KAIRISSA MARK - 4 yo -(2010) Mt Juliet (E of Nashville) TN

Sure it did. That's where all the originating information started.

I know them by their fruit. And since your DA friends translates neglect into murder, that simply tells me that he is in this for the press not the justice. They should have been charged with neglect. I am a victim of severe child abuse and it is never isolated to one child. If these people were murderers and child abusers their other child would have been victimized by it as well which is not the case. This is pure and simple neglect at best and the DA should know better than to charge them with murder based on the facts. But since he chose to go further with this, and I don't care if he goes to church or not, the fruit that is hanging off his tree is obviously rotten.

And saying you are pathetic is not bullying. Actually I was commenting on the situation but you can personalize it if you like. Most people do that out of self preservation. Anyway, that is my opinion, which I'm entitled to, so please quit trying to play a victim. And no, it's not a free country. Only naive people think we are still truly free because people like this DA and our current Congress are persecuting innocents and passing laws that are undermining our Constitution and liberty. Please get up to date what is going on in the world and think for yourself. The problem with Christians is they believe everything Faux News, Pat "Captain Insane" Robertson or Dr. "I endorse the feeble-minded Bush" Dobson tells them.

Self preservation? No. I can and do think for myself. I believe that is why you are having such a problem with me. Why don't you sit in the courtroom and examine all of the evidence before you pass judgement on the DA? And, there are two of them trying this case, by the way. To which one do you refer as a "typical thug"? Or do you know? What is his name? And where is your proof that he is a thug? And no, I do not consider myself a victim here at all. Her name is Karissa Mark, she is the vicitm. Let us never forget her name.
I would like to know where you get your facts that anyone who abuses a child will abuse all children in the household? Let's not forget here that one child was a biological child who had no health issues and could speak english. The other was an adopted child who had serious health issues (which were not seen to) as well as communication issues. I believe that they could have very easily become frustrated with the situation and over reacted. In this case, they are not your typical child abusers who do it for whatever sick pleasure they get out of it. Rather, they abused her as a result of frustrations that boiled over. In this case, there would be no need to abuse their natural daughter as they would not have been frustrated with her. Hypothetically, of course... And yes, it is still a free country. Never forget that. There are those who want to take away our freedoms but I will stand against them as long as God gives me breath to do so. You see, I am not a vicitm on that front, either. So, we take away from this little exchange that all DAs are not evil, all churchgoers are not perfect or even Christians, and not all child abusers fit into the same mold. That is why we have trials by jury in this free country of ours. And, bless you, there you go again sterotyping... by saying that all Christians (and thus a problem in your estimation) is that we all believe Faux News....etc. Again, how can you say what I believe? Did I ever tell you? Allow me to share: 1.I believe that everyone is a sinner, condemned to eternal separation from God the Creater (Romans 3:23 "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God") 2. I believe that as a result of our sin, we all deserve to die (Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.) 3. I believe that God gave us a way out of that punishment by sending His one and only perfect Son to die on the cross, to pay for my sins and yours (Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.") 4. I believe that the only way to be reconciled to God and enjoy eternal life in heaven with Him is to accept the gift of Jesus' death on the cross on my behalf (Romans 10:9-11,13 "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."). This is what I believe. Now you may feel free to stand in judgement of those beliefs. As far as this forum goes, I believe it best we stick to the case of Deborah Mark. Other topics, feel free to send me a private message as I do not think others on this forum wish to have to sift through our debate on other topics. May God bless you and your family this Christmas, and always. In Christ: one gun-toting, free speaking, free thinking American.

LEBANON, TN (WSMV) - A jury will soon decide the case of a pediatrician accused of killing her adopted daughter in 2010. Both sides will soon give closing arguments in a Lebanon courtroom.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow Channel 4 reporter Josh DeVine on Twitter for updates on the trial



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Friday morning, the defense made the unusual move to call Mount Juliet detective David Stolinsky to the stand. He interviewed Dr. Deborah Mark's husband, Steven, around the time of his daughter's death.

Steven told detectives he used to discipline his daughter by placing her in a closet and a box in a dark garage. He also pried her mouth open with a toothbrush and once strapped her to her high chair.

