Blessing Ibeagwa 3 yo,Gerard Ibeagwa 6yo,DCF Investigates Drowned Childrens Case

[Whisper]

Two Children Drown in Arlington Family Pool
June 20 2010
Police are still trying to figure out how two young children ended up at the bottom of an Arlington pool Saturday night. The three-year-old girl and six-year-old boy were found by the homeowner around 10 p.m.
Gerard Chinonso Ibeagwa, 6, and Blessing Chinonyesen Ibeagwa, 3, but did not live at the home on the 2600 block of Sunrise Ridge Lane.
A neighbor believes the youngsters lived next door.
"They hardly ever came out of the house," Adres Corrals said. "They weren't kids that played around very much."
The homeowner found the kids in the backyard pool late Saturday night. Both were rushed to area hospitals, but pronounced dead.
The pool is surrounded by a wood fence and, so far, police have not said who was watching the children.
[...]

http://wokv.com/localnews/2010/06/two-children-drown-in-arlingto.html



Police ID 2 Drowned Arlington Kids
June 21 2010
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Two children drowned Saturday night in a pool at a home in the 2600 block of Sunrise Ridge Lane, and police have many questions about how they got there and who was watching them.
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said 3-year-old Blessing Chinonyesen Ibeagwa and 6-year-old Gerard Chinonso Ibeagwa were found in a back yard pool when the homeowner returned after 10 p.m. The children were rushed to area hospitals, where both died.
[...]
They hardly ever came out of the house," Andres Corrals said. "They weren't kids that played around very much."
The pool is surrounded by a tall, wood fence. There is a gate in the front of the fence.
Channel 4's Vic Micolucci said police and fire rescue were dispatched about 8:30 a.m. Sunday to the home where the children were believed to have lived. Officers said the victims' mother had to be given medical attention because she was so upset.
Officers continue to investigate the drownings. The case is being reviewed by the State Attorneys Office and the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office to determine if charges will be filed.
[...]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37809099/ns/local_news-jacksonville_fl/


Family friend: Parents of drowned Jacksonville children were not home
DCF investigating if there was a babysitter; seized ladder may have been used to get into fenced pool next door
State child welfare officials are investigating why the parents of two Jacksonville children who drowned Saturday in a neighbor's pool were not home at the time and who may have been watching them.
A family friend said this morning that the parents of Blessing Ibeagwa, 3, and Gerard Ibeagwa, 6, were not home Saturday night when the children somehow found their way into a neighbor's pool on Sunrise Ridge Lane. The 59-year--old friend, who declined to give her name, said she was unsure who, if anyone, was babysitting.John Harrell, a spokesman for the Department of Children and Families, said state child welfare officials are "very shaken by what happened." Harrell said DCF would do a "thorough" investigation along with police and prosecutors. No charges have been filed.
[...]
Neighbors said they saw police removing a ladder from the scene and investigators are trying to determine if that's how the children got into the pool, which is secured by a fence and gate.
The child's father, Markanthony Ibeagwa, 45, left his home about noon today and said, 'not now,' when asked if he wanted to comment. Other family members have declined to comment. The family is from Nigeria and have been in Jacksonville since at least 2007. The victims were the couple's only two children, the friend said.
Ibeagwa and his wife, Jovita, 41, had just received a phone call from the medical examiner's office and could be heard sobbing after the family friend opened the front door to talk to reporters. She said the children were not careless.
"I grieve with them. They are a nice family," said the friend, who worked with the children's mother at Shand Jacksonville hospital. She said the children's mother is a nurse.
The records show that Markanthony Ibeagwa has been arrested once in 2008 for DUI. He pleaded no contest in that case and was adjudicated guilty. An arrest report lists Ibeagwa's place of birth as Nigeria. His occupation was listed as a self-employed Mentor.http://localsearch.jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-06-21/story/dcf-investigating-report-drowned-childrens-parents-were-not-home
http://i48.tinypic.com/2la54hx.jpg
Markanthony Ibeagwa

[Valasca]

Self Employed Mentor = pedophile.

[sgr1966]

what the hell is a self employed mentor??????

[MC30]

idk?

[Jerri Blank]

Funeral Held For Young Drowning Victims
http://www.news4jax.com/news/24054551/detail.html#

Family members and friends said goodbye Saturday morning to the two children who drowned in an Arlington pool. They gathered at Resurrection Catholic Church off University Boulevard for a tearful ceremony [...]

[...]It is still unclear whether the parents were home when the children drowned. The parents, who are originally from Nigeria, have not spoken to the media about their children's deaths. A spokesperson for the family said the two are hard-working, loving parents who are having a very difficult time grieving the loss of their only two children. The mother of the children was taken to the hospital several times while dealing with the loss.

