AALIYAH ALI - 2 yo - Green (nr Akron) OH

An almost 2-year-old girl remained in critical condition Wednesday
afternoon at Akron Children’s Hospital. Authorities have deemed her
injuries to be life-threatening.


The baby, who lived in Briarwood Estates apartments on Mayfair Road,
was in the care of a 21-year-old babysitter early Tuesday. The sitter
phoned paramedics about 12:30 a.m. because the baby was not breathing.
“What she told our deputies was that she’d left (the baby) in a bathtub
for a few moments when she went to a closet,” said Inspector William
Holland of the Summit County Sheriff’s office.
Holland said hospital personnel told detectives four hours later that
the baby’s injuries didn’t match the babysitter’s version of events. The
baby, Holland said, suffered head trauma and bleeding on the skull.
The babysitter, Tiffani Calise, of the same apartment complex, was
arrested and charged with child endangering. Calise’s own 2-year-old
daughter was removed from her care and placed with family, authorities said.

A Summit County toddler found unresponsive by her
babysitter on Tuesday was pronounced dead early Thursday morning.
The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office and the Summit County
Sheriff's Department are now investigating the death of 23-month-old
Aaliyah Ali, of Akron.
Even before Aaliyah passed away, the child's babysitter, Tiffani Calise,
21, had already been arrested and charged with child endangering.
Deputies previously suggested that more charges could be filed.
On Aug. 10, Aaliyah was admitted to
Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron. Despite medical treatment,
she was pronounced dead at 1:57 a.m. on Aug. 12. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.
Early Tuesday morning, the babysitter called paramedics claiming the
baby was no longer breathing. Wednesday, people left candles and stuffed
animals on the doorstep outside the Briarwood apartment complex in Green where the incident took place.
"The babysitter claimed she went to get something out of the closet and
left the victim in the bathtub. She heard some noises when she came back
the child was limp, she then called 911," said Summit County Sheriff Deputy William Holland.
Deputies say after the baby was taken to Akron Children's Hospital they
learned the toddler's injuries were inconsistent with the babysitter's story.
According to deputies, the child had bleeding on her skull and head injuries.
Investigators will not say how the injuries were sustained.
"She used to watch my own kids. She would never, I could never picture
her hurting someone or anyone's child," said Jackie Miller.
Neighbor Randy Street said, "You never like to see a little child get
hurt, especially with the accusations that have been made. It is
devastating. I have two little girls of my own. When I found out, I
kissed my little girls," said Street.
Calise is expected to appear in court on Thursday.

Murder charges were filed Tuesday against a Green woman accused in the death of a friend's toddler during a sleepover.
Summit County sheriff's deputies still won't say how they believe 23-month-old Aaliyah Ali of
Akron was injured last week.
Two law enforcement sources, who spoke
on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said
sheriff's detectives believe the child was violently shaken, causing
extensive brain injuries that led to her death.




Swelling to the toddler's brain, the sources said, was in advanced stages, indicating the injury occurred
well before Tiffani Calise, the child's sitter, called 911.
Calise, 21, is scheduled to appear Wednesday in Barberton Municipal Court. She is being held in the county
jail in lieu of a $500,000 cash bond.
Her attorney, Donald Hicks, said he was gathering information on the charges and could not comment. He said
Calise has denied harming the child.
In her Aug. 9 call to 911, Calise told a
dispatcher she left Aaliyah alone in a near-empty bathtub while she
retrieved a towel. Calise had given the child a bath inside her Mayfair
Road apartment about 11:40 p.m.
She heard a thump, she told her
boyfriend, and when she returned to the bathroom, the toddler was
unconscious after an apparent fall.
During the nine-minute call, a dispatcher instructed an emotional Calise on how to perform CPR until Green paramedics arrived.
Calise had arranged a play date that day with her 3-year-old daughter and Aaliyah, the daughter of a friend,
Gabrielle Moneypenny.
Two days after the incident, while
Aaliyah was being treated at Akron Children's Hospital, Calise was
arrested on a felony charge of child endangering.
A high bond was set amid assertions
from a prosecutor that additional charges could be brought if the
child's condition worsened.
Aaliyah died Thursday morning. An
autopsy was performed the same day, but no cause of death has been
officially determined, a county spokesman said Tuesday.
Sheriff's spokesman William Holland
said he could not discuss the rationale behind the enhanced charges or
why the toddler's death could not have happened as Calise said.
He said medical records and reports, coupled with numerous interviews, form the basis of the charges.
Investigators from the outset said
medical professionals alerted deputies hours after Aaliyah's arrival at
the hospital that her injuries were not consistent with a fall. They
indicated in a news release last week that the child sustained bleeding
around the skull, but detectives would not elaborate.
Bleeding between the brain and skull is one indication of shaken baby syndrome.
''It's an ongoing investigation,''
Holland said. ''We can't give out certain details of the investigation
at this point other than [Calise has] been charged with murder now.''
Dr. R. Daryl Steiner, who heads
Children's Hospital's child abuse center and is considered an expert at
detecting shaken baby syndrome cases, is involved in the investigation.
He declined to comment Tuesday through a hospital spokeswoman.
Shaken baby injuries involve massive,
violent thrusts of a child's upper body and head that cause fatal or
severe brain injuries. Infants are especially susceptible to injuries
through shaking, but cases have been reported involving children as old as 5.
The condition is detected in part
through evidence of bleeding in the area between the brain and skull,
bleeding visible behind the retinas and brain swelling.
Other symptoms include loss of
consciousness, lack of breathing and vomiting. Aaliyah displayed all
three, according to Calise's 911 call.

