Careless Adults and Their Young Victims

In the span of a few days, there have been two separate incidents of adults acting stupidly and leaving children either badly hurt or dead.

Last Friday, an 9-year-old boy was burned on 70% of his body when attending a friend's birthday party. Because it was raining, the birthday boy's mother Rhonda Kavee brought the party inside to her Murray Hill dental practice and started a grill to roast S'mores. But the fire didn't get going, so she threw a flammable liquid on the grill, burning Josh Blank, who started convulsing. He will undergo surgery and the authorities are still weighing charges against Kavee.

And Joanne Alvarez was arraigned after being charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for the death of her 6-year-old foster daughter. Alvarez had given Taylor Webster an adult--and ultimately fatal--dose fentanyl pain patch. Prosecutors say the fentanyl patch was prescribed to the 260 pound Alvarez (Webster was 59 pounds). And WNBC says the Administration of Children's Service has/had four investigations on Alvarez.

The Daily News' Michael Daly writes about these two adults in a column titled, "What was each idiot thinking?"

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on May 20, 2008 4:00 PM

Comments [rss]

Rocknrope

You would think a dentist with her own practice would have more brains in her head.

Anna_Merkin

Bell Curve, anyone?

schizofriendly

Please don't make me extol the virtues of The Church of Euthanasia.

Oh, please don't make me extol the virtues of The Church of Euthanasia.

I hate when I get that way...

www.churchofeuthanasia.org

nik13

Rhonda has belatedly tried NOT to pass her dimwit genes onto next generation. Does she still qualify for Darwin Award? Sort of second hand?

bluemonday

can we please create a test determining who can be parents and who can't?

it wouldn't be a human rights violation. it would be preventing any further damage to future generations. and idiotic ideas like these.

smitty

Reeeeally bad.

robingee

Women be stupid.

jaja007

Guilty! Lynch them both!

What kind of idiot has a barbeque in their basement? If they don't start a fire - the carbon monoxide would suffocate them. What kind of idiot gives a child an adult prescription product? Especially one with the dosage strong enough to knock out a buffalo?

Good thing Alvarez has been charged, but why hasn't Kavee been charged? Is DA Morgenthau protecting his campaign donors like usual?

Big_Larry

"Gus your wife is Big Foot" Goonie GooGoo

bklynd

"The fentanyl had been prescribed to the 260-pound Alvarez to treat chronic pain from a 2000 accident..."

jaja007

Every year, Uncle Gus would show up, and burn down the backyard...

Guest

Idiots don't think. That's why they're idiots.

Nick S

"Prosecutors say the fentanyl patch was prescribed to the 260 pound Alvarez"

Whoa, any explanation as to why she was prescribed it? I thought it was pretty much only for terminal cancer patients.

sad sad sad.