Mother Charged With Starving Infant Twin To Death

If this was posted previously, I missed it..... did anyone see this? A 23 year old mother was charged with starving her female twin to death.... the male twin survived. This is an older article, interesting still because, oddly enough, this mother goes on trial the same date as KC Anthony... and is represented by Richard Hornsby.....

Twin not fed or changed for days

Updated: Friday, 27 Mar 2009, 6:13 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 27 Mar 2009, 6:10 PM EDT

By SHANNON BUTLER | FOX 35 News



An Orlando mother charged with manslaughter and child-neglect was granted bond Friday.
Lauren Gress will be allowed to go free while the state continues to build a case against her for what they say is a horrible crime.

The 23-year-old is being held at the Orange County Jail on $12,000 bail after police say she starved her twin 4-months-olds, one to death. Brianna Morges-Cress was found dead in her bed back in November.

Psychiatric evaluations have been done on Gress at the jail and also by the department of children and families. The investigation into what happened continues as investigators are trying to figure out how a mother with no prior recorded incidents with her kids resorts to starving and withholding water from her babies.

On Friday FOX 35 learned more about the last 24 hours of Brianna Gress' life. Her mother fed her and her twin brother around 11:00 a.m. on November 16, 2008 then put the kids back to bed. They slept until 2:00 a.m. with no food, no water, and no changing. It was then, 14 hours later that Brianna was dead. Gress told cops the baby had a medical condition and wouldn't eat but she told DCF workers that she did feed them, just didn't wake them up to eat.

A judge has ordered supervised visits with the twin and also Gress' 2 other children. DCF says reuniting Gress with her children is not an option for now. "Our main concern is the surviving children," said DCF spokesperson Carrie Hoeppner.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/032709twin_not_fed

It's a shame that people who don't give a crap keep having children. It is inexcusable for them to abuse and starve their children. If they aren't caring and competent enough to take care of them, they need to do them a favor and put them up for adoption.

What an absolutely terrible, prolonged, torturous way for a baby to die. Sickening. I'm sure she fed herself many times as her baby layed there screaming to be fed.....how could she?

She almost has those evil looking Casey eyes too.

Why? That's what I want to know. If she didn't want to be a mom there are thousands who would take those babies. Sick.

Snaz~Please keep us posted on this. I am curious to see how Hornsby handles this case. I am hoping he is a stand up guy. We shall see. TIA

I am going to go out on a limb here...
Nothing in this article suggests to me that she intended to kill her child/children.

If one of the babies had a condition, it is hard to know what happened.. Did the mother fall asleep and stay sleeping from being exhausted, as the babies didnt wake her up, because one of them was dead. I wonder if the healthy one was sleep deprived as a result of the other one who was sick? Did the healthy baby and mom keep on sleeping?

I dont want to be too quick on this one, as there is no indication of any prior neglect or abuse... and it isnt alledged that there was any malicious behavior during these 14 hours...

Although it is along time, I think a healthy 4 month old baby who is hydrated, fed, and happy, cud pull off a 14 hour strecth if he was exhausted...I dont think he sud be dehydrated by then either. If the one that is alive showed all normal signs of growth and hydration, I think itunfair to asssume the mom had any hand in willful death...

just sayin.........

It will be interesting to see the trial and find out if there was a reasonable explanation for what happened. I admit that sometimes I'm too quick to judgment because I get so fed up with reading about people abusing and killing children.

I hear you J4A... me too...

After seeing cases unfold, and ppl get wrongfully accused, I thought about many cases where the prosecutors have been wrong, and so have LE... Im not saying they should be perfect as no one is... What I have learned is that if and when they are wrong, it seems too late to go bak as the media has already picked up on it and now there is a srtory making headlines and i think prosecutors and LE can be influenced too.. Like I said , as much I respect that job, they are ppl and can be wrong... sometimes they are too quik also..