The defense may be trying to show that the child's father was ultimately responsible for the girl's death. However, on cross examination from the state, the detective admitted the girl's death could not have been caused by those kinds of things.

Check out wkrn.com for updates to the story. They have some video and pictures of Karissa as well. So sad. They jury should start deliberating some time this afternoon according to the news.

If you are going to post news media propaganda then I will stand in defense of the innocent. News media never report all the facts, just the ones that are juicy and make people look guilty in the eyes of the public. There are several other facts that have not made their way out of the court room but I just don't care to post them here since the news media never reports a lie right? Therefore they must be the best source of information and it must all be accurate? You don't have all the facts and maybe you aren't passing judgment on them. You say you are a free thinker? Okay then why is it all you post is news media propaganda? Why not expand on both sides and let others decide for themselves. Journalism today is guilt before innocence. That is fact.

And you are right, I don't know you but if you are going to sit here and report the news media's biased BS and call yourself neutral then I have to call you out front because you are helping them build a case in the eye of the public against 2 innocent people who have not been proven guilty.

The lynch mob is out in full force today evidently. Welcome to the new free world where you are guilty in the eyes of the media and then public until proven innocent. The way the DA has contrived this case and the news media has reported their story, that even if these people are found innocent, they will always be guilty to the public. Their lives will never be the same...ever. They could have recovered from neglect but not a false accusation of first degree murder. Let's visit that for a second:

First Degree Murder: A specific intent to kill, premeditation, and deliberation.

If anyone thinks this woman deliberately set out to kill this child, then they are as foolish as the DA who brought such a ludicrous charge. Only some backwoods hillbilly would set out in the first place to fabricate such a case by deceptively violating a citizens rights all for the glory of the press and their own personal self interests.

Maybe you should read my first post.... I have not only posted news propaganda. I actually posted that for the others who have requested updated. It was not a rebuttal for you. I understand that not everything in the news is the truth and that they report what will bring ratings. But not everything is a lie, either. You have to take it with a grain of salt (a block of salt some times) and decide for yourself. By your comments, I assume you, yourself, are in the courtroom to hear the other facts that prove innocence? If so, please do share them with us. Don't hide behind my posting. And...I never called myself neutral. You are just making stuff up now. Do you not think that knocking out a 4 year old's teeth to "brush them" is a little over the top? Or do you routinely lock your children in a box in the garage as punishment? Maybe you think it's ok to "fling" your unresponsive baby onto a mattress-hitting her head on the wall in the process-then heading downstairs to watch a movie before going to bed is perfectly ok. Or wiping the spit and blood off of her little mouth before heading to work the next morning-as she is still lying there unresponsive-is not out of the ordinary? Surely even you can see the abuse here. The DA's charge is not ludicrous. One 21 pound, malnourished 4 year old who could not speak english to communicate with her adoptive parents (who called the adoption agency to ask why they sent the "demon child" to them) vs. two full grown adults. Sound fair? Surely they could see that the force they used against her was potentially deadly. Anyone with half a brain in this country knows that if you abuse a child and the child dies, that is murder. This was ongoing abuse. It was not a one time accident. Ongoing! That baby had 13 bone fractures, all at different stages of healing. Obviously, you have very deep seeded emotions about this case. Attacking me is pointless and futile. Neither you nor I have been privvy to all of the evidence, for and against her, in this case (unless, of course, you are sitting in the courtroom right now and have been all week). The jury has. They will be the ones to decide. Period. The vitriole that you keep vomiting out is really pointless. You really are overreacting just a bit to me. Lynch mob...new free world...contrived case...backwoods hillbilly (my personal fav). Really, I think a chill pill is in order. You may pop a vein if you aren't careful. You are right, they will never recover from this one. Neither will Karissa. So I'm sorry I cannot agree with you and profess Deborah Mark's innocence here. If my refusal to declare her innocent makes me a backwoods hillbilly, right violating, propaganda posting, fabricator of lies to violate citizens' rights, then so be it. You, my friend, are forgetting one thing: She has not been declared innocent yet. Let's see what the jury has to say. They do have lesser included offenses that they can consider besides murder. Oh, did you not know that? Well, now you do. It just may be that she is only convicted of negligence. As I said, I'm praying for the jury to make the right call. It would be great if they were truly innocent and the family could be put back together. But where does that leave Karissa?

