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Police don't accept suicide finding as cause of child's death

Crime and Justice | Fri, 01/15/2010 - 2:20 pm | Read 30384 | Commented 36 | Emailed 4

Updated Jan. 13, 2:30 p.m.

In a ruling that sent shock waves through the community, Deputy State Medical Examiner Dr. Clifford Nelson concluded that 6-year-old Samantha Kuberski, a Grandhaven Elementary School first-grader, committed suicide by hanging.

"It's not common, but basically, the investigation led to this conclusion," Nelson told the News-Register last week.

However, McMinnville police detectives came to a different conclusion. Based on their investigation, they felt Samantha, found unresponsive at her home Dec. 2 with a child's blanket and corduroy belt wrapped around her neck, died of accidental causes.

While initially reluctant to publicly disagree with the state Medical Examiner's Office, they eventually did just that.

"Our investigators feel that it does appear that Samantha may have done the actions that led to her death," Capt. Dennis Marks, who heads the department's detective division, told a reporter from Portland's KOIN-TV. "But we find it hard to believe that she would have intentionally done that, which we feel is part of committing suicide."

Even Nelson allowed for some doubt. He told KOIN it's nearly impossible to determine intent conclusively without a declaration from the victim.

If Samantha did indeed take her own life, it would make her the youngest person ever to do so in Oregon, according to the state Department of Human Services.

On its website, DHS says, "Children younger than 5 years of age have been known to try to kill themselves." It continues, "The youngest completed suicide in our state was that of a 7-year-old."

The only official element still unresolved is a ruling from the district attorney's office on possible criminal culpability, and neither finding appears to lend any support to that.

"The reports are still being reviewed by the district attorney's office, but on the surface, from what we have been able to see, there does not appear to be any criminal culpability associated with this incident," Marks told the News-Register.

District Attorney Brad Berry said today he had reviewed additional materials from the sheriff's office and met with its lead investigator. He said he is still awaiting the medical examiner's report.

Samantha was discovered unconscious at her residence, 600 N.E. Summerfield St., about 5 p.m. Fire department medics rushed her to the Willamette Valley Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Her three sisters and her mother, Kellie Kuberski, were in other parts of the home at the time, according to detective Sam Elliott. Her father, Graham Kuberski, arrived just as she was being readied for transport to the hospital, Elliott said.

"He was gone, but in the area," Marks said. "His wife called him and said he needed to get home."

An officer transported the parents to the hospital and interviewed them there. Officers subsequently interviewed the surviving children with the assistance of personnel from the state Department of Human Services and Juliette's House, McMinnville's child abuse assessment center.

Nationally, there have been documented cases of young children committing suicide.

In July 1993, a 6-year-old Florida girl reportedly committed suicide by deliberately standing in front of an approaching train, after pushing her younger brother to safety. The girl was walking to her elementary school with other children, including siblings and a cousin, when she was struck and killed.

However, such cases are exceedingly rare nationally and unknown in Oregon - at least previously.

"Suicides among children less than 10 years old are rare," said Xun Chen, the violent death reporting system epidemiologist with DHS's suicide prevention program. "Based on the data collected from 2003 to 2008, no suicide occurred among Oregon children under 10.

Chen said he looked at the national data.

"From 1999 to 2006, there were a total of 33 children under 10 who died by suicide in the United States," he said.

He said one child was listed at age 5 and two at age 7. The incidence increased among 8- and 9-year-olds, he said, though it remained extremely low.

The Florida 6-year-old had indicated to others that she wanted to die.

She was aiming to get to heaven so she could greet her terminally ill mother there, investigators said. She wanted "to become an angel and be with her mother," one investigator said.

The Broward County medical examiner said she was the youngest person to take her own life in his 12 years with the county.

However, a 7-year-old boy was believed to have deliberately hanged himself in the county, after acting out and expressing suicidal intent at school.

The local case could remain forever undetermined, as the only two investigative agencies privy to circumstances leading up to and surrounding Samantha's tragic death differ. Experts consulted by the News-Register expressed skepticism, but said suicide can't be entirely ruled out.

