Update: Australian model's baby dies in tragic accident

Click to read the story.  Please be aware that it’s very sad and tragic.

Update: New details have come out in the tragic death of baby Leonardo Legrand.

- The area Kerry was jogging in is known for its high incidence of child abduction – perhaps the reason Kerry’s first thought of her missing son was a kidnapping.

- In her hurry to answer the phone, Kerry forgot to put the brake on the stroller.

-There was no splash when the stroller hit the river due to the kikuyu grass along the edge — it had grown so thick that it went into the water’s edge and muffled the noise.

- Police have confirmed that there were no signs of postpartum depression, disharmony in the marriage, or a third person involved. This was simply a horrible accident, a combination of a moment turned away, an unfastened brake, and an incline down to the water.

- The event was re-enacted five times after extensively interviewing Kerry. Says a senior crime official,

On each occasion the pusher (jogging stroller) behaved exactly as she had described. Each time it went into the water there was no splashing sound because the kikuyu grass had grown so thickly into the water’s edge. We have also ruled out any indications there was a third person involved, any post-natal depression or disharmony. It was just a tragic set of circumstances.’

Source: News.com.au

Originally posted Friday, December 15th: Australian model/triathlete Kerry Lucas‘ son drowned this morning in Adelaide’s River Torrens after a tragic accident.

While out jogging with five month old Leonardo, Kerry stopped to answer her cell phone and write a number on her leg; when she looked up, the jogging stroller and her baby were gone. A frantic and hysterical Kerry waved down people passing by and told them that her baby had been kidnapped.

Journalist Jessica Adamson was first on the scene:

We ran down to the river to see what was going on and found a young woman in her running clothes, fitness clothes, hysterical … she was saying, ‘Where’s my baby?  Someone’s stolen my baby.’"  Kerry spoke to Jessica, saying: "I was writing a [phone] number down and when I turned around the baby was gone …  I just feel so stupid.

Unfortunately 20 minutes later, the stroller with the baby was found submerged in water 500 metres from where Kerry was last seen. Police and ambulance officers spent 25 minutes reviving little Leonardo, but he later died in intensive care. Police have not ruled out the possibility of foul play, and were looking into allegations that a third party may be involved.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Comments

Oh my gosh…what a horrible freak accident! My heart goes out to his Mother and family. Poor baby.

- Lauren22 on December 15th, 2006

How terribly sad.

However, my first thought was that the stroller probably rolled. If you don’t think to put down the brake, good chance of it rolling.

Hugs to Leonardo’s mom. She’s going to need a lot of them.

- teenyz on December 15th, 2006

Unbelievably Tragic for sure… but how do you not know that your stroller is gone even if you did turn for a second- wouldn’t you have a sense if someone was around you or would you not see a flash of something if the stroller was being whisked away? Something seems amiss with this story…

- Chloe on December 15th, 2006

I can’t even put into words how disturbing this is. You really can’t take your eyes off of your kids for a minute, because that’s a minute too long. My thoughts are with this family, especially at this time of the year.

- Penny Lane on December 15th, 2006

I am so sorry to hear about this loss she must be in terrible pain! My heart goes out to her!!!!

- vicky24c on December 15th, 2006

OMG this is so sad…. I can’t even imagine how this poor mother must feel… My hearts and prayers go out to her…. This is a reminder to all of us how precious life really is… we are not promised tomorrow so we need to cherish today….

- nicoleh on December 15th, 2006

That is just awful and so sad!!! My heart and prayers go out to Kerry and her family.

- jashmom on December 15th, 2006

What a tragedy, I feel sad for her.

- Sarah on December 15th, 2006

dear god, i can’t begin to fathom her pain. this is just terrible.

- melanie on December 15th, 2006

I just feel so sorry for this mother. It certainly is a wake up call and reminder to watch them every second.

- Kelly on December 15th, 2006

Something isn’t….right.

If you know what I mean.

- Stacey on December 15th, 2006

That’s incredibly disturbing and terribly sad. I feel absolutely heartbroken for this woman.

I’ll definately be holding on to my little ones a little tighter from now on.

- Candice on December 15th, 2006

wow tragic however I’m in agreement how do you not sense the stroller is moving? It really doesn’t make sense.

- joy on December 15th, 2006

I agree..it does not make sense. Why would she TURN away from the stroller to write down a number? Even if she did…she would have seen or HEARD the stroller going.
Nope, doesn’t make sense at all.

- manda on December 15th, 2006

I agree with you, Stacey! I think she did it as well.

