Couple Can't Part With 5week-old, Charged With Abuse Of Corpse

[Dakota]

A West Deer couple said they were so distraught after their 5-week-old son died in his sleep, they kept his body for three days and tried to kill themselves before being found in a Butler County motel Friday evening, according to Allegheny County police.

Allegheny County police Saturday charged James Victor, 51, and Nicole Dull, 31, with abuse of a corpse, concealing the death of a child and criminal conspiracy. Both remained in the Allegheny County Jail Saturday.

An autopsy on the baby, James Victor Jr., was underway Saturday morning. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office said results could be available later in the day.

According to a criminal complaint written by Allegheny County police Detective Patrick Miller, the couple said they put the baby to sleep in his crib in their West Deer home around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, the couple said the baby was cold and not breathing, and CPR didn’t revive him.

Allegheny County Children, Youth and Family were involved with the couple, according to the complaint, and Victor said the couple feared they would be blamed for the infant’s death.

Because Victor was familiar with the North Side, he told police, the couple took the baby’s body to the Avalon Hotel, located on Route 65, Wednesday. There, the complaint stated, the couple unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide.

The couple left the hotel Friday, according to the complaint, and a housekeeper found a note in which the couple said they “were not ready to turn over his body.”

Police found the couple in the Super 8 Motel in Butler Township Friday evening. The baby was dead in an infant carrier in the room.

http://triblive.com/home/2435978-74...-county-allegheny-dull-death-complaint-friday

 

[Nell]

That is sad. I feel bad for them. I don't know what i would have done if one of my kids had died of SIDS.

 

[AngelFire]

That is sad. I feel bad for them. I don't know what i would have done if one of my kids had died of SIDS.

Me too. I can't help but feel sorrow for them...for the mom especially. You know how emotional you are after giving birth and then add having your infant die in his sleep...I don't even know if I would be able to part with my dead child. I understand their desire to die too.

 

[sugarfree irony]

I've seen too many baby killers on here . I'm waiting for the autopsy results to clear them before I feel sorry for them .

 

[sinfulplezurz702]

Its hard to give people the benefit of the doubt..especially when u read so many horrific stories...but if i woke up and found my child not breathing id call 911 and pray that medical experts could do something to revive him...how sad tho

 

[Misskittychaos]

If indeed the baby died from natural causes it isn't totally unheard of for parents to react this way. I hope as sad as this is that the baby did die of natural causes and had parents that were just so heartbroken they couldn't let him go...it beats all the scum we read about that kill their babies and toss them out like trash. It'd be nice to know there are people that value children and don't think they are disposable!

 

[Kylie]

.but if i woke up and found my child not breathing id call 911 and pray that medical experts could do something to revive him

I feel the same way. I hate to say I hope it was SIDS.....but better SIDS than them causing the death.

 

[Dakota]

A local couple accused of concealing the death of their newborn baby appeared in court.

The most serious charge of abuse of a corpse was dropped.

The baby’s parents, James Victor and Nicole Dull, could soon get out of jail.
[...]

Following a hearing Wednesday, Victor’s attorney, Blaine Jones, tried to make sense of it.

“That’s a very reasonable question for people to have,â€￾ he said. “The best response I could give them is that he was in disbelief. He couldn’t believe this happened.â€￾
[...]

The couple will likely be placed in a mental health facility after being released from the Allegheny County Jail.

“To grieve in jail is brutal and that’s one of the reasons we’d like to get her into a place where she’ll be able to have support around her, be able to deal with a therapist,â€￾ Kevin Abramowitz, Dull’s attorney, said.

The couple still faces charges of conspiracy and concealing the death of a child.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012...nst-couple-accused-of-concealing-babys-death/

 

[VXIII]

Well that is nice of them to show some humanity. Its not something we see much of anymore.

 

[Dakota]

Not Guilty verdict for mom:

A judge has found a western Pennsylvania woman not guilty of covering up the death of her infant son last summer.

Thirty-2-year-old Nicole Dull, of Tarentum, was acquitted Thursday by an Allegheny County judge who agreed with her attorney that she shouldn't have been charged under a law better used to target those who throw away the corpses of children.

An autopsy concluded that Dull's 5-week-old son died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome last August. But Dull and the boy's father feared that they would be blamed for his death because of their past drug abuse and dealings with county child welfare workers.

http://www.wfmj.com/story/22712116/pa-mom-not-guilty-of-concealing-sons-sids-death

Judge Mariani told Dull he did not approve of all that happened, but there was reasonable doubt she was guilty of the crimes charged.

“I’m just glad it’s over,â€￾ Nicole Dull told Harold Hayes after the hearing. “I’m so glad it’s over. It’s been really hard.â€￾

Dull served eight months in jail before being released on bond earlier this spring.

“I’m trying to get counseling and I’m trying to get through this somehow you know? I really don’t know where to go from here. Our lives have been plastered through the news and it’s just really hard to come back from this,â€￾ Dull said.

Investigators said the couple did not call the authorities to avoid possible scrutiny of their previous drug history. Investigators from Children Youth and Family services monitored their household.

But, her attorney argued that the total circumstance called for a not guilty verdict.

“Factually, the elements of the crime don’t fit the actions that these individuals did,â€￾ said defense attorney Bill Difenderfer. “It’s clear that they were – obviously the child was unfortunately deceased. There was no issue about that. The grieving process – they weren’t prepared to separate from the child. They had some internal guilt as all parents do with SIDS. We have talked to experts. They are being treated by experts. It is normal that a parent doesn’t want to be separated from the body, if you will. Their actions actually, and in terms of experience of the sudden death of a child is more normal than anything. There’s documented cases throughout the country of parents being with the child for days before they call. They had no intention of concealing ultimately, the death of the child or the body of the child.â€￾

The baby’s father, James Vincent pleaded guilty back in January and was previously sentenced to time served.

“Just want to say it really has been hard because our intention never was to bring any kind of harm to our son, “ James Vincent told Harold Hayes. “ We loved our son. She was a good mother, I was a good father. We just want his positive memory to live on. We didn’t have the chance to grieve together. We knew when he was gone that just all the craziness of waking up finding your son gone, you don’t know where you’re going to go as a parent.â€￾

Harold Hayes asked, “Did you panic?â€￾

“It was total panic,â€￾ replied Vincent. “We didn’t know what to do about it then the guilt overwhelmed us and we thought well, then let’s all go as a family. As crazy as it sounds, when you’re grieving, there’s no lesson on how to grieve. There’s no book, there’s no instructions on this as what you do and as unusual as it may seem, the grieving process should have started from the day he died. We should have been together. We never should have been incarcerated for something that proved out never to be a crime.â€￾

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/06/27/woman-found-not-guilty-of-concealing-childs-death/

 

[Momzilla]

It was total panic,â€￾ replied Vincent. “We didn’t know what to do about it then the guilt overwhelmed us and we thought well, then let’s all go as a family.

Did anyone else notice that back in the 1st post, baby James is wearing a onesie that says "I'm the little brother"? So what happened to the "big brother"!?!

 

[Sugar Cookie]

James Victor Jr.