Natalie Hill found dead in crib with over 100 rodent bites

**Unamused Cat** · July 16th, 2009, 08:38 PM

This one makes me sick.

A 3-month-old Westwego girl covered in rat bites was found dead in her home Thursday and authorities are trying to determine if the bites played a role in her death.

Natalie Hill was found shortly after 7:30 a.m. in her crib by paramedics responding to an emergency call.

When paramedics and police officers arrived, they found the child's father standing in front of the house in the 700 block of Central Avenue, yelling that his daughter was dead inside, said Westwego Police Chief Dwayne Munch Sr.

Munch said officers found the child with what appeared to be hundreds of bite marks on her body and severe damage to her nose and right leg. The officers determined that rats or other small rodents had done the damage, from prints left behind on the bloody sheets in the crib.

The Jefferson Parish coroner's office has not determined the baby's cause of death. Munch said it is possible the child may have been dead before the rats attacked her because the girl's parents did not report hearing her scream. The adults were in the front room of the home before the baby was found, he said.

Munch said several of his officers were deeply troubled by what they saw. "This was not something you see every day," said Munch, who could not recall a similar case in decades of law enforcement.

Neighbors said rodents have been a problem in the area for some time and that rats have gotten into several homes.

Annette Stevens, who lives next door to the child's family, said the girl's parents always took good care of her and her siblings. She said the family was cordial and seemed happy.

"They never neglected the children, they were always clean and well-fed," Stevens said. However, she said rodents were often seen running through the streets, and she had seen Natalie's father outside laying rat traps in the past. Other neighbors said the city of Westwego provides rat poison to them to deal with rodents in the street.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2...found_dea.html

**theskyisfalling** · July 16th, 2009, 08:45 PM

I have been to Westwego. There are rats there, but JESUS H. CHRIST! Something is up here. A child just doesn't get a hundred rat bites all of a sudden. It is likely that she did die of the bites. Rats have horrible bacteria in their mouths and on their fur. I find it hard to believe that a swarm of rats just instantaneously attacked the crib.
*shakes head*
This is making me ill. I just know there is something more going on here.

**totallytoddler** · July 16th, 2009, 08:47 PM

Clean and well fed? I can't see how that is possible. What. The. Fuck.
I am literally nautious....poor baby.

**Unamused Cat** · July 16th, 2009, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by totallytoddler

Clean and well fed? I can't see how that is possible. What. The. Fuck.
I am literally nautious....poor baby.

I can't believe no one heard her screams.

**Silvahalo** · July 16th, 2009, 08:49 PM

This is beyond what I care to imagine on this baby's last moments. I am hoping she was dead before the biting and chewing and.......uuugh......started. Pleazzzzze. An utter nightmare. So if no hearing was heard I'm thinking she was already dead so then I want to know what the fuck happened. And I have no doubt baby was bitten many a time before this occurred. I'm really feeling there is a lot more to this story.

Annette Stevens, who lives next door to the child's family, said the girl's parents always took good care of her and her siblings. She said the family was cordial and seemed happy.

Annette, you are wrong on this. Dead wrong. Happy with rats feeding on her.....my ass.

I'm nauseated just thinking about this poor baby and the environment she was forced to live in.

Rest in peace sweet one....so sorry.

**Little Pea** · July 16th, 2009, 09:02 PM

Nauseating and heartwrenching.

That poor baby! It is almost too much to bear.

**Rotten Apple** · July 16th, 2009, 09:02 PM

The house is by no means a fancy one, but the yard seems neat.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/w....485067cf.html

Also from the comments:

I am a relative of the mother of this child.
She fed her child at 2am, burped her, rocked her to sleep and then she went to bed herself to get a few hours of sleep before she would wake up again to care for her children and get ready for work. This is a norm for all parents. You feed your child, put him/her to bed, and then go get some sleep yourself. In that time it is believed that the baby aspirated, the rat smelled this and beginning eating the child. Or that the rat was laying over the baby's mouth, suffocating it, and that is why the baby did not cry. Either why the baby DID NOT cry. That is why the parents did not know that this happened. If you go to Google you will find that hundreds of babies die every year from aspiration and/or rat bites. Unfortunately, many tragic things can happen to a baby in a couple of hours time while the parents are sleeping and think that the baby is sleeping. The parents did live in a cr___y home, yes. But as everyone should know, the economy is horrible right now and this home was all they could afford. Despite the way the house looks on the outside, inside the house was well kept and clean. The parents DID make the home a clean environment for their children. The landlord was called NUMEROUS times about different problems of the house, and the landlord did not fix anything. The landlord was given FEMA money twice for home repairs and instead spent the money on other things. Unfortunately the young parents could not afford to move anywhere else at the time. This was a very tragic and horrible incident indeed but neglect was NOT involved in this situation. They are wonderful loving and caring parents who are very devoted to their children. They simply did what every parent does which is feed and burp their child in the middle of the night and then return her to her crib when she falls asleep, and then, as every other parent, they went to their room to get a few hours of sleep theirselves.
Please stop these horrible comments and let the parents and family mourn in peace.
Thank you.

