Facebook, the dog, the couch and Alexandra Tobias' dead baby

[Dakota]

A judge has set a date for the trial for a mother charged with murder in the death of her 3-month-old son.

Police arrested 21-year-old Alexandra Tobias in January.

Investigators said she admitted to shaking her baby three times after his crying interrupted a game she was playing on Facebook. Police said the baby's head could have hit the computer.

According to police, Tobias went outside to smoke a cigarette, and while she was out, the family dog knocked the boy off the couch.

Investigators said when she came back in, the boy cried again and police said she admitted to shaking the boy again, causing him to stop breathing.

Investigators said the boy had a head injury and a broken leg.

Police first arrested Tobias on charges of aggravated child abuse, but after her son died the next day, they added the charge of murder.

Tobias' trial is scheduled to begin on June 28.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/23003713/detail.html

The baby's father said Tobias called him initially after the baby was injured, and he said he wasn't as angry or sad as he was in shock over what happened.

"I think what sparked her was that the baby was crying," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Lt. Larry Schmitt said. "I don't think it mattered what she was doing, but it was enough to kind of put her over the edge, and she started shaking the baby, caused severe head trauma to the child."

http://www.news4jax.com/news/22304695/detail.html

A family friend of Alexandra Tobias said the Jacksonville mother was so protective of her infant son, she wouldn't even let him hold the boy.

If 3-month-old Dylan Lee Edmondson developed a cough or other illness, Tobias wouldn't hesitate to take him to the doctor, said the friend, who identified himself as Jason Smith, 32. Whenever she took Dylan driving, Tobias made sure he was comfortable and safe.

So when he learned Thursday that Tobias, 21, had been charged with murder in the death of her only child, Smith said he couldn't believe the news.
[...]

"That girl was so protective over that baby. There should be more investigation done. I just don't know if she just snapped or what," Smith told the Times-Union in a phone call to the family's home
[...]

Police records show she had been charged on Dec. 27 with fighting with the baby's father, Earl Jackson Edmondson III. She was given six months probation and ordered to attend an anger-control class within 30 days. He was also arrested. The report said that the state Department of Children and Families was to be notified because Dylan was home when the fight occurred. It's unclear if the agency got involved.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-01-22/story/friend_cant_believe_mom_charged_in_babys_death

 

[Jaded]

Farmville is the new World of Warcraft....

 

[Valasca]

Gotta CONCENTRATE on harvesting those crops. Can't have a crying baby disrupt that.

 

[TwiztidAngel]

fb games are not even THAT addicting...now if it was them damn quizzes i could maybe see her frustration *sarcasm*

ugh who cares if she took care of him some of the time...its her JOB to ensure of his care 24/7...motherhood gets no breaks or time off...when are people gonna get that thru their thick ass neanderthal skulls

 

[MadeaBecBec]

Excuses, Excuses...

Her Mommy died so she facebook games and kills her child....


http://www.news4jax.com/video/24875511/

Frustrated, then, frustrated in the Big House! Hopefully for life!

 

[TheDepressor]

I really don't understand some people. The information on shaken baby syndrome is out there. There is no excuse for anyone, regardless of age, race, location, income, etc to not have at least some basic understanding of the concept. If what the family friend says is true, then she was a pretty good mom up until that incident. Of course, that's a big *if* there. Any parent can get overwhelmed, but it is NO excuse for them to snap and shake their child. Especially since everyone knows what the outcome can be. Honestly, before a parent (whether new or not) leaves the hospital or prior to their due date, they should HAVE to take a parenting class that educates them on shaken baby syndrome, stress, and when/how to take a "breather." Maybe I'm wrong and the education really isn't out there like I believe. But, if it is legally mandated that all parents having a child take a class whether before the birth or prior to leaving the hospital, maybe it will save some babies. If this girl really was a good mother and just "snapped," maybe education, ways to cope with stress, and a known hotline for emotional/mental support would have helped. Of course, we won't know with this case because the baby is dead and Mom is going to jail where she will have to live with the guilt forever.

 

[Silvahalo]

I don't FB much, I don't need another addiction.

