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Nancy Grace
Chicago Bank Robbers in Shootout With Security Guards/Baby Put in Microwave by Father Suffers Burns
Aired May 22, 2007 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight: EMTs race a Texas newborn baby girl to a local hospital, burns so severe the baby needs multiple skin grafts. Why? Her father, a would-be minister, becomes agitated when the baby cries, throwing her first on the bed, placing her second in the hotel refrigerator, third, in the hotel room safe, then ultimately into the microwave. And tonight, instead of protecting the baby, the mom defends her husband, claiming the devil is responsible. She wants him free tonight.
And also tonight, Tulsa child services too late, a 2-year-old boy punished with masking tape found on his hands and mouth, unconscious. Then the boy dies from so-called punishment, the day care fraught with a series of violations. Why wasn`t it shut down sooner, at least in time to save this boy`s life?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vicki Leigh Chiles told police 2-year-old Joshua Minton (ph) wouldn`t settle down for his nap. That`s when police believe she used masking tape to keep him quiet, a move that ultimately led to Joshua`s death. Chiles told police she left the boy alone in a room for several minutes, returned to find him unconscious. Now more parents are coming forward to Tulsa police complaining how their children were disciplined by once-trusted day care provider Vicki Leigh Chiles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First, breaking news. In Chicago, police and FBI on high alert. Three masked gunmen storm into a Chicago bank, open fire. In the last hour, one, a bank teller, reported dead, two others hospitalized. Lookout, a maroon Chevy Olds, stolen cash in hand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At about 9:30, approximately 9:30, 9:35 this morning, a robbery, armed robbery occurred here at the Illinois Federal Savings at 8700 South State. What we know from reviewing surveillance tape is that three subjects -- not four, but three subjects into the bank armed. One of the subjects took down one of the security guards, and took the weapon from the security guard. The other two subjects entered the bank. One of them jumped over a counter, and the other subject stands by. It appeared that one of the -- the other security guard in the bank fires at one of the -- fires at the offenders, and there`s an exchange of gunfire. During this exchange of gunfire is when our three victims are wounded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Chicago police and FBI on the lookout for three masked men who storm a Chicago bank, leaving one, the bank teller, dead. Out to Keith Oppenheim, CNN correspondent, in Chicago. What happened?
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nancy, I`m on Chicago`s south side, and behind me is Illinois Service (ph) Federal Bank. And behind that yellow tape, you can still see some police in the background guarding the bank. What they`re telling us is at 9:30 this morning, three suspects go into the bank. They are disguised and armed. And they disarm one of the security guards and then get into a firefight with a different security guard. And as a result of that firefight, police are telling us that a 73- year-old female customer was shot, a 40-year-old security guard was shot in the back and a 23-year-old male teller was shot.
We called the Cook County medical examiner`s office tonight, who confirmed that there was a young man shot at this bank. We believe that that is the male teller shot here. The bad guys got away in a getaway car, a Maroon Oldsmobile, police believe, probably from the late `80s, early `90s. And the FBI, Nancy, is now involved in this case, too, because of the violence of the whole thing, and they are offering a $50,000 reward for information that would lead to the apprehension of these subjects. Back to you.
GRACE: It`s my understanding, Keith Oppenheim, that this all happened in just four short minutes, all of these people going to work, going about their business, one dead, two in the hospital tonight. Tell me about the other two victims. The 73-year-old -- was that a retired schoolteacher?
OPPENHEIM: Both in critical condition, I`ll add. And I don`t know much about their backgrounds other than that they were in the midst of this fight. And you know, what I should tell you is that it`s not clear whether the firefight was started by a security guard or by the gunman. The CEO of this bank, Nancy, he thought that this was not started by the security guard because the guards are trained not to do that, basically let people get away with the money and everybody`s safe. But the police did not necessarily agree with that. They say they`re investigating whether or not initial fire was started by the...
GRACE: Excuse me, Keith? Keith...
OPPENHEIM: Yes, go ahead.
GRACE: Keith, no offense, but do I care who fired the first shot? I mean, let`s break it down. They were in the bank armed, masked, robbing the bank. If a security guard shot at them first, that certainly does not relieve them of any legal liability on murder and attempted murder!
Keith, a couple of quick questions. Joining us in Chicago -- in breaking news tonight, three armed and masked men storm a local bank. We just learned in the last hour one person dead, a young teller. Two others gunned down are in the hospital tonight but still alive. Keith Oppenheim is with us there in Chicago. Keith, a couple of quick questions. Do we know the approximate age of the assailants?