Ok you two. I have extensive knowledge of intercountry adoptions and you're jumping to conclusions. I'm also not religious so feel I'm more impartial than you when you make assumptions based on anything to do with religion - or politics for that matter. Your judgement is clouded.
Firstly, Kairissa will have been examined by an American accredited doctor before she arrived in the USA, so she wouldn't have arrived with broken bones. She will have gone through very extensive tests, x-rays etc.
Secondly, all older adopted children have emotional problems and many don't behave the way a normal healthy child would. People assume that all they need is love and they'll be fine. That's often not the case. They can display behaviour that can infuriate and they may not respond to normal parenting. Adoptive parents of an older child can become overwhelmed and the usual ways of managing difficult behaviour that doctors or socialworkers suggest don't work. Fundamental to human behaviour is cause and affect. From the day they are born babies cry when they need something and their parent meets those needs. By the time a child is 3 they have learned cause and affect. They have learned about self and how they affect the surrounding world. Parents are then able to raise their children by the 'carrot and stick'. We can tell them that if they don't put their shoes on we won't take them to the park. We can give them a reward when they are well behaved which encourages good behaviour. If a child has been severely neglected in those first vital few years, their brains don't learn cause and affect. The carrot and stick is meaningless to them and doesn't work. They don't view themselves as having any affect on those around them. It is unfortunately not uncommon for a child like this to cause enormous frustration to otherwise normal people who have been vetted by authorities before they adopt. Couple that with poor Kairissa's other medical issues, the Marks would have been disappointed and possibly angry when faced with the daily reality of trying to parent a special needs child who was probably neglected since she was born.
So given what I know, it is more likely that Poor Kairissa died at their hands. IMO they should have been charged with manslaughter not murder. It looks like they didn't receive adequate help post adoption from social workers who probably didn't have adequate training on the subject of intercountry adoption and it's unique problems.

Very well stated. I wish it wouldn't have happened. I, too, believe that they are otherwise very good people who just got overwhelmed with the situation. However, they still caused-in my opinion as well-her death. The med examiner stated that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. The doctor from Vanderbilt Children's Hospital stated that that kind of injury does not happen from a simple fall. He compared it to a car wreck or falling 3-4 stories. So whether she meant to or not (and I doubt that she meant to kill her), the act of flinging the child onto the mattress, hitting her head on the wall in the process, is what apparently killed her. I think she should have taken her to the hospital right then. A hit that hard had to sound awful and be obviously damaging to the child. At any rate, we await the verdict. If I am correct, manslaughter may be one of the lesser included charges. They have to consider the murder charge first. If they unanimously agree she is innocent of murder, they then proceed down the list of the lesser included charges until they have considered them all. Unless, of course, they find her guilty. At that point, they stop running down the list of lesser included charges (under the murder charge). She is charged with 7 or 8 separate counts. One murder, the rest abuse for each different area of Karissa's body (head, eyes, hands and fingers, breast and nipples, back, thighs...) Thank you for your calmly stated input.

I'm just saying wrote:Very well stated. I wish it wouldn't have happened. I, too, believe that they are otherwise very good people who just got overwhelmed with the situation. However, they still caused-in my opinion as well-her death. The med examiner stated that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. The doctor from Vanderbilt Children's Hospital stated that that kind of injury does not happen from a simple fall. He compared it to a car wreck or falling 3-4 stories. So whether she meant to or not (and I doubt that she meant to kill her), the act of flinging the child onto the mattress, hitting her head on the wall in the process, is what apparently killed her. I think she should have taken her to the hospital right then. A hit that hard had to sound awful and be obviously damaging to the child. At any rate, we await the verdict. If I am correct, manslaughter may be one of the lesser included charges. They have to consider the murder charge first. If they unanimously agree she is innocent of murder, they then proceed down the list of the lesser included charges until they have considered them all. Unless, of course, they find her guilty. At that point, they stop running down the list of lesser included charges (under the murder charge). She is charged with 7 or 8 separate counts. One murder, the rest abuse for each different area of Karissa's body (head, eyes, hands and fingers, breast and nipples, back, thighs...) Thank you for your calmly stated input.