- nicole on December 15th, 2006

This is so hard to read. How terribly awful : (
I’ve seen pictures of the scene on other sites & it looks like it was a steep embankment & the baby had rolled 100 meters (rather than 500m), but also the possibly that there was a “third party” invloved. As a mother, I know I am meticulous about braking the stroller & especially if it was near such a steep embankment…and like others said, why would she turn away from the stroller to write down a number? And why wouldn’t she see or hear the stroller roll away & then splash into the water? Something doesn’t add up…
My heart is breaking for that poor baby : (

- Stacy B on December 15th, 2006

thank god other people find this a little fishy, i was telling my husband about this over lunch, he sort of re-enacted what may have happened, there is just no way it could have happened as she reported. it is sad, sad news but if she is not charged with negligence in the least justice just wont be served.

- alisha on December 15th, 2006

I actually saw this tragedy unfold on Sky news here in New Zealand. I must say, I was disturbed at how much it reminded me of “reality” tv. The cameras in the mother’s face as she was looking for her baby and her husband arriving to join in the search with police, the discovery of the stroller in the water. I actually felt that surge of adrenalin and panic that pumps through the body in such circumstances. I am sure the Australian police will thoroughly investigate the tragedy. RIP dear little Leonardo.

- Kresta on December 15th, 2006

She pushed the stroller into the water and made sure no one was looking first.

- june on December 15th, 2006

You have to feel for the family.

But the details have to make you wonder. As one poster said, 500m is 1/3 of a mile. That would need to leave a significant amount of time for it to roll that far. Regardless, I hope that the situation is solved soon.

- Jane on December 15th, 2006

To the person who was asking how old she was:-
I went to school with Kerry’s brother Tom Lucas and from what I remember, she was two years below us. I’m 32 so she’d be around 30 I guess.

- meliciousgirl on December 15th, 2006

Hopefully the police will suspect Post Pardum and look into this. I really think that she has done this to her newborn. Tragic that when her hormones are balanced, she will really grieve the loss of this baby.

- Kelly on December 15th, 2006

Terrible tragedy…..foul play or not. A young life is gone, may he RIP.
As for the whole “accident” Why would she have turned away from the stroller?? She could have used the stroller to stabilize her paper and pen she happended to have on her run with her. Seems a little odd to me. I also thought PPD right away! Sad non the less.

- Gabbie13 on December 15th, 2006

I have a rule that I need to be touching the kids or their stroller. I don’t understand how it could have gotten away from her either on purpose or accidentally with her standing right there.

- Laura on December 15th, 2006

Wow, I really hope she never reads some of the thinly veiled accusations here.

The police have confirmed that they’re investigating the presence of a third party, and have said no other circumstances are suspicious.

From reading news stories the reason she was writing the number down was because someone called and gave her another number (we’ve all had that happen – my mother called me last night and gave me the number to a hospital so I could ring my aunt – I had to write the number down).

The pram was on a steep hill and was next to a river, and everyone knows that being next to a river can be REALLY noisy, especially if it’s a river which is near the mouth, next to the sea (which this one is). The sound of waves lapping is much louder than the sound of pram wheels slowly turning – the pram would have been down the hill a bit before it gained momentum and started rushing and being more noisy.

I feel awful for her – the poor mother, going through everyone’s worst nightmare, and all people can do is point their fingers and cast suspicion on her.

- amelie on December 15th, 2006

I can’t believe the comments about this poor woman here. God forbid something happens to one of YOUR children. Do you want everybody whispering about you…”I bet she did it”? You weren’t there…you don’t know. Why would you even say that about somebody? You people need therapy.

- Carol Lee on December 15th, 2006

No matter what happened, it is very sad. Hugs to the mom and to the family.

No mother deserves to lose her baby.

- -Lauren- on December 15th, 2006

I’m surprised so many of you automatically assume she killed her child. While the police surely will (and should) follow up on that possibility, I think many of you are watching too much CSI. I think we just don’t know all the facts of the story, yet, and it the dots don’t all connect at this point. One poster made a great point that it’s very loud by a river–she would not have heard the stroller rolling off with that noise and being on the phone.

I made a stupid, stupid mistake this week by turning my back on my child for a few seconds while I had him in a shopping cart in a parking lot. Despite the lot being seemingly flat, he rolled about 5-6 feet from me before I noticed. I will never do that again!

