Grieving Mom Wants 'The Chair' For Man Accused Of Killing Son
CHICAGO (STMW) -- Raven Hawkins knows what she wants for Christopher Shaffer, the man charged in her son's death.
"I really want him to get the chair because I don't think a child should have to suffer anything like that," she told the Post-Tribune Thursday.
Shaffer, 19, of the of the 4300 block of West 23rd Court, was charged Thursday with felony counts of neglect of a dependent and battery in the Saturday death of Juanzo Vargas Jr., 21 months.
Juanzo and Shaffer were staying with Hawkins' sister, Agnes Hawkins, and Ida Boyd-King, pastor of Grace Center Outreach Ministries for Christ in Gary, at 517 Camelot Manor in Portage.
"If you ask me, I think everybody in that house should be charged for my son's death," said Hawkins, 24, of East Chicago, whose other three young children also were at the mobile home when Juanzo died. "I left them in charge with my kids, and I think they should be filed with neglect."
Agnes Hawkins did not return a call seeking comment. The number at Boyd-King's church, at 852 Adams St., was not accepting voicemails and she did not respond to an email.
Like any toddler, Juanzo "got into a lot of stuff," his mom said.
"He was a good baby," she said. "He loved playing with the alphabet magnets on the refrigerator."
Hawkins said her sister and Boyd-King moved to Camelot Manor about a year and a half ago and her children stayed there most weekends, going to Boyd-King's church with her sister on Fridays and Sundays. Hawkins' other children are Marina Hawkins, 7; Anthony Hawkins, 6; and Zamya Vargas, 2.
Shaffer, she said, was a member of the church, and while she knew he went to Camelot Manor on weekends, she wasn't aware that he was spending the night there as well, until Marina told her so at the Portage police station on Saturday.
Hawkins said her aunt called her around 9:15 a.m. Saturday to say Hawkins should call her sister, because Juanzo was having trouble breathing. As Hawkins headed to Camelot Manor, her sister called.
Hawkins headed to the mobile home park "because I thought my son was still there, and the police were already there and started asking questions." Juanzo was already gone, taken by ambulance to Porter Regional Hospital, where he was declared dead at 9:25 a.m.
An autopsy revealed hemorrhaging to Juanzo's head and eyes, as well as internal injuries, and determined he died of blunt force trauma two to six hours before police received an 8:22 a.m. 911 call made by Shaffer. According to charging documents, the doctor conducting the autopsy said, "it would take a great amount of force to cause the type of deep injuries he was observing."
Hawkins saw Shaffer a couple of times at the church in Gary when she dropped off her children, but didn't know him, and said she wouldn't have left her children with her sister and Boyd-King if she knew he was staying there.
To Hawkins' knowledge, Shaffer didn't hurt her other three children, but she thinks he might have hurt Juanzo before.
"Maybe three weeks before he died, he came home with a bruise on his forehead. I asked my daughter and she said he thought he fell, but I don't think that's the case," Hawkins said. "I think (Shaffer) has done this before, put his hands on my son before."
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)