OPPENHEIM: No. They -- we don`t know their race. They were masked and disguised, believed to be young by police. And FBI are trying to figure out if at least one of them could have been involved and another bank robbery on May 10 in Chicago.
GRACE: OK. What I want to know right now is, do we know the age? Is that a no?
OPPENHEIM: No.
GRACE: Do we know the race?
OPPENHEIM: Do not know that.
GRACE: Do we know possibly the nationality? Did they speak?
OPPENHEIM: According to police, there were some exchanges between them and customers, but I don`t know their nationality.
GRACE: Keith, do we know if they used a note?
OPPENHEIM: Excuse me? One more time?
GRACE: A note. Was there a bank robbery note?
OPPENHEIM: I don`t know if there was a note. This was quick, four minutes...
GRACE: Yes, four minutes.
OPPENHEIM: ... and it happened very fast.
GRACE: OK. Keith Oppenheim is with us. Keith, don`t move a hair. Let`s unleash the lawyers. Along with them tonight, Don Clark, the former head of the FBI Houston bureau, the FBI on this case, as well.
Very quickly to you, Don Clark. Even though they were masked -- and I recall my first bank robbery case, totally disguised, could not make a visual identification of the robber -- that is typical in bank robberies. But bank robberies can be cracked. We also believe that one of the assailants took a shot in the back. OK. Where do we go, Don Clark?
DON CLARK, FORMER HEAD OF FBI HOUSTON BUREAU: Well, you know, they`ve got the right team on this. I talked to the people out in Chicago today. They`ve got their bank robbery task force consisting of FBI agents and police officers. And they`ll figure this out. They may not have seen faces or heard voices, but they`re going to hit the streets, Nancy, and that`s where it`s going to begin. The law enforcement people are. And they`re going to get the information from neighborhoods.
One thing is going to be a key is going to be that car. And no matter what happens, during a good enough -- a well enough investigated neighborhood, they`ll find out something from people outside. I guarantee you somebody saw something, and that`s where they`re going to work towards.
GRACE: Back to Keith Oppenheim, CNN Correspondent, joining us in Chicago. Keith, the car. How did we get that photo? Was that from bank surveillance? Let`s take a look at the car, Liz.
OPPENHEIM: Yes, there`s surveillance video of the car. We`ve got pictures of that. There`s also surveillance video that we don`t yet have of the suspects. And police say they are looking at that carefully now, and they hope to release it soon.
Before I throw it back to you, I just want to say that I talked to a mom right pretty much near where I`m standing this afternoon. Her daughter was working at the bank, Nancy, on her second day on the job, an 18-year- old girl who was just starting a college -- out of college job for the summer-type work. And she`s just second day on the job, and this happens around her. People around here are pretty traumatized by what`s taken place.
GRACE: I just thank God that she was not a shooting victim -- 18 years old. But we do know that the casualty is a 23-year-old young man, a bank teller there at the prime of his life. All over in just four minutes. There he is, minding his own business, working. The other two victims, "Chicago Tribune" reporting, is Earl Coleman (ph), a 48-year-old security guard and father of two, 73 years old, Dorothy Sanders, retired public schoolteacher, a mother of two, just a customer there in the bank when the bank was attacked by three unknown and masked assailants wielding guns. Liz, photo, please, of the car.
Don Clark, come on, give me some nuts and bolts. You`re the former fed. I already know, just as a practicing lawyer, that this photo can be enhanced. And by tonight, the FBI knows the make, the model and the year. I mean, that`s an excellent shot. And if they can`t figure that, they need to go back to first grade. So I know by now they know the make, model and year, and they should have gone throughout the area and seen who owns such a car. Hello! That`s step number one, don`t you think?
And what about the shot in the back? Shouldn`t they be alerting local hospitals and docs-in-a-box that there may be someone coming in with a wound to the back, Don Clark?
CLARK: Of course they are. You know, Nancy, they`re going to take all of these steps. They`ve got a bullet there that they can deal with. They`ve got people who may have seen something. Whether they saw faces or not, they saw something. And the biggest thing happens to be that car. And keep in mind, there are cameras throughout our banking facilities. So once they`ve finished with all of these photographs, I am confident that they`re going to be able to come up with an idea.