I don’t know how this woman will be able to go on after this. Certainly she’s somewhat negligent for her child’s death, despite it being an accident. Just horrible. =(

- KM on December 15th, 2006

Guidomom, I hear ya! My only real thought was my heart going out to this poor mother because she’s going to spend the rest of her life kicking herself for turning her back and replaying what ifs. My guess, as a coping mechanism, she immediately chose to believe that her child had been kidnapped – because with that scenario, at least baby is still here on Earth and findable. Allowing the head to go to the realization that the baby may have rolled in the pram down to the river…not an easy jump for any mother to want to make.

As for people so readily accusing the mom of murder – I have an autistic son who I love to pieces. Wouldn’t change anything about him, even if I could – because then he wouldn’t be him. But, he knows no fears and perpetually tries to get out of the house. We have bolts on doors and extra security measures everywhere to keep him from getting out of the house. (because kids with autism lack common sense as well as knowing no danger). While we do a lot of this for HIS safety, we also do it, because WE KNOW if he gets out of the house and something dreadful happens to him, THE FIRST THING people are going to say is that we as his parents had something to do with it because A: we didn’t want an autistic child or B: we couldn’t cope with an autistic child anymore. Complete BS, but that’s what people will think.

Case in point, in his 6 years with us, he’s gotten loose from the house ONCE. He was only out for a few seconds before my husband and I both went: where’s Jack? (you know that feeling of dread when the house gets too quiet….) Without another thought, we bolted out the front door and took off separate directions. Fortunately, a neighbor half a block a way had come out and caught him (he was heading straight to school because he absolutely loves school). By the time I got down to where they were, some old woman had come out of her house – a former social worker – and right then and there, was accusing me of neglect, la la and threatening to report us. (her tone was clear that we didn’t want him because he’s obviously ‘special’)Mind you, he had to get out 3 doorways to make his freedom exit and 3 things had to have gone wrong for this to happen…..

Gotta love people sometimes. If something were to ever happen to my son, I’d jump in front of the first car that passed as there’s no way I’d survive that loss.

by the way: now that he’s taller, all locks have been moved up to 5 feet minimum – thankfully we’re all short in our family and hopefully he’ll have more of a sense of fear by the time he reaches that height. Lord knows I never want him to get himself near a body of water. Read way too many of those horror stories.

- teenyz on December 16th, 2006

I’m sorry but such comments against this poor baby’s mother should not be tolerated by this site. I have been a regular viewer of the site for two years now and thought that inflamatory comments were not tolerated.

For all of the people that seem to be condeming this woman perhaps they should get the facts straight before making such terrible comments.

The Police have confirmed her version of events…

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20932070-948,00.html

You should be ashamed of yourselves and I have totally lost all respect for a site that was the first place I went to online every morning – smarten up your act editors these comments are slander – but I suppose the comments are not about Britney or Tom with their army of lawyers so who cares right…

- Lexiesmum on December 16th, 2006

A stroller incident happened like that with me when I was a newborn and my mother set the brake and it was faulty or forgot to set the brake, she doesn’t remember. I went down the street and flipped over in my stroller in the street. Thank goodness no cars came by and all I had was a cut on my forehead. I understand that when a child dies the first suspect is the parents as we have unfortunatly learned in previous cases. But please just pray, meditate, etc so that this mother is not going to hurt herself for something that happened out of accident. I know with my niece I never took my eye off her and still she was able to put something into her mouth or do something she wasn’t supposed to. Let’s just pray and keep an eye on every child. May his little soul rest in peace.

- C on December 16th, 2006

I have a jogging stroller and unlike 4 wheel strollers they tend to roll, even if they are on a flat surface. I have actually been in a situation where I took my baby out of the stroller to take a picture of her while the stroller was close to an embankment, but still on level ground. When I returned to the stroller, it had quietly rolled down the embankment into trees at the bottom. I was close to the stroller at the time and didn’t hear it roll. This is just a tragic accident and this poor mother has to live the rest of her life asking herself “if only” this and that.

- Rachel Donovan on December 16th, 2006

Wow. That is absolutely horrific. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain that she is feeling right now. I almost cried reading that story. My heart goes out to her.

- MommyX1 on December 16th, 2006

There were actually quite a few posts that went through that we would not normally allow to be posted – the ones blatently accusing her of killing her child and insinuating as such. There was a mix up regarding which editor was moderating the comments – neither Danielle nor I were. We normally check over what the contributor has posted but that did not happen yesterday. We apologize and have attempted to remove the inflammatory posts.

