Deonne Dickerson and Michelle Gregg
The parents of 4-year-old boy, Isaiah
Dickerson, are facing a police investigation in Cincinnati,
Ohio, after their son fell 10-feet into a gorilla pen,
leading to a zoo response team shooting and killing
endangered silverback Harambe. After an argument with his
mother, demanding he be allowed to go in the water, to which
she repeatedly stated no, Isaiah broke free. The child
crawled through a hole in a fence, tumbled downward, then
fell into the gorilla pen. Harambe and two female gorillas
were present.
Harambe looked at the child in disbelief and
wonderment, clearing wondering what the boy was doing in the
pen that is not a human habitat. Onlookers began screaming
and leaning forward towards the pen, which unintentionally
spooked the gorilla. Not realizing his own strength, Harambe
lifted the child off the ground, causing the boy to hit his
head. He sustained a concussion from the blow.
Harambe holding Isaiah's hand
Harambe, trying to escape the loud noise,
dragged the child away from the crowd, who were looking down
into the pen, while frantically screaming in fear for the
boy's safety. Harambe then held the child's hand. As the
screaming continued, Harambe fixed the back of the child's
shirt and used it to drag him further away from the crowd
again. They fell out of sight for 10 minutes. The entire
ordeal lasted 20-minutes before an emergency response team
shot Harambe dead. Little Isaiah witnessed the shooting and
will need therapy.
Some online are outraged at Isaiah's parents
for failing to properly supervise the child. People are
calling for them to face criminal charges over Harambe's
death. The couple has been issued death threats. Some are
also stating the gorilla was not going to kill the child.
However, they don't know that for sure. A 400-pound gorilla
does not know its strength and could seriously injury a
person, especially a child. Harambe had already accidentally
caused the child to hit his head against the wall. It is
truly regrettable the gorilla was killed. However, these
wild animals should not be in captivity in the first place
for human amusement.
Photo meme courtesy of The Industry On Blast blog
My first thought regarding Isaiah was how
did this boy get loose from his mother's care and into the
gorilla pen. You know when you're about to get
self-righteous and God brings something back to your memory.
When I was about age 6, my mom and I went for a weekend at a
great hotel in the countryside. It had a massive pool. My
dad, a former professional athlete, taught me to swim from
the time I was about 4-years old. Then he asked one of his
friends, a former Olympic swimmer, to help me improve my
swimming.
It worked like a charm, because while at the
hotel with my mom that weekend, I decided I was Jacques
Cousteau and was going to touch the bottom of the pool...on
the deep end. And within seconds I did. My mother panicked.
When I surfaced, proud of my little accomplishment, my
mother looked like she was gonna kill me. She didn't hit me
(there were too many witnesses LOL) but make no mistake, she
was yelling. So yea, sometimes kids do things they should
not.
Side Bar: The zoo may get sued over
the incident. Some lawyers will pursue the family and
convince them everything was the zoo's fault and that they
are entitled to millions, due to the hole/breach in the
fence little Isaiah found and crawled through into the
gorilla pen. However, such a lawsuit will not go over well
with the public.
STORY SOURCE
EXCLUSIVE: Parents-of-four whose son fell into zoo enclosure sparking killing of Harambe the gorilla as it emerges father has a lengthy criminal history - including kidnap and drug trafficking
EXCLUSIVE: Parents-of-four whose son fell into zoo enclosure sparking killing of Harambe the gorilla as it emerges father has a lengthy criminal history - including kidnap and drug trafficking
Published: 19:12 EST, 30 May 2016 | Updated:
00:31 EST, 31 May 2016 - These are the parents of the
four-year-old boy whose 15-feet fall into the gorilla
exhibit moat in Cincinnati Zoo resulted in the death of
17-year-old silverback gorilla, Harambe. Seen here for the
first time is mother Michelle Gregg, 32, who has four
children by father Deonne Dickerson, 36, a man who, Daily
Mail Online can disclose, has a lengthy criminal history.
Criminal filings against Dickerson stretch
over a decade and include burglary, firearms offences, drug
trafficking, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and
kidnap. In 2006 he was sentenced to one year behind bars for
a drug trafficking conviction. But in numerous pictures
posted on Dickerson's Facebook site in recent years he
appears to have turned his life around to become the proud
father of four. Indeed, the majority of his postings to the
social media site are updates of his children and his
working life. In others pictures he has uploaded his friends
congratulate him and Michelle on the birth of their fourth
child last January...
