KARSYN YOUNG - 10 Months (2010) - Wichita KS

Wichita KS ---- Police have arrested a 22-year-old man who is being held on
suspicion of murder and child abuse in the death of a 10-month-old boy,
a police official said today.
The same baby suffered a broken leg in December, but an
investigation of that did not prove abuse, police Lt. Ken Landwehr said.
Asked about the latest injuries, Landwehr said, "There's bruising
throughout the child's body," including bruising on the baby's head.
Landwehr said the 10-month-old, Karsyn Young, was pronounced dead
at Via Christi-St.Francis after a 911 call at about 11:30 p.m. Monday
from the 22-year-old ex-boyfriend of the boy's mother.
The call came from a residence in the 8700 block of West
Nantucket, Landwehr said. The ex-boyfriend was the only adult at the
home when the call was made, Landwehr said.
The ex-boyfriend has been booked into jail on suspicion of felony
murder and child abuse, and the case could be presented to prosecutors
Wednesday to determine if charges will be filed, Landwehr said.
The 10-month-old had been with the ex-boyfriend since the child's
20-year-old mother left him there Sunday, Landwehr said. It was not
unusual for her to leave the baby with the ex-boyfriend, he said.
The baby's 2-year-old brother, who was also with the
ex-boyfriend, and a 3-year-old sister have been taken into protective
custody, Landwehr said.
The initial call to 911 by the ex-boyfriend was that the child
was not breathing and had died, Landwehr said.
After the baby suffered a broken leg in December, neither a
doctor nor investigators with the Exploited and Missing Child Unit could
prove abuse was involved, he said.
Karsyn's death is the fourth homicide in Wichita this year, and
the third child homicide in the past year and a half, Landwehr said.

April Anspach was alerted late Monday night when she heard sirens
coming to her west Wichita street.
When Anspach went outside, she heard a woman at a nearby duplex
screaming and repeating —"The baby's dead.... Oh, my
God."
Anspach and her family watched as firefighters and paramedics
tried to revive 10-month-old Karsyn Young.
On Sunday, Police say Karsyn's 20-year-old mother left him at a
duplex near 13th and Tyler with her 22-year-old ex-boyfriend.
Police arrested the ex-boyfriend. He is being held on suspicion
of felony murder and child abuse, police Lt. Ken Landwehr said.
"There's bruising throughout the child's body," Landwehr said.
The baby suffered a broken leg in December, but an investigation
of that did not prove abuse, he said.
That investigation involved a doctor who saw the boy and members
of the Exploited and Missing Child Unit.
Michelle Ponce, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Social
and Rehabilitation Services, which helps to investigate child- abuse
allegations, said she could not comment on the case.
The ex-boyfriend was the only adult at the duplex, at 8703 W.
Nantucket, when he called 911 around 11:30 p.m. Monday to report that
the child was not breathing and was dead, Landwehr said.
The baby later was pronounced dead at Via Christi-St. Francis.
After emergency workers arrived, Anspach, 26, watched from the
front door of the duplex where Karsyn had been staying as paramedics
tried to revive the boy.
The paramedics acted professionally, but they were solemn,
Anspach said.
Their grim task showed on their faces.
From just feet away, she said, she saw what looked like bruises
up and down the baby's unclothed body.
"It was just heartbreaking to see this little baby," said
Anspach, the mother of a 5-year-old girl.
At some point during the emergency, she learned that the woman
who had been screaming was not Karsyn's mother but another woman who had
come to the duplex.
Landwehr said it was not unusual for the baby's mother to leave
him with the ex-boyfriend.
Landwehr declined to identify the man arrested, who has not been
charged.
He said investigators plan to present their case to prosecutors
on Thursday to determine which charges could be filed.
The baby's 2-year-old brother, who was also with the
ex-boyfriend, and a 3-year-old sister have been taken into protective
custody, Landwehr said.
Karsyn's death is the fourth homicide in Wichita this year,
Landwehr said.

