DEAN McCULLOUGH - 2 yo (9/2010) - Lowell MA

Poster's Note: Am I reading this correctly? The mother is currently 17 yo.
This baby was 2, born when she was 15?!
She has another child, a 3 yo meaning she was 14 when she became a mom?
Wait, there's more~ her boyfriend is 11 years older....

Authorities are investigating the death of a 2-year-old boy in Lowell,
who his mother said had suffered a seizure.

The office of Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said
that police responded to a residence on Bridge Street early this
afternoon for an unresponsive child. The child, who was not identified,
was taken to Lowell General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead,
Leone’s office said. The statement did not describe the manner of death,
which remains under investigation.

Deanne Fontes, 17, told reporters outside the home that she was the
mother of the deceased child, who she identified as Dean McCullough. She
said that the toddler had had a seizure, and that her boyfriend gave the
boy mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
‘I didn’t hurt my child,’’ she said, tearing up. ‘‘I would never, ever hurt my child.’’

She added that she had been questioned by police and she has no idea
how Dean died. "They’re just looking at all possibilities,’’ she said.

Fontes said she lives at the apartment with her 2-year-old, her
boyfriend, Brian Nutter, 28, her 3-year-old son, Thomas, and her mother
and her brother. Nutter is not the father of her children, she said.

According to Fontes, her son Dean was found unresponsive today
shortly after he was put down for a nap. ‘‘(He) was not breathing, [he
was] shaking,’’ she said.

A spokeswoman for Leone would only call the probe a ‘‘death’’
investigation when asked if authorities were working on a homicide case.

A Lowell police officer was standing outside the multi-family
dwelling at 586-588 Bridge St. this evening. He declined comment. Lowell
police headquarters referred questions to Leone’s office.

Sin Sophat, 44, who lives in the two-story, gray building, said the
mother of the dead child lives in the unit with her boyfriend.

Sophat said his wife told him that she heard an infant crying in the mother’s apartment early this morning.

He said the child’s mother and her boyfriend fight often, and he once
saw the mother shortly after an argument. ‘‘I saw that girl cry and
cry,’’ he said.

The couple owns a large dog, he added.

Neighbors and people coming and going from the home tonight described the neighborhood as a safe area.

‘‘It’s a quiet block,’’ said one man, who like many others would not give his name.

Sophat said the landlord of the property was a man named Walter and
provided his phone number. A man who picked up the phone at that number
said he was the landlord and that he had been instructed not to comment.

Leone’s office said an autopsy will be conducted by the office of the chief medical examiner to determine the cause of death.

Poster's Note: Sounds like the mom is already making excuses for abuse evidence....

Authorities are investigating the death of a 2-year-old Lowell baby.
Police were called to a home in the city on Wednesday by the baby
boy’s parents, who said the child was crying loudly and having what
appeared to be a seizure.
The baby was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The district attorney’s office said in a statement that an autopsy will be conducted.
Deanne Fontes, the boy’s mother, denied that she or her live-in
boyfriend had hurt the child, saying he had recently fallen out of his
crib and that he was often struck by his 3-year-old brother.

Poster's Note: Seizures can be a symptom of "shaken baby syndrome".
I do not think a 3 yo could get up enough force to cause this type if injury.

A Lowell mom said her 3-year-old son may have killed his 2-year-old brother, according to the kids’ great-grandfather.
Great-granddad Thomas McCullough, 60, said Deanne Fontes, 17, put her
2-year-old son in his crib shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday, “and he started to shake.”
“I was stunned,” said McCullough. “He wasn’t prone to seizures.
I don’t know what happened.”Fontes claims her older boy may have hit the smaller child,
causing a seizure before he died, McCullough said.
Dean McCullough was pronounced dead at Lowell General Hospital after
he was found unresponsive in his Bridge Street apartment. Police are investigating.
A spokeswoman for the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said
authorities are awaiting autopsy results to determine the cause and manner of death.
Fontes, late Wednesday, claimed that she and her boyfriend,
Brian Nutter, 28, did not harm the child, and that her 3-year-old son had a history of hitting him.
McCullough said the two children “like to fight a lot” over “normal stuff.”
“They’d fight over a toy, and the older one would hit the younger one with it,” he said.

