South Side woman, age 24 and mother of 8, held in son's fatal beating

This story I have found in the local media over the weekend it was related to another story that I had blogged about on Saturday I believe. The more I read up on the story the sadder I get, not because a child is dead but I want to look at the mother who is charged in this child's death. The story I read in the Tribune suggested that she actually cared about her children.

The picture I saw of her however suggest to me that she was mean. She looked as if she could be abusive, but the story suggested something else...

As officials with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services probe the cause of Brandon's death, state documents reviewed by the Tribune show that the agency had contact with Murph dating to 1992, when at age 8 she became a ward of the state due to neglect by her mother.

Murph was placed in the care of her grandmother, spent some time in a group home, then returned to her grandmother in 1997.

That year, Murph had her first baby at age 13.

Murph gave birth to her second child in October 1998 and her third 10 months later in August 1999. That year, Murph moved to a DCFS shelter.

In 2000, Murph moved again to a parenting teen facility for state wards and had her fourth child.

Progress reports detail how Murph, still a teenager, tried to be a good mother while disappointed with her own.

Workers at the facility noted how Murph fed and bathed her children. She kept up with their medical care and vaccinations. She got them to day care on time.

"She feels that she is a better mother to her children than her mother was to her," they noted.

But workers worried for the young mother, who was still grappling with the pain of her own childhood. In July 2000, Murph told workers that she had a physical altercation with her mother during a visit.

"Despite her doing well with the kids, she seems to be depressed and has expressed concern over not being able to visit her family," workers said.

In 2002, Murph moved to a caseworker-supervised apartment and had her fifth child in September. In 2003 and 2004, Murph gave birth to two more children.

And this was all that it took for her to be charged with first-degree murder...

Lakeshia Murph, 24, became frustrated with the crying of her son Brandon Nelson-Murph and beat him with a belt and her fists until her hand hurt, prosecutors said Monday.

Brandon's father came home early Saturday, found the boy limp in bed and took him to a hospital, said Cook County Assistant State's Atty. LuAnn Snow.

When I first saw this story with the pic of the mother at CBS2, my prejudice was exposed. We might have heard about a lot mothers who are just plain mean to their kids. I suppose I can accuse her mother of this same type of meanness or neglect. Still I looked at this girl's pic and I was like yup, she would.

Not that I condone her actions by any means. She should be punished and I hope that if she doesn't go to jail that she might suffer in someway for what she did to her child. She's still responsbile for her actions, but I may also surmise that this came from somewhere. I can also say that she unfortunately became another part of the cycle of abuse. This is only speculation of course.

Still I sort of now regret coming to my conclusion before I knew more about this story. This story is sad all the way around. From the life of Ms. Murph to the death of her son.