"Suffice it to say, this is an extremely rare occurrence," said Linfield College psychology professor Tanya Tompkins, who chairs the Yamhill County Suicide Prevention Coalition. "You could suggest someone that age is immature in terms of cognitive thinking.

Tompkins continued, "Being able to plan something like this, it does take effort. Life instinct is so strong, it's hard to imagine going against that at such a young age. It takes a sense of hopelessness and believing there is no other way. That's a hard thing to do."

Tompkins has chaired the Suicide Prevention Coalition for several years. Its focus is on awareness, prevention and intervention.

"In the last year and a half we have offered a bereavement support group, a new resource," she said. "We're just gearing up to do some major work in the schools, the high schools. The Media Arts & Communications Academy (McMinnville) and Amity High School are the first schools. We want to develop a set of policies and procedures."

Tompkins said suicide cannot be arbitrarily ruled out in the Kuberski case, but it would be an incredibly rare event.

She noted that females are three or four times more likely to attempt suicide than males, but males are six times more likely to succeed. That makes a successful first attempt by a 6-year-old girl even harder to accept she said.

"If this child had no prior attempts, warning signs or risk factors, I think the record should be carefully looked at before the death is ruled a suicide," Tompkins said. "I would argue it would be much harder to rule this a suicide than an accident. I think one should look for something more common - an accident or a homicide."

Tompkins pointed to Norwegian studies that have concluded it is far more challenging to characterize the suspicious death of a teen or a child as a suicide.

In more than half of "psychological autopsies," conducted as part of cases where physical evidence and circumstances suggested suicide as a possible cause, findings either went the other way or proved inconclusive, she said.

Dr. Kirk Wolfe, a child and adolescent psychiatrist serving as chief medical consultant for Morrison Child and Family Services in Portland, concurred with Tompkins' assessment. He also characterized suicide at age 6 as possible, but extremely rare.

Wolfe said the youngest attempt he is aware of was by a 4 1/2-year-old girl who overdosed on pills.

"Most kids this age are not aware of what death actually is," he said. "Not until they get to be 8, 9 and 10 do they understand death is final and you don't come back."

Wolfe said one of the key aspects to preventing child suicides and suicide attempts is recognizing signs of depression. And he said it is entirely possible for a 6-year-old to sink into a depressed state.

"What we want parents to do, when they see their child struggling at home, at school; having problems with sleep, appetite; not enjoying things, becoming moody and irritable; they need to realize the child might need professional help to figure out what is happening," he said.

Wolfe said he has worked with youngsters still in kindergarten.

He said children suffering from depression are at much higher risk for suicide, and professional intervention can be necessary very early to help a child better understand the problems he/she is facing. "They do kill themselves," he said.

"These days, it's a tough world for kids," Wolfe said. "It's a complex world we live in.

"It's stressful. And when kids are feeling stressed, they become depressed."

STORY CORRECTED: A portion of our Saturday account confused 6-year-old Samantha Kuberski with a 9-year-old sister suffering from autism and physical disabilities. The older girl was involved in an earlier incident in which police were called, and her name was deleted from the report when it was subsequently released. Apparent confirmation from neighbors that the 2008 incident involved Samantha proved unfounded. After publication, police and members of the Kuberski family both confirmed that Samantha was not involved in the incident, and that portion of the story was deleted from our online version at the family’s request. The News-Register regrets the error and apologizes for its publication.

Print | Email Updated 27 weeks 6 days ago

Comments (36)

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Fri, 04/09/2010 - 4:52pm - Posted by: ErnestR

A 7-year-old Florida child named Gabriel Myers hung himself recently. He was taking the antipsychotic drug Seroquel. This drug is often given to autistic kids. I hope the police and medical examiner are looking to see if little Samantha's death might or might not involve any kind of psychiatric medications that children are so frequently put on these days. It is indeed rare for a child in their right frame of mind to commit suicide. My heart goes out to the parents and the community. This is a terrible tragedy and I hope some answers are found for why this happened.