But the biggest thing, Nancy, is going to be hitting the streets and finding out, getting to people with information, informants, and find out who the heck these people are.
GRACE: I`m just sick. A 23-year-old young man, all right? This wasn`t a dope dealer. This wasn`t a ne`er-do-well in the wrong place at the wrong time. Here he is, working for a living at a bank as a bank teller. A 73-year-old retired schoolteacher, and the security guard. Those were the victims in this case. And tonight, these three are on the lam with the money.
I want to go out to a very special guest, as you all know by now, renowned in his field, Dr. Joshua Perper. He`s the medical examiner there in Florida, as you recall from the Anna Nicole Smith autopsy, and author of "When to Call the Doctor." Dr. Perper, thank you for being with us. If this guy took a shot to the back, even if it`s not serious, wouldn`t he have to go for medical treatment?
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, MEDICAL EXAMINER: Absolutely because if the bullet is still in him, it`s (INAUDIBLE) bleeding, and he`ll need medical treatment for sure.
GRACE: If he doesn`t get medical treatment and there`s some type of an infection, will he ultimately have to go to the hospital and have to get treatment?
PERPER: That`s unless they leave him somewhere and he dies of internal injury and bleeding.
GRACE: Very quickly, I want to go out to the lines. John in Utah. Hi, John.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my question was along those same lines, actually. I`m wondering, you know, if the suspects were wearing body armor, if there was any blood at the scene from the supposedly wounded person.
GRACE: Oh, John! Man, you`re a step ahead of me. You`re a step ahead of me. Keith Oppenheim, CNN correspondent. Is there any indication that these guys were wearing vests, bullet-proof vests?
OPPENHEIM: No indication of that so far. But one thing I want to add, from what one of your guests mentioned, is that there is a possibility of a temporary plate on the vehicle. Police didn`t give us a number yet. But that`s something that they`re working on. And so if they can give out those numbers sometime soon, that could make the car that much more important.
GRACE: Temporary plates? What do you mean by temporary plate? What would that look like in that area, Keith?
OPPENHEIM: They`re sort of, like, a paper plates, as opposed to the metal kind. And they have the typical number on them. But it`s an indication that it was not a set plate.
GRACE: Paper?
OPPENHEIM: And so it might be, you know, one way to figure out where this car is.
GRACE: Hey, Keith, was that paper plate in the rear window, or was it on the back where the tag should be?
OPPENHEIM: I`m not sure. Sometimes they`re taped on windows. But it might have been in the general plate area. But that`s as far as what we know from police so far, that they`re trying to get that number.
GRACE: I want to go back to Dr. Perper. Dr. Perper, if the guys were not wearing a vest, what type of severity wound would you expect this bank robber to have, the one that was shot in the back?
PERPER: Well, it depends what area of the back they were shot. If they were shot in the shoulder, it might evade an area of important organ. If it was shot in the heart, obviously, that`s not the case, because apparently, the assailant was able to leave. So it depends what exact area of the back was hit, if, indeed, they didn`t have a safety vest.
GRACE: And Dr. Perper, if the assailant does show up at a hospital, or a doc-in-the-box, will he be arrested immediately? How will that work in a hospital?
PERPER: Well, I`m sure that the -- he would get medical treatment, and the police would send a police officer to watch him.
GRACE: I want to unleash the lawyers right now. Joining us, Susan Moss, family law, attorney child advocate, Randy Zelin in New York, out of Atlanta jurisdiction, Darryl Cohen, Darryl former prosecutor, current defense attorney.
You and I both handled bank robbery cases. Mine, even I couldn`t tell it was him looking at the bank robbery photos. What about voice identification? How difficult is that?
DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think, Nancy, if they`ve gone to all of this trouble to disguise themselves that they`re going to be very difficult to have a voice ID. I`m guessing that they used some sort of Darth Vader, some sort of synthesized voice within themselves.
GRACE: Oh, man! But Darryl, in the heat of the moment, you think they`re going to able to stick to your Darth Vader theory? I mean, people are getting shot and they`re yelling out. I don`t see them using a voice disguise.
COHEN: Well, see, I think that you`re going to find that car was stolen. I think you`re going to find it was stolen off a used car lot, and I think these guys...
GRACE: Why do you say that?
COHEN: Because it`s got a paper plate, because it was parked in a very easy place to find it. And I`m guessing you`re going to find it, and it`s going to be discarded, and you`re going to find that it was taken off a used car lot or off a lot that sells used cars (INAUDIBLE) new car.
