Parents Behaving Badly

As if microwaving your baby wasn’t bad enough, Sharlyn Singh allegedly tried to do China Arnold one better. The 29-year-old Orlando, Florida mother has been arrested on charges of shoving her 11-month-old baby into a hot oven. The article’s a little ambiguous as to whether the baby was in any immediate danger of being baked, however. The allegation originally came from one Morris Naraidoo, the brother of the baby’s father, who was helping his bro move out of his (allegedly) crazy girlfriend’s house. Naraidoo said he heard the baby crying, and asked the (allegedly) Singh where she was; Singh, zip-lipped, walked out the door. The police arrived, investigated, and arrested.

The story says that the “stove top” was on, but doesn’t clarify whether this means Singh actually turned on the stove, or turned on one of the burners on the stove. If the former – well, she’s a drunken idiot. If the latter – then she’s a psychotic, dangerous drunken idiot. Either way, you can bet she won’t have her baby to cook – er, um, kick around any longer.

(Hat tip: Sinthyia)

It’s that time of the year: time to look back at the stream of bad parents who have graced the pages of PBB and do the impossible by picking out the worst parent of 2006. Since I can’t possibly do that on my own, I’m asking YOU, my readers, for help.

Below is my selection of the worst parents of the year from the PBB archives. I based most of these selections on reader reactions and the length of the accompanying comment threads, which gives us a nice balance between the criminally stupid and the truly gruesome.

Because of the gap in my coverage, there’s an obvious imbalance toward the latter end of the year. Hey, you go to war with the blog you have! It balances out, though, as not all of these stories happened in late 2006; one or two actually happened in 2005, but I’m throwing them into the pot because they still managed to echo into the headlines of 2006. To correct any additional imbalance, I’m allowing you guys to add write-in candidates. Just go to the poll in this blog’s left sidebar and select or type in your choice. (NOTE: If the write-in future is abused, I’ll remove it. Please use sparingly.)

Voting will close on Friday, January 5th.

The Finalists

Khalid Adem. Friends and supporters insists he was railroaded, but a jury of his peers found him guilty of forcibly circumcising his daughter.

China Arnold. She maintains she’s innocent; the state says she microwaved her baby to death.

David and Liz Carroll. The foster parents left their son, Marcus Fiesel, bound in a closet while they skipped town for a family reunion. They came back to find him dead.

Savarin DeJesus (not pictured). The 18-year-old New York City mom got drunk, got sick, and then slept…while her child drowned in mommy’s vomit bucket.

Melinda Duckett. Holy shit…where to begin? The Florida mom offed herself after appearing on Nancy Grace and being grilled over her son Trenton’s disappearance. Evidence strongly indicates that she handed off her son to someone else to keep him away from his dad. Then the stories of her extra-sexular activity surfaced, including a photo purportedly of Melinda that showed her feeding Trenton a bottle while giving head. I know you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but in this case, the temptation’s almost overwhelming.

Jonathon Edington. The loving father thought his neighbor had molested his daughter, so he killed the guy. Edington was wrong. The dad now faces a very long prison sentence for losing his shit and killing an innocent man.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle. The “caged kids” parents from Ohio were convicted this year after offering pitiable explanations for locking their 11 foster kids up like rabbits.

Heather Heck. This supposedly Christian mom sparked a firestorm of controversy by first hiding her pregnancy, then leaving the kid in a car all weekend while she went out and had fun.

Festus Oguhebe. The professor from Nigeria who saw fit to motivate his lazy kids by torturing them with ants.

The Parents of Castro Valley High School. To their credit, they didn’t murder or mutilate anyone. But the parents of Castro Valley High continue to inflict an undue sense of entitlement on their kids by waging war against a local basketball coach (Nancy Nibarger, pictured) who doesn’t deserve their constant bullshit.

As expected, China Arnold has plead not guilty to microwaving her baby. Let the trial begin, and the truth come out.

Did she or didn’t she? A jury will decide that question soon, as China Arnold has been indicted for aggravated murder after allegedly cramming her baby into a microwave. Defense attorney John Paul Rion believes there’s enough reasonable doubt to drive a truck through; he says he has the forensics to prove his client’s innocent. But the prosecution sounds equally cocksure: they’re aiming for the death penalty.

Judging by the last thread on this subject, a lot of visitors to PBB feel there may have been a different culprit. As noted in that last report, Arnold’s no prize of a mom, having been convicted for abduction and verbal forgery. But does that make her a baby-microwaver? I dunno. The state sounds overly confident about their odds of conviction, given that they’re trying this case a year after the murder. I’m holding judgment until the trial begins, and both sides lay their cards on the table.

UPDATE: Here are Arnold’s 2000 guilty plea, a copy of her 2002 conviction for check forgery, and a copy of the grand jury indictment in the death of her daughter, Paris Talley.

Oh Holy God. I know I say “this is the worst thing I’ve ever read” at least once a month week, but…truly, folks. This may be the chart-topper. China Arnold’s three-week-old baby, Paris Talley, died last year with an abnormally high body temperature. Over one year later, police have arrested the 26-year-old on charges that she stuck her child in the microwave and pressed the “Baby” shortcut button.

What took so long to bust the bitch? The method of execution. Little is known about what effect microwave radiation will have on a child because…well, because no one’s been cruel and inhumane enough to commit such an atrocity. Sure, folks have floated the idea of using microwaves against electronics equipment and grown humans…but babies? And at the hands of one’s own mother nonetheless? Jesus. What an awful, awful way to die.

What are the prosecution’s chances of proving this case in court? I don’t know. I imagine most of their case will boil down to scientific testimony, an exclusion of all other possibilities, and an assault on the mother’s character. If China Arnold’s defense can float one or two alternative theories of death, it may be enough to keep her out of jail.

There seems to be little information about Arnold available. Was she in trouble with child services before this? If anyone can testify to this woman’s character as either a person or a mother, speak up.