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 8:54pm - Posted by: MsTeresa

Rest in Peace Little Samantha!!

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 7:28pm - Posted by: dragonfly_4

Ah, another shining example of Paul's reporting. Or, lack thereof. I feel sorry for every family that has a tragedy in this town, especially after he gets done with them.

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 3:01pm - Posted by: Rosmarbra

With all this focus on the idea of a young child committing suicide, has anyone thought that she might have been influenced by someone she knew who played "The Choking Game"?

I learned about TCG on the news a night or so ago. Here is the Centers for Disease Control webpage for it:

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/ChokingGame/

If Samantha was not influenced by this, perhaps this would be the perfect time to make parents and other adults working with children aware that this also exists and needs to be looked out for?

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 11:43am - Posted by: Retired

Enough is enough, I vote to remove this story from NewsRegister.com. Allow the family to heal in peace.
retiredbs

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 9:12am - Posted by: RoyHinkley

Once again I repeat, a child has died, Please stop the bickering, the rock throwing accusations and the second guessing of the doctors or law enforcement, and pray for the little girl and her family. They or other family members will eventually see this. Have some respect. Roy

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 7:27am - Posted by: wilsonb

Losing a loved one is difficult at best, but suffering the loss of suicide is tragic. The first NR article was a travesty. Having lost a loved one to suicide, I can imagine the torment it caused the family of this little girl. I challenge the NR to hold itself to a higher standard of reporting. Sensationalism in this instance and in any suicide is unwarranted. Please join me in in congratulating the NR on their second article. FINALLY they got it right!!

Thu, 01/14/2010 - 9:57pm - Posted by: jjones

This event, these responses, and the stories shared remind me that many are affected by the loss of a community member. Whether it’s a child, a parent, friend, neighbor or co-worker, grief can be deep and manifest in many different feelings and behaviors for a person. While it seems apparent Samantha’s tragic death was due to an accident, it may be good to know that there is help and support available here in Yamhill County. Trained therapists can provide immediate assessment and intervention for a person considering self-harm, call 503.434.7462 for children through 18 years of age; 503.434.7523 for adults. For those who’ve been affected by another’s death by suicide, a Suicide Survivor Support group meets monthly, call 503.816.8360 for group details.

Wed, 01/13/2010 - 9:01pm - Posted by: jbladine

Joemama123,

I don’t mean to be argumentative, but I don't quite understand your comment about Ron Noble. The story doesn’t mention Chief Noble. Information from McMinnville Police Department comprises only a small portion of this story, and that information primarily is brief background of the investigation that caused MPD to believe the death was accidental. After the state office announced its opinion that the death was a suicide, do you believe that MPD have kept quiet about believing it was accidental?

Jeb Bladine
News-Register

Wed, 01/13/2010 - 5:18pm - Posted by: MsTeresa

Rest in Peace little girl!!!

Wed, 01/13/2010 - 5:05pm - Posted by: joemama123

I feel so bad for this family. No matter how their child died they still have to deal with grief and loss. And that the police chief ron nobel has sensationalized this families tragedy for his own minute in the media is disgusting. Why is there nothing to protect this poor family from having more information released by the police? The police will probably try to minimize their involvement in this story by giving it a spin that in some way they did it to help. It is shameful. This family is dealing with enough.

Wed, 01/13/2010 - 3:27pm - Posted by: gemograhpy

http://www.klis.com/chandler/pamphlet/dep/Suicide.htm and http://www.cehl.org/raisingachild.shtmlThese are two excellent resources with some excellent information regarding suicide. If you are truly interested in learning about the subject instead of simply guessing, being frightened, speculating or saying ugly, or nasty comments, take the time to read this or other articles on suicide. It could save someone's life, perhaps your own dearest friends or loved ones. Statistics show one out of every four people know some one or have some one in their family who have killed themselves. They also indicate suicide maybe contagious in a community...so be prepared!

