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Mother of dead Alaska child charged with domestic violence assaultA 3-year-old child is dead and another in the hospital with critical injuries following an incident that occurred in Barrow last week. The children's mother and boyfriend are charged with second degree assault in the case, but police are cautioning people not to jump to conclusions about the nature of the case. Media reports that the children were beaten have drawn a strong response from law enforcement officers involved in the case. "My office has never released any information about anyone being beaten," said North Slope Borough Chief of Police Leon Boyea. "Under the second-degree assault statute, you could be charged for physically creating an environment in which someone was seriously physically injured. It doesn't always mean you were struck." While Boyea said his office cannot release many of the details of the incident because the investigation is ongoing, some basic information is known. On Feb 2, police received a 911 call requesting an ambulance to respond to a Momeganna Street apartment for a child that was reportedly not breathing. According to the police department's initial release, officers found a 3-year-old child who did not have a pulse and was not breathing. Officers administered life-saving efforts until medics arrived on scene. The officers also located a second child, age 1, who needed life-saving emergency medical attention. Both children were transported to Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital, where attempts to save their lives continued. The children were later medivaced to the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. The 3-year-old's death was reported to the North Slope Police Department on Saturday. The child's remains have been sent to the Alaska State Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Richard Tilden Jr., 28, was at the residence when officers arrived. He was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree domestic violence assault, a felony. The same charges were also issued concurrently for Esther Edwards-Gust, 28, the mother of the children, however she was not arrested until Monday, when Anchorage police took her into custody. She was later released, according to media reports, however Boyea said he did not know the details of why she was released. Court records do not show any bail being posted by Edwards-Gust. Both were charged under the subsection of the second-degree assault pertaining to a person "recklessly causing serious physical injury to another person" but not the section pertaining to "intent to cause physical injury to another person, that person causes physical injury to another person by means of a dangerous instrument." Bootlegger also chargedIn the process of the investigation into the assault, police determined that Tilden had illegally obtained alcohol from a Barrow resident, Samisoni Kilifi Fotukava, 20. Officers served a search warrant at 1:04 a.m. on Saturday at 1340 Kongek St. in Barrow. Fotukava was present at the time the warrant was served. Officers seized seven bottles of whiskey, 10 liters of wine and four cases of beer, with an estimated street value of $1,450. Fotukava was arrested for violating the license or permit required statute, a felony offense punishable by up to five years in jail and up to $50,000 in fines. Boyea said the investigation indicates alcohol was a factor in the assault case involving the two young children, and said people need to recognize that bootlegging is not a victimless crime. "We work with numerous assault cases that are alcohol-related, sexual assault cases that are alcohol-related, burglaries and deaths that are alcohol related," he said. "Other people suffer as a result of the illegal alcohol trade. Alcohol plays a role in a lot of incidents." Police express frustration as investigation continuesBoyea said he has been frustrated by the misinformation spread by media reports of this crime as well as a shooting incident in Barrow last week. He said the misinformation spreading through the community could compromise the ability for the accused to get a fair trial. "We are in the preliminary throes of an investigation at this time," he said. "I put as much information in the press releases as I feel comfortable releasing at this time."
Seems to me that after a generation of battling against alcohol abuse we should be ready to admit that while alcohol remains a big problem in many villages, It is only a symptom of something else. It seems clear that no matter what we do we have not been able to even slow the consumption of alcohol and now illegal drugs in these villages. A smarter move on our part would be to spend some time and resources to find out what the real problem is and develop a plan to deal with it. Oldhaines, Have you spent any time in the Villages? To be fair, I have not spent time in the SE Villages so perhaps that is where you are talking about; however, if you are talking about the Villages throughout the majority of Alaska, your statement is completely without merit. It has always been quite obvious to those of us who spend time in the Villages when a new shipment of hooch arrives versus when the community is dry. It is dry the majority of the time and consumption is slowed during that period. -TomClark Tom, I spent more than a third of my time over the last ten years in one village or another throughout the state. It was my business to discuss the circumstances surrounding criminal activity with the people directly involved in that activity. Oddly, nearly %100 of the time alcohol or illegal drugs were directly involved in one way or another. And yes there are some communities I did not work in but not many and as it happens most of those that I missed are in southeast. Pick ten eighteen year old kids from ten random villages and it is a very good bet that at least eight will be able to give you a viable recipe for Hooch from memory. Ps: Usually Hooch is something that is home made, not "Shipped in". http://www.adn.com/2012/02/04/2300166/town-waives-sunday-alcohol-ban.html Another child dead, a victim of what happens when alcohol is available in the Villages. -TomClark Neither Barrow nor Dillingham, where Tilden apparently is from, are "village communities". They are small towns and neither have culturally homogeneous populations. While your sentiment makes good sense the reality is far from as simple as you suggest. There is seldom one simple solution (nor did I suggest there was), but rather a collection of numerous responses placed into action. Listening to the wisdom of the elders, who have experienced both the problems and the solutions is an integral part of that response. Is that not what the laws of our Country really are? Wisdom passed down through generations. Barrow may be multi-cultural, but it is a Native community first and foremost and the cultural practices of the Native population should be respected. If the practices of one of the "other" cultures you reference brings harm to the larger community, then that practice must be curtailed. -TomClark And, so, the majority rules by right of birth? No, I think you know that in the end, the majority rules by right of the majority. Yes, I think I do know that. I was wondering what Tom Clark's answer would be given that he appears to suggest a belief that one group of people are superior to another and therefore have the right to impose their beliefs without discussion or compromise. Bob, I don't believe I ever mentioned the words 'superior' or 'inferior', you have suggested I did so that you could begin an argument and it is a dishonest attempt. Do you understand that at this very moment, many VIllages have voted to be 'dry' or 'damp' and this came about by a vote by the 'majority' of members in those particular communities after lengthy "discussion"? Where were you in the 70's & 80's, Bob? That is how it works. If you do not understand that, I would urge you to do a bit of due diligence. -TomClark I'm not so sure I remember the 70's so very well, but I was right here living in Alaska, and not in town's of more than 5,000 residents, through the 80's, the 90's and all of the current century thus far. For most of those years I interacted daily with villages, and with the people from those villages. Hope that answers that question. The point is twofold. First, neither Barrow nor Dillingham are villages. In places where mixed cultural groups reside together all have an expectation of a free and fair government that respects the collective knowledge of all persons. The "wisdom" of any one group is not the end-all-be-all of knowledge on an issue. For you to suggest that it is is simply culturally biased. Secondly, substance abuse in rural Alaska has roots in problems past, current and future that go far beyond your simplistic answer. Simple, cute answers do a terrible disservice by condemning people to repeatedly fail at addressing the real problems by focusing on magical solutions. Bob, First, I never suggested that the "wisdom" of one group was the end-all-be-all, UNLESS that one group happens to be the majority, which is the case in the Villages. Secondly, obviously alcohol/drug issues are a symptom of a greater issue. Again, I never suggested otherwise, but it gave you a talking point to put those words in my mouth. That seems to be your simplistic way of discussion. I will try to spell it out for you Bob, readily available drugs/alcohol are throwing gasoline on the fire even when the fire started by something else. It sounds like you are no stranger to drug and/or alcohol abuse if you can't remember the 70's, or is your memory loss the result of something else? Respond any way you like, Bob, I am giving you the last word. See if you can offer up anything that doesn't require fabricating talking points. -TomClark Fortunately, we have state and federal constitutions that protect minority rights. The sad truth is that while they voted to be "dry", in reality alcohol consumption never slowed down even a little.... |
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