Seriously, this bitch is a heartless fuck. She gets frustrated, OK i get that but to shake the life out of baby, break bones, I mean she's a mean, heartless bitch.

I'd hate to go down with anything being said it was fb or another site that I beat my child over. How pathetic is that? She was frustrated so baby gets the shit end. Always is that way as baby has NO choice at all but to take it.

So sorry baby Dylan Lee Edmondson, you deserved to be loved and cherished.

 

[Undeniable Truth]

Guilty plea

Tobias entered her plea Wednesday before Circuit Judge Adrian G. Soud. A second-degree murder charge is punishable by up to life in prison.

Prosecutor Richard Mantei said Tobias' sentence could be less because of state guidelines that call for 25 to 50 years. Soud offered no promises on what he'll order during a sentencing hearing scheduled for December.

Tobias told investigators that she shook the baby, smoked a cigarette to compose herself and then shook him again. She said the baby may have hit his head during the shaking.

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/...y-interrupting-farmville-pleads-guilty-murder

 

[beans]

What in the hell is Farmville? As a lover of video games, I cant see how it can cause a person the shake the baby to death. Neglect chores, you betcha. Last time I checked, there was a pause button.. or this Farmville without one?

 

[beans]

. Honestly, before a parent (whether new or not) leaves the hospital or prior to their due date, they should HAVE to take a parenting class that educates them on shaken baby syndrome, stress, and when/how to take a "breather."

She did take a breather. A smoke out side, and then came back for round two.

 

[AngelFire]

What in the hell is Farmville? As a lover of video games, I cant see how it can cause a person the shake the baby to death. Neglect chores, you betcha. Last time I checked, there was a pause button.. or this Farmville without one?

The most boring game on the face of the Earth. I tried getting the hang of this damn thing but I have little to no attention span left to harvest any virtual fruits or vegetables.

 

[Robynne]

Is it me, or does this little Bitch look like she's 14, stoned and pissed off?
I spend alot of time on the internet, but I don't hurt my kids.
Poor Little Man!!! R.I.P. Sweet Angel

 

[Rawrehz]

Mom Alexandra V. Tobia Shakes Baby for Interrupting Farmville, Pleads Guilty

On Wednesday, Alexandra V. Tobias pled guilty to second degree murder for shaking her baby to death.

At the time of her arrest in January, 22-year-old Tobias reportedly told police that she was playing FarmVille on Facebook and got angry when the three-month-old Dylan Lee Edmondson began to cry.

According to the Florida Times-Union, "Tobias told investigators that she shook the baby, smoked a cigarette to compose herself and then shook him again. She said the baby may have hit his head during the shaking."

A judge heard Tobias's plea on Wednesday and will issue her sentence at a December hearing. Tobias could face the rest of her life behind bars, the Times-Union reports.

There have been several instances in which authorities believe children suffered due to their parents' unhealthy gaming habits. Earlier this year, a Korean couple was convicted of letting their child starve to death while they raised a virtual baby online. In September, a mother was banned from using computers after her she neglected her children and let the family dogs starve because of her "obsession" with a game.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/28/alexandra-v-tobias-farmville_n_775264.html

Tobias told investigators she then laid Dylan on the living room couch and smoked a cigarette to compose herself. The family dog apparently knocked the baby off the couch, causing him to cry some more, and Tobias shook Dylan again until he stopped breathing.

She told investigators the boy’s head "could have" hit the computer while she abused him, according to police reports.

Prosecutor Richard Mantei told the Times-Union that Tobias’ plea will help the family avoid reliving the tragedy during a jury trial.

Florida state guidelines call for 25 to 50 years in prison for a second degree murder charge, but Tobias could face a life sentence, the paper said.

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpps/news/f...ing-baby-to-death-dpgonc-20101027-bb_10329139

 

[sorrow_discord]

Bitch..you are to smoke the cigarette before picking the baby up. If one does not compose you than smoke another. -sighs-

 

[VXIII]

She is an ugly dead eyed bitch too... lets put a nazi hat on her, she will look right at home there...

 

[ImmortalOne]

I think the cunt should be given a living autopsy without any medications.

 

[beans]

She is an ugly dead eyed bitch too... lets put a nazi hat on her, she will look right at home there...

