Scott McGrath
3/26/18
Current Event 20
This article is titled “17 Years Later, Toddler’s Death Ruled a Homicide” and is written by Phil Williams. The article is very interesting and discusses a toddlers death 17 years ago that is only now being ruled a homicide due to a second autopsy. In 2001 Jeffry Skaggs died at the young age of 15 months. At the time, it was believed that the child fell off a bookcase and hit his head and died. Back in December, Investigators reviewed his body for another autopsy. They found fractures on the baby’s skull that would have only been possible from an extreme amount of force. Investigators concluded that it was murder. The killer is unknown but the family has agreed to cooperate fully.
This article is very significant to the field of modern forensics. It shows that investigators have the ability to pick up a seemingly “dead case” and shed new light upon it. Seventeen years passed since this child's death, and they finally discovered the real cause of death. This is huge because it makes this case a murder, and with every murder, there is a murderer. This is a very important case in the forensics field.
I think the author did a very good job explaining this case. I really liked how she utilized a lot of quotes from high ranking officials to get a better idea of what was going on. Also, the author incorporated videos from a documentary on the case. This made it easier to visualize what is going on. Overall, this was a very interesting article and very well written.
Morea Gjocaj
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Core Chemistry
9/12/21
Phil Williams- "17 Years Later, Toddler's Death Ruled a Homicide".
I truly enjoyed reading Scott's current event review of Phil Williams article "17 Years Later, Toddler's Death Ruled a Homicide", as it was engaging and fascinating. I enjoyed the fact that Scott picked an unusual topic to write his review on. The unique case he decided to review along with the informative details he provided really made the writing piece better. It also added onto my understanding of the case. I additionally enjoyed the fact that he was able to state his opinion while providing the readers with facts that were not altered to his liking. This made his paper rather precise and more reliable. Not to mention the great way he was able to tie the case to modern day. Despite his great work, there is always room for improvement. I personally feel like Scott should have included direct quotes. Although his writing piece was pretty good, the quotes would have made it better, since they would allow the reader to develop their own opinion based on the direct context provided and further prove Scott's point. I also would have preferred if Scott provided the readers with more information on what occurred after the death of the toddler was deemed to be a murder. I wish he stated if the murderer was ever found, or if the case is an ongoing case. This would've built up suspense and made his review stronger and more interesting. Overall, Scott did a good job presenting the case and stating his opinion on it in his article. Not only that, but it was very informative and has made me more interested in the forensics field.
https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2018/03/17-years-later-toddlers-death-ruled-homicide
Williams, Phil. "17 Years Later, Toddler’s Death Ruled a Homicide”.