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Thread: Tashawna Monae Caldwell Charged with Capital Murder in 2013 TX Toddler Slaying

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Tashawna Monae Caldwell Charged with Capital Murder in 2013 TX Toddler Slaying


    Caiden Parker

    Tashawna Monae Caldwell


    Grandfather: Santeria connected to toddler's stabbing murder


    (POTEET, TEX) - The grandfather of a toddler murdered over the weekend believes Santeria, a form of witchcraft was connected to the boy's death.

    Atasascosa County Sheriff's Investigators have charged Tashawna Monae Caldwell, 26, with the capital murder of a child. A crime that is punishable by the death penalty.

    Philip Short said, Monae, as he called her was unemployed and had just broken up with a man who he says engaged in Santeria. "I don't know what caused her to snap but I have an idea," Short said.

    Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward is not discussing any motives. He also says the child's murder is hard on investigators. "It's a tragic case and we don't see a lot of 'em, but when we do it surely takes everyone back a couple of steps."

    Read More at: http://news4sanantonio.com/news/feat...der-6414.shtml
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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Could someone post this please. I can't access it.

    https://www.expressnews.com/news/loc...of-5953846.php
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
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    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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    Senior Member Frequent Poster NanduDas's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Helen View Post
    Could someone post this please. I can't access it.

    https://www.expressnews.com/news/loc...of-5953846.php
    Google AMP can be pretty annoying, but it helps you get around a ton of paywalls.

    December 12, 2014

    Insanity plea planned by mother accused of slaying son


    By Zeke MacCormack
    San Antonio Express-News

    JOURDANTON — Heartbroken relatives of Caiden Parker marked the first anniversary of his death with simple and somber ceremonies this week, celebrating the fun-loving toddler’s short life and mourning his brutal slaying.

    “It’s devastating,” said Yolanda Fernandez-McCall, who released balloons outside her Brooklyn, N.Y. home in honor of a fraternal grandson who lived only 23 months.

    “My son is broken. He has survivor’s guilt. He feels like it should have been him,” she said of Caiden’s dad, Kenneth Parker, 33.

    It wasn’t known whether the grim milestone also was observed by Tashawna Caldwell, the boy’s mom, at the Atascosa County Jail where she’s being held in lieu of $1 million bail, charged with capital murder over his death.

    “She has a difficult time discerning reality,” said Brandon Hudson, Caldwell’s court-appointed attorney, who plans an insanity defense. “She is extremely emotionally disturbed about all of this, the death and how that has affected her family.”

    No trial date has been set for Caldwell, 27, who was treated at a state mental hospital for three months while incarcerated before being deemed competent and returned to jail in August.

    Court records quote Caldwell as telling police she’d killed Caiden “to make him more perfect” and that “she had sent Caiden to heaven.”

    Caldwell had no diagnosed history of mental illness before the deadly episode on Dec. 8, 2013, according to her sister, Shatana Caldwell, who called police to their Poteet area home that night.

    Tashawna Caldwell answered the door clutching the body of her son, according to an arrest warrant affidavit later filed by Atascosa County Sheriff’s Capt. Matt Miller, who observed “massive amounts” of blood on the walls, floor and furniture.

    Shatana Caldwell, emerging from a locked bedroom with her own young son, said her sister had “flipped out” and attacked her, then stabbed Caiden, whose screams echoed through the home, Miller said.

    The defendant, who pleaded not guilty, was represented by the Texas Regional Public Defenders for Capital Cases until the state filed notice in November that it would not seek the death penalty. The defender’s group doesn’t handle non-death penalty cases.

    “Essentially, justice would be better served by not seeking the death penalty under these circumstances,” said District Attorney Rene Pena, who made that decision.

    The task of defending Caldwell then was assigned to Hudson.

    “We see that insanity is clearly an issue,” Hudson said. “I do not believe she is mentally competent.”

    Neither he nor Pena could provide the specific diagnosis of Caldwell made by staff at North Texas State Hospital in Vernon.

    Shatana Caldwell, 31, said her family lit a candle Monday to mark the anniversary of losing Caiden, whom she called, “a really happy, smart little boy.”

    Of her sister, she said, “She was a great mother, a great sister. She loved her son.”

    Fernandez-McCall said the anguish of coping with the family tragedy has been exacerbated by difficulties staying abreast of the legal proceedings from afar.

    She complained that Pena’s staff has been unresponsive to telephone inquiries, and even failed to call in June when she notified them that Tashawna Caldwell sent Kenneth Parker a hand-made father’s day card from the hospital.

    “They don’t feel like they need to give us anything,” said Fernandez, 52, who eventually sent the card — which she considers crucial evidence — to Miller.

    Pena said his office has tried to keep Fernandez-McCall informed of important developments in the case, noting, “We try to not victimize the victims again.”

    “Do we make mistakes? It happens,” he said.

    https://www.expressnews.com/news/loc...of-5953846.php
    Last edited by Helen; 09-09-2019 at 02:04 PM. Reason: added date and link at bottom
    "The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer." -Theodore Roosevelt

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