Madilyne Christine Wentz
May 17, 2004 - April
14, 2005
Rachel Sumner Wentz did what she was supposed to do.
She searched the list of State licensed daycare providers so that she could
ensure the safety of her daughter Madilyne, while she herself, went to
work. For the first three days, things seemed to be going just fine. On
the fourth day, Rachel went to the daycare to pick up Madilyne and found
her in an , she was unconscious. As it turned out, the daycare provider
found Madilyne to be irritable that day and thought she was crying too
much.
What did she do? Did she try to comfort her, or to
figure out what was wrong? Did she call Rachel and let her know that Madilyne
was inconsolable? None of these options was used, the daycare provider
shook Madilyne so hard that BOTH side of her brain had suffered
massive strokes. Within 24 hours of arriving at the hospital in Altus,
Madilyne would die from these brain injuries.
During the final 36 hours of her life, Madilyne and
her family had to prepare for her death. The injuries she had been given
by her daycare provider had been so traumatic that she was in a coma. Suffering
from massive head trauma, bilateral retinal hemorrhaging, bruises on her
body, including a golf ball sized bruise on her pelvis and finger print
bruises on her shoulders, Madilyne had no chance at all to survive the
attack which came from someone the state of Oklahoma had saw fit to license
as a daycare provider. Madilyne Christine Wentz was pronounced brain dead
on April 14, 2005, at 9:50am. Madilyne was placed in the arms of her mother
who could only sit and wait for her to take her last breath. Matthew Wentz,
Madilyne's father and Rachel Sumner Wentz, her mother, would have to bury
their beautiful baby daughter, when she was only 11 months old.
The Tulsa County Medical Examiners Office ruled the
death of Madilyne as a homicide due to shaken baby syndrome. I have found
very few news articles that actually name the daycare provider who was
supposed to be taking care of Madilyne that day, her name is Melinda Bautista.
Melinda was arrested and held on $500,000. bond which was eventually reduced
to only $100,000. and she posted that bond in June of 2005. On August 18,
2005, Melinda was in front of a judge trying to suppress her two hour confession
of what she had done to Madilyne. Thankfully, that request was denied by
the judge. During that confession, Melinda said:
"I shook Madilyne until she went blue in the
face, gasped and went quiet"
Melinda Bautista
A trial date was set for March 20, 2006. In November
of 200, Steven Jones, the attorney for Melinda appeared in court for pretrial
motions so that motions to go before the jury could be heard. Melinda's
court appointed lawyers had been fired after stating there wasn't anything
they could do for her since there was a taped confession. Also present
was a new judge. The old judge had excused himself since Melinda had recently
joined the church which he attended. During the courtroom appearance, the
judge and the lawyer for Melinda were seen laughing and joking together,
leaving the impression, with Madilyne's family, that the two were friends:
"I could not believe how unprofessional the
pretrial was handled. Stepping outside between
recesses, I felt an overwhelming apprehension
of the judges’ personal friendship with the
defendant’s lawyer not knowing how this could
or would affect the future of the jury trial"
Rachel Sumner Wentz
The restrictions on Melinda's bond were expanded
to include statewide travel. This would allow her to attend her daughters
basketball games, to attend church functions and to see her lawyer in Oklahoma
City. That doesn't seem fair at all. Matthew, Rachel and the other people
who loved Madilyne would NEVER get to see her grow up, to play basketball,
to see her first steps, hear her first words, be there for her first heartbreak,
no proms, no first date, no wedding, no grandchildren, yet, the woman who
had murdered her was free to come and go as she pleased.
When Melinda went to trial, it would take a year
for the final outcome to SHOCK so many. Melinda was found not guilty
by a jury of six men and six women who took LESS than ONE HOUR
to come up with this ridiculous verdict. Stephen Jones said:
"Clearly, the jury paid close attention to
the evidence and the judge was very fair"
Let's just hope that none of this jury ever finds
themselves on the other side of the law, up against Stephen jones and his
Judge "friend".
Another quote by Stephen Jones:
"I'm glad to see that people are moving away
from the idea you can shake a baby to death
without an impact"
Excuse me but, what the HELL does that even
mean? Melinda's case was not the first case of shaken baby syndrome that
this man had defended and got the murdered off without penalty. How can
ANYONE know that a person has committed such a crime and still defend
them? How many children have to die in this terrible way before people
understand that it IS a real problem?
It's a miscarriage of justice when the victims of
these crimes are laying six feet under the ground, or as in the cases of
the survivors, walking around every day knowing they will not get to watch
their child grow up, hurting, missing them, aching to hold them, love them
and nurture them. It's so disgusting to me that the people who murder these
innocent babies are walking around free while the victims are imprisoned
for life in way or another. We can only pray that they won't get back what
they gave.
I have read things about this case and if they are
true, OTHER families had trouble at this very same daycare with
this very same lady. I wonder if Stephen knows about them...if he does,
does he care? Would it matter to him if he knew these other families and
that they pulled their children out of Melinda's daycare? I would like
to think it would, I seriously doubt it though.
Here are some words of wisdom for Stephen and other
"lawyers" such as himself. Children do NOT get shaken to death from
being in a bouncy toy. Children do NOT get bruises, shaped like
fingers, on their bodies, from being in bouncy toys. The brains of children
do NOT get bounced around in their skulls, from being in bouncy
toys. I wish I was creative and could stitch that onto a pillow and send
it to EVERY lawyer who defends those who murder children through
shaken baby syndrome.
"This was a beautiful, loving and delicate
child. Her smile could bring the sun out from the clouds.
We lived day and night just to see her beautiful
smile. We miss her beyond what words can express.
She was our bright shining star"
Love you Madie, your granny
"I would give anything if I could just have
heard Madi say “Mama” just once"
Rachel Sumner Wentz
Site creators note:
I suppose people will say that since Melinda
was found not guilty, I should not post here that she is a murderer, well,
sorry, in my OPINION, she IS a murderer. She admitted
what she did, there were bruises which were consistent with what she said
she did and Madilyne is dead. I suppose people will also say that I shouldn't
be so hard her lawyer, Stephen...Sorry again, he's a scum bag in my OPINION.
Doing what is MORALLY right, should come before making a name for
yourself , before winning a case or before money. Children don't die of
shaken baby syndrome all on their own, someone has to help them along with
that. Lawyers need to start looking beyond being lawyers and remember,
these are babies who are supposed to be protected bay adults, NOT
killed by them.
Maybe some will think I am not being fair to
the
jury. TOUGH! What kind of jury sees the evidence, hears a confession
and then finds a person NOT GUILTY of murdering a child they clearly
murdered? IDIOTS, that's what kind of jury. As I said, I hope they
don't find this coming back to haunt them.
For information about preventing
child abuse in the state of Oklahoma, click the links below. If they can't
help you, ask for someone who can. NEVER give up looking for help
for an abused child!
Call this number
to report child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child
1-800-422-4453
   
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My sincerest appreciation goes out to
Diane Trembly for allowing me to use one
of her beautiful Angels to make the graphics
for this set. Please visit her site,
by clicking the link below, to see all
of her amazing work.
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