HI,I am Karsyn Youngs GREAT GRANDMOTHER, I SPENT VERY LITTLE TIME WITH KARSYN AS I LIVE 4 HOURS AWAY FROM WICHITA. BUT WHEN HE WAS IN ST,JOE, THE KIDS WERE EITHER AT MY HOUSE OR PEPAWS AND MEMAWS. KARSYN LOVED HIS PEPAW AND WAS ALWAYS HAPPY TO BE HELD BY HIM. BUT OUR TIME WITH THIS BABY WAS CUT SHORT BY A MONSTER. KARSYN I AM SO SORRY YOU WERE LEFT WITH THIS ANIMAL. THIS FAMILY WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION WHEN BABY KARSYN CAME UP WITH A BROKEN LEG AT 6 MONTHS OLD, NOW COME ON, WHY COULD THEY NOT FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM???WHY WAS HE NOT PLACED IN PROTECTIVE CUSTODY TO KEEP HIM ALIVE? THE LAWS NEED TO CHANGE. THEY SHOULD HAVE TO PROVE THEY DIDN,T HURT HIM IN ORDER TO KEEP HIM. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.WHY SHOULD ANY BABY GO THROUGH WHAT OUR BABY DID? WHAT KIND OF MONSTERS BEATS A BABY TO DEATH???? A BEATING HEART HAS STOPPED BABY KARSYN GREAT GRANNY LOVES YOU
I AM SO SORRY. SWEETIE SING AND PLAY WITH THE ANGELS GRANNY WILL BE THERE WITH YOU ONE DAY SO WE CAN PLAY.

I am so very sorry for your loss, Lela. I cannot imagine the pain you must be feeling. I wish there were words to make it better for you, but there simply aren't. We will be here though if you want to vent, we will be here just to listen, and again, I am so very sorry.

I agree our laws MUST change.

So very sorry for your loss Lela. Know prayers are being said for Karsyn and yourself. When oh when are the punishments going to start fitting the crime? Do away with plea deals and bring back the harshest punishments we can.
Stay strong and know Karsyn is safe now.

Mrs. Warner , I am so very sorry for your loss and the pain you and your husband are experiencing. There are just not words I can express but please know there will be many prayers from many members here for Karsyn and all of you. We definitely need to toughen up our current laws and the force agencies like DCFS which oversee abused children to followup more closely.

Words fail to express the deep sympathy I feel for you and your family. Please know you are in our thoughts and prayers.

I live in the Wichita area and from the first reports of was in disbelief as to how badly the system failed yet again.

Mrs. Warner, I cry with you over the loss of yet another child. Dear God in Heaven this must stop. Please accept my deepest sympathies for you and your family. Please update us on the welfare of the other children if you can. Thank you.

Hello Lela. I'm so sorry this happened and I can hear your pain. Young men are not biologically equipped to care for babies and toddlers for any length of time. It's even riskier when they are not related to the children. We have hundreds of cases on this forum of boyfriends being left to look after the children and killing them. I wish we could do something to stop this trend before another thousand die. I can't believe the authorities alarm bells didn't go off when Karsyn had a broken leg at 6 months old and they found the part time caregiver was a young ex boyfriend. They certainly have let Karsyn and you down badly.

Aunt Kristen loves you baby. you'll never have to feel pain again. i'll always love you, never ne less.

A judge today ruled there is sufficient reason to try Shawn
Blackburn on charges of first-degree murder and child abuse in the death
of 10-month-old Karsyn Young last March.



District Judge Joe Kisner scheduled an August trial for
Blackburn, who was an ex-boyfriend of Karsyn's mother.
During a preliminary hearing for Blackburn today, his attorney,
Charlie O'Hara, said there was nothing to indicate that the death was
intentional. O'Hara said that Karsyn's mother had neglected the boy
before he died. O'Hara said there was evidence of a previous
broken leg.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Kim Parker said that the autopsy
showed that the infant's injuries were too numerous and resulted from
too much force to be accidental. She said Blackburn was the one with the
child during his last 36 hours or so alive.

