Raechel Austin

 

 

 

 

 

 

On December 7, 1989 Rayfield Austin brought his daughter Raechel to Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey with red marks on her face which resembled a handprint, indicating that he slapped her. When Austin was originally asked for an explanation of the marks, he failed to respond, causing the hospital to notify the state's Department of Children and Family Services of suspected child abuse. The infant's former pediatrician at Ingalls, Dr. Charles Goldenberg, said that Austin later told him he had gently slapped Raechel after he noticed she wasn't breathing. However, "it looked like it was more than a slap," Goldenberg said. This incident was called a "red herring" meant to inflame the slap was "consistent with a parent who's trying to get his kid to wake up." He pointed out that Austin brought Raechel to Ingalls even though she had been revived.

 

Raechel was kept at Ingalls until December 11, when the DCFS authorized her discharge. During her stay at the hospital, she never suffered from any breathing difficulties, Goldenberg said. After Raechel was discharged, her mother, Melissa Austin, left her at a baby sitter's house in Harvey on nights she was scheduled to work. In 1989, she was working night shifts as an emergency room nurse. However, on the evening of December 21, Melissa left Raechel in the care of her husband, according to the baby sitter, Donna Williams. On December 22 at about 5:45 a.m., police and paramedics responded to a 911 emergency call at Austin's residence. Officers say Rayfield was the only person in the house with his daughter.

 

Austin fatally squeezed and shook Raechel in their apartment on December 22, 1989. Raechel died the following day at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. The medical examiner's office had determined that Raechel died of "shaken baby syndrome," suffering brain damage, retinal hemorrhaging and rib fractures. Austin was convicted of murdering his daughter. He was given a life sentence in prison.