Tue, 01/12/2010 - 12:41pm - Posted by: lahaina

18 months ago, my 7 yr old grandaughter was informed by her Daddy and his girlfriend, that they were going to get married.
This child is a sensitive and intelligent girl and could see thru the lies and manipulations the mid-30's woman had been doing and she expressed her feelings (to an insensitive and selfish pair) by saying, "I wish I'd never been born"..."I wish I was still in Mommy's tummy..."

I begged my son to get help for her; I called his former wife's parents to discuss: THEY ALL BELITTLED AND TRIED TO IGNORE what made them uncomfortable, but I got ZERO reaction.
My son, the SVU Seattle PD detective, was days away from my reporting him to Child. Protect. Svcs. He informed me that he had finally taken her for multivisits to counseling!!
Our family has genetic brain chemistry that produces depression; I reminded my son that, at age 19, he had been almost suicidally depressed; I've battled depression since I was FIVE yrs old!
Children need to be believed when they express sadness with words, actions, behaviors!!!!! Then they need professional help.

Tue, 01/12/2010 - 11:35am - Posted by: mcdreamer

How interesting! The Police apparently do not agree with the M.E. --- and now we have a D.A. who is "waiting for more information before making a charging decision." This just supports the comments here that this was nothing more than a horrible accident and that the original story in the NR was badly written and reported.

Tue, 01/12/2010 - 9:09am - Posted by: GlockGal

It's terribly sad on so many levels. I don't know that anyone really believes this child intentionally hung herself, I believe it was a horrible accident.

Please continue to pray for the family, I can't even imagine how I would handle loosing my child, and then have our families name run through the mud at the same time. I've seen the community come around and support this grieving family in wonderful ways. I only wish the NewsRegister would have tried to report the facts instead of just sensational media bias.

Please keep reaching out and praying for this wonderful family.

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 9:51pm - Posted by: RoyHinkley

A child has died. No complaining about the article, second guessing what happened, or pointing of fingers at anyone. No parent ever thinks they will have to bury their child, thoughts and prayers to the family. Roy

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 5:54pm - Posted by: jestersdead

Re: super_hyphy

"u guys want FACTS it can take anywhere from 4 to 30 mins to die when u hang urself "

True, but it takes less than 15 seconds for an average sized adult to be rendered completely unconscious by blocking the blood flow through the crodid arteries. So it is possible there was little if any struggling.

With complete blood flow restriction to the brain, cerebral damage can begin to occur within two minutes and death in less than 5.

Wed, 01/13/2010 - 5:14pm - Posted by: lisakay3

This is why I canceled the paper. This story is so wrong on so many levels. What is wrong with our society. No one has the right to judge or speculate. It just makes me sick. The Kuberski family are amazing people and what they are having to endure right now is horrible. We should be supporting them as a community not tearing them down. Sammy was a happy, energetic loving little girl. I know this to be true because I have spent time with her and her family. No family is prefect and to bring up things that people know nothing about is so wrong. No one has the right to judge. Being a parent is one of the hardest jobs ever. Loosing a child is the most unbearable thing to endure. The paper and all the people posting negitive coments are just making it worse. The NR needs to put it on the front page that they messed up in big letters for everyone to see. Notice they print it at the end of the story in small print. Someone needs to make this right. I just want to say how amazed I have been at how the Kuberski family has handled this whole ordeal. Sammy will be very missed. For those of you who never meet her you have missed out. This was not a depressed little girl. This was a happy, well loved, energetic, very funny amazing little girl!!!!!!! We miss you Sammy.

