On Oprah, "most hated mom in America", tune in Oct. 1

[Miss Mary]

Do you all remember the story of the Cincinnati mother, an assistant principal of a middle school, who left her 2 year old daughter in her mini-van, in Aug. of 07? The child died as a result because we had temps near 100 that tragic day. The mother went back to her SUV for dozens of donuts for a staff meeting but failed to see her daughter in the backseat. She got off, wasn't charged with a crime. The case did not go to the grand jury.

She reveals in the segment why she is speaking out - now.

All I know is this mother should have been charged with something! Here's a local newspaper article about her Oprah appearance:
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /1055/NEWS

I recall starting a topic here at S2K about the Slaby case but I can't find it.

I will tune in but I have to admit, I thought this mother was guilty of something, from the get go. How in the world do you remember donuts but forget your CHILD?

Mary

[vbhoutex]

Personally I think it is wrong that Oprah is giving this woman a forum. She is profiting from a , imo, a criminal act and I don't want to support that in any way. MAry's last sentence says it all.

How in the world do you remember donuts but forget your CHILD?

I know of no excuse for that unless you are not right in your mind and shouldn't be in control of a child.

[Miss Mary]

Local message boards are going nuts over this Oprah episode today. This mother just appears money hungry to many. Even if she is giving the money away to charity, why go on national TV? None of it makes sense.....

But for those that followed this tragic "case" (the mother got off w/o any legal action taken), tune in today. You will no doubt hear how traumatic it's been for HER and her family, and very little about what this poor child endured in her last moments alive.

I know of some Cincinnatian's that have said they refuse to watch this show today. I do think I'll tune in but will cry, I'm sure of it.

[southerngale]

If you killed your child, even if it was an "accident" like that, how do you go on and appear on a show like this anyway? I would think I'd be in mourning for the rest of my life, if I didn't kill myself from the guilt!

As far as Oprah... I used to like her show years ago, but these days...
Once someone like that goes political, I tend to lose interest. (not that I really watched much before that, anyway)

[Ptarmigan]

I never heard of this case. That's horrible! We have a lot of cases like that in Houston. She can be prosecuted for that. Don't know why she was though? Oprah's days are coming. She is being replaced by the likes of Tyra. I am surprised that Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby calls her the self the "most hated mom in America", which is weird. Why would she call herself that? I thought the most hated mom in America right now is Lori Drew, who is sharing the title as most hated besides Osama bin Laden and Fred Phelps. Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby is a scum.

[Miss Mary]

I don't know about the world but in my community, she probably is the most hated. Hate is a harsh word though. There were many more aspects to this case that Oprah didn't mention at all. The mother briefly touched on the fact that she left this little girl in the car by herself while the mother would run into the oldest daughter's pre-school to drop her off. Claiming that the baby was sleeping, why wake her up. She even left the car running in these instances. She did it so many times that other parents would see a baby, all alone in a carseat and would repeatedly inform the pre-school staff. It happened so many times that a newsletter went out telling all parents not to leave other children in the car, alone. And they told this mother, do not do it again, ever. Well, she did it so much, people wonder if she could forget her kid so easily?

All I know is most people in my area (tri-state area of N Kentucky, SW Ohio, SE Indiana) were very upset the case didn't go to the Grand Jury.

That county's prosecutor let her off.

It happened one year later almost to the very day, another educator (college professor/counselor in fact!0, left her child in her car for 8 hours on the first day back to work). That mother also got off w/o any charge too.

There's a pattern here, many claim - playing the race/income card. It does seem as if these two women (highly educated white mothers, making good salaries, seemingly good parents) were judged differently had the mothers been of any other income bracket, race, etc.

So when she says she's the most hated, she is referring to numerous local message boards filled with pages of comments, letters to our newspaper editor, etc. And parents at the school she worked at. Parents there said they would pull their children out of the school if she returned to her position. She was put on disability and that school district is still paying her salary until 2009.

[Ptarmigan]

I don't know about the world but in my community, she probably is the most hated. Hate is a harsh word though. There were many more aspects to this case that Oprah didn't mention at all. The mother briefly touched on the fact that she left this little girl in the car by herself while the mother would run into the oldest daughter's pre-school to drop her off. Claiming that the baby was sleeping, why wake her up. She even left the car running in these instances. She did it so many times that other parents would see a baby, all alone in a carseat and would repeatedly inform the pre-school staff. It happened so many times that a newsletter went out telling all parents not to leave other children in the car, alone. And they told this mother, do not do it again, ever. Well, she did it so much, people wonder if she could forget her kid so easily?

All I know is most people in my area (tri-state area of N Kentucky, SW Ohio, SE Indiana) were very upset the case didn't go to the Grand Jury.

That county's prosecutor let her off.

