My name is Hernani Ames. I am originally from Peru and I am married to Trudy Munoz Rueda. We have two wonderful daughters, Renata who is 13 and Jimena who is 5. Like many before us, we came to this country to look for a better life and to contribute our best skills and talents to this great country. My wife Trudy worked as a teacher prior to coming here. It has been almost eight years since we came to the United States and over time we have come to love this country as our own.
We are a happy family………..or rather, we were until the 20th of April, 2009.
Trudy and our two daughters
My beloved wife, Trudy, ran a licensed children’s daycare in Fairfax County, Virginia. During the five years that she operated this daycare, she poured every once of energy into the care of these children to ensure that this was not just a “place to spend the day”, but a safe, fun and loving environment. Day after day, she lovingly changed diapers, soothed crying babies, and provided for the needs of the different age groups in her care. The time she spent on her feet took its toll and many nights she went to bed with aching feet, but a full heart for her reward was in the loving touch of each child, a smile, a hug and the memory of each baby’s face as she soothed, rocked and bottle fed each one until they finally slept contentedly in her arms.
Many of the children who have been in Trudy’s care now are successful students in the school system, in part because of the care which Trudy provided. The parents who employed Trudy have been extremely grateful for the high level of professionalism and peace of mind that they could expect from Trudy. Even the children that Trudy cared for, who are now older and in school, still speak of her with great fondness and affection because of the compassion, patience and kindness Trudy gave to each of them.
On the April 20th, an emergency situation arose when a four month old infant in Trudy’s care suddenly stopped breathing as she was feeding him a milk bottle. His arm and legs became limb. Trudy immediately responded by performing CPR on the infant and calling for emergency help at 911.
Through Trudy’s efforts, she was able to resuscitate the infant who began breathing about the time the paramedics arrived at her house. The paramedics then continue to work to stabilize the baby and then transported the infant to the hospital. The police arrived shortly thereafter and immediately interviewed Trudy for several hours and took photographs of the house.
On Monday the April 20th, our family that had been filled with happiness, hope and in pursuit of many dreams began what would be the beginnings of a nightmare without end, a nightmare , which has filled our home with anguish, uncertainty and despair.
The following day, a new the police detective returned with a social worker form Child Protective Services to continue the investigation of the case. Trudy welcomed them into her home with the graciousness that has always come naturally to her. They questioned Trudy for approximately five tense hours during which the police insisted that Trudy “tell the truth” because “the infant’s condition was worsening with each passing minute”. Trudy made every effort to answer each questions as accurately as possible. She further demonstrated to them how she had carefully pick-up the baby when he was crying and how she attempted to comfort him by offering him a milk bottle. At the end of the five hour interrogation, the police detective declared that Trudy had confessed to “shaking the baby” presumably violently and thus she was subsequently charged with child abuse and arrested. We were stunt by such conclusion because at not time had Trudy stated or admitted to violently shaken the baby and her demonstrations to the police investigators clearly showed how careful and gentle she had been in holding the baby.
Once arrested, Trudy, who has never been arrested for any offenses anywhere, requested that she be release on bond through her attorney. Unfortunately, the presiding judge deny her bond due to the seriousness of the charge and because the presiding judge considers Trudy a high flight risk. Thus, since April of this year, she has been behind bars and unable to see us-her husband and children- while she is awaiting trial. Words can not describe the anxiety my children undergo on a daily basis worrying about their beloved mother who is detained and the uncertainty of her fate. Our lives that were once so happy are now filled with heartache and despair.
All of us who know Trudy, including the parents who for years have entrusted their children to her care, know that Trudy is a kind woman with the patience of an angel. She is simply incapable of harming anyone, especially a child. In a critical moment, Trudy reacted quickly and with valor-she resuscitated an unconscious infant. From the very beginning of this tragic incident we have prayed, not just for Trudy, but for the full and complete recovery of this child. We ask that everyone joins us in our daily prayers for his full recovery and for the truth to be known, for we understand that this child and our daughters are the ones most affected by this drama.
Now Trudy sits in jail wrongly and unjustly accused of injuring the very child whose life she saved. How can we be so certain that Trudy is innocent? Because she never did anything to the infant that could have possibly caused any harm to the child. She did not use any violent force against this innocent and beautiful child.
Unfortunately, the police and medical examiners are relying on an outdated and scientifically unsound medical diagnosis to accuse Trudy, it is called : Shaken Baby Syndrome. Under this medical diagnosis, a child is said to have been forcefully shaken when there is retinal bleeding, bleeding in the protective layer of the brain (subdural hematoma) and brain swelling. A shaken baby syndrome diagnosis may be given even when there are no external signs of any violence against the child, such as fracture of the ribs or other bones, bruises, signs of impact to the head, injury to the neck muscles or bones or even plain red marks on the baby’s body. Thus, solely on the presence of a diagnostic triad anyone can be accused of violence against a child. New scientific evidence has cast serious doubts on the reliability of this medical diagnosis, especially when there are no external signs of physical abuse to the child and no evidence of impact to the head. More and more doctors, scientists and legal scholars are speaking out against the injustice of prosecuting a person on the basis of such dubious medical diagnosis.
Although under our legal system a person is innocent until proven guilty, in these types of cases there is only one way to bring the truth to the forefront and that is to hire the best possible medical experts and scientist who have actually study the mechanics and underlying pathology of these types of head injuries to testify at trial. The State has at their disposal an arsenal of expert witnesses, specialists and doctors while my humble family must bear alone the cost of providing for our beloved Trudy with the medical experts she needs to prove her innocence.
We have exhausted our family’s resources and all of our savings in our attempt to save my wife. The truth, however difficult to attain, must prevail. As a free and just society, we can not allow the life of an innocent woman, a wife, a mother and a member of our community to be destroyed because the police and doctors are relying on faulty and outdated science. Trudy is innocent. She harmed no one. That we know. Thus, we have faith in her release as her children who are bereft without their mother’s love, long for her smile, her embrace and her calm presence that imbued our home with the happiness we all took for granted until this nightmare began. We need your support. We need the support of our family, of our friends and every person, where ever they may be, who truly cares about truth and justice during this most difficult time for our family for we may have exhausted our financial resources, but our faith remains strong.
May God bless all of you.
