Ronnie Bernard Paris Jr.

 

This is a particularly disturbing case for me and that says a lot considering that all child murders are difficult for me when it comes to blogging. This is one of those cases where it appears that EVERYONE in this child's life failed him and there was absolutely no reason for it.

On January 28, 2005 in Tampa Florida, three year old Ronnie Antonio Paris was removed from life support and died. He had been in the hospital, in a coma, since the 22^nd. His parents had claimed that they had been a friends house attending a bible study when little Ronnie had fallen asleep on the couch, never to wake up again. I am not sure any of these claims were true from the family attending a bible study to little Ronnie just simply falling asleep.

Ronnie Antonio Paris was born December 9, 2001. In May of 2002 he was removed from his home and put in foster care. He had been taken to the hospital after having repeated vomiting, he was malnourished and it was even discovered the six month old had a broken arm that apparently could not be explained. While in foster care little Ronnie thrived. While I was not able to determine exactly what his parents were required to do to regain custody I can say that he was returned to their care on December 13, 2004. He would die within six weeks.

It was not until after his death that Little Ronnie's mother, Nysheera told authorities that Ronnie Jr. had “repeatedly abused the child, slapping him in the back of the head, slamming him into walls, and forcing the child to participate in father-son boxing matches until the boy began to shake, cry and wet himself.”

Nysheera was not the only one to later admit to witnessing Ronnie Jr. abusing his son. Nysheera's sister would testify she had witnessed the abuse as well as another friend also. Both would say that not only had they seen the abuse they both claimed that it was done because Ronnie Jr. feared his son would be gay and because “he didn't want him to be a sissy.”

Ronnie Jr. would be charged with murder and aggravated child abuse. Nyserra would be charged with child neglect and failing to get her son medical attention. I saw nothing that indicated that the prosecution filed for the death penalty and I find this extremely odd first considering the nature of the crime and secondly considering it was in the state of Florida. What was even more surprising is that after deliberating for three hours the jury found Ronnie Jr. guilty of only second degree manslaughter as well as the aggravated child abuse. On August 12, 2005 he was given a sentence of thirty years with ten years probation. When he is released he is to receive “psychological counseling” before he is to be allowed around children. The judge presiding over the case said she decided against giving Ronnie Jr. life in prison in part because he was “a first time offender who needed help.” That being said, the defense had argued, apparently successfully that Ronnie Jr. had been raised in the manner in which he was raising his son and that he did not know any differently. I have to say I call BS on this but obviously at least the judge bought it. He is scheduled for release on July 27, 2030.

Nysheera received a sentence of five years of probation for “culpable negligence.” I also find her sentence to be just as appalling, maybe even more so. This may sound rather sexist on my part and I apologize for that ahead of time. While obviously no parent should abuse their child, I am of the belief that it is a mother's priority to ensure the safety of her child. I cannot say why this is my belief, maybe because I am a mother myself. It is unclear exactly what had occurred during little Ronnie's first five months of life that caused the undernourishment as well as the broken bone but I somehow have little doubt that Ronnie Jr. was responsible in at least some way. Then again, that does not mean that Nysheera was always just a distant observer, she herself could have been just involved in the abuse. But, in the end she, along with all of the other witnesses that testified and who I think should also be held accountable, never protected this child.

Many LGBT supporters see this as a hate crime and sadly it is not the first crime they have seen such as this. The idea that a parent believes they can “beat the sissy” out of their child is something I simply cannot wrap my head around.