You should ask Mr. Bondurant . :devil:hehe

 

[Dakota]

Alexandra Tobias, the young Jacksonville mother charged with killing her 3-month-old son for crying while she played a Facebook videogame, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.

"He who is the most defenseless among us was murdered by his own mommy. And why? Because he was crying during a game of FishVille or FarmVille or whatever was going on during Facebooking time that day," Circuit Judge Adrian G. Soud said this afternoon.
[...]

Tobias, now 22, told the judge she was suffering from postpartum depression but wants to go back to the good person she was before the killing.

"I hate myself for what I did but not for who I am," Tobias said.

It was an emotional hearing in which Tobias' friends and family described her as a fun-loving, albeit somewhat mischievous, child who grew into a beautiful woman and responsible mother.

Life dealt her some tough knocks. She'd found her mother dead in 2008. She told a psychologist she'd been raped at a younger age. Her plans to go to college after graduating from Wolfson High School were set back when she got pregnant. She and the baby's father were in an on-again, off-again relationship that became so intense both of them were arrested for domestic violence several weeks before the baby's death.

Still, nobody close to Tobias could believe she‘d ever take her frustrations out on the baby.

There was a point when it seemed Tobias thought she'd beat the charges. She was telling mixed stories to the police, doctors, Duval County jail inmates and even family.

Before Tuesday's hearing, the Times-Union obtained case depositions and even letters in Tobias' handwriting that show how the young mother tried to look past her son's death and socialize herself in jail as if she'd be just a temporary occupant.

"She laughs and, and she, she colors. I mean, she's got her coloring pencils and they sit around ... like they're in a home for girls, you know. It's fun time, and it's not," said Lois Hay, a fellow inmate who was deposed in the case by Assistant State Attorney Rich Mantei last March.

Hay said at one point Tobias told inmates she shook the baby and smashed his head off of her computer monitor. But she also would change the story to blame the abuse on her boyfriend, his mother and her dog.

"I had a son named Dylan Lee but he passed away on January 20, 2010!" reads a letter Tobias wrote to a male inmate she was trying to court romantically. Prosecutors intercepted it. "They are trying to charge me with my son's death and child abuse. Now I don't expect you to understand but I can't really talk about it but I can tell you I'm in here for the wrong reasons."
[...]

"While this defendant may not be a monster, she committed a monstrous act," Mantei argued to Soud.

According to testimony, Tobias called a neighbor from the hospital, asking him to go into her house and hide all of her marijuana before the police acted on a search warrant.

Prosecutors zeroed in on Tobias' Facebook page in the investigation. Screen captures that have become part of the case file show Tobias used the social networking site to broadcast much of her life.

Between posts about hungry fish and wandering animals on the website's FishVille and Farmville games, Tobias kept a profile for her 3-month-old. New Year's Day postings showed he was 12 pounds and 22 inches tall.

She also talked about having gall bladder surgery. She labeled herself a Christian and a Republican and gave no specific reasons for being a fan of things like television's "One Tree Hill" and Hollywood starlet Megan Fox.

The day before she'd killed her son, Tobias took a mental disorder quiz that displayed for all of her 117 Facebook friends that she was bipolar.

The quiz results, shown in the website's Quiz Planet post, carried a sophomoric tone: "Way to go you crazy person. You are too much for any one person to handle, including yourself."

A month before she killed her son, detectives say Tobias joined a Facebook advocacy group against baby-shaking.

Psychologist Stephen Bloomfield testified Tuesday that Tobias suffered from depression and postpartum depression. He said it's partly because of her upbringing under a mother who was diagnosed as bipolar and who grappled with drug problems.

"She doesn't seem sad and she doesn't seem happy," Bloomfield said.

Bloomfield said Tobias took Xanax, without a prescription, the morning of the baby's death. He explained that the anti-anxiety drug can exaggerate downward mood swings for depressives.

However, Bloomfield said Tobias tried to tell him that she blacked-out what happened when her son died. He said he couldn't believe that because she did not have a history of blackouts.

Then prosecutors caught Tobias in a recorded phone call from the jail claiming that she was trying to lie to Bloomfield to cover up her own confession in the case.
[....]

