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Bahamas: Daniel Wayne Smith - Late Son Of Former Playboy Playmate And Guess Model Anna Nicole Smith (Deceased) Coroner's Inquest Resumes
Related to country: Bahamas

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Inquest Resumes Into Death of Anna Nicole Smith’s Son:
By TOSHEENA ROBINSON-BLAIR -
Nassau, Bahamas:


A Coroner’s Court on Tuesday heard how pregnant U.S. reality T.V. star Anna Nicole Smith traveled with a satchel of prescription drugs – including methadone – a narcotic that two toxicologists’ reports indicated caused her son’s death in September 2006.

South Carolina real estate developer, Ford Shelley, told the court that when he and his wife unpacked Ms. Smith’s belongings when she came for a visit in May 2006, he saw a pharmaceutically labeled bottle of methadone belonging to the former Playboy Playmate.

He testified that she had the drug in both the tablet and liquid form and that Ms. Smith traveled with a Coach duffle bag filled with her “medication.”

Methadone is used to wean heroine addicts from their addiction. It is also used as a pain killer.

“I never saw Anna personally take any of the medication. She told us what she was taking. I was concerned because of her pregnancy,” Mr. Shelley told the court Tuesday.

He said the prescription drugs were made out to more than three different aliases that Ms. Smith used.

Mr. Shelley and his father-in-law, G. Ben Thompson, have been involved in legal wrangling with the Anna Nicole Smith estate over ownership of the Eastern Road Horizon home where the former starlet stayed while she resided here.

The litigation began before Ms. Smith died almost a year ago.

Mr. Shelley also told the court about witnessing Ms. Smith’s long-term companion, Howard K. Stern, find two pills in the jeans of her son (Daniel Smith) shortly after he died.

“He walked into the bathroom and flushed the two pills. I asked Howard what he had done and Howard said he ‘took care of a problem’,” Mr. Shelley recalled.

He said as far as he knew Daniel was not suicidal.

The real estate developer testified that Ms. Smith had stayed at his home in Myrtle Beach, the Florida Keys and in The Bahamas to get away from the media.

He said Ms. Smith had “a high-risk pregnancy” and did not want to have to deal with her baby’s father, Larry Birkhead.

Mr. Shelley told the court that Daniel was “a brilliant” and “awesome” kid, who loved his mother, but couldn’t handle her fame.

He remembered Daniel as “being afraid of his own shadow” and said he would never kill himself.

Under cross-examination, Mr. Stern’s attorney Wayne Munroe painted Daniel as a young man who suffered from serious depression and had recently broken up with his girlfriend.

Mr. Shelley’s testimony regarding the likelihood of Daniel’s death being a suicide conflicted with the evidence given by Dr. Lee Hern of the Medical Examiner’s Office in Miami Dade County.

Dr. Hern told the court that, “clearly the methadone was the key in understanding this death.”

“But for the methadone he would not have died.”

Asked by Director of Public Prosecutions, Bernard Turner, whether he thought the drug consumption was deliberate or unintentional, in his expert opinion, Dr. Hern said there was “a high degree of probability” that it was “an intentional ingestion.”

Substantiating his claim he pointed to the large amount ingested over a short period of time.

However, he said in order to determine whether a suicide occurred officials would have to look at other things like statements to the family and the history of the deceased.

Mr. Munroe pointed out that Daniel was on pre scri ption anti-depressants, was previously hospitalized for pain in July 2006 and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit suffering from “serious depression.”

Daniel died in his mother’s Doctors Hospital room on Sunday, September 10, 2006 – three days after his mother gave birth to her second child.

Two toxicology reports – one produced by Dr. Hern’s office – indicated that Daniel had a combination of eight drugs in his system – a mixture of anti-depressants and stimulants.

Dr. Hern told the court that Daniel likely took the methadone tablets around 5:30am and 20 to 30 minutes later he would have become lethargic, enter into progressively deeper sleep and died two to three hours later.

Previous testimony from hospital officials indicated that a code blue alert went out for the young man around 9:40am.

