Prosecutors in Washington County, Oregon dropped a bombshell yesterday. They have evidence that a woman subjected her own son to horrific abuse because she thought he was gay.
Jessica Dutro believed her 4-year-old son, Zachary Dutro-Boggess was gay, prosecutors told the court Wednesday, and that was her motive for subjecting him to deadly beatings.
[snip]
Emergency crews brought Zachary to a Portland hospital Aug. 14, 2012, where doctors determined he was dying from trauma to his abdomen that caused tears in his bowel. He was taken off life support two days later.
After jurors were released for the day Wednesday, Judge Don Letourneau ruled that a Facebook message from Dutro to her boyfriend was admissible evidence.
Prosecutor Megan Johnson argued the message established Dutro’s motive for inflicting on Zachary a pattern of torture and abuse. Authorities say Dutro assaulted three of her children, but Zachary received the brunt of the violence.
In the message, Dutro told her boyfriend, Brian Canady, that Zachary was “facing the wall” because he had made her mad.
Her son was going to be gay, she wrote, using a slur. “He walks and talks like it. Ugh.”
Canady would have to “work on” Zachary, she wrote.
This story is horrific in every way possible. Dutro, Canady and Dutro's four children had been staying in a homeless shelter in Tigard, south of Portland. On August 12, when Zachary wouldn't sit down and watch TV,
Canady kicked him in the abdomen. Zachary was throwing up and experiencing diarrhea over the next two days, but Dutro and Canady didn't do anything until he collapsed early on the morning of August 14. As it turned out, the blow to Zachary's abdomen
tore two holes in his small intestine through which bodily fluids leaked into his bloodstream and damaged vital organs.
Prosecutors and police say that had Zachary seen a doctor sooner, he'd probably still be alive. They have also obtained evidence that Dutro badly abused three of her four kids--all except a baby that Canady gave her--but that Zachary suffered the worst of it. The three surviving kids are now living with Dutro's relatives, and by all accounts are doing a lot better.
Canady pleaded guilty on March 4 to manslaughter and assault, and has agreed to testify against Dutro in return for a sentence of 12.5 years in prison. Chances are that he'll be able to shed more light on that message.
I hope these rabid homophobes are proud of themselves. Things like this are the fruit of your hate.