There was a case 6 months or so ago where a woman was accused of letting her child die and it turned out that that she got off because thankfully there wasnt enough evidence and many experts said that her condition was the cause of death ... the ppl will never heal that they lost their daughter, but the torment and hate and accusations has to make it even that more painful....

I hope LE took in all the facts and at this point we havent heard of any, and in many cases we have already heard how the mother was out, or on drugs or something that is indicative of more than just falling asleep.. twins at 23 cant be easy and we have no idea what support she had.. At this poit i maintain that she may have been exhausted enough to sleep and when no baby cried, she may have slept thru too....

I would reserve judgement too but I can't for the life of me see a mom sleeping 14 hrs with two newborns in the house. I sleep like a log, I sleep through thunder storms, I slept through constuction workers nailing concrete forms. I was always wide awake even before the baby would fuss, it is an instinct. It seems fishy to me that she slept that long. But then again, the other one was normal, I hope to God she didn't starve her baby. If there was something wrong with the baby and she wasn't getting any answers from her doctor, it would be documented. I would have went to the ER every day until they figured it out. How sad.

I was thinking how it was odd too Dis.. the reason I can be impartial (for now) is only because I really wonder how exhausted the mother was...Maternal extints and all... If there was no cry from a baby (which I know I used as my "alarm clock") I am really thinking she may have slept... She did say that the baby had a condition so I am thinking whatever condition/problem was at least logged and known of to the doc which should be documented..even if it wasnt a "named" condition, at least the symptoms.

My pediatrician used to tell me the health of the baby, is all about weight gain and growth.... and of course desire to eat... If one was thriving and one wasnt, I wud think that shud be in her favor at this point..To think she cared and loved one (at such an early age) and showed "favoritism, by only taking care of one, isnt very logical imo...

Also the autopsy should pick something up like a prob with the heart , lungs kidneys and any major organ. We also know that dyfax wasnt involved and had no concerns. For her to say the baby had a condition suggests that she regularily went to the docs...

A doc wud have hopefully picked up on a neglect/abuse situation and called if he was concerned....

Also, because there is no motive or expalnation of neglect cited by LE, I am still wondering if LE jumped the gun...

It seems like cases like KC's, influence the authorities to become more suspicious of plain old sad tradegies where no malice is obvious.. I wonder if we are becoming desensitized by ppl like KC and have begun to lose the ability to accept fate in some cases?

I can think of several where it seemed easier to doubt that to believe for not very good reasons...

Back in the day I knew of a family who suffered a tragic loss.. They put their 3 month old twins on a waterbed (of all places) and one of them flipped over...casuing the other one to flip too, where they both suffocated..There was no malice involved and it was horrible. Seems like if this happened today, the first thing that wud be said is how anyone wud have known better that to put mere newborns on a waterbed...

I have wondered lately, if that happened today, wud the mother have lost her freedom and been crucified for killing her most precious gifts?

In this article below, we see that the twins were 6 wks premature...We also see that her boyfriend had a previous issue with dfax for an issue of domestic abuse with another child.

The autopsy found nothing wrong.... although the nature of the daughters problems were the inability to eat properly...

The cause of death was malnutrion and dehydration...

Still not enough for me.. If the brain doesnt fuction properly to enable the young to eat properly, it is plausoble that this wud be the cause of death...It is believable to me that if this was the problem, everyday that went by, meant that the baby wud be getting weaker and weaker.. Why didnt the doctor help her with this ealry on. It appears that she was a regular with the doctor.. We learn to trust doctors and if they tell us to carry on and there is no problem, what was she to do? I also notice that there must not have been may ppl that came out accusing her of character flaws, or they wud be all over the news.. There arent any...

The trial will likely tell us more from both sides, but I still maintain.. incorrect prosecutors and LE who lay unwarranted charges, can easily put together a circumstantial evidence case and get a conviction...(James Barton, Amanda Knox are still fighting for their freedom but we need to consider all the innocent ppl who have been exonherated after a circumstantial evidence case, put them away in the first place..We know it happens too many, because of all the ppl becuase of so many now freed.. (I do not KC in this category).. I will sure watch for the outcome and updates in the trial..(Notice how this all happened only 4 short months after LE in the same sherrifs office, saw the likes of KC??)

