2 Michiana Children Die, 10 and 11 years old

[southsider]

One from Niles whose parents found her dead when trying to wake her up for school:

Quoting Nilesstar.com

Teachers at Oak Manor Sixth Grade Center had the difficult task Thursday of notifying their students that one of their classmates unexpectedly died early that morning.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Department notified the school this morning that Destany Frick, 11, a resident of Howard Township, passed away in her sleep at 5:45 a.m.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is investigating her death, which occurred at a residence on Wolf Street in Howard Township.

Upon attempting to wake the child for school, the child’s parents discovered that the child was unresponsive and immediately called 911 and attempted CPR. Medical and sheriff’s personnel responding to the scene discovered that the child was deceased.

An autopsy was ordered for the child and performed Thursday at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. As is the policy of the sheriff’s office, the results of the autopsy will not be released until toxicology results are obtained. This usually takes one to four weeks.

Supt. Richard Weigel said a crisis management team was brought in, and teachers read a script to their students Thursday explaining what happened.

“Please do not make up or share stories that are untrue,” students were instructed.

Letters were also sent home to parents and guardians asking them to talk about the death with their families.

A crisis counseling team is available at Oak Manor for students who would like to talk to someone.

Destany’s death remains under investigation by sheriff’s detectives, however, foul play is not suspected.

Anyone with information regarding this incident can contact the Cass County Tipline at (800) 462-9328.

http://www.nilesstar.com/2011/11/03/six ... xpectedly/


Another death of a 10 year old child, from South Bend (Homicide is there so dont know what happened, but the call came at 4am?

Quoting WNDU:

South Bend Police investigating death of 10-year-old child
South Bend, Ind.
South Bend Police and Metro Homicide are investigating the death of a 10-year-old child.
Posted: 7:50 AM Nov 4, 2011
Reporter: NewsCenter 16 Staff
Email Address: newscenter16@wndu.com


Story 1 Comments
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South Bend Police and Metro Homicide are investigating the death of a 10-year-old child.

Public Information Officer Phil Trent told NewsCenter16 that a call came in to South Bend Police around 4:00 a.m.

The call was from a neighbor in the 1100-block of Washington Street.

When police arrived on the scene the child was not breathing and attempts to revive the child were unsuccessful.

Officer Trent also said that because there were unanswered questions, Metro Homicide was called to investigate.

Stay with NewsCenter16 for updates.

http://www.wndu.com/localnews/headlines ... 27038.html

Whats going on around here?

I know that the coroner performing the autopsy on the Michigan girl found fluid in the lungs, and poisoning has not been ruled out yet. She ate halloween candy the night before bed and showed no symptoms of being ill the day before.

[Happy Mom]

South Bend Police and Metro Homicide are investigating the death of a 10-year-old child.

Public Information Officer Phil Trent told NewsCenter16 that a call came in to South Bend Police around 4:00 a.m.

The call was from a neighbor in the 1100-block of Washington Street.

Was the child in a house, in the street, or where? This is very sad and very strange...

[southsider]

South Bend Police and Metro Homicide are investigating the death of a 10-year-old child.

Public Information Officer Phil Trent told NewsCenter16 that a call came in to South Bend Police around 4:00 a.m.

The call was from a neighbor in the 1100-block of Washington Street.

Was the child in a house, in the street, or where? This is very sad and very strange...

I wondered about the same things....

Both were found unresponsive and basically dead in the early morning hours about 24 hours apart... Its very strange for older children to die without any sort of illness or symptoms.

[southsider]

OUTH BEND — The St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit was called out twice overnight on separate cases.

The most recent was involving a 10-year-old boy, who was found by his family not breathing and unresponsive on the living room floor of a home in the 1100 block of West Washington Street about 3:35 a.m. today, police said.

The child died upon arrival to Memorial Hospital.

Because doctors, police officers and family members could not find a reason why the boy had died, a death investigation is being conducted by metro homicide officers.

Capt. Phil Trent, South Bend police spokesman, said officers are investigating whether the boy’s death may be suspicious in nature. Trent did not know whether the boy had any injuries.

“There’s something to look into here,” Trent said. “We’re not convinced there is a clear cut reason for a cause of death.”

There were conflicting reports, police said, on the child’s health status.

full story:
http://www.southbendtribune.com/sbt-met ... 4360.story

[southsider]

By Kelli Stopczynski (kstopczynski@wsbt.com)
Click here to become a fan of Kelli on Facebook
WSBT-TV Reporter
5:10 p.m. EDT, November 4, 2011

CASS COUNTY – An 11-year-old Howard Township girl was found dead in her bed and some parents are worried about the safety of their own children.