Thanks. We'll await the verdict.

I can't help but laugh at your backwoods hillbilly intellect. So a simple fall (which was on pavement by the way) can't kill her but hitting her head on DRYWALL can? The girl had a seizure and went face first down on the concrete the day she died and they took her to the hospital. That's when the vultures descended on her and her husband and violated all their rights. The mattress incident was a few days prior and did not hurt her. Again, though you people feed like mongrels on the misinformation of the news media. Evidently, Lebanon hillbilly intellect says that pavement can't cause injuries and that drywall has more strength than pavement. You people are so dumb it's no wonder justice can't prevail in your areas. The way you reason I guess you could have an elephant hanging from a tree by a thread. I feel sorry for this family. They fell into the hands of redneck hicks and now are subject to their barbaric, neanderthal, warmongering hate. Thank God I don't have to travel around there otherwise I would be forced to hire someone to be my sister, drive a truck with no tailgate with tires hanging out the back and wear flannel just so you wouldn't think I was an outsider. Otherwise, I would probably be arrested for being normal. Lebanon...never was a placed named so perfectly to coincide with its barbaric middle eastern counterpart.

Deborah Mark was found guilty on all charges brought against her. Guilty of firsts degree murder and gulity of all 8 counts of abuse against Karissa. And that ends this discussion.

Apparently I should not type when I am sleepy! Firsts degree murder. Gulity of all 8 counts.... my my my. It has certainly been a long day.

LEBANON, Tenn. – A jury
has found a Mt. Juliet pediatrician guilty of first degree murder of 4-year-old
adopted daughter.

The jury spent nearly four and half hours deliberating the case.
In the end Dr. Deborah Mark was found guilty of murder and will serve a life
sentence in prison.

Attorneys presented their closing arguments Friday at the Wilson
County Criminal Justice Center in Lebanon.

The
trial began earlier this week.

The prosecution
presented a taped interview where Marks admitted to tossing the child onto her
bed, and in the process hit her head on the wall. Kairissa died two days later.

There
was also an incident when the Kairissa apparently was holding her breath. The
Marks apparently tried to pry open her mouth with a toothbrush and knocked out
a couple of teeth.

Defense attorneys had argued that the interview should not have
been allowed in court because Dr. Mark had not been properly Mirandized first.
However, detectives said Mark had not yet been charged when the interview took
place.

Dr.
Mark's husband, Steven Mark, was also charged in the case. He is facing felony
charges including child abuse. His trial was expected to start after the first
of the year.
http://www.newschannel5.com/story/16176693/guilty-verdict-in-pediatricians-homicide-case

I am so glad that justice has been served for poor Kairissa. I hope the man gets the same life sentence.

speaking as someone that has epilepsy-i know that depending on the violence of the seizures, you can have broken bones and bruising. these parents are responsible for this child's death because they didnt get her the medical help she needed. there are too many medications on the market and there is also the vagal nerve stimulator which i have the helps control seizures. also if she had such violent seizures then how could they just stand by and watch this child go through it? it is not a pretty sight.