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/5972/ibeagwas2010.jpg
Gerard Chinonso Ibeagwa, 6
Blessing Chinonyesen Ibeagwa, 3

[Parrot Toes]

My bet is that they were left alone. The 2 kids probably decided they wanted to go for a swim or at least check out the pool. The 3 year old fell in and the 6 year old went in to try to save her. Not sure how the ladder got there. Could a 6 year old do that? Then again, it depends on the ladder. Some of them can be made pretty lightweight, especially if it was just a small ladder. That's just my guess.

Poor little babies. They were so cute, not that that matters.

[Jessiesgirl1108]

According to a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office report, in July, Jovita Ibeagwa left her children - 3-year-old Blessing Chinonyesen Ibeagwa and her 6-year-old brother, Gerard Chinonso Ibeagwa -unattended at home to go to work.

She had called her husband, who was at work, and he told her he was leaving his job to come home and be with the two, police said.

But, a police report said, Markanthony Ibeagwa did not leave his job and offered alternate stories about where he was. He eventually said he stayed at work to get "more hours" of pay.

He admitted that he and his wife had left their children alone on other occasions.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=162766

[TheMeaningOfItAll]

They need to be charged for those kids' deaths. Leaving a six and three year old home alone is not acceptable in any way, shape, or form. Unfuckingbelievable. This was totally preventable. No amount of money is worth the life of a child. The mother should have waited until the father got home before she left for work. If she had done that, those sweet little kids would still be alive. I hope the guilt haunts them every single day of their lives. :argh:

[koochie]

this is really sad...dont know the family situation but i cant imagine being so desperate for money that i would have to leave my babies alone at home...i feel for them

[momof3]

I am not in any way condoning what these parents did by leaving their children home alone but they were from a different country. It is not uncommon in other parts of the world to leave children home alone while the parents work. What beautiful children, so very sad.

[ImmortalOne]

I can't imagine a two family income home that desperate for money. However I also realize that some people have huge debt. If the mother had waited, she would have lost her job. This is a sad situation all the way around.

[TheMeaningOfItAll]

If the mother had waited, her kids would still be ALIVE. It doesn't matter what country you are from or how much debt you are in, or if your job is at risk. The safety of the kids you decided to have should always, ALWAYS be the priority. I think you guys are being very generous. It's good there are people who can see the other side of these cases. In this one, though, I see it in black and white.

[sgr1966]

how saddddd

[Valasca]

The local paper has an update, but I can't post it from my phone.
Long story short, mom and dad face more than 30 years.
The father KNOWINGLY left the kids alone. The mom left them alone thinking dad would be home soon. They admit to leaving the kids alone in the past.

[Valasca]

Markanthony Ibeagwa sat and watched as his wife, clutched by her legal team, was convicted Friday in the June 2010 drownings of their two small children who were left home alone.

Then, it was his turn.

Circuit Judge Adrian G. Soud called Ibeagwa forward where he, too, was informed of his guilt, though of a lesser charge.

Markanthony and Jovita Ibeagwa were both charged with two counts of aggravated manslaughter of a child in the deaths of 3-year-old Blessing and 6-year-old Gerrard.

While Jovita Ibeagwa, 43, was found guilty as charged, Markanthony Ibeagwa, 46, was convicted of the lesser charges of child neglect with great bodily harm.

"This was a very difficult case to try, one of the most difficult ones I've ever had to try," Assistant State Attorney Alan Mizrahi said. "... But I think this jury did hold these parents accountable for their lack of supervision of their children."

Jovita Ibeagwa told police she left her children at home to go to work after calling her husband to come home from work. She testified he assured her he would be home in the five to 10 minutes his daily commute normally takes.

Markanthony Ibeagwa initially told police he had car troubles, but later changed his story and said he stayed to work more hours.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Thomas Fallis emphasized the law pertaining to the accusation of culpable negligence versus simple negligence. He said culpable negligence is more than just a "failure to use necessary care" but rather includes recklessness and gross disregard.

Fallis said Jovita Ibeagwa was acting in a reasonable fashion when she thought she was leaving her kids home alone for no longer than five to 10 minutes.

But Mizrahi responded by asking why she never checked back on the kids or returned home after she spoke to her husband two hours later and learned that he had not yet left work.

The children were found drowned in their next-door neighbor's swimming pool. They had been left alone for three hours.

Jovita Ibeagwa faces up to 30 years on each count. Markanthony Ibeagwa faces up to 15 years on each count. Soud will sentence them in April.

Still Nigerian citizens, the Ibeagwas also likely face deportation, according to Markanthony Ibeagwa's defense attorney Al Perkins, though he said he thinks that will be up to a federal court.

Mizrahi said he understands the Ibeagwas loved their children very much. But he said he kept his focus on finding justice for their drowned children.

"Someone had to stand up for those two kids. As much as I felt sympathy for their parents, it was their fault."


Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2012-02-24/story/jacksonville-parents-convicted-their-childrens-drownings#ixzz1nQjhQ0tv