By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Banner of Liberty (www.bannerofliberty.com)
March 12, 2001
Lionel Tate, now age 14, was 12 years old and 170 pounds when he killed Tiffany Eunick, described as a "delicate girl of 6 who weighed 46 pounds." According to the Miami Herald an autopsy showed Tiffany suffered a fractured skull, lacerated liver, broken rib, internal hemorrhaging and numerous cuts and bruises. The defense lawyer's defense of Tate claimed that the boy thought "he could body slam people and they would walk away unhurt, just like his wrestling idols do on television."
In sentencing Tate, Broward County Judge Joel Lazarus said, ``It is inconceivable that such injuries could be caused by roughhousing or horseplay or by replicating wrestling moves." During the trial, no one disputed that, Lionel when age 12, beat Tiffany to death on July 28, 1999, in the suburban Pembroke Park home he shared with his mother, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper.
Kathleen Grossett-Tate, who was baby-sitting Tiffany, had picked the child up from her home after work, served the children dinner, then went upstairs to sleep. About 10:40 p.m., Lionel ran upstairs and told his mother Tiffany wasn't breathing. She called 911 and administered CPR. Tiffany was rushed to a local hospital and pronounced dead.
Broward County Assistant State Attorney Ken Padowitz was quoted in the Washington Post as saying "This murder. was [the] result of a savage and brutal beating over the course of five minutes. This was not children's play. This was not an accident."
However, prior to the trial Padowitz had offered Lionel and his mother a plea bargain agreement of three years in prison, one year of house arrest and 10 years of probation. They rejected the offer, convinced they could win a court case based on his age and the effort to somehow blame the murder on Television and pro-wrestling.
The question I have is what kind of "baby-sitting" was Kathleen Grossett-Tate, a Highway Patrol trooper, doing to somehow not hear what was going on downstairs? Tiffany must have cried out in that 5 minute period. Five minutes is a long time. The damage done to the child's body must have caused thumps and bumps that could be easily heard anywhere in the house.
If, after all that, Lionel had to run upstairs to tell her that "Tiffany wasn't breathing" it seems obvious that Kathleen was totally ignoring the children. Wasn't it just a little bit irresponsible for her to leave a 46 pound six year old in the hands of a 166 pound 12 year old boy who likes to wrestle? Shouldn't a six year old have been in bed asleep before Kathleen went to bed?
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Lazarus dismissed defense arguments that Tate's Jan. 25 first-degree murder conviction ought to be overturned or reduced based on their claim that Tate is "mentally limited and because he had trouble distinguishing between the fantasy of the professional wrestlers he adored and the real dangers of throwing around a tiny girl 'like a limp rag doll.'"
"This court is unaware of a wrestler (taking on) an adversary half his size much less half his age," Lazarus said. "Tiffany Eunick's crying out in pain fell on Lionel Tate's deaf ears. Perhaps the first or second blow were inflicted as an accident, but that cannot excuse the subsequent, fatal injuries."
The defense argument makes Kathleen Grossett-Tate look even worse. Someone in the criminal court system needs to ask this Highway patrol officer why she would go to sleep and leave her mentally defective 170 pound son, who likes to wrestle, alone with a six year old girl at 10:00 O'clock at night. If Lionel is actually mentally deficient, he should be institutionalized for the protection of others and Kathleen Gossett-Tate should be given the prison sentence for Tiffany's murder.
If Lionel is mentally deficient to the point he could continue pummeling a 46 pound girl half his age for five minutes, what possible defense could his mother have for ignoring the girl'screams? Is it just possible that she was in the habit of ignoring not only her son and his problems, but the screams of other children who undoubtedly were hurt by his behavior?
Incredibly, there are those who have summarily dismissed the torture that little Tiffany experienced in that five minutes prior to her death. James Higginbottom, an Ohio minister, led a group of pickets outside the Broward County Courthouse demanding Lionel's release. Press pictures in the courtroom show women hovering around Lionel, petting him. None of pictures showed his mother with him. Higginbottom told the media, "This was a very tragic accident - it should never have come to this."
Mark James, Tiffany's father, sees the situation very differently. He approves the life sentence Tate received. Pointing to the severity and number of injuries his daughter received before she died, James said, "I think he very much wanted to kill her."
The kinds of multiple injuries Tiffany received are not "accidents." An "accident" would be Lionel tripping and falling on Tiffany and hurting her. Five minutes of "pretend" wrestling by a 170 pound boy with a 46 pound girl half his age more resembles a cat tossing a live mouse in the air and pouncing on it until the mouse is dead. That's horrible.
However, a trained police officer and mother ignoring that happening a few yards from her bedroom door is worse than horrible. Kathleen Grossett-Tate presumably is not mentally deficient. She is a trained police officer. She has no excuse for her obvious neglect and abuse of the children in her care.
Except now that women have the "right" to kill their unborn and leave the care of their babies to others while they pursue careers, it shouldn't surprise us that so many women can so easily neglect and abuse their little ones, and then blame others for the harm they cause as teenagers.
To comment: mmostert@bannerofliberty.com
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