A baby sitter accused of killing a toddler during a
sleepover in her Green apartment wiped tears from her eyes Wednesday
after her attorney entered a plea of not quilty on her behalf.
Tiffani Calise, 21, appeared in Barberton Municipal Court via video feed from the Summit County Jail,
where she is being held under a $500,000 cash bond.
Originally charged with felony child endangering, Calise now is accused of murder in the Aug. 12 death of
23-month-old Aaliyah Ali.
Sheriff's detectives, according to two sources familiar with the investigation, believe the toddler sustained
brain injuries found in cases of shaken baby syndrome.
Defense attorney Donald Hicks entered the not guilty plea. Judge Greg Macko denied his request for a lower bond.
Calise, who is about two months pregnant and the single mother of a 3-year-old daughter, appeared
emotional during the brief appearance and at the end wiped tears from her eyes.
About a dozen of Calise's family members and friends, some of whom were also crying, sat in
the courtroom. They declined comment to reporters.
The case now goes before a county grand jury for consideration of an indictment.
Hicks declined comment afterward.
Calise was with Aaliyah and her own
daughter the evening of Aug. 9 inside her Mayfair Road apartment. At
some point, Calise gave Aaliyah a bath. She told deputies and family
members she left the toddler alone momentarily in a near-empty bathtub
to retrieve a towel. When she was away, she heard a thud and returned to
find Aaliyah unconscious.
She called 911 about 11:40 p.m., and a
dispatcher gave her CPR instructions. Green paramedics arrived about
nine minutes later and took the child to Akron Children's Hospital.
About four hours later, hospital staff contacted deputies with suspicions that Aaliyah's injuries were not
consistent with Calise's account of what had transpired, a sheriff's spokesman has said.
On Aug. 11, Calise was arrested on the
child endangering charge while the toddler was still being treated.
Aaliyah died the following day.
An autopsy was performed last week, but cause of death has not been determined.
Sheriff's officials will not publicly discuss how they believe the toddler was injured. In a news release last
week, they said the child sustained bleeding around the skull, but detectives would not elaborate.
Bleeding between the brain and skull is one indication of shaken baby syndrome.
Dr. R. Daryl Steiner, who heads Children's Hospital's child abuse center and is considered an expert at
detecting shaken baby syndrome cases, is involved in the investigation.
He has declined to comment on the case.
Shaken baby injuries involve massive,
violent thrusts of a child's upper body and head that cause fatal or
severe brain injuries. Infants are especially susceptible to injuries
through shaking, but cases have been reported involving children as old
as 5, according to some medical journals.
The condition is detected in part
through evidence of bleeding in the area between the brain and skull,
bleeding visible behind the retinas and brain swelling.
Shaken baby syndrome, however, is
increasingly a debated medical and legal issue nationwide. In fact,
Steiner's diagnoses of the condition in dozens of cases over his nearly
30-year career have brought several convictions. In some instances,
however, his findings have been rejected in court.
In 2006, a Medina County judge, based
on conflicting expert testimony, disagreed with Steiner's shaken baby
syndrome diagnosis and reunited an infant with her parents. A similar
finding against Steiner's findings was made by a Stark County judge in a
separate case that same year.
The families jointly have filed a malpractice lawsuit against Steiner
and Children's Hospital over his findings. The case is pending.