Hello. I am from Lowell and I know Dean's family personally. To answer everyones questions...yes Deanne was 13 when she became pregnant with her first child. His name is Tommy. He has 30 possible fathers. No one will ever know who his dad is. Soon after Tommy was born she became pregnant by another man. He was 24 years old and was told by Deanne and her mother that she was 18 years old. He didn't know she was 14 until after she was already pregnant. I know the man myself and he is a really nice guy. When she was with him she did great. Dean was born. At the time she was doing great. Deanne was always a troubled kid in and out of DSS treatment homes running away hooking up with old men etc. When she was pegnant with the first child she did many drugs. With Dean she was perfect her entire pregnancy. Where was her parents during all of this? Well her mom is a former drug addict and she is currently an alchoholic who let both her kids drop out of school in grade school. She is a horrible excuse for a mother. Deanne decided finally that she wanted to go crazy again. She left Dean's father (steve) and went crazy. She was back on drugs and not taking care of her children. Dss was called multiple times and was involved in the family since before Deanne's children were born. She gave custody of them to her mother ut when DSS walked in and found her mother passed out on the couch with booze in her hands and the kids running freely and alone in the house while everyone slept. Deanne soon got custody back of the children. Now she is with a 28 year old drug addict and heavily into drugs herself and pregnant with her 3rd child. This past week she was alone with her boyfriend and the two kids. The rest of the family was away on vacation. This past week is when Dean passed away. He appeared beaten and bruised when authorities showed up. They questions the pair over and over and still couldnt book them. Last night they went to their home and they are both gone. None of her family is supporting herthey believe she did it. So now its just a waiting game while we wait for justice for this poor innocent boy.

Welcome to J4C hismommy08!
We appreciate insights and personal observations from you regarding this and any case.
You have confirmed many of my suspicions and deductions.
Please continue to keep an eye on this one for us and let us know if there's anything we can do to help.

I don't know the mothers family but Brian Nutter, the 28 year old boyfriend, is my cousin.! I can tell you for a fact, God strike me down if I'm liying, that Brian Nutter is not a addict and is a good person. He would NEVER lay a finger on any child. I have been to there home and it is a good household. The 3 yo did have a anger problem. I'm not saying that he did it. I'm just saying this to comfirm her story. The 2 yo old Dean was sick. To the people who are talking crap and are saying Brian is a bad person and might of did it....BACK OFF. You don't know anything but that you read. I know them. Not you. They are good people when it comes to the kids.

mstang wrote:I don't know the mothers family but Brian Nutter, the 28 year old boyfriend, is my cousin.! I can tell you for a fact, God strike me down if I'm liying, that Brian Nutter is not a addict and is a good person. He would NEVER lay a finger on any child. I have been to there home and it is a good household. The 3 yo did have a anger problem. I'm not saying that he did it. I'm just saying this to comfirm her story. The 2 yo old Dean was sick. To the people who are talking crap and are saying Brian is a bad person and might of did it....BACK OFF. You don't know anything but that you read. I know them. Not you. They are good people when it comes to the kids.

He would NEVER lay a finger on any child huh? except Dean's mother who is 17!!

where I come from Deanne is a child and what your cousin is doing with her is considered statutory rape!

So really, you condone this deprived behavior and yet we should listen to you??

Your not doing him any favors ms tang.

MSTANG here again. NO I Do Not condone his behavior and your right about your point. My point is just on the raising of the little preteen children. Brian Nutter, once again, is a good person and a good step dad with a true heart. He would never hurt any child at anytime. EVER. He has personal problems but who doesn't. He cared for Dean and still does now for his girls remaining son. All of you will know the truth soon and if you think I'm wrong....God will show you that I'm right.

mstang wrote:MSTANG here again. NO I Do Not condone his behavior and your right about your point. My point is just on the raising of the little preteen children. Brian Nutter, once again, is a good person and a good step dad with a true heart. He would never hurt any child at anytime. EVER. He has personal problems but who doesn't. He cared for Dean and still does now for his girls remaining son. All of you will know the truth soon and if you think I'm wrong....God will show you that I'm right.