Having read the newest stament I sure hope it appears on the front page. The family deserves to have this made right. They are going through enough right now. The media needs to leave them alone. Let them grieve in peace. This is a family tragety. Not a public matter. If the NR really cared about educating families to protect their children they would not be puting someones private info in the paper. What right do they have to list someones address. They are the ones harming this family by putting their very private info out there for everyone to see. What is wrong with you guys? This is so wrong. Leave the familly alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 4:34pm - Posted by: super_hyphy

u guys want FACTS it can take anywhere from 4 to 30 mins to die when u hang urself unless u really know what ur doing and break your neck and from what i read is kinda hard 2 do all these people in the house and nobody heard any kind of struggle i dont care how bad u want 2 die ur not gonna do something like that and be silent i have a 5 yr old son and a daugther thats 2 unless thay r sleeping or watching a movie the second thay dont make noise i dont care what im doing at the time im gonna check on them if u have kids then u might know kids dont make noise when thay r doing something wrong

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 8:08am - Posted by: mcdreamer

Just a follow up comment to this story and the comments:

Apparently we are not the only ones that think this story is both poorly written and lacking in FACTS. Check out the 74 comments on this story at KATU website, even those people are calling for a FACT CHECK, and further investigation.

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 12:31am - Posted by: mcdreamer

lisakaren -- Children age five to twelve generally have quite negative attitudes toward suicide; they consider suicide something that one should not do and generally feel that people do not have a right to kill themselves. When there is a suicide in the family or in the family of their friends, children usually know about the suicide, despite parents' attempts to hide the facts by avoiding talking about it or explaining that the death was an accident. For example, in studies conducted in Quebec, Canada, by Brian L. Mishara, 8 percent of children said that they knew someone who committed suicide, but none of the children said that they were told about the suicide by an adult. Surveys of parents found that 4 percent of children have threatened to kill themselves at some time but these threats are rarely taken seriously or discussed.

You see the trouble with this story is that the system which is supposed to protect the children that we entrust to it has failed, and then the utterly horrible reporting on this is what has the readers up in arms about it all.

All-in-all ... the entire system failed this child.

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 12:24am - Posted by: super_hyphy

This is an unfortunate tragic event! I think it's kinda sad that I stop reading comments because I was tired of reading people for blaming the newspaper... about a mistake when they were just trying to keep us, the community informed on recent developments in this tragic story. Obviously all of you wanted to be informed, that's why you're reading this story, everyone that posted a comment on this story including myself has made a mistake of some sort in the past week. Quit hatin on the newspaper and look at the bigger issue! I don't know how many people were home at the time, but nobody noticed that a disabled girl escaped the house on one occasion and a little girl was harming herself on another? Hmmm....is suicide the new word for neglect?

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 11:08pm - Posted by: lisakaren

Young children do commit suicide. While the statistics are very low (4 out of 500,00) this does happen. I am not attempting to take anything away from this article or the opinions that have been expressed by other people who have commented on this article. I, myself, attempted suicide when I was 9 years old. I was, thankfully unsuccessful. I grew up in a physically and emotionally abusive home, was bullied at school, and also suffered from depression. I have no information as to the situation surrounding this unfortunate child. Parents, teachers, and adults everywhere need to be on the lookout for the warning signs, not only in teenagers, but in much younger children as well. Too many people believe that young children are incapable of being depressed and so ignore any and all warning signs that they are, until it is too late. Hopefully, people will see this tragedy as a wake-up call and start paying closer attention to the young children in their lives.

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 10:25pm - Posted by: MsTeresa

poor baby girl Rest in Peace!

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 9:12pm - Posted by: mcdreamer

I wonder have the investigators interviewed the Teachers, the CPS workers? There would DEFINITELY be signs in a child that young that something was not right. This is just an EPIC FAILURE of the system. And this story makes it that much worse.

Go check out a website called Global Social Gathering using Google. This is where I'm creating a News-Register Fact Check discussion area in response to the recent rash of comments on this story as well as others on the News-Register site. I would post a direct link here but the paper has a tendency to delete links to other sites that compete with theirs. The discussion area will be located under the Community Section >> Forums >> The Media >> News-Register Story Discussions. I also invite the News-Register Staff and Owners to come and participate, it is a Community site after all.

Prayers and thoughts to the family in their time of need and loss.