I just found your website and it seems to be on the side of these innocent children so I thought this might be a good place to post this.

Tiffani Calise's trial is supposed to start on November 15 in Akron, Ohio. A friend of mine just sent me this website some people created in support of Tiffani. It is http://www.freecalise.com/page1

There is a comment section that is open to anyone to post and it would be nice if people could send a message that people do not take the death of an Aaliya lightly. Their mission seems just to get Tiffani out of jail and to bash the family of Aaliya. I do not know either family, I just don't want people to forget that an innocent baby died.

Welcome Landshark. We do try to be a voice for the children, as so often nobody cared enough to do anything to protect them. I've found that after a child has been abused or murdered, sometimes family and friends all of a sudden have got a lot to say. I always wonder where their voice was while the child was suffering. Beats me why people would want to rally round and try to help Tiffani avoid the consequences of her actions. No wonder they are copping some flack on the site.

Thank you, kiwimom. I wasn't sure if it would be OK to post that website here, but it just seems like Aaliyah needed someone on her side. And I can understand why her mom and other family are remaining silent. These people on the freecalise website have been terrible on all the local news websites and on their facebook pages before they made them private. I understand that they want to support their own friends and family but they seem to be going about it in a terrible way.

I'm surprised there isn't more outrage over this in our area. I just don't want people to forget that this is about Aaliyah Ali, an innocent child.

It must be adding insult to injury for Aaliyah's family Landshark to have these people in their face and it will achieve nothing.

Thanks danij88 for any updates you can give us and I'm sorry this tragedy has affected you personally.

I only saw the 15th from the court docket online and I know that's not always accurate. The local media has not been doing much as far as coverage since she was first indicted.

All of the local news sites have twitter and facebook, I'll try to nudge them a little, see if they can cover this a little better so there can be justice for Aaliyah. Unfortunately the Akron Beacon Journal and ohio.com don't do a great job of keeping the public informed.

I thought I would give an update. Calise had a court date today and they set a new trial date for January 12, 2011 and the Autopsy results have been released:

In other developments, the cause of the Aug. 12 death of 23-month-old Aaliyah Nevaeh Ali has been reported by the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office as ''complications of blunt impact(s) to the head.''

The ruling on manner of death was ''homicide: assaulted by another person(s).''

Deputy Medical Examiner Dorothy E. Dean, who performed the autopsy, wrote in the ''Opinion'' section of the autopsy report that Aaliyah died ''from the severe injuries to her brain that she sustained during the assault.''

Dean stated that the agency's opinion was based on the ''findings at autopsy'' and ''investigative information,'' apparently from law enforcement officers and medical staff at Akron Children's Hospital where the child was taken by an emergency squad and admitted in the early hours of Aug. 10.

A list of injuries found by Dean during the autopsy included: internal pressure on the brain; bleeding in the area between the brain and skull; optic nerve and retinal bleeding; bleeding of the right-sided gel in the eye; and damage to central nervous system cells from reduced oxygen supply to the brain.

Full skeletal X-rays performed at Children's Hospital showed no fractures, according to the autopsy report.
(from http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/109074884.html)

LandShark wrote:I thought I would give an update. Calise had a court date today and they set a new trial date for January 12, 2011 and the Autopsy results have been released:

In other developments, the cause of the Aug. 12 death of 23-month-old Aaliyah Nevaeh Ali has been reported by the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office as ''complications of blunt impact(s) to the head.''

The ruling on manner of death was ''homicide: assaulted by another person(s).''

Deputy Medical Examiner Dorothy E. Dean, who performed the autopsy, wrote in the ''Opinion'' section of the autopsy report that Aaliyah died ''from the severe injuries to her brain that she sustained during the assault.''

Dean stated that the agency's opinion was based on the ''findings at autopsy'' and ''investigative information,'' apparently from law enforcement officers and medical staff at Akron Children's Hospital where the child was taken by an emergency squad and admitted in the early hours of Aug. 10.

A list of injuries found by Dean during the autopsy included: internal pressure on the brain; bleeding in the area between the brain and skull; optic nerve and retinal bleeding; bleeding of the right-sided gel in the eye; and damage to central nervous system cells from reduced oxygen supply to the brain.

