MISSING/FOUND DEAD: Baby Elaina - Toledo

[HarveySykes]

I was told by a friend that's a Lucas co police officer- not sure the truth behind this; and I might distort what he said- but he said the child endangerment charges were dropped because if they find a body/ or have enough evidence that Elaina has passed they wouldn't be able to charge her with murder??? It doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks, Harvey. Your friend's insight reminded me of another case of a missing child where LE dropped strong abuse charges against the mother.

The case of little Jhessye Shockley still makes me mad and sad all at once. Jhessye's mom, Jerice Hunter, was first arrested on suspicion of abusing missing Jhessye (of which she was undeniably guilty). Those charges were dropped shortly thereafter and Hunter was released while LE continued to investigate.

I found LE's statement explaining their rationale:
Prosecutors said then that they wanted to continue investigating and were worried that Hunter would not be eligible for a potential murder charge if she was convicted of abusing Shockley, a situation known as double jeopardy.
Snipped from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/06...63040.html

I understand LE's concern now; if they fear the baby died from abuse, a later murder charge on those grounds could be considered being tried twice for the same crime if the suspect has already been convicted of abuse/neglect/endangerment. Better to keep investigating and not risk a more serious conviction down the road.

At least in Elaina's case, LE can keep Angela locked up and accessible on obstruction charges for a couple of months while they investigate and search for Elaina. Hopefully, LE will be able to find out what really happened to Elaina and charge the responsible person(s) before Angela is released from jail.

P.s. While LE still hasn't located Jhessye's body, they gathered enough evidence to charge her POS mother with felony child abuse and murder. Jerice Hunter makes Angela Steinfurth look like June Cleaver - yeah, she's that 'effin bad.

I don't know how to make the quotes smaller on my phone. Can mock make an app? Anyway I never heard of that case. So I will turn to google. My best friend.

I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that you cannot be charged for child abuse and murder.