Daycare worker throws down 16 month old

Renatus · 01-19-2009, 05:36 PM

This is completely fucked up.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,1092450.story

chicagotribune.com
Murder charges mystify friends of day-care worker
Carpentersville woman is accused of fatally injuring 16-month-old at Lincolnshire facility
By Sara Olkon and James Janega

Tribune reporters

January 19, 2009

People who know Melissa Calusinski said Sunday that they could not understand how someone who had worked with children for years could have lost her composure so tragically that, police say, she killed a toddler in frustration.

A teacher's assistant at a day-care center in Lincolnshire, Calusinski, 22, of Carpentersville had cared for older children "as long as I can remember," said Brittany Baker, who said she has known Calusinski for 10 years.

"She loved kids," Baker said. "As far as I knew, she liked everybody she worked with."

But police say Calusinski got so angry last Wednesday she threw 16-month-old Benjamin Kingan to the floor, fatally injuring him. She was charged over the weekend with two counts of first-degree murder and ordered held in lieu of $5 million bail.

As Benjamin's family on Sunday completed funeral arrangements for the boy, Matt Walsh, an attorney for the Minee Subee in the Park day-care center, said Calusinski and another employee in the room that day were suspended pending an investigation by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. The other employee was not a suspect in the criminal inquiry, authorities said.

A criminal background check turned up nothing when Minee Subee hired Calusinski a year ago at a northwest suburban location, Walsh said. The woman later transferred to the branch in Lincolnshire. The center will be open Monday, he added.

"The main focus at this point is to reassure parents that this is a safe facility to bring their children to," Walsh said.

Police said Calusinski threw the boy to the floor when she grew frustrated that he was being noisy. His skull fractured, Benjamin grabbed his blanket and crawled to his "comfort zone," a bouncer seat, where he collapsed and later died, police said.

Officials said Calusinski originally told them the child fell, but changed her story when autopsy evidence showed injuries more consistent with a one- or two-story fall.

"It's not at all the person I know," said Jason Strackany, 22, of Elgin, a childhood friend of Calusinski. "I really think there has to be more to this story."

Part of it played out on Calusinski's MySpace page, which was decorated with lipstick kisses, music and the nickname "Polish Princess."

Benjamin's visitation has been set for 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Kolssak Funeral Home, 189 S. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling. The funeral service is set for 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Tribune reporter Emily Achenbaum and freelance reporter George Houde contributed to this report.

solkon@tribune.com

jjanega@tribune.com

Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune

I have to say I am shaking in the horror of this terrible crime. That poor little baby.

PortraitOfSanity · 01-19-2009, 05:48 PM

Sometimes I shake babies to see if candy will fall out.

Albert Mond · 01-19-2009, 09:42 PM

Benjamin Kingan sounds like the sort of guy who wears a backwards hat and steals folk's girlfriends. I'm glad this bastard's dead.

Hand Hanzo · 01-19-2009, 09:47 PM

That's fucked up. However, I'm used to hearing about stuff like this...I've been hearing stories about babies being punched, thrown, microwaved, etc. since 2006.

jack_the_knife · 01-20-2009, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hand Hanzo

That's fucked up. However, I'm used to hearing about stuff like this...I've been hearing stories about babies being punched, thrown, microwaved, etc. since 2006.

It's been happening a lot longer than that. It's just a lot more publicised now. They'll print whatever sells newspapers and report anything that gets viewers/listeners.

Hand Hanzo · 01-20-2009, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jack_the_knife

It's been happening a lot longer than that. It's just a lot more publicised now. They'll print whatever sells newspapers and report anything that gets viewers/listeners.

Yeah, basically.

The exploitation of common tragedy for financial gain = exactly why I don't watch the news.

Underwater Ophelia · 01-20-2009, 05:29 PM

What does her myspace have to do with anything?

Beneath the Shadows · 01-20-2009, 06:09 PM

I feel bad for the parents. One of my boys is 16 months old.

Tam Li Hua · 01-20-2009, 10:10 PM

Wow. It makes me wonder what happened to make her snap like that....or if she had been traumatizing kids all along.

I smell conspiracy.

Albert Mond · 01-20-2009, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tam Li Hua

Wow. It makes me wonder what happened to make her snap like that....

