Johanna Best's Toddler Fell Out of a Window

[TheImperialCerealKiller]

http://i36.tinypic.com/34pko5s.jpg
Johanna Best's Myspace with blogs- http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=208804258

A Jersey City woman was arrested after her 2-year-old child fell from a third-floor window while home alone Thursday evening, police said yesterday.

Johanna Best, 31, of Webster Avenue at Griffith Street, was arrested Thursday night at the Jersey City Medical Center, where her daughter was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries to her face, arms and legs, reports said.

A resident living on the second floor of the building said he was eating dinner when he heard a "big bang" and looked out the window to see the toddler on top of a pile of debris in the backyard, reports said. He said he told his wife to call police and went outside to see if the crying child was OK, reports said.

Best told police she went out to pick up her paycheck at 5 p.m. and came back 15 minutes later to find her daughter had fallen, reports said. She told the officers she left the girl with her 9-year-old brother and 7-year-old brother, telling the boys to stay home with their sister, reports said.

The boys had instead gone out to play with friends, reports said.

Police notified the state Division of Youth and Family Services and a spokesman for the agency, Andy Williams, said yesterday that he could not comment on whether DYFS had taken custody of the children.

The girl remained hospitalized last night and was listed in stable condition, a spokesman for the hospital said. Police found the toddler's slippers on the pile of debris and placed them into evidence, reports said.
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerseycity/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1221287171176630.xml&coll=3

[prettyuglyish]

Is that a Coors Light mirror that I see? :mullet: I think I hear Foreigner.

[crickett]

http://i36.tinypic.com/34pko5s.jpg
Johanna Best's Myspace with blogs- http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=208804258


http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerseycity/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1221287171176630.xml&coll=3
Ummmm....this is why you do NOT let (let alone REQUIRE) a 9 year old to babysit. When I was 9 I used to stay with my newborn nephew WHILE HIS MOTHER WAS HOME....HHhEEEEeeeLLllOooooo......
To be a mothers helper so she could do laundry, tak a nap, whatever.
The mother was 18 or 19. And STILL to smart to leave a nine year old alone with a baby.
NONE of those 3 children were really old enough to stay alone.
She is lucky (and needs to thank GOD!) that her two year old daughter is alive. It could have been so much worse. And, any pervert could have picked up her 7 and 9 year old sons.
GAWD, some people should NOT have kids!!!!!!!!:angry:

[ImmortalOne]

In her defense... As a single mother, my kids were latchkey kids at 9 and 5yrs old. My 9yr old had to watch her 5yr old sister often for me while I worked. Then again Ohio DSC said that they couldn't do anything because there is no age limit and we had back up emergency plans. I had no choice in the matter.

While I agree that she should've taken the kids with her, and then had to deal with taking them in with her, arresting her perhaps is a bit too much. AND if she isn't already on welfare, hopefully she will get it and therefore someone to help watch the kids too.

[silvahalo68]

I got to say this was a dumb thing to do and she is very lucky her 2 yr. old was not killed. On that note she does not appear to be all out bad and neglectful mother but just stupid in making a decision that put her child...no her children in harms way,(7 & 9 yr. old boys spell but-load of trouble!). She must have thought what an inconvenience to get all the kiddos in the car to pick a check that would take less than 5 minutes....yep, now she's really inconvenienced. We have seen FAR worse her at the DD...I'm not sure arresting was the best thing but it will send a message and this kind of thing will likly NOT be repeated by her again.

I really do hope these children are not too traumatized by this incident.

[Jaded]

Is that a Coors Light mirror that I see? :mullet: I think I hear Foreigner.

Heeeeeey!! I have a Coors Light mirror. I think I've had it for about 15 years now...lol. It's under my bed somewhere, I wouldn't actually hang it on my wall for people to see. And...I only have like 3 Foreigner songs in my music. ;)

[ashdavus]

Heeeeeey!! I have a Coors Light mirror. I think I've had it for about 15 years now...lol. It's under my bed somewhere, I wouldn't actually hang it on my wall for people to see. And...I only have like 3 Foreigner songs in my music. ;)

No coors light mirrors under my bed, but I have a Wendys stained glass window in my storage unit. What odd category does that put me in?

[BeixirT]

While I agree that she should've taken the kids with her, and then had to deal with taking them in with her, arresting her perhaps is a bit too much.

I got to say this was a dumb thing to do and she is very lucky her 2 yr. old was not killed. On that note she does not appear to be all out bad and neglectful mother ...I'm not sure arresting was the best thing but it will send a message and this kind of thing will likly NOT be repeated by her again.

Are you both serious?! Her baby fell out of a frickin' window & her 7 and 9 nine year olds were running the street unsupervised because it was too inconvenient for her to take them with her. That is the very definition of "neglect". As Crickett pointed out, she is damn lucky something much worse didn't happen to her kids. She absolutely deserved to be arrested! I have zero sympathy for this chick.

[Gidget]

Whether the 7 & 9 year olds were able to fend for themselves for 15 minutes is open to debate. Obviously she found out the hard way, they're not.

The 2 year old, though, that should have been a no-brainer. Take the kid with you. Period. There is NO way a 7 or 9 year old should be left responsible for a toddler.

She belongs in jail.

And somebody, please, tell her to put on a bra for God's sake.

