DIAMOND HILLMAN - 2 months - (2009)/ Charged: Father; Donald Hillman - Santa Monica CA

On December 7, at 3:30 p.m., detectives from the Santa Monica Police Department arrested Donald Hillman, a 33 year-old male, in North Hollywood for the alleged murder of his two-month old step daughter.

On October 4, at 12:30 a.m., Hillman brought his step daughter into a local hospital. The child was in full cardiac arrest and was not breathing. Emergency room staff were able to resuscitate her twice and placed her on a ventilator.

Initial examination by a medical specialist revealed injuries to the victim that were consistent with “shaken baby syndrome.”

The Santa Monica Police Department and the Department of Children and Family Services were notified.

On November 22, the victim was taken off of life support per a court order.  The victim was pronounced deceased at 10:24 a.m.

On November 25, an autopsy by the Los Angeles County Coroners Office found evidence consistent with the previous medical findings. The Coroner’s Office classified the case as a homicide. It has been determined that the original incident occurred in the 1000 block of 12th Street.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Michael Bambrick at (310) 458-8932 or Sergeant Ira Rutan at (310) 458-8959 or the Santa Monica Police Department (24 hours) (310) 458-8495.If you wish to remain anonymous, call WeTip at 1-800-78-CRIME (1-800-782-7463).


http://www.smmirror.com/articles/news/SMPD-Arrest-Man-for-Death-of-2-Month-Old-Child/29641

Case No.: SA07301501

Court Name:
Court Address: Court City:

Bail Amount: 1,000,000.00 Fine Amount: .00

Court Date: 04/14/2011 Sentence Date: Number of days Sentenced: 0

Disposition Code: Disposition Description

http://app4.lasd.org/iic/details.cfm?A=54C3AB5FE2D78A5B95BD35842B4A22B69ED9BD42&B=%27%27%3CBH%22D6N%23%40%20%20%0A&C=ENJGE&CFID=51478939&CFTOKEN=17235314&jsessionid=f03097f12bfc9044f666547628162e486252

Infant's death rekindles scrutiny of L.A. County child services agency
Authorities deemed Diamond Hillman's mother fit to care for her, even though the woman's two other children had been removed from her home. Four months later, Diamond was dead.

December 30, 2009
By Kim Christensen

Five months before Diamond Hillman was born last July, her two half siblings were removed from their mother's home.

Social workers found that she had spanked her 6-year-old daughter with a belt, scrubbed her face so hard it left welts and sent her to school in diapers.

Despite that finding, and a resulting court order that the 28-year-old mother have only monitored visits with the two older children, child welfare authorities deemed her fit to care for Diamond.

The child lived just four months. She died Nov. 22, allegedly at the hands of her stepfather, a convicted batterer with whom the mother had left the baby, according to court records and a confidential child-fatality report obtained by The Times.

Her death comes amid growing public scrutiny of suspected abuse and neglect fatalities among children whose families at some point were under the supervision of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

There were 14 such deaths in 2008 and at least that many this year, though some remain under investigation, according to department officials and records recently made public under California law.

Diamond's death is being investigated by the department, Santa Monica police and the L.A. County coroner's office.

Many of those deaths occurred after children left the department's watch -- to return to their families after a stint in foster care or to enter the criminal justice system, records show.

But Diamond's case calls the department's vigilance into greater question, because she was still under its direct supervision when she was killed.

Donald Renald Hillman Jr., 33, a resident of Santa Monica and her mother's estranged husband, has pleaded not guilty to murder and child abuse.

He is being held in lieu of $1-million bail.

The mother was not identified in the child-fatality report and has not been charged. She did not respond to a phone message left with a man at her last known address.

Shortly after Diamond's birth, her mother told Hillman that he was not the girl's father, "but he accepted Diamond as his child," the report states. Although separated from Hillman, the mother left Diamond with him Oct. 4 while she met with a friend.

Hillman, who is 6 foot 1 and weighs 245 pounds, allegedly shook the infant so hard that day that she suffered retinal hemorrhaging and a traumatic brain injury.

When he brought her to a hospital emergency room in full cardiac arrest and not breathing, he told doctors the injuries were accidental.

"According to Diamond's stepfather, Diamond was asleep in her bassinet when her two-year-old half-sibling ran into the room and somehow fell over the bassinet," the report states.

The attending physician said that explanation didn't jibe with the baby's injuries, which "appeared to be the result of being shaken," the report notes.

Doctors twice resuscitated the infant and placed her on a ventilator, Santa Monica police said. She spent the next six weeks on life support, which was removed Nov. 22, police said.

An autopsy supported the shaken-baby diagnosis and Hillman was arrested Dec. 7 after he attended Diamond's funeral, police said.

The cause of death has been deferred pending further investigation by the coroner's office.

"As a result of the circumstances surrounding Diamond's death, the Department will perform a comprehensive review and analysis of our prior involvement with Diamond and her family," the report said in part.

Social workers are trained to give extra consideration to the cases of children who are age 2 and younger, because they are considered the most vulnerable and the least likely to be observed by people outside the home.

Trish Ploehn, who heads the child welfare agency, would not say if social workers had been disciplined for their handling of Diamond's case, but noted that such action is taken when warranted. Social worker error was a factor in 10 of the 14 deaths in 2008 among children with prior involvement with her department, Ploehn said earlier this year.

She declined to comment on circumstances surrounding Diamond's death, which she called "a tragedy for our entire county."

"The safety and the well-being of all children in Los Angeles County remains our highest priority," Ploehn said in a statement.

One of the key issues under review, according to the internal report, is whether the department acted appropriately in keeping Diamond with her mother, who was still subject to monitored visitation with the older children, then 2 and 6.

Also under scrutiny is a decision by the department last February to place the 2-year-old with Hillman despite his criminal history, the report said. Hillman is the child's biological father.

A search of Los Angeles County Superior Court records for Hillman turned up convictions for burglary, drug abuse and battery dating to 1998.

In 2005, he was charged with felony domestic violence but pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of battery, court records show.

A marijuana possession charge was dismissed.

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/30/local/la-me-child-death30-2009dec30