Probation officer gives office BJ to boot-camp teen
Douchebags of the Week: Matthew Higa Guilty of Throwing Child Off Bridge
Monday, February 15, 2010 at 9:00 am
In this edition of Douchebags of the Week we meet the 2010 recruiting class of Hell's shuffleboard team, led by meth-smoking baby-sitter Matthew Higa of Honolulu. But first let's say hello to his teammates...
5) Joshua Alger
Two Happy Meals took an unhappy turn when a Colorado Springs father passed out piss-drunk on a bench in a McDonald's Playland during an afternoon out with his kids in January.
Joshua Alger, 28, was awakened by friendly officers, who called for backup from Mrs. Alger upon learning that a warrant had previously been issued for Dad's ass for failing to appear in court on obstruction of justice charges.
That's when Alger offered up a teachable moment by inviting his progeny to "bite the officers' faces off." He ignored police commands and kicked an officer in the face before finally being tasered and arrested for felonious assault of a cop, resisting arrest, and pot possession.
4) Corrina Davis
Nobody does childcare on a budget like young Corrina Davis of Mesa, Arizona.
Maricopa County Sheriff's Constable Fred Arnett stopped by the Davis residence to serve an eviction notice last month when he found Davis's two-year-old son home alone -- locked in a closet. The boy was curled into a fetal position with a chipped tooth, bruises across his face, ears, and lips, and blood coming from his genitals.
"He was so floppy and so lifeless, it was just like he had given up," Arnett told KPHO TV. He also found a dog at the home that appeared to have been mistreated, though not so badly as the boy.
Davis, 21, called her son "clumsy" and admitted that she locks him in the closet while she goes to work, theoretically for his own good.
She wasn't so quick to reveal her workplace, however: Local ads in Phoenix New Times reveal that Davis offers escort services on location and at her home office.
She has been charged with two counts of felony child abuse. The boy is in protective custody.
3) Zachariah Hooper
In happier days, brothers Zachariah and Jeremiah Hooper would spend their quality time throwing punches and thrusting knives at one another.
But on January 26, the Alton, Texas brothers' final squabble broke out over who would get to use the bathroom first. Family members separated the two, but Zachariah returned with a revolver and shot Jeremiah, 22, in the neck. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital, thus surrendering all future bathroom rights to his brother.
Zachariah, 20, has been charged with murder and is not cooperating with investigators, according to Hidalgo County sheriff Lupe Trevino.
"He lawyered up and clammed up," Trevino told KRGV TV. "We will just work with the evidence gathered at the scene and witness statements."
Zachariah is being held at the Hidalgo County Jail, where his mother is an employee.
2) Aaron Pace
Calming a crying child can be a complex game of trial and error. Or if you happen to be Aaron Pace, it's pretty much just error with trial pending.
Police in Philadelphia say the 33-year-old baby-sitter got creative when the 20-month-old boy in his care would not stop crying: Pace doused a rag with highly caustic drain cleaner and slathered it onto the tot's arms.
When relatives of Pace noticed the severe chemical burns and presumably the continued crying, they rushed the boy to a local hospital. He died on February 7, five days after suffering his injuries.
Pace faces murder charges, which will render him unavailable for baby-sitting duties until further notice.
1) Matthew Higa
If even one relative of Cyrus Belt had not been a hopeless meth freak, perhaps he would still be alive today.
Back in January 2008, Cyrus's mother handed him off to his father so she could enjoy a meth-smoking bender. Unfortunately, Dad and friend Matthew Higa had meth plans of their own that day.
Last week, a jury in Hawaii found Higa guilty of murder for throwing the 23-month-old boy over a highway bridge while high on drugs.
Witnesses said Cyrus looked like a ragdoll when he was tossed from the three-story overpass. He landed on the pavement and was run over by a delivery truck.
Higa's defense team claimed the airborne boy looked so limp because he had already been killed by someone else, which still wouldn't explain the part about throwing a corpse off a bridge. Hawaii state law prohibits a defense of drug-induced mental incapacity, which would appear to have been Higa's strongest play.
He is expected to be sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole; a sentencing date has not yet been set.
Dig in to last week's Douchebags: Dr. Yazeed Essa Charged With Poisoning Wife, Fleeing Country.
Tags: Douchebags of the Week
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