GRACE: You ought to consider being a lawyer. Keith Oppenheim, CNN correspondent, was there a fourth guy out in the car, or did they all three come in and all three go back out?
OPPENHEIM: That`s a great question. We asked the police that, and basically, they just said there were three of them that went into the bank. It does not sound...
GRACE: They`re not telling us.
OPPENHEIM: ... at this point like there was a fourth person. You know, I can`t say that for sure. In the beginning of this, Nancy, there was -- we were told that three, possibly four suspects, but then the police narrowed it down to just three.
GRACE: I find that very, very unusual not to have a wheel man, a getaway driver.
Everybody, we`re talking about a bank robbery that has just gone down in Chicago. The three masked gunmen are on the loose with their money. We believe one shot in the back. Tonight, one fatality already, a young man working there as a bank teller, just 23 years old. A 48-year-old security guard shot, a 73-year-old retired teacher, a customer shot.
Back to the lawyers, Susan Moss, Darryl Cohen, Randy Zelin. And to you, Randy Zelin. Keith Oppenheim was discussing who was shot first. If you`re prosecuting this case, do you care who opened fire? They deserve to be shot at, all three of these masked men!
RANDY ZELIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It doesn`t matter in the least for purposes of prosecution because of what`s called the felony murder rule. However, if you`re looking for someone to help cooperate, you would certainly like the guy who didn`t fire the shot to give up the guys who did fire the shot.
GRACE: I`ve got a surprise for you, Randy Zelin. This is not about cutting a deal. When they get these guys, they`re going to be dead in the water because they`re going to have the money, they`re going to have fingerprints all over this car.
Hey, Keith Oppenheim, CNN correspondent there in Chicago, any word on whether the assailants were wearing gloves?
OPPENHEIM: I did not hear whether they were wearing gloves or not. But obviously, if they were not, that would be a source for prints. And police have been all over this bank today. We saw evidence techs moving in and out throughout the day.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Lynnette in California. Hi, Lynnette.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. I want to catch these guys.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, definitely. First off, does this bank have dye packs? Has it been disclosed that the teller passed a dye pack?
GRACE: Keith, do we know, dye pack? Typically, a dye pack -- and correct me if I`m wrong, Lynnette. I think a dye pack was in my bank robbery. One of the first cakes of money they hand over to the assailants has a dye pack which will blow up. Do we know about a dye pack, Keith?
OPPENHEIM: Well, I don`t. On the other hand, keep in mind that this had more violence than it had money taken. Very little money was taken from this bank. So if there was a dye pack and the money was colored, that would help, but it`s not the main issue here. It`s the violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re looking for three offenders in dark clothing. They left in a late model maroon Buick Olds with temporary on the license plates. We`re working to find out who that car belongs to, and trying to -- we`re going to be working with the FBI to enhance the temporary plate on that vehicle so we can find out exactly who was driving the car.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The devil made him do it. That`s the story we`re hearing from the wife of a man who is charged with burning their infant daughter in a microwave.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The attack happened here at a Quality Inn in Galveston.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Asked us to call 911, claimed that the child had a bad sunburn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then the story changed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The father told the police supposedly that the -- that he had dropped hot water from the coffeemaker on the child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the injuries weren`t right, and her condition worsened. Police say Mauldin finally confessed to a crime that left an infant with third-degree burns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This would-be minister behind bars tonight, claiming that the devil forced him to cause second-degree burns on his baby girl, an infant. Let`s go straight out to Michael Shiloh, investigative reporter, joining us from Houston. What happened?
MICHAEL SHILOH, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, you can picture it. Almost two weeks ago, 2:00 o`clock in the morning on Thursday the 10th of May, you`ve got this man, 19-year-old Joshua Joyce Mauldin, in a motel room, alone with his 2-month-old daughter -- 2-month-old -- and he apparently got what he called later agitated, as he told police. He put the baby immediately into the safe that`s in the hotel there for about five seconds, he said. Then he took the baby out and closed the door on the refrigerator and kept the baby in there for, he said, five seconds, then took the baby and put the baby, a 2-month-old girl, in the microwave, turned it on for up to 20 seconds. That`s how she ended up with second- degree burns on her wrist and on her face.
GRACE: And then, in response to his claiming of some type of mental defect, according to police, he had the wherewithal to lie and make up various stories about how the little girl was burned?