The Tobias case became a talking point in the ongoing debate over computer games' influence over people's actions. Stephen Johnson, a blogger on the G4tv gaming network, had this to say shortly after Tobias pleaded guilty:

"FarmVille will get a well-deserved pass, but I'll bet if this crime was committed by a man, and he had been playing Slaughterhouse, the media narrative would be very, very different."

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/...-child-during-farmville-session-gets-50-years

Photos of Dylan Lee Edmondson were projected on a screen in the courtroom during the sentencing hearing

 

[sgr1966]

my oldest is 26,i have 3 kids....all at different hospitals in different states...all 3 times before you are discharged,they showed a video about shaken baby syndrome and made you sign a contract saying i would never do that.

 

[Obsolete]

my oldest is 26,i have 3 kids....all at different hospitals in different states...all 3 times before you are discharged,they showed a video about shaken baby syndrome and made you sign a contract saying i would never do that.

I was never shown that video when I had either of my kids but I think it's pretty much common knowledge that shaking a baby isn't going to end well.

 

[Just Rose]

Blame your Life's lil hardships to Justify Killing baby ...

Well if that's the case every body would have the same sorry fucking excuse to kill babies
What a self serving bitch ""
Guilty

Who does not have a sad story to tell
That is no excuse to kill your own infant

 

[Muriel Schwenck]

"She doesn't seem sad and she doesn't seem happy"
UH, doesn't that describe most people?

"I hate myself for what I did, but not for who I am". You go girl, keep that self esteem high during your 50 year prison term.

 

[thatsmallgrl]

Source for above copy paste

http://www.angelizdsplace.com/child199.htm

 

[Doctor Slaughter]

She is where she needs to be, locked up. Believe me, female prisons I hear are much worse than male ones when it comes to those who kill their kids. believe me, she is gonna be in for a lot more than frustration in there.

 

[Sue sue]

 

[JackBurton]

She is where she needs to be, locked up. Believe me, female prisons I hear are much worse than male ones when it comes to those who kill their kids. believe me, she is gonna be in for a lot more than frustration in there.

Got a resident expert here cus this genius HEARD something. Cool buddy.

 

[Craygor]

She is where she needs to be, locked up. Believe me, female prisons I hear are much worse than male ones when it comes to those who kill their kids. believe me, she is gonna be in for a lot more than frustration in there.

One of my kids is part of the medical staff at the detention center near Alburquerque where Michelle Martens, Fabian Gonzales, and Jessica Kelley are being held for the horrible murder of Victoria Martens. Not only are each in solitary, but anytime any one of them is moved the hallways have to be cleared of all personnel, because the risk of them being attacked is really high.

 

[Satanica]

One of my kids is part of the medical staff at the detention center near Alburquerque where Michelle Martens, Fabian Gonzales, and Jessica Kelley are being held for the horrible murder of Victoria Martens. Not only are each in solitary, but anytime any one of them is moved the hallways have to be cleared of all personnel, because the risk of them being attacked is really high.

It would be fine with me if they were torn to pieces by an angry mob.

 

[Doctor Slaughter]

Got a resident expert here cus this genius HEARD something. Cool buddy.

Hey, us arm chair quarterbacks gotta be good for something. Here is some more crap for ya, just spreading the love.

[doublepost=1500328438,1500328349][/doublepost]

One of my kids is part of the medical staff at the detention center near Alburquerque where Michelle Martens, Fabian Gonzales, and Jessica Kelley are being held for the horrible murder of Victoria Martens. Not only are each in solitary, but anytime any one of them is moved the hallways have to be cleared of all personnel, because the risk of them being attacked is really high.

Ah cool, nice to know those three sacks of garbage are not having a fun time. Hopefully one day some inmate will 'accidentally' get into one of their cells. Probly just Hollywood, but someone CAN dream.

 

[Craygor]

Ah cool, nice to know those three sacks of garbage are not having a fun time. Hopefully one day some inmate will 'accidentally' get into one of their cells. Probly just Hollywood, but someone CAN dream.

At this point, they not only have to protect them from the inmates, but, I believe, from some the staff as well. Albuquerque is kind of a small city and the community took this murder really hard.