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Homicide ruled 14 years after shaking
Source: Arkansas Democrat Gazette June 2, 2000
NEW YORK -- Soon after Josh Slaughter was
born, police say, he was shaken so violently his brain was injured in a
way that caused the onset of cerebral palsy. Now 14 years later the
medical examiner's office has ruled his death in April a homicide
resulting from the shaking when he was about 3 months old.
The district attorney is reviewing the case and has not decided whether
charges will be brought against Mitzi Slaughter, 38, in her son's death.
She was questioned by police Wednesday.
Slaughter had pleaded guilty in 1988 to second-degree assault for shaking
her son and served a six-month jail sentence and five years' probation.
Josh lived in foster homes until 1997, when he was transferred to a
facility run by United Cerebral Palsy of New York State.
According to the medical examiner, Josh's death April 12 was caused by
bronchial pneumonia and complications arising from a neurological disorder
that resulted from his being shaken as an infant.
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