SHILOH: That`s right. He initially said that there was hot water that was spilled on her, then it was coffee. Later told the police detective Holly Johnson that it was actually a microwave burn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten seconds was -- had come out earlier because that`s what he had told us. After further investigation, and what I had said on the stand was that this microwave doesn`t have a 10 seconds, it only has 8 to 10 minutes. So we`re not sure how long that the baby was in the microwave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, long enough to get second-degree burns all over her little body. Why do these people have a baby anyway? EMTs race a Texas newborn baby girl to a local hospital, burned so severe, she needs multiple skin grafts. Her father, a would-be minister, says he gets agitated, puts the baby on the bed, then in the hotel safe, then in the refrigerator. She ends up in the microwave, tonight in a hospital.
Out to the lines. Becky in Indiana. Hi, Becky.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. And we appreciate you so much.
GRACE: Thank you, Becky.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are wondering if the baby will have any brain damage?
GRACE: Oh, Becky, I hadn`t even thought of that. Again, you guys are a step ahead of me. To Dr. Joshua Perper. Doctor, what do you think?
PERPER: Well, there were tests done, radiological tests, which did not indicate internal damage beside the burns. But it`s really something which is unknown at that time. It may develop later. There may be a more subtle injury.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The devil made him do it. That`s the story we`re hearing from the wife of a man who is charged of burning their infant daughter in a microwave.
It was inside this hotel room, behind door 518, where police say the unimaginable happened. Last Thursday, 19-year-old Joshua Mauldin was alone with his 2-month-old baby girl when he called for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The father called down here, asked us to call 911, claimed that the child had a bad sunburn and was bleeding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mauldin later told police he accidentally spilled boiling water on the baby, but then his story changed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first time, was he tripped. He didn`t know he was drinking it, and he spilled it. So there was just too many inconsistencies. He just couldn`t keep his story straight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A tip then led investigators to the hotel room`s microwave, much like this one, where they discovered the baby had been placed inside. Mauldin later confessed, saying stress had led him to burn his own child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said the devil made him do it, but Joshua Mauldin himself has said, "I was stressed and that`s why I did it." What`s the real story?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wife insists that that`s not what he told cops at all, that he actually told police that, "I was down here, and the devil took me over." She insists it was a possession by Satan that led him to do the act that he did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: "The devil made me do it"? Sorry, fellow, but that is old and tired. It has been used plenty of times before you came along.
Back out to Michael Shiloh, investigative reporter. Michael, how did these people end up in Galveston to start with? And, also, what was the mom and her mother doing out getting supper at 2:00 a.m.?
MICHAEL SHILOH, INVESTIGATOR REPORTER: Well, as a reporter, I`ll leave it to you as far as what they were doing at that time of the morning. But, apparently, they just got hungry. According to what I found out from Warren, Arkansas, they moved to Galveston, because this man, Joshua Mauldin, had decided he was called by the Lord to become a preacher. For some reason, he felt that Galveston was the place to do that. They arrived just the day before this incident happened.
GRACE: Joining us right now by phone is Sergeant Annie Almendarez with the Galveston Police Department. She`s the head of the juvenile crimes unit.
Sergeant, it is a real pleasure to have you with us tonight. I understand this guy is saying the lord led him to Galveston. Did the lord also lead him to that prior domestic he had with his wife?
SGT. ANNIE ALMENDAREZ, GALVESTON P.D.: Well, there have been reports of that, that happened in Arkansas. His initial report was that the lord led him to Galveston because he wanted to be a minister, and that that was the place to do it.
GRACE: And did he make statements to police when he was arrested?
ALMENDAREZ: The statement he made to the police when he was arrested -- was the initial statement was he did not know what happened to his child. Once he arrived at the hospital, he told the police officer there that, "Yes, I spilled boiling water on my daughter trying to make coffee." So his story changed three times in that night.
GRACE: OK, hold on. Boiling water, trying to make coffee, didn`t know what happened. What`s the third story, Sergeant?
ALMENDAREZ: The third story was that he told the 911 operator, the operator at the hotel, this baby had severe sunburns. So basically he told three stories leading up prior to that night.
GRACE: Well, hold on to your hat, Sergeant, because, according to our sources, he also stated the little girl was walking toward the coffee machine and fell. She`s 2 months old -- you know, she must have been Super Baby to walk at 2 months -- and fell on the coffee machine and that burned her. So we think, Sergeant, that there are actually four different stories. I`m so glad you told me that.
