Foster Mom Shook Baby To Death
A foster mom has been sentenced to more than six years of imprisonment after she reportedly shook an infant in her care to death. Wendy Hardy killed the 23-month-old baby in a fit of rage, and the reason why is downright unsettling. Is six and a half years a strict enough sentence for the life of a violently murdered baby?
The Daily Mail reports that 46-year-old Hardy flew into a rage after the baby in her care refused to eat without spitting up his food. The victim, 23-month-old Harry Aspley, was apparently under the weather, but Hardy didn’t appear to care. She snatched him up and shook him so brutally that it caused him to suffer severe brain damage. She dumped his body in his crib, and refused to seek medical help until her husband came home at least two hours later. The incident took place in 2013.
BBC News reports that Aspley died after being in the hospital for six days. He suffered from numerous head injuries that were found to be “non-accidental” and “consistent with being shaken.” The foster mom also committed fraud by falsely claiming funds for two children who were not in her care for nearly a year.
https://t.co/P7RnBKgVzx Foster mother Wendy Hardy jailed for 6 years for shaking toddler to death – Daily Mail https://t.co/FMJCIlCRfc
— Codi Vasaure (@Codi_Vasaure) January 26, 2016
GRINNING ON THE WAY TO PRISON: FOSTER MOTHER IS JAILED FOR SIX YEARS FOR SHAKING TODDLER TO DEATH. Wendy Hardy,… https://t.co/oyi1KW7smb
— Preston Local News (@PrestonLocalPLN) January 26, 2016
Desperately sad……..BBC News – Foster mum Wendy Hardy jailed for death of toddler ‘by shaking’ https://t.co/dtZMxEolxW
— Tom Perkins (@tom_perkins4) January 26, 2016
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Get wot you both deserve
Posted by Lisa Storey on Tuesday, January 26, 2016
The news of Hardy’s prison sentence has been met with mixed reactions on social media. A lot of attention, however, is being paid to photos showing the murderous foster mom smiling as she leaves the courthouse to complete her six-and-a-half-year sentence. Others are saddened by the senselessly violent death of the 23-month-old child.
On #ThisDayInCrime in 1997, British au pair Louise Woodward’s conviction was reduced: https://t.co/kmONT6SUXp pic.twitter.com/f5HtGstqft
— CI (@CI) November 10, 2015
Unfortunately, these types of deaths are so common that a phenomenon known as shaken baby syndrome has risen from the effects of violently shaking a baby. One of the most famous cases is the Louise Woodward case. The English nanny was convicted at 19 years old after she reportedly shook an eight-month-old baby to death. This case took place in the 1990s, but there are new cases of shaken baby deaths all the time.
Dad of Fairfield baby police say shaken to death by babysitter says he was “happiest kid” “I trusted her,” he says. pic.twitter.com/vQAf7HCwkX
— Jodi Hernandez (@JodiHernandezTV) December 23, 2015
In December, a babysitter in Fairfield, California, was arrested after an 18-month-old baby in her care died of severe brain injuries. It was determined that 24-year-old Gina Nicole Bailey was accused of violently shaking the infant to death, to the horror of the victim’s loved ones. Another child witnessed the violent event, and was able to recreate it with dolls, which served as evidence against the woman.
In the case of foster mom Wendy Hardy, it has not been determined in reports as to whether or not she’ll ever be allowed to have custody of children again. She will only serve a little over six years in prison for her crime, but what happens when she is released from prison at the end of her sentence? Is six years even enough for what she is convicted of doing?
[Image via Pixabay]