**theskyisfalling** · July 16th, 2009, 09:05 PM

I don't know what to say. I want the autopsy report.

**thebooblady** · July 16th, 2009, 09:07 PM

OMG..that is awful. Here is an article with more details.
http://www.wwl.com/Cops--Dead-3-mont...y-rats/4818909

The house at 721 Central Avenue is in poor condition.

"There are holes in the walls. There are holes in the floor," Munch said. "It's not something that you would want to be raising a family in."

The parents told police that they found her in her crib around 7:00am Thursday. The mother said she had fed her just a few hours earlier.

Authorities identified the infant as Natalie Hill.

Munch said there was a lot of blood and the rats apparently tore the tissue from the baby's leg and face. He described bloody animal foot prints leading away from the crib.

"The parents said they had a rodent problem," Munch said. "They had traps out."

An autopsy was performed Thursday, but authorities did not release details and said they did not know if the baby was attacked and killed or died from other causes before the apparent rat attack. Tests were pending.

Munch described the inside of the house as cluttered, but indicated it was not necessarily dirty.

Code enforcement arrived at the scene to determine of the house should be condemned.

There was another child living in the house too. Child protective services came to the home.

**Silvahalo** · July 16th, 2009, 09:14 PM

Thanks booblady, I'm outt thanks.

These people should have called the city, anything to get help. Fuckn' leave that infested place of hell. Live in a shelter for fuck sake. To have a baby living in those conditions is horrific, just beyond any reasoning why they stayed there.

Idiot morons, I hope they pay for this.

**Rotten Apple** · July 16th, 2009, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by silvahalo68

These people should have called the city, anything to get help. Fuckn' leave that infested place of hell. Live in a shelter for fuck sake. To have a baby living in those conditions is horrific, just beyond any reasoning why they stayed there.

Idiot morons, I hope they pay for this.

From what I've read, the neighborhood was receiving help from the city for the rats. It was a neighborhood problem not a problem for only this family.

The mayor is denying knowledge, but this is New Orleans remember. That place is rife with poverty and corruption. I am sure that spaces in shelters are not easy to get for an entire family.

However, she said rodents were often seen running through the streets, and she had seen Natalie's father outside laying rat traps in the past. Other neighbors said the city of Westwego provides rat poison to them to deal with rodents in the street.

Mayor John Shaddinger said no code enforcement violations had been reported at the home, and there were no condemnation hearings pending as had been reported by other news agencies. Shaddinger said Westwego does provide residents with poison on a monthly basis if they come to City Hall and report a rodent problem. However, he said he was not aware that there was a major rodent problem in that neighborhood and his employees will be working to address that situation.

"We'll take whatever measures are necessary to make sure the welfare of the citizens is taken care of," said Shaddinger, who stressed that any residents who notice a rodent problem in their community should contact the city.

I'd like to see the autopsy too. We lived in the country and I remember a pasture getting cleared and our house being overrun with field mice and rats. It was AWFUL. You could hear them scurrying across the linoleum at night.

Our house was clean, and we were well taken care of. There were no babies in the house at this time, but it was a nightmare until my parents were able to rid us of the problem. I think I would like to hear more before I start yelling for these parents to be hung.

**MC30** · July 16th, 2009, 09:39 PM

i don't know who to be angry at? landlord? parents?

**ImmortalOne** · July 16th, 2009, 10:37 PM

While I want to know how this little one died....

I cannot condemn them for living in an area like they are. Economy everywhere is hurting people really bad. Some are losing their homes, shelters are overflowing and things are just getting worse. Rats are one thing, the parents seemed to be trying to better their situation and making the best of it (working and cleaning and setting up traps). The parents were up at 7am, which means they were more than likely trying to be responsible parents and check in on their daughter before the day went on.

