[CO] Officer O'Shell murder-suicide update: Baby Alyssa has died

...Jackie Cuin, Tiffany's mother, provided a copy of an e-mail from a doctor at the University of Utah Department of Pediatrics, who reviewed Alyssa's x-rays and determined the "fractures are consistent" with spinal muscular atrophy... But even after Alyssa died from the disease this week, Commerce City police still say Dave O'Shell abused his daughter... By the time Alyssa's tests came back, however, Dave O'Shell had shot his wife to death as she slept then put the barrels of two guns in his mouth and pulled both triggers...

Previous entries:

• [CO] Murder-suicide: Officer O'Shell & recently-resigned Officer O'Shell
• ...The Lakewood Police Department says William O'Shell was an officer with the Lakewood Police since March 2005 in the patrol division. They say Tiffany Cuin-O'Shell was an officer from April 2006 to September 2007...
• [CO] It was Officer O'Shell who pulled the triggers - simultaneously - Lakewood police officer William O'Shell killed his wife, Tiffany Cuinn O'Shell, and himself in a murder-suicide last month near Commerce City. That was the conclusion reached by Commerce City police after autopsy results were completed...

Baby wasn't abused by cop dad; she died of fatal malady
Rocky Mountain News
By Judi Villa, Rocky Mountain News
Published October 31, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
[Excerpts] If only Dave O'Shell had hung on just a bit longer. Just a couple more days and tests would have proved he was innocent. O'Shell, a Lakewood police officer, was suspected of abusing his 3-month-old daughter. Baby Alyssa had been taken away. O'Shell's wife, Tiffany, had been advised to divorce him if she ever wanted to get her daughter back. O'Shell, pressured to confess, believed he was about to be arrested for something he didn't do. "I think he snapped," said Jackie Cuin, Tiffany's mother. "Nobody was giving him any hope," said Paul Cuin, Tiffany's father... At a court hearing two days after the deaths, Alyssa's foster mother said she had noticed something wrong with the baby. Genetic tests were ordered. The results came back the day after the Cuins buried Tiffany: Alyssa had spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease that prevents the muscles from developing. The diagnosis explained the 11 fractures on Alyssa's tiny body... [Full article here]

Child's Diagnosis Compounds Family Tragedy
Genetic problem blamed for injuries cop was investigated for
myfoxcolorado
Friday, 31 Oct 2008
[Excerpts] Months after a Lakewood police officer killed his wife and then himself, the couples' family is speaking out about what led to the tragedy. Dave and Tiffany O'Shell were about to face child abuse charges for something they didn't do. Doctors found some mysterious fractures in their three-month old daughter Alyssa's leg and thought she was being abused. It turns out Alyssa had a disease that would eventually kill her at just seven months old. Alyssa's grandparents, Paul and Jackie Cuil took care of her until the very end. She died Tuesday from complications of a little-known disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy, also known as SMA... In July, unaware of the disease, doctors thought Alyssa was being abused and turned her over to Adams County Social Services. The Cuils say they knew that Alyssa was not being abused, but no matter how they urged, Adams County Social Services to look into the possibility of a disease, they wouldn't listen. "Every time we tried to tell them look there's got to be something more, you need to research more, nope, that's it. That's what the doctors say it is. It's abuse. That's it. We're not looking any further," said Paul Cuil. A few weeks later, under a cloud of suspicion and on the verge of being charged with child abuse, Dave O'Shell, shot his wife Tiffany in her sleep, then turned the gun on himself... A memo from Children's Hospital said Alyssa could not be returned to her family until her "caregivers can acknowledge that her injuries are from abuse." "Until we all admitted that Dave was guilty, we were not getting that baby back," Paul Cuil said. Reached by phone an Adams County Social Services spokesman said he cannot comment on specific cases but he called the O'Shell deaths "a tragedy" and stressed that social services takes significant steps in the review process before removing a child, including getting approval from a judge... Alyssa's funeral will be on Tuesday November 4th. [Full article here]

Commerce City police: Lakewood officer abused baby
Rocky Mountain News, CO
By Judi Villa
November 1, 2008
[Excerpts] ...But even after Alyssa died from the disease this week, Commerce City police still say Dave O'Shell abused his daughter. "We had probable cause to arrest David for those charges," Sgt. Joe Sandoval said Friday. "The injuries were not consistent with the disease the child had." The parents of O'Shell's wife, Tiffany, insist that's absurd. "These kids could not have done this" said Paul Cuin, Tiffany's father... Alyssa was removed from her parents' home after her mother took her to the doctor because of a swollen leg. The doctor sent mother and daughter to the hospital where follow-up X-rays revealed 11 fractures. Jackie Cuin, Tiffany's mother, provided a copy of an e-mail from a doctor at the University of Utah Department of Pediatrics, who reviewed Alyssa's x-rays and determined the "fractures are consistent" with spinal muscular atrophy. Cox said Friday that, generally speaking, if medical testing turned up a reason for a child's injuries that caseworkers would admit their mistake "in a heartbeat" and return the child. By the time Alyssa's tests came back, however, Dave O'Shell had shot his wife to death as she slept then put the barrels of two guns in his mouth and pulled both triggers... [Full article here]