Please join to show outrage and to plea for maximum sentence for this bastard!


https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=135493983140397&ref=ts


DescriptionFrom home. Please show your outrage in the Murder of KARSYN YOUNG. This little boy was beaten to death with mulitple injuries. We are asking for a maximum sentence in this case. Please help us take a child abuser off the streets for good. kparker@sedgewick.org

We should be focused on the childs mother rather than the guy who did this to Karsyn if we want to prevent children from abuse and death. It is 90% the mothers fault that this happened. If it hadn't been Blackburn it would have been another young man who had been overwhelmed looking after a 10 month old, a 2 year old and a 3 year old and lost his temper.
It does not help to bay for the blood of the 22 year old man who did this. The mother will go on to have more children and she will leave them with other unsuitable young men and they will get hurt. That is what we need to focus on. Blackburn is just one factor in a completely dysfunctional situation. We need to look at the whole situation every time this happens to a child and identify the re-occurring factors that lead to it and demand authorities take action to address it. The one factor that is always the same in every case is a young ill equipped mother with multipal children who hops from one unstable relationship to the next and subjects her children to young men she doesn't know very well. These are the questions I want answered;
1. What is going on with this 20 year old that she has been getting pregnant since she was 16 years old and yet obviously cares little for parenting. Is it like an eating disorder where she is trying to fulfill some need she has?
2. What role did the extended family play? Were they concerned at her multiple pregnancies and were they concerned about her ability to care for the children or are they just as dysfunctional?
3. Did extended family members take any action out of concern for the children on their behalf at any time? Did they try to discourage her from getting pregnant and keeping the children.
4. Either after Karsyns broken leg, or before if there were other notifications, did the authorities assess how many children the mother had by the time she was 20, how many relationships she had since she had the first pregnancy and how many times the mother had moved house? Did they assess whether family support was available close by? Did they determine whether she was wanting to get pregnant again or was taking steps to prevent pregnancy?
5. Was Karsyns mother relying on tax payers assistance or was she self reliant?
6. Do we need to change the law to allow children to be taken into protective custody when there is strong circumstantial evidence that children may be at risk?
Society needs to raise the barr again. We became tolerant of single parents due to so many divorced families which opened the door to tolerance of single parenting without a husband from the beginning. We are so tolerant now that we accept the idea of a single girl having multiple children to many fathers. Our authorities who we vote for cradle these single parents with handouts and parenting classes and giving them somewhere to live and finding a home for the children elsewhere when it all turns bad. Society stands by and accepts that a mother who has already had her children taken away because she is a terrible mother may go on to have more children because she deserves another chance. We don't care that millions of children are born who will never have a father even though it's depriving the child of the fundamental way of life.
Do we expect all these children of single, promiscuous, selfish young mothers to grow up to be an asset to society? Do we ignore the fact that they will be unhappy and dysfunctional themselves? I expect Karsyns mother is the result of what we are tolerating these days and so the cycle will continue if we carry on being apathetic.

Kiwi !

http://www.kansas.com/2011/01/30/1698110/possible-plea-deal-outrages-dead.html
Poor baby boy......
‎10 years is ridiculous! It is a slap in the face for the family, for the baby who was murdered....We are talking about a man who beat this sweet child to death and they offer maximum 10 years for this crime?! I have no words, now outraged I am!

Possible plea deal outrages dead infant's family
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle

Courtesy photo
Karsyn Young is shown in his crib. He was found not breathing in March 2010. Shawn Blackburn, an ex-boyfriend of the mother, is being tried in the child's death.