It happened one year later almost to the very day, another educator (college professor/counselor in fact!0, left her child in her car for 8 hours on the first day back to work). That mother also got off w/o any charge too.

There's a pattern here, many claim - playing the race/income card. It does seem as if these two women (highly educated white mothers, making good salaries, seemingly good parents) were judged differently had the mothers been of any other income bracket, race, etc.

So when she says she's the most hated, she is referring to numerous local message boards filled with pages of comments, letters to our newspaper editor, etc. And parents at the school she worked at. Parents there said they would pull their children out of the school if she returned to her position. She was put on disability and that school district is still paying her salary until 2009.

I see. I never heard of it until you mentioned it. Sucks to be her for sure. I heard that Oprah cries with that scumbag mother on TV. I did a search on her and yeah she is hated like Lori Drew. Lori Drew got it much worse than Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby. Drew was compared with Manson, Stalin, Hitler, and 9/11 Terrorists.

[Miss Mary]

We wanted this case to go to a national level, Nancy Grace would have been all over it. But there was a more pressing case she was featuring back then.

Oh there's more about this case, it's all a blur now. Something about she never even woke the baby up or changed her diaper, she just carried from her crib to the carseat. Apparently that was a habit as well, she then was carried to another crib at the babysitter's house. The babysitter would later change the baby, dress her for the day, giving her breakfast. And yet during the Oprah show, Brenda said her husband usually took the baby to daycare. All of these minor details were in the police report.

Another fact was there was a time period that school day where this mother was missing from her office. She told the Principal to take one of her meetings. Staff members were quoted as saying they don't know where she was. It was for quite a while, an hour or more. So many speculated she realized what had happened, called her husband, who called their attorney and then many wondered if a story was created for the press.

I was shocked it didn't go before the grand jury. I've never wanted her to be in prison but face what she did and focus on the child. The focus has always been on her, the mother and what she endured. Not what the child went thru (her little fists were clenched, there was nail and claw like marks on the leather seats and tiny hand prints on the car window).

Here is just one local forum on the story/child's death. You have to scroll down, there are hundreds of comments now.
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /1055/news

[Ptarmigan]

We wanted this case to go to a national level, Nancy Grace would have been all over it. But there was a more pressing case she was featuring back then.

Oh there's more about this case, it's all a blur now. Something about she never even woke the baby up or changed her diaper, she just carried from her crib to the carseat. Apparently that was a habit as well, she then was carried to another crib at the babysitter's house. The babysitter would later change the baby, dress her for the day, giving her breakfast. And yet during the Oprah show, Brenda said her husband usually took the baby to daycare. All of these minor details were in the police report.

Another fact was there was a time period that school day where this mother was missing from her office. She told the Principal to take one of her meetings. Staff members were quoted as saying they don't know where she was. It was for quite a while, an hour or more. So many speculated she realized what had happened, called her husband, who called their attorney and then many wondered if a story was created for the press.

I was shocked it didn't go before the grand jury. I've never wanted her to be in prison but face what she did and focus on the child. The focus has always been on her, the mother and what she endured. Not what the child went thru (her little fists were clenched, there was nail and claw like marks on the leather seats and tiny hand prints on the car window).

I did a search on her and it did appear on national media, like ABC News.

[Miss Mary]

Briefly, we wanted much more exposure. At the very least to be certain it truly was a case of forgetfulness.

The first telling piece to this story was the school video of her backing up her SUV, going to the back of the car, getting dozens of donuts, then closing the door. Her child's carseat was right there! And she should have seen the child's head! That was probably the most damning aspect of this story. If the mother hadn't gone to her car, numerous times for donuts, people might have believed her story.

[gtalum]

It truly is a horrific story, but I can't see what would be gained by prosecuting parents in these scenarios.

[Ptarmigan]

Did Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby Get Away With Murder?
http://blackcincinnati.blogspot.com/200 ... slaby.html

Hooters Mom Charged With Homicide After Toddler Dies in Hot Car
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,306556,00.html

[Miss Mary]

I recall reading that local blog. I hadn't kept up with current posts, so thanks for posting the link. I also knew about the Hooters mom.

Here's the thing - I ~wanted~ to believe Brenda Slaby was so overwhelmed, so distracted, that she forgot her child was still in her carseat.

Notice - I said I "wanted" to believe her.

Want to know why I doubt this mother's story? Two words - Susan Smith. That's right, she was the very last mother I trusted when she told her tearful story and believed her.

Sometimes in your gut you just know when you've heard the truth.

I'm not saying Brenda Slaby got away with murder though. What I am saying is I just can't believe this mother. No way, no how. I never will.

Brenda's quotes, comments, actions are always about her - how demanding her job was, how overwhelmed she became. Never about her daughter. IMHO, that in itself tells me a lot.

One odd piece of info also - the family kept the car and still drive it!