Destany Frick's parents tried to wake her up for school Thursday morning, but she was unresponsive. Other than a news release sent late Thursday, police weren’t saying much Friday. There’s no indication of how or why Destany Frick died. A Cass County police spokesman admitted they are looking into her Halloween candy for clues, but a source close to the investigation said they don't believe that's what killed the otherwise healthy little girl.

Rumors inside Oak Manor Sixth Grade Center and outside in the Niles Community are rampant.

“The Halloween candy might have been poisoned and then she died in her sleep because of that, that's what they're saying,” said Hali Burns, one of Frick’s friends.

When asked whether she believed those rumors, Burns said she kind of did and kind of did not.

“I don’t like to hear the rumors,” said Burns’ mother, Lori Lolmaugh.

“It’s hard to stop people from jumping [to conclusions] when they hear something like that,” said Robert Phillips, whose grandson attends Oak Manor Sixth Grade Center.

Dr. Robert Knox, Cass County medical examiner, told WSBT Destany Frick – by all accounts – was a healthy little girl and did not have any known medical problems. He also said he does not have any reason to blame her death on tainted Halloween candy, but anything is possible.

“She was at school the day before, she had not been ill or anything, so it came as a complete surprise to all of us,” said Oak Manor principal Robin Hadrick.

WSBT spoke with several parents who said they’ve already thrown out their kids’ Halloween candy…just in case. Meanwhile, those who knew and loved the popular sixth-grade student – Destany Rose Frick, known by some of her friends as “Rosie” – are remembering what made her such a special little girl.

“She was kind of a popular student. She didn't have any enemies,” Hadrick said. “They just all loved her, so we knew this was going to be difficult.”

The school brought in counselors to help grieving students and teachers. It also encouraged students to add kind words about Destany on a memorial poster board to be given to her family.

But it’s still difficult for those grieving the loss and attempting to sort through the rumors and concern.

“My teacher told us not to believe [the rumors] because we don’t know if it’s the truth yet,” Burns said.

An autopsy was done on Destany Frick's body in Grand Rapids on Thursday, but the Cass County Sheriff's Department says its policy is not to release the results of that autopsy until toxicology results come back. That could take anywhere from one to four weeks.

A news release from the sheriff’s department said investigators do not suspect foul play, but they are asking anyone with information about the case to call the Cass County Tipline at 800-462-9328.

Police would not say what other parents should do with their kids’ Halloween candy.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/sbt-hal ... 7300.story

[Happy Mom]

EXCLUSIVE: South Bend grandmother says son isn't a monster


By Clifton French, WSBT-TV Reporter

7:29 p.m. EST, November 6, 2011

SOUTH BEND – On Sunday WSBT was the first to speak with the South Bend grandmother of 10-year-old Tramelle Sturgis, who police say was brutally beaten to death by his father – her son – on Friday morning.

Terry Sturgis allegedly beat the young boy to death using both a club and his fists, restraining him with duct tape as the blows were delivered.

WSBT's Clifton French is the only reporter to talk with Dellia Castile, who lives with Terry and his children in the 1100 block of West Washington Street.

She told him she is just in complete shock and she doesn't know how this happened.

She was actually at home asleep when it occurred. She woke up to screaming and ended up calling 911.

Dellia says her son, Terry, is a good person and father. He's taken in five children despite their mother not being around.

She says she's never seen her son abuse his children before. But over the past several years he has had some major health issues. He is currently on Dialysis and is need of a kidney.

She showed us the numerous medications he's has prescribed for him... Many of them with warnings of side-effects including hallucinations, depression and confusion.

She believes these medications could have led to what happened on Friday.

"My son by no means is a monster, I don't care what the media says,” says Dellia. “…They don't know my son, I know my son. He's not a monster.”
Take responsibility for giving birth to this monster...
Currently the other four children who lived in the home are in temporary foster care.

Coming up at 10 on SBT2 and at 11 on WSBT News, we'll have her entire story about what exactly happened that night and what her son, Terry, has said, and how the community is treating this family since this tragedy.
http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-exclusive ... 2976.story

[st michael jr]

Monster is too good of a name for this.....

[southsider]

if it was his meds, which i am not buying, why didnt anyone call his doctors? never heard of a medication that causes you to murder babies. what a bunch of crap.