30 January 2008

January 30, 2008 | 11:12 PM Comments  0 comments



Effective Child-rearing Tips
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Child-rearing tips that work:
By Kermit B. Fernander, Guardian Lifestyles Reporter -
Nassau, Bahamas:



Raising children requires such vital and varied skills that parents and families need all the help and support they can get. Dr. Ruth Peters, a clinical psychologist and an expert on parenting, has come up with five parenting tips that work.

She is not suggesting that parenting methods used in the past have been either right or wrong; but she is advising parents to think about and assess what has worked well with their child, and what has not.

Don't major in the minors:

In other words, don't sweat the small stuff. Don't knock yourself out over petty things that leave you so emotionally drained and exhausted, you are incapable of tackling the important issues.

"If it won't have a lasting effect beyond a few days, let it go ... I've never heard of a kid being harmed by skipping the tooth brushing for a few nights, or by not using soap in the shower, or by the bed actually being made only on sheet-changing days," Dr. Peters says

She further suggests that parents focus on the important things, which may be quite different from your neighbor's list of priorities. For example, you may decide that having dinner together as a family three or four times a week may improve channels of communication, and provide the kids with some nutritious meals — apart from pizza and burgers.

It may be that issues around cell phone usage, not sneaking around, being where you say you will be, and abstaining from alcohol and drugs will carry more weight than other issues. "Roll with the requests, compromise when possible, but stick to your guns on the big stuff," says Dr. Peters.

Imagine that the activities in your home are being recorded by video or DVD:

How would you like your associates and friends to see your home videos, and get a real look at how your family members treat each other? According to Dr. Peters: "Being 'on tape' is a great motivator for watching your language (knocking off the negative tone of voice, requesting rather than demanding, cleaning up the four-letter words, and just being more polite with your spouse and the kids)."

She goes one step further by suggesting you actually set up a camcorder one evening when everyone is at home, then view the family production. The results might not be what you would want your colleague at the office to see or — God forbid — your mother-in-law, but, "at the very least, it's a fun activity, and hopefully you will see where some improvements in common courtesy, politeness and body language need to occur."

Put guilt where it belongs — in the trash can:

While parents generally hate to disappoint their children — and saying 'no' to a child is a disappointment — it can also be a learning opportunity. "Children must learn to tolerate frustration, to learn to work for greater goals rather than expect all to come to them in the present, and to evolve into a being that accepts and understands another's point of view."

If we must disappoint our children, so be it. However, the worst thing a parent can do is give in to the child's request just to avoid feeling bad about having to disappoint. "Kids are resilient and it's really difficult to get them down, and they are often pros at knowing how to push your guilt button proficiently," says Dr. Peters:

When a punishment did not work last year, try something else:

You may have tried time-out or limiting your child's TV time, but with poor results. If this is the case, try thinking out of the box. Your kid may, in fact, not be terribly interested in TV! It's up to you to discover their true interests. These vary, of course, but may include anything from collecting baseball cards, buckles, or costume jewelry to renting a DVD or video game, and most kids will enjoy earning such rewards.

As far as time-out is concerned, Dr. Peters says 10 minutes in bedroom time-out is generally a waste of time, but half hour in a safe, boring spot (empty hallway, safe bathroom, utility room with no chemicals or dangerous objects) generally will get the kid's attention.

Teach compassion and gratitude as you would Math and Reading:

Dr. Peters suggests that having a high Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is great, but it's more important for your child to have a high Emotional Quotient (EQ). Acquiring emotional balance will help the child to better cope with the demands of adulthood, such as getting along in the workplace, relating to a spouse or raising children when the time comes.

"We all want our children to be bright and literate and to achieve to their capacity in the academic setting. But how about in their hearts, souls and value systems? Dr. Peters further recommends that parents "take time to discuss with the child right from wrong, how it feels to be in someone else's shoes, why people make the decisions they do, and the consequences (good and bad) that result."

Teaching the child about helping others, especially the less fortunate is most important, and Dr. Peters suggests visiting, reading to or playing games with residents at a nursing home. To drive home the principle that charity begins at home, parents might consider organizing a patio sale and donating the profits to a favorite charity.