Jaime Green/File photo
Shawn Blackburn enters the courtroom during his preliminary hearing on one count of first-degree felony murder and one count of child abuse in the death of 10-month-old Karsyn Young. A prosecutor is considering a lesser charge of second-degree reckless murder against Blackburn.
The mother of a 10-month-old Wichita boy is voicing outrage that a prosecutor is considering an agreement that would allow a man to plead guilty to a reduced charge in her son's death.
Last summer, the prosecutor said in court that Karsyn Young died last March after suffering numerous blunt-force injuries and that Shawn Blackburn was the only one with the child around the time he died.
Blackburn had been scheduled to face trial Monday on a first-degree murder charge. The trial has been postponed.
Stormie Young, Karsyn's mother, said that prosecutor Kim Parker met Friday with her and about 10 of her relatives and friends and said she would prefer to let Blackburn plead guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree reckless murder.
Under the possible agreement, Blackburn would face a maximum of 10 years in prison, which could be reduced with good behavior, Young said.
In an interview with The Eagle later Friday, Young, 21, said she and her family are "very upset and very outraged" about the possibility of a plea deal and won't accept any guilty plea other than to first-degree murder.
"My biggest thing is, what kind of message is this going to send" about alleged killing of young children, Young said.
Blackburn's defense attorney, Charlie O'Hara, declined to respond to Young's comments.
Parker, when asked about Young's comments, said, "The case is still pending." Parker said she couldn't comment on specifics, but confirmed that she met with Karsyn's family and wanted to have their input.
Prosecutors meet with victims' families to "listen to and consider their thoughts and feelings and emotions," Parker said.
Young said it's hard for the family to understand why a lesser charge could be considered "when from the beginning they told us they have a good case."
Lela Warner, Karsyn's maternal great-grandmother, said of a possible plea agreement: "I don't know why Shawn (Blackburn) should get a choice in it (with a plea agreement). Karsyn didn't get a choice."
Warner, who lives in Missouri and didn't attend the family's two-hour meeting with Parker, said Parker told her early on that the evidence was strong.
At a preliminary hearing in June, where a judge found probable cause to try Blackburn on charges of first-degree murder and child abuse, Parker said that Blackburn was the one with the toddler in the 36 hours or so before he died. According to other testimony, the boy was fine when his grandmother baby-sat him about two days before he died.
On March 22, emergency crews found Karsyn unresponsive and cold to the touch when they responded to a call that he was not breathing, at Blackburn's duplex in the 8700 block of West Nantucket.
At the time, Blackburn was Young's ex-boyfriend, and she had left her toddler in Blackburn's care. In the interview Friday, Young said that although Blackburn was a former boyfriend when she left her son with him, she and her family had trusted Blackburn. "Both of my boys knew him as Dad."
At the June hearing, Parker said an autopsy found numerous blunt-force injuries that couldn't be accidental.
But O'Hara, the defense attorney, argued at the hearing that nothing showed the death was intentional.
O'Hara said that Young neglected her son, that he was failing to gain weight, that he had a previous broken leg and that he was missing medical appointments.


Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/01/30/1698110/possible-plea-deal-outrages-dead.html#ixzz1Ccw3X74n

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Wichita man pleads guilty in baby's death

Wichita — A Wichita man avoided trial on first-degree murder charges by pleading guilty to second-degree reckless murder in the death of a 10-month-old boy.

Shawn Blackburn pleaded guilty in the death of Karsyn Young, his ex-girlfriend's son. He died of blunt-force trauma in March 2010. Blackburn was scheduled to go on trial Monday for first-degree murder.

The 23-three-year-old Blackburn will face a maximum of about 10 years in prison. His sentencing is set for July 15.

The Wichita Eagle reports that at a hearing last summer, prosecutors say Blackburn was the only one with the child around the time he died.

Under the plea agreement, Blackburn agreed the killing was unintentional but reckless.

http://www.ktka.com/news/2011/jun/01/wichita-man-pleads-guilty-babys-death/

Wichita man sentenced to 10 years in prison for baby's death
By Christina Karaoli Taylor
KWCH 12 Eyewitness News
5:11 p.m. CDT, August 5, 2011

Karsyn Young

Shawn Blackburn

(WICHITA, Kan.)—
A Sedgwick County judge gives a Wichita man the maximum in the death of his ex-girlfriend's baby.
Shawn Blackburn pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder in the death of 10-month-old Karsyn Young. Police said an autopsy showed the baby had been beaten when he was home alone with Blackburn.
The defendant apologized in court Friday afternoon.
The judge also heard from the baby's mother and grandmother. The grandmother requested that Blackburn pay $1 a week for the rest of his life to Parents of Murdered Children. While the judge didn't impose that, he suggested that it's a good idea.
The judge did impose a $4,100 restitution fee to the Crime Victim's Compensation Board. That covers the cost of the baby's funeral.

http://www.kwch.com/news/kwch-ckt-wichita-man-sentenced-to-10-years-in-prison-for-babys-death-20110805,0,4866150.story

At Shawn Blackburn's sentencing Friday, the issue was whether he
would get the maximum sentence for second-degree reckless murder.