If the reports say something else (like it wasn't child abuse etc), then the city and the landlord need to be held responsible. They both have a responsibility to those that live there, both residents like these parents and others that have complained. However at least they were trying to provide a home for their children... some people are living in their cars.

**thehesbomb** · July 16th, 2009, 10:39 PM

This is just a fucking nightmare. To discover your child with injuries like this...my stomach is roiling at the thought.

I definitely would want to know more but I am reserving judgement for now - NOLA has been a pit since Katrina and a shitload of money has made it's way down some deep pockets.

**myra manes** · July 16th, 2009, 10:40 PM

Excuse me ..
I'm going to puke ..

**ScribbleMuse** · July 16th, 2009, 10:41 PM

I agree that something is off here.

I can understand if PERHAPS there was a tragic circumstance of SIDS... and a COUPLE rat bites. But to this degree? I don't think that the rats would have been waiting in the wings to pounce this fast, would they? Plus, I've been in a home before with one or two rats, and those suckers were loud. It seems to me that in this kind of... activity, the parents would have heard SOMETHING before the child was in this shape...?

I could be wrong, but I am very suspicious. I understand the economy is terrible, and I've been in bad financial places with a child before. However, if the rats were so terrible that they descend this quickly, I would not have left my child alone at all, and I'm sure NO sane parent would, right?

**Harley_Tech** · July 16th, 2009, 10:41 PM

Originally Posted by mommacrazy30

i don't know who to be angry at? landlord? parents?

Rats?

R

**ScribbleMuse** · July 16th, 2009, 10:42 PM

I totally admit to a case of the stupids here, but I did not realize this was in NOLO. I could understand if a rat problem became this bad in the aftermath left by Katrina I guess. I just still don't feel right about it, but it's also possible that the media has distorted the reports. It is a sensational type of story after all.

**Silvahalo** · July 16th, 2009, 10:52 PM

Ultimately, this childs well being was the parents responsibility. Sure the city has responsibility to the people in general, and I have no doubt about the poverty in that area and the rodent infestation. But something better than leaving your infant exposed to rats through night should have been done. Anyone that is a parent here don't tell me that didn't cross your mind.

Even if it meant putting the baby to sleep by them so they could better hear her, bring the damn, crib in the room or better yet, bring your ass in to the babies room to sleep. This was an infant of 3 mo. who wouldn't even be able to swipe anything coming on to her, even her cries are not like a 1 yr. old. And even if there is nothing found by the autopsy to show cause of death past the rats that shewed on her and feasted on her skin, I STILL call these people negligent. WHY the fuck didn't they hear her cries? why? I sure as fuck want to know.

This is was a helpless baby for fucks sake eaten by rats alive or dead, she deserved better. So sorry Natalie.

**Harley_Tech** · July 16th, 2009, 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by ScribbleMuse

I don't think that the rats would have been waiting in the wings to pounce this fast, would they?

Yes, they would. Rats are not predators, they do not kill things to eat. They are scavengers that clean up things that are already dead.

Think of rats and vultures without the wings.

In an area where rats are already a problem and overpopulated, anything that dies is sure to be scarfed up very soon after it expires. Unfortunately in this case it was a child.

There really are no magic bullets to rid yourself of a rodent infestation. Killing one means you provided food for dozens of others. Rats are cannibals and live off their own kind when they die. They are not easy to get rid of.

Rats can detect the smells of death just as well, if not better than any cadaver dog.

I have no problem at all believing this child died in the night and became a meal for the scavengers soon after, until some information suggest otherwise.

Two rules:
#1 Sometimes, kids die.
#2 Parents, can't always change rule #1.

R

**ScribbleMuse** · July 16th, 2009, 11:03 PM

Originally Posted by silvahalo68

Ultimately, this childs well being was the parents responsibility. Sure the city has responsibility to the people in general, and I have no doubt about the poverty in that area and the rodent infestation. But something better than leaving your infant exposed to rats through night should have been done. Anyone that is a parent here don't tell me that didn't cross your mind.

Even if it meant putting the baby to sleep by them so they could better hear her, bring the damn, crib in the room or better yet, bring your ass in to the babies room to sleep. This was an infant of 3 mo. who wouldn't even be able to swipe anything coming on to her, even her cries are not like a 1 yr. old. And even if there is nothing found by the autopsy to show cause of death past the rats that shewed on her and feasted on her skin, I STILL call these people idiots and negligent. WHY the fuck didn't they hear her cries? why? I sure as fuck want to know.