By the way...17 is legal in the state of MA.. 16 with parents permission.

mstang wrote:MSTANG here again. NO I Do Not condone his behavior and your right about your point. My point is just on the raising of the little preteen children. Brian Nutter, once again, is a good person and a good step dad with a true heart. He would never hurt any child at anytime. EVER. He has personal problems but who doesn't. He cared for Dean and still does now for his girls remaining son. All of you will know the truth soon and if you think I'm wrong....God will show you that I'm right.

Trust me the house IS not a safe place and Brian is an addic. Hes bought pills off people I know. Believe me guys this person is lying!

mstang wrote:

mstang wrote:MSTANG here again. NO I Do Not condone his behavior and your right about your point. My point is just on the raising of the little preteen children. Brian Nutter, once again, is a good person and a good step dad with a true heart. He would never hurt any child at anytime. EVER. He has personal problems but who doesn't. He cared for Dean and still does now for his girls remaining son. All of you will know the truth soon and if you think I'm wrong....God will show you that I'm right.

By the way...17 is legal in the state of MA.. 16 with parents permission.

I know them all and the baby was NOT sick. He was a healthy little boy. Tommy doesn't have anger problems. The problem is no one watches the kids or takes care of them. They sleep till all hours of the day while the kids sit in crappy diapers and starve. Its horrible and I cant wait for the autopsy results come back. Deanne and Brian are both HORRIBLE people. I know first hand.

Two years after boy's death, no answers

By Robert Mills, rmills@lowellsun.com
UPDATED:   09/01/2012 06:36:33 AM EDT6 COMMENTS

LOWELL -- Two years ago this afternoon, 2-year-old Dean McCullough was pronounced dead at Lowell General Hospital due to blunt-force trauma to the head.

More than seven months later, on April 7, 2011, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that the manner of death was homicide.

No one has been arrested.

The case's anniversary comes as authorities investigate the death of a 9-month-old Lowell boy who was left in a vehicle on Huntington Street on an 82-degree day a little more than a week ago.

Dean McCullough's mother, Deanna Fontes, who was 17 at the time, said her 28-year-old boyfriend, Brian Nutter, found the child shaking and unable to breathe about 2 p.m., on Sept. 1, 2010.

The couple tried to perform CPR, but it didn't work. They called 911.

Dean McCullough was pronounced dead a short time later, when he got to the hospital.

Fontes and Nutter both spoke to reporters the night of the death, saying they were being accused of strangling the child. They both denied the allegations.

"I didn't hurt my child and neither did my boyfriend," said a crying Fontes. "He was a lovely little boy."

The couple said Dean's older brother had a "sibling rivalry" with McCullough, and frequently hit the younger child with toys and other objects.

Fontes said Dean had also been sick shortly before his death, and had fallen out of his crib and hit his head earlier in the week.

"I would never ever hurt my children. I love them," Fontes said.

Last year, McCullough's father, Steven Legault, expressed outrage that no one was charged in the death.

"There is no justice for my son," Legault said. "My son was murdered. His case shouldn't be forgotten."

Neither Fontes, Nutter nor Legault could be reached for this story.

Stephanie Guyotte, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Gerard Leone, said she cannot comment on whether investigators have suspects in the case, but she said the investigation remains open and active.

"We are committed to providing justice for Dean," Guyotte said.

Guyotte said anyone with information regarding the case who has not yet come forward should contact the Middlesex District Attorney's Office by calling 781.897-8300.

http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_21450479/two-years-after-boys-death-no-answers#ixzz35rMR4RPj

Hi there, I am a reporter with the New England Center for Investigative Reporting working on a story on this child and DCF. I would like to speak to any family or friends who are familiar with this case? I can be reached at 617-300-2305 or jmckim@bu.edu.

Please give me a call.

Thank you.

Jenifer McKim
Senior Investigative Reporter
New England Center for Investigative Reporting
jmckim@bu.edu