The rest of the hearing was about emotion, grief and loss over
the killing of a 10-month-old boy, Karsyn Young. About how Karsyn's
grandmother keeps one of his blankets. About how his mother feels guilty
that she wasn't there to protect him.

Sedgwick County District Court Judge Ben Burgess admonished the
relatives gathered in the courtroom — Blackburn's family and Karsyn's
family. Burgess said that although he realizes that the death of a child
triggers powerful emotions, he would insist on decorum.

The facts:

In March 2010, Karsyn's mother, Stormie Young, left Karsyn in the
care of Blackburn, her ex-boyfriend. Emergency crews found Karsyn
unresponsive and cold to the touch when they answered a call that he was
not breathing at Blackburn's duplex near 13th and Tyler. Authorities said Karsyn suffered fatal
blunt-force injuries, particularly to his abdomen.

After being charged with first-degree murder and felony child
abuse, Blackburn, now 23, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge under an
agreement with prosecutors.

On Friday, Blackburn, standing in handcuffs and chains at a
podium, said he felt "deeply sorry" for what happened and promised not
to do anything like it again.

Karsyn's maternal grandmother, Lynette Schroff, brought to court a
bag of Karsyn's things — a blanket he received not long after he was
born, pajamas he wore a couple nights before he died and one of his toy
trains, which had been placed atop his casket.

"He was a defenseless baby," Schroff told the judge through tears.

At one point, Burgess let Schroff walk up to him so she could show him snapshots of a smiling Karsyn.

As a matter of principle, she said, Blackburn should have to pay
$1 a week for the rest of his life to the group Parents of Murdered
Children. It would be a way to remind Blackburn of the life that he took, she said.

Then Schroff's daughter — Karsyn's mother, Stormie Young — told
the judge about being told by a detective that "Karsyn is no longer with us."

Tearfully, she told of feeling the pain of the realization that "my baby wasn't coming home."

She told of wondering how someone could reach a point where he would hurt a baby so seriously.

She told of feeling guilt every day she wakes up, knowing "I
wasn't there to protect my baby," how she will "grieve over my baby for the rest of my life."

As a result of what happened to Karsyn, Young said, she has lost her other children in a custody battle with the state.

Wayne Root — the fiance of Schroff, Karsyn's grandmother — told
Burgess that even the maximum sentence is "not enough" and should not be
considered justice.

While Karsyn's relatives spoke to the judge, Blackburn remained at the podium with his head bowed.

When it was time to announce the sentence, Burgess said there were no words he could say to soothe the grief.

Prosecutors called for the maximum sentence — 10 years and three
months. Blackburn's attorney, Charlie O'Hara, said his client had never
been in serious trouble before and that it was a "classic case of
reckless second-degree murder."

Burgess explained that under the law there were limits to the
sentence he could impose — a range from 109 months to 123 months, or a
maximum of 10 years and three months. Blackburn will be eligible to
receive a 15 percent reduction in the time he serves if he shows good behavior.

And then the judge announced the sentence: the maximum, 10 years
and three months, followed by three years of supervision after his release from prison.

Also, the judge noted, when Blackburn leaves prison, he will have
to report his address to the Kansas Offender Registry, and because he
is a convicted felon, he won't be able to have a firearm. He will have to pay $4,107 in restitution.

Later, outside the courthouse, Schroff, Karsyn's grandmother, said, "There's no way that this was justice."

Root, her fiance, said, "The penalty does not fit the crime. ...
This was a child's life, and that's it? I have a hard time accepting that."

Schroff said she plans to push for tougher laws for anyone who injures or kills a child.

"Our lives will never be the same," she said.

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/08/06/1963870/maximum-sentence-in-killing-of.html#ixzz1UG8Z0g4R

I like the judges that give the max for POSs.

men need to act like human beings around children! im tired of hearing the stupid excuses. it takes more of a man to just walk away for a couple of minutes that it does for them to beat up on a defenseless child!! they're all P***YS!