BLAKE RUPE - 15 Months (2008) - Tavares (W end of Lake Dora) FL

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Jury selection for man accused of killing toddler starts Tuesday

TAVARES
MILLARD K. IVES | Staff Writer
millardives@dailycommercial.com
Whether a toddler can sustain fatal injuries from falling out of a play pen will be a focus of a Lake County murder trial this week.
David Tatara, 30, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of toddler Blake Rupe, his live-in girlfriend's son. Tatara faces life in prison if convicted of the murder.
Jury selection is slated to start Tuesday at the Lake County courthouse.
Blake was discovered not breathing in his mother's apartment on Osceola Avenue in Tavares on Dec. 15, 2008.
Tatara, who was watching Blake and the child's 2-year-old sister for their mother, told police he found Blake under a playpen and the boy must have climbed out.
Blake died two days later at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Tatara was charged after the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
The then-21-year-old mother, Emmalee Fore, was not home at the time of the incident and was not charged.
The trial was initially scheduled to begin this past June but was postponed to allow the defense more time to refute the prosecution's claims that the 14-month-old victim died from blunt trauma due to being shaken.
Prosecutor Bill Gross had found a medical expert to bolster his argument that the child died from injuries received from Tatara.
The death shook up the Department of Children and Families, resulting in four agency employees being fired or reprimanded due to the workers failing to ensure the safety of both children, according to DCF officials.
After Blake was put on life support from the December 2008 incident, DCF officials said doctors discovered that two of his ribs, collarbone and bones in both arms and a thigh were healing from previous injuries
His 2-year-old sister was removed from the Tavares home shortly after Blake was rushed to the hospital after doctors discovered she, too, had healing fractures in her left arm and a horrific laceration to her head.
None of the injuries had been previously treated or reported.
DCF was supposed to be monitoring the family because of previous reports of abuse. But in August of 2008, a caseworker closed the case, citing that Fore had turned the home into a "loving and safe environment."
Circuit Judge Mark Nacke has ruled over defense lawyer Donald Lykkebak's objections that prosecutors can offer evidence of Blake's previous fractures. However, the sister's injuries can not be used as evidence in the murder trial, the judge ruled.

http://www.dailycommercial.com/News/LakeCounty/103111trial

Man guilty in infant's death
TAVARES
MILLARD K. IVES | Staff Writer
millardives@dailycommercial.com
A Lake County jury apparently failed to believe that a 15-month- old child sustained a fatal head injury by falling out his playpen, bringing back a verdict of guilty Tuesday morning in the murder trial of 30-year-old David Tatara.
Tatara began standing trial last week on first-degree murder in the blunt force trauma death of the toddler, Blake Rupe, and was facing life if convicted. However, the judge ruled Monday he couldn't be convicted of anything higher than second-degree murder, which carries fewer years in prison.
It took the jury less than two hours to find Tatara guilty of the charge. He will be sentenced at a later date.
According to court testimony, Blake was discovered not breathing in his mother's apartment on Osceola Avenue in Tavares on Dec. 15, 2008.
Tatara, who was watching Blake and the child's 2-year-old sister for their mother, told police he was in the bathroom when he heard a thump. He added he found Blake under a playpen and the boy must have climbed out and hit his head.
He contended the green playpen, which was displayed during the trial, somehow tipped over.
Prosecutor Bill Gross argued that the child died from injuries received from Tatara. After Blake was put on life support from the December 2008 incident, doctors discovered that two of his ribs, collarbone and bones in both arms and a thigh were healing from previous injuries.
His sister also was discovered with healing injuries.
The death rocked the Department of Children and Families, which at one time was supposed to have been monitoring the children for possible abuse. As a result, four agency employees were fired or reprimanded due to the workers failing to ensure the safety of both children.
A lawsuit filed by the child's father against DCF is pending.

http://www.dailycommercial.com/News/LakeCounty/110811verdict

I'm glad the killer was found guilty. I just hope he's sent away for a long time and is never around kids again. The mother and others need to be prosecuted as there was ongoing abuse in this home. Both the babies had broken bones, bruises and cuts in various stages of healing. DFC has already admitted they failed but some kind of action should be taken against them as well as the mother. Why isn't she being prosecuted?

babyjustice wrote:I'm glad the killer was found guilty. I just hope he's sent away for a long time and is never around kids again. The mother and others need to be prosecuted as there was ongoing abuse in this home. Both the babies had broken bones, bruises and cuts in various stages of healing. DFC has already admitted they failed but some kind of action should be taken against them as well as the mother. Why isn't she being prosecuted?

These mothers who allow abuse should always be prosecuted. The seldom are. Another example of the system failing these poor defenseless children.