POSTED: Thursday, March 26, 2009
UPDATED: 5:03 pm EDT March 27, 2009

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 23-year-old Orlando mother was arrested Thursday on charges of starving her 4-month-old daughter to death.

Lauren Gress.


Police found Lauren Gress' daughter, Brianna Morges-Gress, without vital signs in November 2008.

Brianna and her twin brother were born one and a half months premature and Gress told police that Brianna had medical issues that prevented her from eating properly.

On March 18 Brianna's cause of death was determined to be malnutrition and dehydration by the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner's Office. The medical examiner also determined that no medical condition contributed to the death and it was ruled a homicide, the Orlando Police Department said.

A warrant was issued for Gress' arrest on Tuesday, and she was arrested at work on Thursday.

Gress has been charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and neglect of a child. She is being held on $12,000 bond. She is under psychological evaluation at the Orange County Jail.

According to the Department of Children and Families, Gress' boyfriend had been previously investigated for an incident involving another child and possible domestic violence. Gress' other children are in the custody of family members.


Copyright 2009 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Text SizeMother, 23, Charged With Starving Infant To Death
Woman Previously Investigated By DCF
POSTED: Thursday, March 26, 2009
UPDATED: 5:03 pm EDT March 27, 2009

I admit it....... I could not even read this article. HOrrific. kh

23 is way too young to have one child let alone 4. I was young (18) when I had my daughter, she was planned, and not that I'd give her up for anything in the world (no matter what she does) if I had the chance of a do over I'd definately wait. jmho

Kari, I had my first @ 18, second @ 20 and third @ 21, all girls. I guess I had to take a break, as I waited 5 years and finally had a boy. After he was born, my husband acted like the girls didn't even belong to him, he only had 1 child, in his eyes.

But, I made sure they were all fed at the same time. My son was born @ 27 weeks, and he also had an eating disorder. He was almost 5 months old when I brought him home, and he was to take 1 ounce every two hours. Sometimes it took him an hour to take that ounce, because he would get so tired just nursing on that bottle. But I sat and held him, giving him a little at a time till he took the full ounce. Sometimes it was only 45 minutes before I had to start giving him another ounce.

I have a lot of questions myself about this. It states "the police found Brianna without vital signs". Why would the police find Brianna dead in her bed and not medical personnel? Unless the medics called police when they found her? Generally they'll report "medical personnel found her unresponsive". Who called 911? I certainly hope this mother did not purposely withhold from feeding these babies. Preemies generally have so many issues. And many eating issues take extensive tests to determine the root of the problem. Did the male twin have to be hospitalized when found, does anyone know? If he was suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, they would have. The article implies she starved both of them. As Mama said above, a baby with feeding issues is a life or death situation. It cannot be ignored. So if she states Brianna had a feeding issue, and the male twin was also starving to death, but didn't have an eating issue, there's a real problem of neglect here.

I wasn't sure if I could post this story but decided to anyway. It hits very close to home and the little girl, who would be 11 yrs old, is never far from my mind. Nor will she ever be.

11 yrs ago, twins were born to a girl that was unwed. The couple lived with the fathers (also unwed) mother. The twin girls were born three weeks premature. They were sent home from the hospital with monitors, that they were to wear 24/7 (except for bath time, changing, etc.)

On the exact day that the twins were originally due, one of the twins was found dead, next to her twin, in bed. I believe it was approximately 9 am.

One of the first questions asked was, "Didn't the alarm sound off?" The answer was that the mother was so tired, that that she awoke at about 3 am & changed & fed the twins & just forgot to put the monitors back on them.

Days later, the story changed to...The "FATHER" got up around 3 am and changed them because the mother was so tired that he thought he'd help out & change & feed them. He too, it was said, forgot to put the monitors back on the twins.