Out to the lawyers, Randy Zelin, Darryl Cohen, Susan Moss, Susan Moss, the fact that he has the wherewithal to change his stories and lie complete -- in his own penal interest -- completely diffuses an insanity defense.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Absolutely. This guy`s defense, "The devil made me do it"? That hasn`t worked since Adam and the apple. There is no defense for what he did.
Apparently he put this child in great danger. She could have died. He should never see this child again. And I`ll tell you something more: Mom also should not have custody of this child. She is defending her husband and sticking by that story that the devil made him do it. This is outrageous. And these children -- this child is just where this child should be, in foster care.
GRACE: Out to Dr. Mark Hillman, psychotherapist and author, Dr. Hillman, why is she defending the husband?
MARK HILLMAN, CLINICAL PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, it`s a clear case of shared psychosis. She`s the one who scares me more. This guy has a history of violence...
GRACE: Yes, well, that`s because you haven`t been locked in a microwave, all right?
(LAUGHTER)
Wait, that`s not a joke. There is a 2-month-old baby. First of all, I didn`t get into all the facts, Dr. Hillman. First of all, he admits he throws her on the bed and beats the 2-month-old baby in the groin area. Then, because the baby`s still crying, he puts her in the refrigerator, shuts the door. Then he takes her out, puts her in the hotel safe, shuts the door, with the baby in the safe. I guess she`s still crying her head off. Then he puts her in the microwave.
HILLMAN: And Susan Moss is right. This guy should never see this child again, nor should the mother. That child should stay with the foster parents. I mean, this guy is an absolute lunatic, and so is the wife, absolutely.
GRACE: Take a listen to this, Mark Hillman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was inside this hotel room, behind door 518, where police say the unimaginable happened. Last Thursday, 19-year-old Joshua Mauldin was alone with his 2-month-old baby girl when he called for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The father called down here, asked us to call 911, claimed that the child had a bad sunburn and was bleeding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mauldin later told police he accidentally spilled boiling water on the baby, but then his story changed. A tip then led investigators to the hotel room`s microwave, much like this one, where they discovered the baby had been placed inside. Mauldin later confessed, saying stress had led him to burn his own child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, I don`t get it. Why don`t, when they`re stressed out, they burn themselves or commit suicide? Why do they always hurt the children? A 2-month-old baby, now second-degree burns all over her body by her father, a would-be minister.
I want to go out to the lines, Gloria in Nevada. Hi, Gloria.
CALLER: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: How are you, dear?
CALLER: Love your show.
GRACE: Thank you for watching.
CALLER: I see you every night, twice a night.
GRACE: Thank you.
CALLER: But the whole time, where was the mother the whole time?
GRACE: Oh, Gloria...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Gloria, a, she needs to be in jail, Gloria, Gloria in Nevada. But according to police, she -- and her mother was traveling with them, the three of them and the baby -- they go out at 2:00 a.m. to get dinner, 2:00 a.m. She was not there to protect the baby.
To Mark in West Virginia. Hi, Mark. Mark?
CALLER: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: Hey, I hear the TV on. What`s your question, dear?
CALLER: My question is, if the baby was in the microwave long enough for third-degree burns, what about the rest of the internal organs?
GRACE: You know, that was my initial question, because I thought microwaves cook from the inside out. Am I wrong about that, Dr. Perper?
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, BROWARD COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER: No, there are cases -- if the child touches the element inside the microwave oven, that`s when they get the burns, in this case, on the left side of the face and on the hand. But otherwise, the skin might be quite intact, and the damage might be inside.
GRACE: Dr. Perper, just -- sometimes I look back at all the cases I`ve handled, and I`m stunned. But all of your cases are homicide or death cases. How do you keep going when you see case after case after case like this?
PERPER: Well, some of the cases are extremely said. And when children are involved, we obviously feel very bad about it, in spite of the fact that we see a lot of unnatural death.
GRACE: This one in particular, when I think about what all he allegedly did to the baby girl.
Out to the lines. Joining us, a special guest, Charles Kaufmann. In his first statement, this is Joshua Mauldin`s defense attorney speaking tonight.
Mr. Kaufmann, thank you for being with us. We know of your reputation. You`re an experienced trial lawyer. I understand that you actually wanted a bond reduction for your client, is that correct?
CHARLES KAUFMANN, ATTORNEY: Correct.