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 8:12pm - Posted by: Lady-J

Sad story, seems to me that the News"resister" needs to get their facts right.
I can't see how a young child can commit suicde. There is more to this than meets the eye.

"Editor’s Note: Saturday, the News-Register received a local law enforcement report indicating that Samantha is not the family’s disabled daughter. There was an implication that it may have been another daughter who was subject of the 2008 incident reported in this story, and that neighbors were incorrect in identifying her as Samantha. The News-Register regrets the error and apologizes to the Kuberski family. The newspaper will seek further clarification on the information."

I feel more than a simple appology is needed here.

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 7:21pm - Posted by: Justafriend

This was a terrible case of mixed up identification! Such a horrific event already, then to have it all mixed up is very hurtful, not to mention the fact that the other daughter's disablities are nobody's business!

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 4:06pm - Posted by: concerned

"if" is not an apology. The editors note needs to be front page with the headline WE AT THE NEWS REGISTER DID NOT CHECK OUR FACTS. And I agree with Zingo, story in no way matched the headline. What was the authors purpose?

Editor's Note: Thanks. We have eliminated that "if" from the above Editor's Note.

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 2:34pm - Posted by: Zingo

This story has NOTHING to do with, "State officials have issued strong encouragement for citizens to become aware of the warning signs that can lead to suicide attempts by young children." The News Register is merely exploiting another family and their pain for their own financial gain.

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 1:44pm - Posted by: jbladine

The newspaper has apologized for the error, which involved interpretation of a confusing public document and, apparently, inaccurate statements given to the newspaper. All of that will be reviewed prior to publication of a full clarification this week.

Meanwhile, we hope people can understand that it was a decision/announcement by the state Medical Examiner that vaulted this story to a new level of public interest. Assuming the accuracy of that announcement, Samantha would be the youngest child ever to have completed a suicide in the state of Oregon according to the Department of Human Resources. State officials have issued strong encouragement for citizens to become aware of the warning signs that can lead to suicide attempts by young children.

Jeb Bladine
News-Register

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 12:18pm - Posted by: Retired

How could a reporter write a column about such a tragic and extremely sensitive event and not triple check the facts? My wife and I had met this family recently and began a relationship through our love of gardening. We were extremely confused with what the NR was reporting and what we personally witnessed in our own home when they visited us. Please NR, send the reporter of this article back to the sports division from where he came. At least in the sports field, reporting mistakes do not become so tragic.
retiredbs

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 12:20pm - Posted by: mcdreamer

It would be one thing to get your facts wrong or convey them in a manner that might lead people to a wrong conclusion if this were a story about a business or similar, but this story is about a child and is simply terrible in every aspect.

1. Why was the story not vigorously fact checked BEFORE it was published.
2. It's not any of our business that CPS is working with the family.
3. A 6 year old commiting suicide?! Where did she get the idea?! Was her life that bad?!
If so ... why wasn't someone checking up on the children in the first place?

The publisher of this story and most others I've seen lately from them leads me to believe that the paper is failing more than just financially.

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 2:10pm - Posted by: MichaelTubbs

Wed, 02/03/2010 - 3:40pm - Posted by: autosupply

Sat, 01/09/2010 - 9:37pm - Posted by: MichaelTubbs

The only proper thing that anyone can do, is pray for Samantha, pray that we all meet her in Heaven someday.

After reading this story about her, she will always, every morning, from this night out, be at the forefront of my most innermost thoughts.

Once upon a time we were all six years old.

Sat, 01/09/2010 - 8:47pm - Posted by: justinterested09

OMG!!! Yes you are WRONG!!! I am also a neighbor and my daughter attends school with the Kuberski girls. Samantha was not disabled nor Autistic, their eldest daughter is. My heart aches for this poor family!!! Not only have they lost one of their daughters to a tragic ACCIDENT, but now this CRAP appears in the paper. Seriously, don't report on stuff you obviously know nothing about...at least identify the correct victim in this case! Or talk to a neighbor who actually knows the family instead of some BUSYBODY who wants their 5 mins of fame @ the expense of this family!