I don't even know that she had epilepsy, it was never brought out at trial as part of Deborah's defense. Even if she did, I don't think a siezure would cause all of the child's injuries. They admitted to breaking out her teeth when prying her mouth open with a toothbrush. She had several broken ribs, (broken in the back, the ME said someone had to squeeze her to do that damage there), bruised hands and a black eye. Mom admitted to holding both her hands in one hand while hitting her in the face with an ice pack after a fall. (Karissa didn't want the ice put on her head and mom got mad). Mom also admitted to pinching her inner thighs as punishment, and here's the most awful of her forms of "punishment": she admitted to twisting Karissa's nipples. The child's nipples were almost twisted off! I am certain a siezure would not do that. And the timeline of the earlier poster is wrong. She did not have a siezure and fall on her face on concrete the day she died. According to what came out in court, here is the timeline: June 30, 2010: Karissa fell down a couple of stairs at home while walking down them with Deborah. Deborah caught her fall. Karissa then held her breath until she passed out (according to Deborah). Deborah picked her up and carried her back to her room, where she (mom) "flung" her onto her crib mattress, hitting her head on the wall in the process. She hit the back of her head, not the front. There was blood on the drywall. It was cut out of the wall and shown in court. Deborah did not walk over to her and check on her head, which had just hit the wall. Instead, she went and watched a movie before going to bed. She did get up a couple of times in the night to check on Karissa, who was unresponsive. She wiped the blood and spit off her face each time (it was coming out of her mouth) before going back to bed. July 1, 2010: In the morning, she wiped the blood from Karissa's mouth once more before heading to work. Her husband called her around 9:00 that morning to tell her that Karissa was unresponsive and 911 was called. Karissa never regained consciousness. She was taken to Summit Medical Center in Hermitage and was then life flighted to Vanderbilt Chilrens Hospital about 30 minutes later. The docs at Vandy said that when she arrived, she was being kept alive by machines. They could touch her eyes with a q-tip with no response. They said she was brain dead. July 2, 2010: Karissa was pronounced dead. The medical examiner said she had a fractured skull, her brain was leaking and she had bleeding on the brain and down the spinal cord. She also had a nasty bruise between her shoulder blades. Deborah admitted that she knew Karissa was badly hurt but that she could not call 911 because people would think she was a child abuser. I did not want this mom to be guilty. I kept thinking of her successful life with an older child and husband and how everything was now shattered. I put myself in her place and felt really bad for her. I thought maybe a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide was more appropriate than 1st degree murder. I did not think she intended to kill Karissa. But then when I heard all of the details of the abuse of Karissa, I stopped feeling bad for her. When I learned the definition of murder in Tennessee, I believe she got what she deserved. It's a sad situation, and I feel bad for the older daughter. She will have to be raised by relatives with the knowledge that her parents abused and killed another child. It just makes you really stop and be thankful for what you have and want to hold on to it and not mess it up.

Article from the Mt. Juliet News:
Pediatrician’s trial testimony details alleged abuse; defense says Deborah Mark not guilty of charges
By: LAURIE EVERETT/Managing Editor

Posted: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 12:45 pm

A somber jury listened as the first degree murder trial of local former pediatrician Deborah Mark unfolded Tuesday morning with graphic detail of the alleged child abuse of her adopted daughter.

In a nearly three-hour taped conversation with Mt. Juliet Police detectives and former Wilson County Sheriff's Department Det. Brian Harbaugh played to the jury, Mark eventually admitted to them that the night before her daughter died, out of frustration she "flung" the child toward a mattress on the floor and her head hit the wall.

She said she was frustrated with earlier events related to the child that evening – as well as throughout the nearly 90 days she lived with them – including what she thought was a "breath holding" episode and a partial tumble down the stairs that night. She said the child had been unresponsive after she was "flung" and was put to bed.

Prior to the tape being played, Mark's defense attorneys said in their opening statements that Mark was “coerced and browbeaten” to make statements to Mt. Juliet Police. And, that while the little girl was a victim, Mark was also a victim. He called Mark a “good” woman and that the situation was “contradictory,” and that she was “not a woman who would hurt a child” but only “wanted to help.”

Deborah Mark’s husband Steven is also charged with multiple counts of child abuse. They both have pleaded not guilty.

Mark, who has since voluntarily given up her doctor’s license, was a pediatrician who practiced at Centennial Pediatrics in Lebanon, and is charged with first degree murder of her 4-year old adopted daughter Kairisa from China.

On July 1, 2010, Mt. Juliet Police responded to a 911 call about the Marks’ daughter being unresponsive. She was transported to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital where she was pronounced dead on July 2, 2010.

Included in the prosecution’s opening statement by Wilson County Assistant District Attorney Jason Lawson were the nine counts Mark is charged with, including first degree murder.

