Codi Aston: Has justice been served 3 years later?

[SoUncool]

http://jeffcountyjournal.stltoday.co...ehart0.ii1.txt

Pamela D. Minehart, 55, De Soto, will not serve any prison time for her involvement with the 2005 death of 2-year-old Codi Aston.

Associate Judge Nathan Stewart gave Minehart two years probation Tuesday for the charge of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

According to court records, Minehart did nothing to stop her daughter, Melissa Minehart, 34, De Soto, from inflicting injuries to Codi that ultimately led to the child's death. Authorities said Minehart should have reported the abuse to the proper authorities.Thelma Spangler, Codi's grandmother, said she feels probation was not enough.

"Pam knew what was up, but she refused to see it," she said. "As a grandmother, she failed very, very badly. I feel if Pam would have opened her mouth and said something to (Codi's father) Brian (Aston), maybe Codi would be here."

Melissa Minehart was sentenced in April to a total of 10 years for involuntary manslaughter and abuse of a child.

Codi died in February 2005 of blunt head trauma while staying with Aston, 30, now of Montgomery City, and Minehart. At the time of the incident Codi lived with her mother, Angela Scott, of Owensville.

Aston received five years probation earlier this year for first-degree child endangerment in the case.

Spangler said she's been unhappy with the whole justice system when it comes to Codi.

"Nothing's been fair or right through all of this," she said. "It's still hard to try to heal knowing that the justice system wasn't really fair. We are trying to get some closure, but it's hard."

http://codiaston.tripod.com/index.html
This is Codi's memorial site put together by her mom, Angie. It has the whole story here...from the phone call about Codi having a "seizure", to rushing to the hospital, being questioned by investigators, to Codi's death and funeral, to her quest for justice. Very informative, sad and yet sweet. Lots more pictures of Codi on here. I have yet to find any pictures of Brian Aston or Melissa Minehart or her mom, Pam Minehart.

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/loui...9LJAFOMHQVJK77 This blog site has some comments from Codi's maternal grandmother, Thelma Springer.

[Aelwynn]

This story made me cry. It's been a rough day for me just with all the child abuse stories I've read. Such a gorgeous little girl. Just reading the mother's website had me in tears within minutes.