[ImmortalOne]

The thing is most states do not have a minimum "age alone" statue. Most are based upon the child's maturity level. This is a lesson learned, not a crime deserving to rip this family apart. There are far worse situations out there that need more attention, and intervention. There are far more important cases out there that are ignored and neglected, and likely this family is going to become part of the CPS statistic of "Oh! Look what wonderful changes we made to this family!!! --- Ignore that we destroyed their lives first."

Think also largely about our generation, and those before us. Often we did stay home alone at early ages. We were allowed to ride around the block at 5yrs old, didn't wear helmets, danced in the rain, waited till the street lights came on before even bothering to go home - most of the time without even telling our parents were were at Johnny's, Sue's, Kevin's, Betsy's house... and 1/2 that time those parents weren't even home. We roller skated without pads, and did all kinds of things that parents these days are being condemned for allowing their children to do.

I know I could leave my 11yr old home for 15 minutes with my 1yr old. Not any longer than that. Would I have a problem with it? To an extent. However again, my kids are usually a bit more mature than their age, because it was just us for an extended period of time. My oldest remembers very well having to be home alone at 7 years old. Or at 9 yrs old and caring for her younger sister. This is possible if done right, and that is the biggest difference.

Obviously, boys or girls, she should have had things in place to stop what happened. Mostly rules that the kids need to follow (no stove, no outside, no one in, etc.). Which relates to maturity and discipline (Yes I would spank my kids if they broke these rules, period if that makes me a horrible parent, oh well). Also Emergency back ups, phones, a neighbor that would just come by and check on things, whatever.

Yet, leaving the kids alone with the 2yr old... how often do our kids play with their younger siblings out of our eye-site? We as parents cannot possibly be everywhere. If her kid had fallen with her at home, this would have still been a tear apart the mother festival. The comments would not have been any different.

[silvahalo68]

Are you both serious?! Her baby fell out of a frickin' window & her 7 and 9 nine year olds were running the street unsupervised because it was too inconvenient for her to take them with her. That is the very definition of "neglect". As Crickett pointed out, she is damn lucky something much worse didn't happen to her kids. She absolutely deserved to be arrested! I have zero sympathy for this chick.

She was STUPID, a really dumb decision on her part. I hope she never pulls a stunt like this again. Stick around you will see how many pieceofshit M*F so called "mother's are posted her on the DD, they don't only leave their children for 15 minutes, not that I'm condoning it, they *F* cook, burn, stab, brake, torture, rape, decapitate...take your pick. Like I said "I am not sure she deserves jail time..." An opinion is just that every one has one. If I'm guilty of anything is that I tried putting myself in her shoes, single-mom, three children, etc... By all means the children are the most important factor here. I didn't say she doesn't deserve punishment.

So to answer your question YES, I am damn serious about piece of shit M*F out there. I actually do more than read and post I am an active partisipant in pursuing the bastards that kill our children and also help put them away..

Also, I respect your opinion and thanks for posting! this is what this forum is for!

[MISSanthropic]

Eh, I think she deserved to be arrested.

It was careless. If you're going to leave your 2 y/o at home with a 9 y/o and 7 y/o, for any amount of time, the proper precautions should be made.

...for instance, did she even think to close the window? Obviously her kids are not mature enough to watch a 2 y/o, they proved this by disobeying their mother and going out to play. It's not their fault though, it's hers.

I'm not saying they should be taken away for good, but a lesson needed to be learned. Good example set. Maybe this will encourage others to be a little more careful...

[Just my luck sucks]

I sure hope she is responsible enough to accept that she made the wrong decisions and NOT take it out/blame the children when she gets them back.

Poor kids they must be scared. Glad baby was not badly hurt.

I climbed out of a two story window myself at that age. "Fell on my hi's in Gpa's garden." Years later we can laugh about it--thank goodness grandpa had tilled the soil--made for a softer landing.

[silvahalo68]

O.K., I have seriously reconsidered my opinion on my original post. I've decided that I DO think it was right she was arrested....one look at my 1yr. old son did the trick. If I had put him in a situation that caused him to fall out a window I'd turn my sorry ass in my self!

Damn, this forum is lot of fun!
http://dl5.glitter-graphics.net/pub/74/74385ptlry37of2.png (http://www.glitter-graphics.com)

[prettyuglyish]

Heeeeeey!! I have a Coors Light mirror. I think I've had it for about 15 years now...lol. It's under my bed somewhere, I wouldn't actually hang it on my wall for people to see. And...I only have like 3 Foreigner songs in my music. ;)

Well, you must either be hot blooded or cold as ice. Just don't be playing head games with me, because I wanna know what love is. Jaded, I've been waiting for a girl like you, but you probably like some dirty white boy or juke box hero. You must have double-vision. It's urgent. So urgent. You better get to the soul doctor.

[Shroomer]

Well put ImmortalOne.

BUT

I dont think a 9 year old should be watching a 2 year old. Most 9 year olds can handle being home alone, but I think their maturity level has a lot to do with it. The Red Cross offers babysitting courses that kids can take at the age of 11, I believe (not 100%). I dont think that at 9 the levels of maturity are stable enough yet (you know today i will act like i am 10 but tomorrow i will act 8).

I wonder though if the 2 year old was possibly asleep when she left? Dont want to wake her, will only be gone 5 minutes. As it was posted earlier, she definitely should of secured the home before leaving or going to use the bathroom or going to the kitchen to cook dinner....it only takes a half a second for a 2yr old to turn around and find trouble. I am glad that she is okay though.