This is was a helpless baby for fucks sake eaten by rats alive or dead, she deserved better. So sorry Natalie.

Perfect phrasing of the feeling I had. For some reason I just couldn't figure out what exactly was bothering me most.

As a parent, I think that this tragedy was a result of numerous factors. I just believe that if the media has not distorted the story or background of the story, there were probably a thousand factors that coalesced in this final outcome, and any one of them would have been preventable by very easy actions. So in the end, even if they did not kill/abuse her first, they had a hand by inaction.

**eliz1bef** · July 16th, 2009, 11:07 PM

I can vouch that cleanliness doesn't necessarily mean you won't get rats. Our neighborhood got a massive rat infestation after our city imploded a major nearby building. We live along the river, so it was like a funnel right into our neighborhood. I suspected rats and brought in a pest control expert who inspected and said that our house was too clean to have rats. We keep all of our dry goods in sealed, food-grade restaurant tubs, and there didn't appear to be any way for them to access the interior of our home in his opinion. A few weeks later, we found two rats lodged in our stove vent hood. A few weeks after that, the gnawed into our kitchen from behind our cabinets. Our home is over 100 years old, and has very deep walls with wide hollows since it was once heated with coal. They'd managed to find a loose cinderblock deep beneath the house in a far corner of a crawlspace off the basement in a raw dirt, unsealed area of the coal room. They crawled up into the hollow spaces of the walls and voids in the roof.

Over the next month, my cat killed 9 rats, until one the size of a SMALL DOG got into our house and wandered around with a rat glue trap stuck to it's back like a sticker. My cat was growling at it and had it cornered, but he simply wasn't big enough to take it out. My husband took care of it, and since we killed the mega huge rat, we've not seen another. We still bait our basement, etc.

It's really tempting to blame these people. I know I want to blame SOMEONE for what happened to this poor baby, but these people don't sound like the filthbillies we normally read about. I would also like to know why they didn't hear her, but there are a couple of reasons I can think of that could explain this.

Being bitten to death by rats has been a pet fear of mine since I saw Mary Reilly. Well, the part of Mary Reilly up until she gets locked into the closet with a bunch of rats. What a horrible death for this poor child. It's just bone chilling.

**Harley_Tech** · July 16th, 2009, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by silvahalo68

WHY the fuck didn't they hear her cries? why? I sure as fuck want to know.

To be blunt, dead babies don't cry.

Your indignant outrage completely discounts the possibility that this child died for any number of reasons. SIDS, choked silently after the last feeding, wrapped up in blanket and smothered, etc.

R

**ScribbleMuse** · July 16th, 2009, 11:10 PM

Originally Posted by Harley_Tech

Yes, they would. Rats are not predators, they do not kill things to eat. They are scavengers that clean up things that are already dead.

Think of rats and vultures without the wings.

In an area where rats are already a problem and overpopulated, anything that dies is sure to be scarfed up very soon after it expires. Unfortunately in this case it was a child.

There really are no magic bullets to rid yourself of a rodent infestation. Killing one means you provided food for dozens of others. Rats are cannibals and live off their own kind when they die. They are not easy to get rid of.

Rats can detect the smells of death just as well, if not better than any cadaver dog.

I have no problem at all believing this child died in the night and became a meal for the scavengers soon after, until some information suggest otherwise.

Two rules:
#1 Sometimes, kids die.
#2 Parents, can't always change rule #1.

R

That's very true too, harley. I admit that I am basing much of my opinion on a gut feeling, and that is definitely faulty, and also the product of cynacism after reading these forums and others for too long. So perhaps there is nothing that can be blamed on the parents, but I can't help but to think that if the rat problem WAS this bad, and if the parents WERE knowledgable about it as suggested in the article, the baby should not have been left unattended.

It seems I have heard stories like this before, where live children are attacked by rats while sleeping in poorer areas of the US. It is ultimately a very sad manifestation of a strange inability to make sure that decent living potential is given without pause. I do not believe in total control given to the government, but I do believe that we have enough resources to ensure adequate living situations.

**ScribbleMuse** · July 16th, 2009, 11:14 PM

Originally Posted by eliz1bef

Over the next month, my cat killed 9 rats, until one the size of a SMALL DOG got into our house and wandered around with a rat glue trap stuck to it's back like a sticker. My cat was growling at it and had it cornered, but he simply wasn't big enough to take it out. My husband took care of it, and since we killed the mega huge rat, we've not seen another. We still bait our basement, etc.