The other counts included inflicting injury to Kairisa’s head and body; injury to the child’s mouth; injury to her breasts and nipples; injury to her skeletal system; injury to her hands and fingers; injuries to her face and eye; to her back and to her thighs.

Lawson told the jury, that consisted of six men and six women, along with four male alternates, that Kairisa did not have to die. And, that less than 90 days after the Marks adopted her, she was dead. He told the jury that Kairisa had a skull fracture and leaking brain; multiple rib fractures; multiple bruises on her back and thigh; a black eye; scarred nipples; teeth broken out and fresh abrasions.

MJPD Det. Bonnie Harris was the first witnessed called. She initiated the questioning of Mark at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital that was broken up into several sessions and lasted about five hours.

She testified to Assistant District Attorney Tom Swink that Mark told her she would twist and pinch Kairisa’s nipples when she got frustrated with her and when she thought the child was being defiant. She told her that she would pinch and twist the child’s inner thigh out of frustration and to punish her.

Harris testified that Mark told her when Kairisa fell and hurt her head, she tried to put an ice-pack on it, but the child did not want her to, so she hit her in the face with the pack several times. Harris also testified that both Deborah and Steven Mark forced the child’s mouth open with a toothbrush when she did not want her teeth brushed, thus breaking out several teeth.

The prosecution contended the “final act” that cost the child her life was on the night of June 30. Harris testified that Mark told her that after Kairisa had a “breath holding” spell, she “flung” her toward a mattress on the floor. Harris testified that the child’s head allegedly hit the wall.

She testified that the child was unresponsive the rest of the night, and Deborah Mark told her she watched a movie and went to bed. She testified that Deborah Mark got up the next day and went to work. Stephen Mark later called 911 when he found Kairisa not breathing.

During cross examination, Mark’s defense lawyers Jack Lowery Sr. and Jack Lowery Jr. told the jury that the Marks started the process of adopting Kairisa nearly four years ago, and that in March 2010, they adopted her after another adoptive family rejected her.

He said Kairisa was 4-years old and weighed 21 pounds and not potty trained. He said that she was born without an anus and had undergone surgery to try to fix that, along with a heart operation. He told the jury the Marks still “happily” adopted her.

He noted the child was subject to unusual, erratic behavior such as banging her head and holding her breath until she passed out. He said she suffered severe malnutrition, bruised easily and perhaps had cerebral palsy and was possibly mentally retarded.

He then talked of how Mark was interviewed by detectives and said she was browbeaten and coerced and not given a proper Miranda warning. He said Mark did nothing deliberately and when she went upstairs that night before Kairisa died, she was doing it to make sure that she would eat.

The bulk of Tuesday afternoon was the jury listening to the taped interview between Mark, Harris and Harbaugh. In the tape, Mark told detectives that the evening of June 30, she and her biological 8-year-old daughter went to a karate class. She said after she got back around 9:30 p.m., she was went to Kairesa's room to see if she could get her something to drink and eat. She said that her daughter tried to get up from the mattress on the floor, toppled and hit her head on a bed side rail.

However, Mark said the little girl was able to walk out of the room and toward the stairs. Mark in the tape said while they were on the stairs, Kairisa stumbled down a couple stairs and then slid down some more on her back, but she caught her. Then she said Kairisa looked at her and started holding her breath and passed out.

Mark testified on the tape that she became frustrated, took Kairisa toward the mattress, flung her down and her head hit the wall. Mark said she checked on Kairisa at around 11:30 p.m., and she was still unresponsive. She then left the child and got ready for bed. She said she was going to let her "sleep" and see what "happens in the morning."

The next morning at 7 a.m., the child was still unresponsive and had saliva and blood coming out of her mouth. Mark said she went to work and left the child in her husband's care. She got a call from Steven at around 9:30 a.m. saying Kairisa was not breathing and 911 was called.

When the detectives questioned her why she didn't get help sooner, Mark said she thinks she was in denial.

"No way, shape or form would I have wanted to kill her," she said on the tape.

