One of the toughest parts of police reporting is covering stories where children are hurt, killed and abused. They are among the most vulnerable and defenseless. They have no voice.
I remember in the early 1990s coming across an accident scene in rural Florida, staring at the horrific carnage of two boys who had been hit by a car while riding a dirt bike. No helmets. The kid driving turned into the car and both kids were thrown from the bike.
I pulled up behind the first ambulance, before the helicopter arrived. One boy seemed in shock; the other screamed in pain for his mother as his femur pierced through skin. The moms arrived, screaming and fighting to get through bystanders and police. I'll never forget the unbearable pain of the mothers, their raw emotion and the pit in my stomach. Those boys, I knew, would die.
That pit always returns when I write about children who die whether it is by accident or abuse. WIth abuse, there's also a wave of outrage ... how could you hurt a child?
When little Taijim went to the hospital in Philadelphia last week for severe head injuries, doctors found evidence of previous abuse. His father is charged with homicide.
I wrote the story with that familiar pit in my stomach. Why couldn't anyone protect Taijim? How could anyone hurt that baby?