GRACE: I thought you said he had mental problems?
KAUFMANN: Well, I think that he does, but the family felt that they wanted to make an effort to have him removed from incarceration.
GRACE: Well, if he`s a danger to himself and others, which is apparently going to be your defense, why would you want him out?
KAUFMANN: Well, as I said, I did it on behalf of the family. If you had had someone there, you would have heard the exchange between myself and Judge Criss, in which I said that it was my opinion that he was probably better where he was, that he would be available for psychiatric examination, and that`s why I did not press the issue that hard. Judge Criss agreed with me and did not reduce the bond.
GRACE: Mr. Kaufmann, you are living up to your excellent reputation. Thank you for sharing that with me.
Very quickly to Gwen Carter with Child Protective Services Galveston. Ms. Carter, where is the child tonight?
GWEN CARTER, SPOKESWOMAN, CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES: She`s in a foster home. She`s in a foster home that`s able to take care of any follow-up regarding her burns, and to see if there are any delays as a result of her abuse.
GRACE: Ms. Carter, is there any way to keep this child away from these parents?
CARTER: We have a mediation tomorrow, and we will be discussing the plan to keep the child safe. Our goal is to make sure that she`s safe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just minutes before the state was to shut down the home day care center, owner Vickie Chiles placed a call to 911 reporting an unresponsive child. Police allege the 2-year-old boy had masking tape placed over his mouth by his day care provider. State officials arrived a short time after with an order to close the day care from previous complaints, but they didn`t come soon enough. Joshua Minton died hours later at St. Francis Hospital. Preliminary reports say Joshua may have suffocated to death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Call to child services too late. A 2-year-old little boy dies after being punished with masking tape at a local day care. As it turns out, the day care was fraught with a series of violations. Why wasn`t it shut down sooner, in time to save this little boy`s life? Tonight, we want answers.
Out to you, Michael Shiloh. Tell me what happened.
SHILOH: Well, what happened essentially was that you have a day care center there being run by 42-year-old Vickie Chiles who had some -- well, some violations, let`s say. Now, the police said that these were not verifiable violations, but they were already onto her anyway. Now they come around with finding out that she had a felony, injury to a child. So they went...
GRACE: Hold on, Michael. We`re taking a look at the alleged violations, abuse and neglect, sex abuse, unsubstantiated, physical, unsubstantiated, inappropriate behavior, spanking used by assistant. And there`s more than that. There`s an incident where she allegedly chased one of the children around, beating them with a fly swatter.
SHILOH: And spanked them with a fly swatter, that`s right, 12 times.
GRACE: Have I missed anything?
SHILOH: No, because that`s what caused them to go out to her day care center and close it down. The problem was, when they got to the day care center, the child was on the floor. She was trying to perform CPR and trying to get 911 there with the child immediately taken to a hospital, who died a short time later.
GRACE: Joining us now with the "Oklahoman," Chad Previch. Chad, thank you for being with us. So is it correct that this woman, Vickie Chiles -- who, listen, she`s no fragile flower. She`s 6`1", 240 pounds. She should be a linebacker. Chad, she was punishing the little boy for I guess being rambunctious by binding him with masking tape?
CHAD PREVICH, REPORTER, "OKLAHOMAN": Right. From the arrest report we obtained, Chiles told police that Joshua would not be quiet during naptime, so what she decided to do was use some tape to bound him, and his mouth and his hands, so he basically would be quiet during that time.
GRACE: And I guess binding him on the mouth was the cause of the fatality?
PREVICH: Right. What we received right now is the unofficial report, is that a suffocation was the cause of death, but we will not know that for maybe a month or two.
GRACE: Joining me right now is a very special guest. I want to introduce to you Margie McDonald. This is Joshua Minton`s grandmother.
Ms. McDonald, we have been praying for you and thinking of you and your family ever since we heard about what happened to your grandson. And we are so very sorry. How is his mom and dad tonight?
MAGGIE MCDONALD, GRANDMOTHER OF 2-YEAR-OLD TODDLER: Oh, we`re just so devastated. And Robert and Katie are just -- it`s indescribable what my son has went through. Our family`s been through so much, and our hearts are just broken. And we cannot understand how anyone could do this to a child, I mean, any child, and we love our babies. And I just don`t understand.
GRACE: Ms. McDonald, I don`t, either. Now, did Joshua have a sibling there, also?
