Nationwide — Tiffany Woods, an African American mom from New Orleans, Louisiana, who was convicted of killing her child after she desperately tried to feed him cow’s milk throughout Hurricane Katrina, was denied parole after 18 years in jail. She now should wait 5 extra years earlier than reapplying.
Woods, 43, was convicted of second-degree homicide in 2008 after her 5-month-old son, Emmanuel, died. Born prematurely at three kilos, Emmanuel had a uncommon situation that made it onerous for his physique to course of sure fat. He wanted fixed care and frequent feedings to remain alive.
Emmanuel was discharged from the hospital simply weeks earlier than Hurricane Katrina hit. Woods and her household first stayed in a sports activities area, then a motel, and at last a rented home because the storm approached. Amid the chaos and shortages, she struggled to look after her fragile toddler.
When Emmanuel started throwing up components, Woods ran out of vouchers for child meals. Determined, she determined to offer him cow’s milk. Medical doctors warn that youngsters below one yr shouldn’t drink cow’s milk, however Woods stated she acted out of survival.
“I didn’t know what to do. I made the devastating determination to vary my youngster’s milk. And he was taking his milk,” she stated, in response to Atlanta Black Star. “I assumed he was doing higher, however he wasn’t doing higher. I didn’t know learn how to go about something however survival mode.”
Emmanuel died in November 2005. Woods and her then-husband, Emmanuel’s father, have been each convicted of homicide and given life sentences with out parole. In 2023, her sentence was partially commuted, making her eligible for parole after serving 18 years.
On February 10, Woods’ parole was denied after a single “no” vote on a three-member panel. Board members praised her rehabilitation and low threat of reoffending, however Leone Fitzgerald, representing sufferer companies, argued that extra might have been carried out to save lots of Emmanuel in the course of the disaster.
“No rational individual might take a look at that… poor emaciated child and never do one thing. Take him to the emergency room, take him to the physician. Take him to a hearth station… and drop him off the place he would have an opportunity,” Fitzgerald stated. “I feel there have been numerous choices that these individuals selected to not take.”
Woods can reapply for parole in 5 years. Within the meantime, her 4 different youngsters, who have been positioned in foster care after her incarceration, proceed to develop up with out her. Her eldest, Nie’John, remembers the day Emmanuel died and insists that his mom did strive CPR whereas calling 911.
