Toddler dies in care of mother’s boyfriend

I’ve known Gianni and his family since he was a little boy. He is a sweet guy from a good family. He in no way would ever intentionally hurt anyone especially a child. My God how would you react???? No one can say for sure until it happens to you and it probably would be totally different than you’d think. This is going to totally ruin his life. More by the way he’s going to torment himself for what happened than for how the media and jerks like most of these posters are saying with out knowning all the facts. If you’ve never done anything wrong then you can judge. Until then find something productive to do.

First and foremost I would like to say that I have known Gianni Spagnolo for many, many years. He is the most genuine person I know. He is ALSO a GREAT Father to his son and friend. He loved Andrew like his own and would never intentionally hurt him. It amazes me how many people can read and article or watch the news and believe everything that they hear or read. It makes me sick. I wish I could be the editor of a local newspaper like the ridiculous and stupid Ocala Star Banner. They are the losers in my eyes. How dare they rip someone apart and make up lies that are out of this world. Get a life and think before you speak. Imagine if he was your son, brother, uncle, father, cousin or friend. I bet then you wouldn’t jump to conclusions and believe everything you hear. I bet if I wrote “Drinking too much water will make you lose your eyesight” all of you stupid idiots would probably never drink it again. Then you would call all of your friends and family to tell them to stay far away from a liquid that makes up most of the human body. Degenerate idiotic A-holes are what you all are in my eyes. Gianni is a loving, caring person and he never meant to hurt or kill baby Andrew. The TRUTH shall set him free!!! For the rest of you, go watch the local news so you can get off for the evening.

Parents doubt friend meant to harm their son
BY Rick Cundiff
STAR-BANNER
Published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 9:18 a.m.
SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BANNER Andrew Sheppard, 18 months, is shown in an April 2008 family photo. The toddler died Friday after being injured while in the care of his mother’s boyfriend.
More Photos:
Andrew Sheppard

OCALA - Andrew Sheppard was a bundle of energy. Like many toddlers, he loved Elmo and Mickey Mouse.

“He was smart, big and strong. He was always smiling,” said Christopher Sheppard, his father. “He lit up every room he walked into.”

He loved yogurt, and spaghetti. And books.

“He loved to laugh and dance. He loved music and books. He was book-crazy,” said his mother, Kari Sheppard, of Ocala.

“I’d try to buy him a new book every week,” his father added. “He was just starting to explode with learning,”

Little Andrew’s happy life ended Friday, two days after Gianni Spagnolo allegedly threw him so high in the air he struck his head on a bedroom ceiling. Spagnolo, who lives in Beverly Hills, remains in custody in Citrus County, charged with aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm.

But the Sheppards both say they believe Spagnolo, 34, never meant to hurt Andrew. In an interview Monday with the Star-Banner, the couple, who are separated, both said their longtime friend wouldn’t have abused their son.

“We haven’t read the police report, but we both believe it was a horrible accident,” said Kari Sheppard, 24. “Gianni loved our son very much and treated him like he was his own son.”

Christopher Sheppard, 25, agreed that Spagnolo meant no harm.

“We think Gianni panicked and made the wrong decision after it happened,” he said.

Spagnolo, identified in Citrus County Sheriff’s Office reports as Kari Sheppard’s boyfriend, had been baby-sitting while she was at work. Spagnolo reportedly told deputies initially that Andrew had fallen out of bed and struck his head on the floor.

But he later said he had been tossing Andrew into the air, and at one point, Andrew’s head struck the ceiling, then the edge of a table and finally the concrete floor.

Kari Sheppard took Andrew to TimberRidge Medical Center at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, and he was later flown to Shands Hospital in Gainesville. He died Friday evening, 18 months to the day after he was born.

The 5th Circuit State Attorney’s Office is still reviewing the case, and it’s too soon to tell whether any additional charges will be filed, said Chief Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway.

The Sheppards said they came forward to clear up unsubstantiated rumors.

“There’s been a lot of confusion and assumptions and miscommunication that have been going around,” Kari Sheppard said. “There was no prior abuse to my son.”

She specifically cited a report of what appeared to be a belt mark on her son’s upper thighs.

“Those were seat belt marks from where a seat belt was put on too tightly,” she said. “He was seen by his pediatrician the same day.”

Both parents say they forgive Spagnolo.

“We’ve both forgiven Gianni for what he’s done, and for what happened,” Kari Sheppard said.

Both hope their son will be remembered for who he was, not how he died.

“We want people to remember Andrew as the happy little boy he was, and that everyone loved him,” Kari Sheppard said. “I remember any time I picked Andrew up after work, I would have the radio on, and I would look in the rearview mirror and he would be bouncing and shaking his head to the music. And if he saw you looking at him, he would laugh.”

Andrew loved to have his feet tickled, his father recalled.

“He would take off his shoe and sock, and he would lift up his foot for me to tickle it,” he said. “He just thought it was the greatest thing in the world.”

Rick Cundiff may be reached at rick.cundiff@starbanner.com or 867-4130.

The parents are in sorrow right now…if forgiving him right now is what they need to do to make it through this time then that is what they should do… As for the original article something obviously happened to the baby around noon time and then for the mother to find the baby unresponsive around 5:30pm…my question is how come the boyfriend did not call 911? That’s the part that can’t be an accident! Based on that decision of the boyfriends that is why he should be locked up for the max sentence for this crime…i’m waiting to see what the charges will be upgraded to!!!

I wrote the #2 posting. LET ME TELL YOU I AM IN NO WAY STANDING UP FOR ANY ABUSER! They all deserve a fate worse than what they have done to another. No person can say they’ve always made the right decision. People who are so self righteous should’nt put someone down for not knowing how to handle any thing. The media makes eveything sound so bad. Yes, he may be unemployed, but so are many people because of todays economy. Not because they are abusers or low life’s. The parents have forgiven Gianni, not just because it’s what they have to do to get thru this. I am sure Gianni will spend the rest of his life trying to make up for his lack of judgement and the punnishment he will put on himself is far more than any prison could do.

i cannot believe the complete idiocy i am reading on this blog. i have been friends with kari since freshman year of high school and, to be frank, it pisses me off that you are all on here discussing her “bad judgement” and “wrong choices”. i wiould confidently wager that a good 2/3 of you people have no f****** clue what you’re talking about so you should all shut the hell up and go about making your own “wrong choices” you insensitive wastes of human life.