperson said. Warren revoked Drew's bond and sent her to Oakland County Jail after the verdict was read, according to the spokesperson.
Drew's attorney, Paul Youngs, said an appeal may be filed. The initial charge was first-degree child abuse, but Prosecutor Sara Pope Starnes requested that the judge instruct the jury on the less serious offense, according to Youngs. Drew pleaded not guilty to the charge, her attorney said.
“We are certainly hoping for leniency in light of the fact that Ms. Drew has no criminal record,” Youngs said. “Second-degree child abuse removes intent as an element and requires that the prosecutor only show recklessness. The sentence Ms. Drew receives may impact how we go forward. This case has been a nightmare for her.”
Testifying for the prosecution were medical experts who treated the victim following the incident on July 27, 2008, Tjuanda Drew's 29th birthday, according to Royal Oak Police Detective Don Swiatkowski.
Physicians alerted police after suspecting the burns sustained at by the boy at his mother's apartment near Coolidge and 13 Mile Road were not accidental, Swiatkowski said.
The third-degree burns to the child's lower right leg required skin grafts and plastic surgery, and the arrest came several months into the investigation, Swiatkowski said.
The boy has autism and limited verbal skills, which kept him from being able to tell police how he was burned, according to Swiatkowski.
“We did not hear disclosure from the child to tell us how or what happened,” Swiatkowski said. “We had to rely on physiology and biological expertise of doctors.”
Drew's son was placed with Child Protection Services during the investigation before being moved to Oak Park to live with his biological father, Swiatkowski said
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20090531/NEWS18/905310333/1035
http://cmsimg.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C5&Date=20090531&Category=NEWS18&ArtNo=905310333&Ref=AR&Profile=1035&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0
Returning a guilty verdict for child abuse in the second degree, an Oakland County Circuit Court jury believes a Royal Oak woman burned her 5-year-old son with a hair straightening iron the same day she turned 29.
Tjuanda Lynae Drew will be sentenced at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 4, by Judge Michael Warren, according to a court spokesperson.
The verdict came Wednesday, May 20, after two days of testimony, the spokesperson said. Warren revoked Drew's bond and sent her to Oakland County Jail after the verdict was read, according to the spokesperson.
Drew's attorney, Paul Youngs, said an appeal may be filed. The initial charge was first-degree child abuse, but Prosecutor Sara Pope Starnes requested that the judge instruct the jury on the less serious offense, according to Youngs. Drew pleaded not guilty to the charge, her attorney said.
“We are certainly hoping for leniency in light of the fact that Ms. Drew has no criminal record,” Youngs said. “Second-degree child abuse removes intent as an element and requires that the prosecutor only show recklessness. The sentence Ms. Drew receives may impact how we go forward. This case has been a nightmare for her.”
Testifying for the prosecution were medical experts who treated the victim following the incident on July 27, 2008, Tjuanda Drew's 29th birthday, according to Royal Oak Police Detective Don Swiatkowski.
Physicians alerted police after suspecting the burns sustained at by the boy at his mother's apartment near Coolidge and 13 Mile Road were not accidental, Swiatkowski said.
The third-degree burns to the child's lower right leg required skin grafts and plastic surgery, and the arrest came several months into the investigation, Swiatkowski said.
The boy has autism and limited verbal skills, which kept him from being able to tell police how he was burned, according to Swiatkowski.
“We did not hear disclosure from the child to tell us how or what happened,” Swiatkowski said. “We had to rely on physiology and biological expertise of doctors.”
Drew's son was placed with Child Protection Services during the investigation before being moved to Oak Park to live with his biological father, Swiatkowski said
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20090531/NEWS18/905310333/1035