Florida Death Index

The Hardest Cases: When children die, justice can be elusive

Her name was Isis Charm Vas and at 6 months old she was a slight child -- fifth percentile in height and weight.

When the ambulance sped her to Northwest Texas Hospital on a Saturday morning in October 2000, doctors and nurses feared that someone had done something awful to her delicate little body.

A constellation of bruises stretched across her pale skin. CT scans showed blood pooling on her brain and swelling. Her vagina was bleeding, as well. The damage was so severe that her body's vital organs were shutting down.

Less than 24 hours later, Isis died.

An autopsy [7] bolstered the initial suspicions that she'd been abused. Dr. Joni McClain, a forensic pathologist, ruled Isis' death a homicide and said the baby had been sexually violated. McClain would later describe it as a "classic" case of blunt force trauma, the type of damage often done by a beating.

The police investigation [8] that followed was constructed almost entirely from medical evidence. In the end, prosecutors indicted [9] one of the child's babysitters: Ernie Lopez.

Today, Lopez is serving a 60-year prison term for sexual assault and is still facing capital murder charges.

But in the years since Lopez was sent to the penitentiary, a growing body of evidence has emerged suggesting that McClain and the hospital staffers were wrong about what happened to Isis -- and that her death was not the result of a criminal attack.

If Lopez is ultimately exonerated, his case will not be unique. An investigation by ProPublica, PBS "Frontline" and NPR has found that medical examiners and coroners have repeatedly mishandled cases of infant and child deaths, helping to put innocent people behind bars.

We analyzed nearly two dozen cases [10] in the United States and Canada in which people have been accused of killing children based on flawed or biased work by forensic pathologists, and then later cleared.

Some spent years in prison before courts overturned their convictions. In 2004, San Diego prosecutors moved to dismiss charges against a man who'd been imprisoned for two decades for murdering his girlfriend's son.

Others were freed more swiftly but endured hardships nonetheless. An El Paso, Texas, jury acquitted a woman of killing her child in 2010, but after spending 22 months in the county jail, she still had to wage a legal battle to regain custody of her other children.

Availability of Florida Death Records Online | Home Security ...

In the present time, most people love to know more about their ancestors. However, such information is sometimes hard to obtain especially if you didn’t know where and how to begin the process. This is where the importance of Florida Death Records comes in. This document is obtainable at the state’s Bureau of Vital Statistics. It is public information; therefore, anyone can gain access to it.

Basically, this document contains all significant details about your past relatives. These may include the date and place of his death, date and place of the funeral, death certificate, obituary records, cemetery listings, date and state of his birth, and county vital records resources. Apart from going through the Vital Statistics office, you may also obtain this information at the Social Security Death Index which contains the list of all dead Americans.

The state of Florida provides two types of death certificate. The first type does not include the cause of the person’s death while the other one relates the reason why the individual died. It is relatively easy to acquire the first type. However, obtaining the second type requires certain things to be complied with. One of the requirements is a proof of your relation to the deceased or legal interest. Apart from that, you also have to provide relevant facts about the person that you’re searching for.

Apart from that, your request must also contain some of your personal details such as your first and last name, relationship to the dead person, mailing address, and more. Next, select the type of certificate that you wanted to have: certified copy or additional copy. Just be aware, though, that a certain amount of fee is needed for each copy of the document. Once you’ve chosen the desired type, decide which delivery method is best for you. Your choices range from standard to rush to express.

Among the three options, the first one has the longest waiting time. It usually takes up to 10 working days before you’ll receive the report that you need. The second and third options are more likely the same except that the express method normally asks for an express fee. Payments for the requests can be done through check or money order at the state’s Vital Statistics Office.

In searching for Death Records nowadays, it is advisable to go through the Internet. That is because it allows you to search more easily, quickly, and conveniently. It even provides access to various online databases for just a one-time fee. Basically, all you need is an online computer for you to get whatever you need in no time at the shelter of your own house.

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