Hit and run homicide
A hit and run are normally defined as being involved in a vehicle accident with either a pedestrian, another vehicle or an object and escaping from the scene without being identified or give any assistance to those in need. It is mostly defined by leaving the scene whether you caused the accident or not. However, if you return to the scene maybe you had gone to access emergency assistance will not be considered as a hit and run.
In a hit and run accident, there are several wound and injuries that are common and they assist in reconstructing the case and they include scalp lacerations or cuts, bruises abrasions, and scrapes on another part of the body like hands and face. There are also spinal cord injuries and torn and sprained ligaments. Additionally, brain concussions, swelling bleeding, and the blood clot are normally experienced in this scenario.
Lastly, there are fractures on the bones of the legs (tibia, fibula, and femur), ribs, arms, hips, and pelvis. Most of these injuries are experienced at the point of impact but others occur when the force of the impact propels the pedestrian into any other solid object which might be stationary (Basham, 2009).
When reconstructing the crime the rights and duties of the pedestrian to be considered include the following. The right of way in a crosswalk, sidewalks and highways, again, the pedestrian is subject to traffic lights, they must also maintain a proper lookout and be careful and reasonable even if they have the right of way as well as use their common senses. Finally, in a hit and run, homicide the driver is often careless but a time it’s the pedestrian who causes the accident for example in the case where the pedestrian is intoxicated jaywalking and failing to follow the traffic signals. Those caused by the motorist include lack of adherence to speed limits, distractions from cell phones and car failures (Basham, 2009).
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Sudden infant death syndrome is the unexpected and unexplained death of an infant below one year of age. Apparently, it normally occurs during sleep that makes it impossible to explain after serious investigations like a complete autopsy and the review of the circumstance of death (Sears, 2005). For the diagnosis to be made all the other probable causes of death must be excluding. It is tragic which is traumatic shock and experience to the parties involved.
When a child dies for an investigator to conclude that the cause of death is SIDS the following factors are should put into consideration. These factors increase the risk and they are involved simultaneously. First, an existing vulnerability of the infant, which might be due to low birth weight or premature birth, is a predisposing factor to SIDS. Secondly, a critical period of development between one and three months of age and lastly is an external stressing factor like if the baby is prone to sleep. It is therefore believed that a combination of premature cardio-respiratory system and failure to be aroused from sleep leads to death (Sears, 2005).
SIDS cannot be avoided completely but it can be reduced. The baby should always be placed to sleep in the supine position in the parental bedroom and the parent should avoid smoking. The baby should be exclusively breastfed. The mother should start the antenatal care early enough, the period between pregnancies should not be short and the baby should not sleep on soft bedding in the crib.
Carboxyhemoglobin and MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas
Carboxyhemoglobin is a stable form of carbon monoxide and hemoglobin that forms in the red blood cells when it meets carbon monoxide. It releases carbon monoxide slowly, which will make the availability if hemoglobin that is required to transport oxygen from lungs to the body scarce, which will eventually lead to death as it, causes gradual suffocation. This is called carbon monoxide poisoning (carboxy hemoglobinemia). The signs include dizziness, exhaustion, and unconsciousness.
MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas fire occurred in 1980 and it killed 87 people. The fire incident was due to an electric fault inside a wall socket. Outgassing studies was conducted on the tissue samples on inhaled soot. The results showed the value of carboxyhemoglobin in the samples were relatively higher than those reported by Clark County. However, there was high saturation of carboxyhemoglobin among the victims than that of Maryland fire incident case. It shows that toxic substances (Best et al., 1982) contributed the MGM grand hotel lethal nature of fire.
The deaths were caused by the inhalation of the smoke that spread to the upper floors of the hotel. This is because there were openings in the vertical elevators and stairways as well as the joints that allowed the toxic smoke to spread to upper floors. The disaster proved that during the fire incident smoke inhalation is more dangerous than the flames. It is because I the incident out of the 87 people who died 85 died due to smoke inhalation and poisoning from carbon monoxide. One person alone died due to burns from the flames and another one died from serious skull trauma because he jumped from a high window.
Death inside the well
A well is a hole that has been dug into the ground for accessing the groundwater. When one is inside a well, there are many likely causes of death like suffocation, starvation, dehydration or exposure to harmful substances or wild animals like deadly insects and d animal bites. Inside a well, there is normally poor ventilation that is dangerous due to the unsafe level of atmospheric contaminations or the level of oxygen is unsafe.
The children died inside the fifteen feet deep well but did not have any injury neither did they die of dehydration, exposure or starvation. It is because they might have died due to the loss of consciousness. Inside a well, there is normally insufficient supply of air and the victims are likely to suffocate. Moreover, gas asphyxiation is a probable cause of death. There are many underground gasses inside a well they cause dizziness and nausea that hampers the person's normal working. Therefore, it will lead to little or no supply of oxygen that makes victims stop breathing (Lewy, 2011).
In conclusion, all the wells that are no longer in use should be sealed by a licensed contractor because they are very risky to children especially those in open grounds.
Gunshot wounds
Gunshot wounds can be very traumatic and painful for the one injured. When somebody is shot by a gun, they are supposed to be stabilized and be taken to hospital as soon as possible. First aid is always important even though at that point one might not be able to access the level of damage but can control bleeding which may bring a difference between the life and death of the person involved. The bullets are small casings with powdered charge. When one shoots the bullet, it flies at very high speeds but varies depending on the actual bullet, weight, and the gun it has been shot from.
The victim that was shot in the thigh must have died due to excessive bleeding due to damage of her femoral artery. The victims are normally affected by shock and trauma due to the pain, injury, and blood loss. There are supposed to be kept warm or fan they if they are feeling warm and fever due to possible infection (Swan & Swan, 2006). The victim died because she did not get an emergency assistant for first aid and treatment. Therefore, she bled to death. When one is shot at the thigh, bleeding can be so severe and they develop pressure that is dangerous for their health.
The entrance of the wound had black marking due to a possible infection that occurs due to gunshots. Entrance wounds usually cause skin defect and with soot deposited within the depths of the wound causing the black markings. When one is shot at close range gunpowder is always evident at the entrance of the skin defect.
Moreover, close range gunshots leave smooth borders with round t oval defects. Therefore, the woman was shot at a close range and the femoral artery was damaged thus died due to excessive bleeding (Swan & Swan, 2006).
References
Basham, D. J. (2009). Traffic Accident Management. Springfield: Charles C Thomas.
Best, R., Demers, D., United States, United States, & National Fire Protection Association. (1982). Investigation report on the MGM Grand Hotel fire, Las Vegas, Nevada, November 21, 1980: Report revised January 15, 1982. Boston, Mass.: National Fire Protection Association.
Lewy, G. (2011). Assisted death in Europe and America: Four regimes and their lessons. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sears, W. (12005). SIDS: A parent's guide to understanding and preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Boston: Little, Brown.
Swan, K. G., & Swan, R. C. (2006). Gunshot wounds: Pathophysiology and management. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers.