OMGosh... I had the biggest fit of inappropriate dark humor when I read this. It must have been terrifying at the time, but the picture you paint is hysterically funny. lol

I do agree about cleanliness. It's like lice--it's not about hygiene. A rat attracted to food rotting on the counters is one thing--a rat infestation large enough for the government to be trying to exterminate is impossible to control.

**Silvahalo** · July 17th, 2009, 12:06 AM

Originally Posted by Harley_Tech

To be blunt, dead babies don't cry.

Your indignant outrage completely discounts the possibility that this child died for any number of reasons. SIDS, choked silently after the last feeding, wrapped up in blanket and smothered, etc.

R

No shit, thank for clearing that up for me.

I believe the last thing I read said it has not been determined what the baby died of NOT that the baby was indeed dead before she was eaten on by rats. So lets just wait and see why don't we. Either way, my indignant rant stands just fine on its own thank you very much. Either way, I STILL believe negligence is an issue.

The Jefferson Parish coroner's office has not determined the baby's cause of death. Munch said it is possible the child may have been dead before the rats attacked her because the girl's parents did not report hearing her scream. The adults were in the front room of the home before the baby was found, he said.

**penelopejo** · July 17th, 2009, 12:11 AM

Originally Posted by silvahalo68

No shit, thank for clearing that up for me.

I believe the last thing I read said it has not been determined what the baby died of NOT that the baby was indeed dead before she was eaten on by rats. So lets just wait and see why don't we. Either way, my indignant rant stands just fine on its own thank you very much. Either way, I STILL believe negligence is an issue.

Because she died before the rats attacked her?

A 3 month old child is still susceptible to SIDS, and living in a neighborhood infested with rats, holes in the walls and floors, sounds to me like the air quality was not good either.

Now, if more information comes out, such as her being smothered, then that's a different story.

When did they say the autopsy was coming out?

**eliz1bef** · July 17th, 2009, 12:14 AM

Originally Posted by ScribbleMuse

OMGosh... I had the biggest fit of inappropriate dark humor when I read this. It must have been terrifying at the time, but the picture you paint is hysterically funny. lol

I like to paint funny pictures.

**scorpiogirl** · July 17th, 2009, 12:27 AM

A 3-month-old Westwego girl covered in rat bites was found dead in her home Thursday and authorities are trying to determine if the bites played a role in her death.

Natalie Hill was found shortly after 7:30 a.m. in her crib by paramedics responding to an emergency call.

When paramedics and police officers arrived, they found the child's father standing in front of the house in the 700 block of Central Avenue, yelling that his daughter was dead inside, said Westwego Police Chief Dwayne Munch Sr.

Munch said officers found the child with what appeared to be hundreds of bite marks on her body and severe damage to her nose and right leg. The officers determined that rats or other small rodents had done the damage, from prints left behind on the bloody sheets in the crib.

The parents were identified by neighbors as Robby Hill and Casey Laine.

The Jefferson Parish coroner's office has not determined the baby's cause of death. Munch said it is possible the child may have been dead before the rats attacked her because the girl's parents did not report hearing her scream. The adults were in the front room of the home before the baby was found, he said

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2...found_dea.html

**Rotten Apple** · July 17th, 2009, 12:27 AM

Maybe I am extra sensitive to this story because my girlfriend's baby just died this past 4th of July of SIDS. She would have been 6 months old on the 11th.

They are both professional people, with another older child and they put the baby down for a nap. When her husband went to check on the baby a couple of hours later...like they always did, they could not rouse her.

Now had they been living in this situation and this happened in a neighborhood full of rats, chances are, the rat may have gotten to the body before they did.

Have you ever watched a rat eat? Just because there was nearly 100 bites does not mean there were 100 rats. One rat could have done this alone if it was given enough time. And enough time would mean 10 to 15 minutes. If this child had been left alone to nap before how would they expect for this one nap to be any different?

Like Harley said, rats are scavengers and guess what, they love the taste of human blood. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...775942,00.html

Crazy huh?

EDIT: I also want to note that the child was not left alone throughout the night. A 3 month old does not usually sleep through the night. The mother fed a normal healthy child at 7 that morning, put her down and found her this way a couple of hours later.

Thread: Natalie Hill found dead in crib with over 100 rodent bites

Thread Tools

Display