She said looking back she should have gotten help at the 11:30 p.m. time she checked on her.

Mark also admitted she may not have gotten help because she was scared and didn't "want people to think I was a child abuser."

She also said that morning she realized something might be seriously wrong with her daughter and "was praying in the car asking God to help her and for a miracle."

So sad what that poor child suffered. They had to be jamming that toothbrush in her mouth hard to knock her teeth out. And the pinching and twisting of the nipples and thighs...ugh that was torture. Not to mention the fact that this woman is a PEDIATRITION and should have know the girl was in serious condition and needed medical attention. The fact that she was afraid of being accused of child abuse indicates to me that she knew she abused her. I'm glad she got what she deserved.

As a friend of the family, I am very sad for all involved. This is the most tragic story I have even known personally. As her acquaintance I want to believe in Deborah's goodness, but as a mother, I find it hard to excuse her actions. I know that Deborah must have started with the best intentions. She risked the peacefulness of her family by adopting an exceptionally needy child from China. We presume that she must have met the child before agreeing to bringing her home. If so, she went into this with her eyes wide open.

As a parent, the priorities would likely have been to provide the necessities first. Food, water, clothing & shelter. After providing the first set, she tried to teach her basic skills, hygiene etc.

This is the point where, based on the few facts available in the media, I lose respect for the Marks. The first, most important thing to provide a child is love and then, respect.

I have no idea what went on in that house. What we know is that a sick and mentally delayed child's symptoms were neglected and ignored. Anyone who has ever raised a toddler knows that in order to communicate with a toddler, you need to gain their trust and listen. Kairissa had 13 fractures. I have broken a bone before, and I can tell you that it hurts, alot. I can not imagine living with 13 broken bones. She must have been in a lot of pain. Newly arrived from China, speaking some dialect of Chinese (presumably the same dialect as Deborah?), eating unfamiliar food, in unfamiliar surroundings with strangers. Kairissa must have been scared. She probably did not know the appropriate way to vent her fear. Most toddlers don't, I imagine a delayed toddler has even less ability to communicate feelings appropriately.

The fact that Deborah, the mother, could not feel sympathy enough for this child that would overcome her frustration is sad. But worse than anything is the pride and conceit involved. The pride that being a doctor, she could diagnose her adopted daughter's problems. It is a conflict of interest for a doctor to treat her own family. But, for a common cold, it's not a big deal. For the issues that seem apparent with Karissa, she should have sought a second opinion. This was negligent. The pride comes in where after she so clearly lost control, which to me would have been the sight of the first bruise, but it could also be the missing teeth or the first time she twisted this little girl's nipples... if I lost control ONE TIME, I would seek help immediately. Deborah risked everything because she believed she was still in control. This is what I find most shocking. Deborah allowed her pride in herself blind her from seeing she lost control that first time.

How could she allow herself to pull out a child's teeth and not see that she has lost control? How could her husband sit and watch? What is wrong with these people? What is wrong with their friends at church? What is wrong with their family? I mean REALLY?!?!?!? Twisting nipples? Seriously?!!!? I know Deborah to be from a really nice and normal background. In no way would twisting a child's nipples ever be considered normal behavior. How could she lost control like that and not seek help????

The worst of it is realizing that she treated this child worst than she would treat a dog. And I do not mean the unknown abuses... I mean the known abuses... the pinches, the nipple twisting, the slapping with an icepack... the prying with a toothbrush.

It is so disgusting... the pride. The whole point of adopting a child is to love him or her... to provide the child with a family, with love. They must have thought it was some twisted charity case, where they were out to prove something. That they are good people, who brush their teeth and tend their wounds... only to pull out teeth and cause further damage. The desire to be good so exceeded the ability to do good.

What happened "unowen"? Hasn't been back to defend the murderous mother since she was convicted. I must have missed that the poor child had 13 broken bones! Wow she must have been in a lot of pain. Since murderous mom was a PEDIATRITION she should have known the child was hurt badly and needed medical attention. It's obvious she did not like the child and as a previous poster indicated decided to treat her worse than an animal. I hope she rots in jail for what she did to this baby.