Full skeletal X-rays performed at Children's Hospital showed no fractures, according to the autopsy report.
(from http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/109074884.html)

Thanks again, Landshark.

Baby sitter found guilty of murder in death of 23-month-old girl



06/15/2011
AKRON, Ohio - A Summit County jury has found a baby sitter guilty in the death of a 23-month-old girl she was watching.
The guilty verdicts against Tiffani Calise, 20, includes convictions for murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangering. It was announced just before 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Judge Alison McCarty sentenced Calise to 15 years to life in prison for the death of Aaliyah Ali.
Prior to sentencing, Aaliyah's mother, Gabrielle Moneypenny, faced Calise and said, "I don't know why you did this to her. You have ruined my life."
Moments later, a sobbing Calise said to the judge, "I would never harm a child. I never hurt Aaliyah. For me to be found guilty on something I didn't do, it just shows how messed up all this can get."
She said she is planning to appeal the verdict.
At the time of the incident on Aug. 9, 2010, paramedics were called to Calise's apartment in Green for a report of a child unresponsive. The toddler died a couple days later at Akron Children’s Hospital from critical injuries.
According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Department, Calise told deputies she found the child limp in the bath tub. But authorities later found the child’s injuries were not consistent with that story.
Prosecutors said during the trial that Aaliyah died from shaken baby syndrome. The defense argued that the injuries happened when the girl fell and hit her head in the bathtub.
"She was shaken by her (Calise). Violently shaken by her and caused massive brain damage and it did not happen from a fall in the tub," said Greg Peacock, assistant Summit County prosecutor.
Moneypenny believes the verdict means justice for Aaliyah.
"She was the most perfect baby I could ever have imagined. She's wonderful, always laughed, was always happy. I love her so much. I would do anything in the world to have her back," Moneypenny said.
Calise’s 2-year-old daughter was taken into the custody of family members following the murder charge.
Calise also delivered a second child while in custody for the murder. That child is also staying with a relative, according to prosecutors.
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/akron_canton_news/baby-sitter-found-guilty-of-murder-in-death-of-23-month-old-girl

Summit County Common Pleas Judge Alison McCarty has denied Tiffani
Calise’s motion for a new trial in the 2010 babysitting death of a
23-month-old toddler.
When the case went to trial in June, four
medical experts for the prosecution, led by Dr. R. Daryl Steiner,
longtime director of the child abuse center at Akron Children’s
Hospital, concluded that Aaliyah Ali suffered severe brain injuries from
being violently shaken.
In a nine-page written decision, McCarty
concluded that the “forcefulness and consistency of the state’s medical
testimony was sufficient to sustain a conviction in this case.”
She
noted further that the jury weighed conflicting testimony by the
medical experts from both sides “and found the state’s experts
credible.”
McCarty’s decision is not unexpected, because trial courts routinely reject such defense motions.
Calise,
who turned 21 in June, said in her trial testimony, as well as in the
911 call she made the night of Aug. 9, 2010, that Aaliyah’s injuries
occurred from a short fall in her apartment bathtub.
She testified that the child fell and hit her head, just as Calise stepped away to grab a towel from a nearby linen closet.
After
the June 15 verdicts were announced, McCarty imposed the mandatory
sentence of life in prison without any chance of parole for at least 15
years.
Calise was sent to the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville on June 28, state prison records show.
In
Calise’s motion for a new trial, defense attorney Bill Whitaker claimed
the state’s own evidence showed a 23-month-old’s body has developed to
such an extent, a child of that age cannot be shaken and incur the
severe brain injuries alleged by the state’s expert witnesses.
A
chart of shaken-baby deaths by range of age in the publication,
Pediatrics: The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics,
shows the vast majority of shaken-baby deaths are in the range of 1 to 6
months.
In the range of 18 to 24 months, the Journal did not cite a single case of shaken-baby syndrome, Whitaker stressed.
The chart was introduced at Calise’s trial during Whitaker’s cross-examination of Steiner.
Calise
has a new appellate attorney, Donald Malarcik, who has filed a notice
of appeal in Akron’s 9th District Court of Appeals.
Appellate briefs have yet to be filed.
http://www.ohio.com/news/local-news/tiffani-calise-s-motion-for-new-trial-denied-in-babysitting-death-1.242496