MOSS: Yes. I took my son to get Heather, and this woman came up to my car while we was there picking her up. She got out of the police car, walked over to my car, had the nerve to look at my baby granddaughter sitting in the back seat, and she said, "I love you, baby." And I don`t know how she could do that after knowing she had just killed her brother.
GRACE: Miss McDonald, I don`t, either.
Tonight, we want justice. When we come back, Joshua`s grandmother, and also with us, the assistant D.A. in charge of this case.
But first, "CNN Heroes."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I was 10 years old, I decided to run away from home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve been on the streets from 12 until 20.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it`s scary living on the streets. There are so many drugs, and it`s violent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I sleep in an abandoned house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was taken away from my parents when I was like 10 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad dropped me off at a Dumpster. He told me, "Don`t even think about going back home."
RANDY CHRISTENSEN, DOCTOR: There are as many as 5,000 to 10,000 kids on the streets of Arizona. We turn our heads. We don`t look at them in their eyes. Many of the kids are truly forgotten.
I`m Dr. Randy Christensen. I`m the medical director for the Crews`n Healthmobile. We take care of kids on the streets through a medical mobile van. Everything that would be in a regular doctor`s office is on the van. All the kids that are seen by us are seen free of charge.
Did you need anything? Did you need a new backpack?
I`ve never really been about the money. I went to medical school thinking that I was going to be a surgeon, but everything that made me stop and think had to do with children and adolescents. I chose to come out on the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Christensen, he makes it to where people actually want to come back and actually want to get help.
CHRISTENSEN: We pull up in the van, and within five to 10 minutes, there`s 20 or 30 kids coming out of every different alley or different street. You get out there, and you see some of these kids, and you talk to them, and you give them a little bit of dignity and respect, and all of a sudden they open up. It`s like a light bulb goes on, and they want to talk, and they want to tell you their story.
Here, let me listen to you. I think you might have pneumonia. Take a deep breath.
They still have that gleam of hope in their eyes. It`s that hope that gives you hope. And at the very end, they give you a very big hug, and they say, "Thank you." And that means the most to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Tonight, a Tulsa child punished in day care by masking tape dies. I want to go out to the assistant D.A. handling the case, Brandon Whitworth.
Brandon, thank you very much for sharing with us tonight. What did she, Ms. Vickie Chiles, tell police happened to the baby?
BRANDON WHITWORTH, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, at this point in time, as you know, there`s some ethical obligations regarding what we can comment on publicly. It is our understanding that she did make a statement. But as far as getting into the specifics of that statement, we really can`t talk about that at this point in time in the investigation.
GRACE: What is the charge right now?
WHITWORTH: Well, she was arrested on an active felony warrant for child abuse. Then she was also arrested for the incident involving Joshua for child abuse. And then, when he passed away a few hours later, that was amended to first-degree murder. And that`s what she`s in the county jail on right now.
GRACE: What`s the possible penalty?
WHITWORTH: For the child abuse, that carries up to life. And for first-degree murder, in Oklahoma, first-degree murders carry life in prison, life without parole, or the death penalty.
GRACE: What`s your mode of death penalty, electric chair?
WHITWORTH: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: Lethal injection?
WHITWORTH: Lethal injection, yes.
GRACE: With us, Brandon Whitworth, on the case there with the Tulsa D.A.`s office. He`s an assistant D.A. there.
I want to go back to Margie McDonald. This is Joshua`s grandmother. Ms. McDonald...
MCDONALD: Yes?
GRACE: ... I can`t imagine what your family is going through. What about the little sister that was actually there when this happened?
MCDONALD: She`s 4 years old.
GRACE: Yes.
MCDONALD: And I just don`t think she understands quite what`s happened to her brother. We`ve been trying to tell her that he`s an angel, and that he`s with his grandma, and that, you know, he`s going to be OK, that she`ll never get to play with him again. And she just doesn`t understand. She`s just little.
GRACE: Liz, could you please put up the address for the memorial fund again for Joshua? There you go, in memory of Joshua Minton.
Let`s stop to remember tonight Army Private First Class Daniel Courneya, 19, Nashville, Michigan, killed Iraq. Loved track, soccer, clarinet. Wrote home often to his widow. Dreamed of starting a family. Leaves behind mom, Wendy, sister, Autumn. Daniel Courneya, American hero.
Thank you for being with us. And a special good night from two friends of the show, Wes and George. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
