JOSEPH ARTIS - 4 yo (3/14) - / Charged: Mother, Tasha Trotter - St. Petersburg, FL

Boy, 4, killed in St. Petersburg stabbing, mother charged
Posted: Updated:
By Peter Bernard

Mug shot of Tasha Trotter

ST PETERSBURG, FL (WFLA) - A young boy was killed in Jordan Park in St. Petersburg at the hands of his own mother, police say.

St. Petersburg Police say they are investigating the stabbing death of 4-year-old Joseph Artis at the Jordan Park Apartments, located at 2427 13 Avenue South.

Police say the incident happened around 6 p.m. Police on patrol were called over by neighbor, who heard the boy's grandmother screaming. When police arrived, they saw 40-year-old Tasha Trotter, holding Joseph, suffering from multiple stab wounds on his upper body and neck, outside of the home.

Officers attempted CPR on the child and he was transported to Bayfront Hospital where he was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later.

Officers quickly learned from the child's grandmother, Carolyn Trotter, who is the legal guardian, that Tasha Trotter had been responsible for stabbing the child and she was quickly taken into custody without incident. Tasha Trotter is charged with first-degree murder.

Police say Trotter's mother has had custody of the boy for the past three years.  Detectives say Trotter was apparently waiting on the front porch of the apartment when the grandmother arrived home with Joseph, possibly coming home from picking him up from daycare.

The grandmother reported that Trotter appeared to be acting odd and has history of some mental health problems. Then for reasons unknown and without provocation, police say Trotter suddenly grabbed a knife from the kitchen and then quickly proceeded to another room where Joseph was and began stabbing him repeatedly.

The grandmother tried to intervene without success and the relative ran outside to get help.

Neighbor, Stephanie Brown says she saw the little boy, lifeless, on the ground.

"When I got there cried, and I had to leave because I couldn't understand why a bunch of people were standing out here, making like this was a game, everybody was showing up like this was a party," she said.


http://www.wfla.com/story/25104713/boy-4-killed-in-st-petersburg-stabbing

Police: 4-year-old stabbed to death in St. Pete

BY JOSÉ PATIÑO GIRONA

Tribune staff
Published: March 28, 2014   |   Updated: March 29, 2014 at 12:02 AM

The mother of a 4-year-old child who was stabbed to death Friday evening has been charged with first-degree murder, the St. Petersburg Police Department said.

Tasha Trotter, 40, used a kitchen knife to stab her son multiple times at her mother’s apartment, police said.

She was taken into custody shortly after the stabbings, police said. She didn’t give a statement to police and the motive for stabbing her son is unknown, police said.

Her son, Joseph Artis, who lived with his grandmother, 64-year-old Carolyn Trotter, at the Jordan Park Apartments, 2427 13th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, was transported to a local hospital after the stabbing where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Trotter was on the front porch of her mother’s apartment when her mother and Joseph arrived at the home late Friday afternoon. The grandmother may have picked up the boy from a daycare and brought him to her home, police said.

All three entered the home along with Trotter’s brother, who left the apartment before the stabbing occurred, police said.
The grandmother told investigators that Trotter was acting erratically and not in her typical manner, police said.

Trotter has had a history of mental issues, and investigators believe she snapped, police said.

She went into the kitchen, grabbed a knife and returned to the room where her son was, police said.

The boy’s grandmother tried to stop Trotter but wasn’t successful.

Trotter stabbed her son multiple times, police said.

A neighbor heard the boy’s grandmother screaming and ran into the apartment to witness the stabbing, police said. The neighbor ran out of the apartment just after 6 p.m. to get help and found two St. Petersburg police officers nearby directing traffic along 22nd Street South.

The two officers followed the neighbor to the apartment and saw Trotter walking out of the apartment carrying her son. Joseph was unconscious and suffering from multiple wounds, police said.

Trotter put the boy on the ground and officers administered CPR until paramedics arrived.

Paramedics then transported Joseph to Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg where he was pronounced dead.

Carolyn Trotter told investigators that her daughter had stabbed the boy. She completed her interview with investigators and was going to stay with relatives for the time being, police said.

The grandmother has had custody of Joseph for three years.

Trotter, who lives in another home in St. Petersburg, has visited her son in the past, police said.

Trotter is the mother of two adult children and a younger child who don’t live in the area, police said.


http://tbo.com/news/crime/police-5-year-old-stabbed-to-death-in-st-pete-20140328/

Reports document mental illness of mother accused of stabbing son

Monday, April 21, 2014 4:00pm



Tasha Trotter had lost custody of her 4-year-old but was allowed supervised visits.
When Tasha Trotter gave birth to a 3-pound baby girl in a Dollar General parking lot in 2010, paramedics noted that her behavior went beyond what was expected of a surprise delivery.


"The mother suffers from schizoaffective disorder," a complaint filed with the Florida Abuse Registry reads. "She is throwing food … there are concerns for the child's well-being."

Joseph Artis IV, then 18 months old, was in day care when his sister was born. He would continue to see his mother, even after she gave up custody.

When Joseph was 4, during one of those visits in St. Petersburg on March 28, Trotter, 40, stabbed him to death, police said.

Recently released reports from the Florida Department of Children and Families illustrate a spiral of mental illness that culminated in the boy's death.

Family members said Trotter struggled with mental illness and met the boy's father, Joseph Artis III, at a Boley Center for mental health treatment.

When a child protection worker with the Pinellas Sheriff's Office checked on the family shortly after Joseph's birth, in May 2009, both parents were cooperative and had help from family members, the worker noted.

Later that summer, Trotter called police when she and the boy's father fought over a cigarette. Artis, who has an extensive criminal history, was arrested.

When a caseworker visited her to check on the boy's well-being, they noted the tender way the mother interacted with her son.

"CPI saw baby Joseph, almost 3 months old, waking from nap in his crib. Tasha picked him up, kissed and cuddled him. Baby responded to cuddle with a smile."

But by 2010, something had gone wrong.

On April 2 of that year, hospital workers found Joseph, who was just under a year old, alone at the front of Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. Cameras captured Trotter leaving him there, the reports show.

He was wearing a yellow shirt and clean diaper and drinking a bottle of formula.

He was taken to his grandmother, Carolyn Trotter, a nurse who lives in St. Petersburg and was already the guardian of Trotter's two older children. When they found her, Tasha Trotter told caseworkers she took the baby to the hospital to keep him away from his father.

After the birth of her daughter in October 2010, "the mother made statements that she has college and high school students following her around conducting a study," the report states.

The infant was placed in foster care and eventually went to live with her paternal aunt in Naples. Trotter signed over parental rights for her son to her mother on a temporary basis that year. In 2011, the grandmother was given permanent custody.

Trotter agreed to supervised visits with Joseph.

"Overall risk level at closure is low," the final report reads.


http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/report-reveals-new-details-about-troubled-mother-accused-of-stabbing-son/2176117