Kingan was probably trying to chat her up.

dead_dreams · 01-20-2009, 10:31 PM

I hate stories like this.

nis~sijai · 01-21-2009, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tam Li Hua

Wow. It makes me wonder what happened to make her snap like that....or if she had been traumatizing kids all along.

I smell conspiracy.

More likely it was due to stress from her personal life, but whatever her reason was, she has no way to justify the murder of a 16-month-old.

HumanePain · 01-21-2009, 03:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dead_dreams

I hate stories like this.

Me too. I hate stories about children being killed, people killed because they are gay or goth, etc. but if we avoid thinking about it or acknowledging it we cannot take steps to prevent it from happening again, we cannot deal with a problem if we do not face it.

We need some kind of screening that will catch people prone to this kind of behavior, that will catch people with hair trigger tempers etc.

Otherwise the poor toddler died in vain.

Alarica · 01-21-2009, 03:34 AM

What the fuck is wrong with people these days!! I have to be police checked to work with kids, assessed regularly, there are even bloody guidelines for nappy changing, hugging an upset child etc. Makes you wonder what else she has been getting away with, and who else was there supervising her.

Tam Li Hua · 01-21-2009, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nis~sijai

More likely it was due to stress from her personal life, but whatever her reason was, she has no way to justify the murder of a 16-month-old.

I agree completely; if she was having severe stress in her personal life, she should have dealt with it in a much better way.

I'm just curious as to what actually happened, though, especially since she never had a record of hurting or abusing kids before this.

Malice In Wonderland · 01-21-2009, 10:08 AM

I'm confused as to how lipstick and "Polish princess" on her myspace have anything to do with it.

Regardless, it's tragic and pretty upsetting.

EDIT: I'll just add that I'm surprised you don't hear about teachers/carers hurting kids due to stress more often.

menus era sota · 01-21-2009, 10:25 AM

...i'm gonna have to go slightly in the same vein as that one guy.

kids these days can be real bitches you know.
i mean, compared to us back then, fucking monsters. sluts too.
i bet he was being a little shit.

she probobally picked him up to put in a 'naughty corner' or something, and he screamed in her ear or hit her (they can be strong) and she dropped him, and is now racked with guilt.

And no, i do not hate children.l

Malice In Wonderland · 01-21-2009, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by menus era sota

...i'm gonna have to go slightly in the same vein as that one guy.

kids these days can be real bitches you know.
i mean, compared to us back then, fucking monsters. sluts too.
i bet he was being a little shit.

she probobally picked him up to put in a 'naughty corner' or something, and he screamed in her ear or hit her (they can be strong) and she dropped him, and is now racked with guilt.

And no, i do not hate children.l

I know what you mean.
I doubt she could have dropped him that hard though.
It's more likely she was just worked up and struck out with thinking.

JCC · 01-21-2009, 12:04 PM

There are always stories like this, but this one got to me for some reason. I think it's just the image of a toddler with a fractured skull clinging to a blanket for comfort as he dies.

PortraitOfSanity · 01-21-2009, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCC

There are always stories like this, but this one got to me for some reason. I think it's just the image of a toddler with a fractured skull clinging to a blanket for comfort as he dies.

If that image turned me on a little, should I keep that to myself?

Malice In Wonderland · 01-21-2009, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCC

There are always stories like this, but this one got to me for some reason. I think it's just the image of a toddler with a fractured skull clinging to a blanket for comfort as he dies.

That was the bit that got me.
I have safety blankets...

Necrophagist · 01-21-2009, 01:43 PM

I think this thread is appropriate for dead-baby-jokes...

What are 50 babies lying dead at the foot of a cliff?

A good start.

JCC · 01-21-2009, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrophagist

I think this thread is appropriate for dead-baby-jokes...

What are 50 babies lying dead at the foot of a cliff?

A good start.

Hahaha, I haven't heard that one before, I like it.

What's fourteen inches long, pink and makes women scream?

Cot death.

Malice In Wonderland · 01-21-2009, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCC

Hahaha, I haven't heard that one before, I like it.

What's fourteen inches long, pink and makes women scream?

Cot death.

What do you do when a dead baby washes up on the beach?

Hide your erection.

HumanePain · 01-21-2009, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCC

There are always stories like this, but this one got to me for some reason. I think it's just the image of a toddler with a fractured skull clinging to a blanket for comfort as he dies.

Exactly the image that put a tear in my eye, because I have seen my grandson become sleepy and grab a blanket to fall asleep.