The 9-year old Jack Kirby Garcia could not resist the birthday cake. He got one slice and ate it. And he died because of it.
In Maryland, Fox News reports that the child's mother, Oriana Garcia, her boyfriend, Robert Wilson, and the boy's uncle, Jacob Barajas, have been arrested and charged. Barajas put the handcuffs on and Wilson inflicted the beatings. An adult dialed 911, but when medical personnel arrived, mother Oriana refused to have them see her son saying he was just congested. By then the boy was already unconscious and not breathing.
Garcia and Barajas, for refusing medical help for the child, are charged with second-degree murder and child abuse. This was not the first time that they maltreated Jack Garcia. Meanwhile, right after the incident, Wilson was charged for assault, child abuse and reckless endangerment, and was just out on bail.
Since that incident on June 30, 2015, the child has been on life support at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington. He had extensive injuries to the face, neck, back, buttocks, legs and abdomen. On July 5, he succumbed to his wounds.
In 2005, an extensive study was made by the US Department of Health and Human Services. It says there are 12 children being abused for every 1,000. This includes children up to 18 years of age. The kind of abuse includes neglect as topnotcher. Second is physical abuse, third is sexual abuse, fourth is emotional abuse, and then medical neglect.
African American children are more prone to maltreatment, with the Hispanics coming in at second. The most often cause behind this abuse is drug use or alcoholism by the parents. In some cases, the state removes the child from his home to keep him safe. The perpetrators are most likely the parents (79.4%) or some other relative (6.8%). Outside the family, the next category of perpetrators is the significant other of a parent (3.8%). And now, Jack Garcia is part of the statistics.