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Family Mourning Death of Toddler

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By Diana Lucio Reporter

M50o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr Family Mourning Death of Toddler

Published: Sun, April 20, 2008 - 10:17 pm
Last Updated: Sunday, April 20, 2008 - 10:40 pm

Diana Lucio

Brandon Gurley's ex-wife Jessica says there is no excuse for what happened to 3-year-old Christian Foster, after authorities say a fire at the Orleans Place Apartments, claimed the child's life. "There's not reason for it at all...I'm very disgusted with her, "Said Jessica Gurley. That's how Gurley feels about the child's mother Elizabeth Foster. Investigators say Foster left her 3-year-old son Christian at the apartment alone, while locked in a bedroom. "It's not fair that a 3-year-old lost their life because his mother's a bad parent,"Said Amanda Stapleton, a close friend of Brandon. Police say while Brandon Gurley wasn't home, his actions also resulted in the child's death. Jessica says she loved Christian like her own son Connor. "I still look at him as my step son and that's Connor's brother and he's not gonna know what to think of this and I don't know what I'm gonna tell him, "Said Jessica Gurley.
Brandon and Elizabeth were both arrested Friday on manslaughter charges. Brandon Gurley remains behind bars at Metro Jail. Both Foster and Gurley are scheduled to be in court tomorrow morning. We tried but were not able to get in contact with Foster's family to talk about this story tonight.

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You might be giving some of these people a little too much credit in the logical thinking department.

Posted by BamaBob on 04/21/08 - 3:45 pm • Report Abuse

I do understand what you are saying Bamabob. But, I do think if you don’t know something, don’t you have the duty to ASK questions and find solutions? Sure, I gave a list of resources that I know are available, from many years of working as a community health nurse, but say I was the average person without that knowledge, what would I do? Ask my pediatrician, ask friends/family/neighbors for resources, ask local daycares or change jobs. Any of those “common sense” approaches is bound to yield some alternatives.

Anyway,, I hope by providing that info, there won’t be another child that dies from a parents bad decisions.

Posted by rmseek1234 on 04/21/08 - 3:37 pm • Report Abuse

That goes back to my original comment. A better job needs to be done to let people know what is available to them when it comes to the care of their children.

Back in the early days of my family daycare was a big issue and I had a pretty good job with promotions and raises on a regular basis. When we were surprised with the news of the impending birth of our third child, we sat down and did the math. It made absolutely no sense for my wife to continue working for the amount of her salary. The cost of having three young ones in daycare canceled out every dime she brought into the home.

There is no excuse for leaving children that young alone, but some of these people are in a very rough spot in their lives and I am not even sure if they know what might be available to them.

Posted by BamaBob on 04/21/08 - 1:24 pm • Report Abuse

Bamabob,

There are plenty of resources available. GRCMA is a program that assists with daycare, and has a list of providers. I am sure they would know of night facilities available. DHR is also an excellant resource for people who are struggling to care for their kids. Not to take them away, but to help them with options of child care, jobs,etc. If they had Medicaid, their caseworker could have directed them to community resources such as Catholic Social Services, Family Counseling, Exchange Club and on and on. They could have also asked for assistance from the pediatricians office for community resources, or any of the social workers at any of the hospitals. I could go on, but the point is, there are ALWAYS options, and any of these would have been a starting point.

I wonder how many other times the child was left alone? Or both children? No job is worth the safety of a child. There ARE jobs available that are daytime.

Posted by rmseek1234 on 04/21/08 - 1:10 pm • Report Abuse

A year or so ago, a young mother left her two kids in one of the Hwy 90 motels while she went to work the night shift at a fast food place not far away. I think it was determined later that one of the kids was playing with a lighter and set the place on fire. They found those two kids huddled in the bathroom trying to get away from the flames.

There has to be an option for people in that situation. Do we find a way to help people with daycare while they work minimum wage jobs or would it be better for them not even to try and just sit at home?

Posted by BamaBob on 04/21/08 - 12:56 pm • Report Abuse

I can hear it now. All night care for children while the parent is out partying. Anybody want to throw away tax dollars for that?

Posted by Madcap on 04/21/08 - 12:27 pm • Report Abuse

I hope this is a wake up call for anyone out there who is leaving small children home alone. it is so unfortunate that this child lost his life because of a bad decision on the part of the adults in his life. As for the parents of this child, is there any true punishment that fits this tragedy? God does not punish people the way some of you may think, God loves us as a loving parent would his own. He forgives. the real tragedy is the loss of this child’s life.

Posted by informme411 on 04/21/08 - 10:57 am • Report Abuse

Isn’t there some type of child care available to single parents that are struggling to get by and juggling jobs with parenting? If not, there needs to be! If so, then it needs to be publicized so these people will know their options. Leaving a young child alone should never be considered an option.

The whole family unit seems as though it has gone to hell-in-a-hand-basket these days!

Posted by BamaBob on 04/21/08 - 10:46 am • Report Abuse

Christians Death is Heartfelt by all! I believe that both Brandon & Elizabeth made an irrational, negligent decision to leave Christian in the apartment . Makes no difference where either of them were going.I also believe that Elizabeth without any doubt loves both of her boys and she is suffering now. Rather than condemn them both we need to pray for them and Christian.Both parents should face the consequences for their actions by the law and by God. I believe Christian has his wings and is one of Gods Angels now.

Posted by concernedmom on 04/21/08 - 10:39 am • Report Abuse

The sorry so called mother is probably young and she needs the death penality. People like her need to be spade. God will take care of her and the so called dad as well.

Posted by april on 04/21/08 - 10:17 am • Report Abuse