The "official cause of death" was labeled SIDS. SIDS (IMO) is what they label a child's death when the idiots can't figure out what REALLY happened to the baby.

A few years later (about 6 or 7) another inquiry was made about the little girls death. This time, there was a WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY on what took place that fateful night & morning of the little girls death. Here was the "new version".

The fathers mother (unofficial mother in law) worked two jobs. Her version of the story, went like this. She said she worked at a bar and came home after the bar closed. Somewhere around 3 am. She said she changed and fed the twins, PUT ON THE MONITORS (she was POSITIVE of it), then went to bed herself. She said for her second job, she had an early meeting that began at 9 am so she woke up, got ready for her meeting, checked on AND "kissed the twins". & was out the door by 8 am. Within ONE HOUR, she received a call from the mother of the twins, stating that one was dead.

She was positive that the monitors were one both children, yet in none of the earlier versions, the monitors were on the girls. All agreed that the monitors NEVER went off that morning. WHY? Have any of you ever HEARD one of those monitors go off? It's so loud that it could wake the dead, seriously!

Was there any sort of "investigation"? It was said that, yes, there was BECAUSE the baby had fibers in her nose & mouth, but after hearing the (unofficial) mother in laws version of what happened, the case was closed and the "Official Cause Of Death" was then left at SIDS. The "fibers" were said to have been the blanket that was in the bed with the twins & had nothing to do with her death. Can you believe that?

I can only ASSUME that whomever was inquiring about the details, took this womans version as fact because she was the "adult" in the home. I don't personally believe ANY of the three stories. Someone is not telling the truth. What about the alarm on the monitor? They get downloaded via phone line. I wonder all the time, did it show ANYTHING? Did LE even know about the monitors?

What would YOU do if you knew those involved? Who would YOU ask?

I hunted around this morning, for any documents that may have been made available under the sunshine laws...
Of course, the police report and the interim notes along with any investigation wud help explain, the circumstances, and show us with our own eyes, whether or not their was clear neglect....

Unfortunately, because this case is open, as has not been to trial yet, no documents or discovery have been made public, for any joe blow to pull..... Private citizens can only request docs after a case is closed after the trial...and then once it is closed, it wud be up to the prosecutors discretion as to what will be released, if anything involving the investigation, yet the transripts wud become public.

The only ppl who cud try and get any docs at this point are the media and clearly they havent taken much interest as I just found out that nothing has been released on this case by the state attorneys office)

I am of the understanding that if media decided to take an interest, in any of the docs, they wud have to contact the the states office and ask for things and if the state says yes, its okay to release, then the media wud get the docs, but if the state says no...the media wud have to fight thru court to determine if anything can be released....

The states office says it doesnt look like there were any court cases, over this case regarding sunshine laws...and she cant tell whether or not the media ever made any requests that had been denied.

On account that this incident took place in Nov 2008, and is handled by the OCPD, (the same one handling KC) it is plausible to think that the media was to busy with the Anthony case, especialy when 2 wks after Brianna Gress died, Caylees remains were discovered...The autopsy on Brianna was released on Mar 23 09 where the cause of death was malnutrician, and dehydration, which is what prompted the charges, the following day. Again.. during a very busy time on the Ant case where media was prolly not interested in much else... hence Enews -Top 5 for KC!!!

This was supposed to have gone to trial on Jan 25, 10.. I looked for any updates and cud not find any... If any one knows, an upsate wud be greatly appreciated...Thx

I'll see if I can find anything.

I hope you have luck finding something Piper. I couldn't find anything.

I searched for about two hours tonight & couldn't find a thing. I couldn't even find anything in Jail Records. NOTHING.

I searched last night, and found zero, zip as well. I can't imagine why nothing is in the jail records either. No updates anywhere.

I wonder if she cud have taken some kind of plea?? I really am interested in the outcome.. Maybe I can send an email to RH...LOL