Obviously it is a very sad and strange case, and some may question the situation. It’s fine to wonder why and how this may have happened – hopefully the update gives some answers. We do want to allow discussion of different opinions, but it’s inappropriate to be talking so negatively about the mother. Please refrain from accusations and insinuations of what the mother may have done – the police have cleared her. Thanks.

- Sarah CBB News Editor on December 16th, 2006

What a horrific situation. That poor, poor mama. Tragedies can happen in the blink of an eye … to any one of us, or to any one of our precious children. Yes there are bits of the story that make me look askance … but, what do I know? I wasn’t there; I don’t know her. And that’s the nature of “freak accidents” — they are strange and inexplicable, and terrifying, and can happen to anyone.

The authorities are satisfied, and that’s important: I can only pray that the mama receives the compassion and care she deserves and needs during this terrible time.

- Beth on December 16th, 2006

In reply to some of these posts, it must seem to those who are unfamiliar with the area quite unreal that the television crew were there filming this tragedy as it unfolded but one of our local televion stations is located across the road from where it unfolded, once the alarm was raised it would have been journalistic heaven for them (no disrespect intended!). i live in Adelaide, South Australia and i have jogged in this area on occasion. It is a perfectly safe place to jog, walk or just enjoy. It is not in the “neck of the woods” it is on open area which is near the zoo, botanical gardens, city centre and general family area’s unfortunately the day and age inwhich we live in attracts unthinkable actions from undesirable people to take place in areas like these causing innocent people to be an easy target and tarnishing what should be a happy environment. Alot of people have accused this poor woman of being careless and a bad mother but be honest with yourself do you watch your children 24/7. My first reaction after feeling desperate loss for this poor woman, as a mother of a 23 month old boy was “i have never taken my eyes off of him for more that two seconds” but in all honesty i am not without fault every day i wake up and i make mistakes like everyone else…i would die if anything happened to him he is my angel but i do make mistakes we all do. This poor woman and her husband have to live with this for the rest of their lives and they will make mistakes again. Lets try and remember the pain and suffering the family must be feeling at this time especially around Christmas because it wont be a “Merry Christmas for all” this year. Give your baby a hug and dont let them go…until of course they yell and squeel saying mummmmmmmmmmmmmm, let me go!!!!

- lulusass on December 16th, 2006

How very sad. That poor baby.
I feel so bad for the mother too. Can you imagine all the guilt she will carry for the rest of her life? Accidents happen… but I’m guessing she’ll be replaying it over and over again in her head, and asking herself “what if I had only___”…. so sad.

- Heather77 on December 16th, 2006

This is so awful. I’m absolutely haunted by this. I can’t stop kissing my daughter.

- Alexandra on December 16th, 2006

Perfect illustration of how quickly things can go horribly irreversibly wrong… God be with this family. Heartbreaking.

- Campbell on December 16th, 2006

“In her hurry to answer the phone…”

That pretty much sums it up doesn’t it?

R.I.P Little guy.

- Stacey on December 17th, 2006

I have to agree that it is disgusting to read the comments of the posters that hastily accuse this mom of murdering her baby. This is a tragic and heartbreaking story. It is a double heartbreak to see how quickly some of you jump to the worst conclusion. Please remember that YOU are not without fault and I am sure that you have some stupid mistakes in life too. Until you have walked a mile in her shoes, you have no right to talk or cast stones at her. Y’all are so judgmental! She and her family need prayers at this time. May her baby RIP. May the Lord give her the strength that she needs to make it through this difficult time.

- alch on December 17th, 2006

This tragic loss is heartbreaking. It just sickens me to read about that little baby’s death. It also sickens me to read some of the accusations and judgmental comments on here. Not only does this mother have to deal with the shock and grief of losing a child, she has to endure scrutiny, accusations of murder, finger-pointing and whispering about it being her fault that the child died. I lost an adult child through a tragic accident. I cannot describe the depth of emotions (shock, disbelief, panic, sorrow, pain, inability to breathe, nightmares, anger, loss, feeling like you’re going to die, feeling like you can’t be happy ever again or even go on living, shall I go on?) that I, my husband, daughters, family members and friends went through. And, my son’s death was not caused by any one of us; it was an accident. But, every single one of us went through “survivor’s guilt,” the feeling you have when you lose someone so close and you’re left behind…the feeling that you should have been able to somehow prevent the tragedy, even when logic tells you there is nothing you could have done. We went through our own personal hell on earth when we lost my precious son. Many of us sought counseling and therapy to deal with the loss and I can tell you I will never, EVER, recover from it. But, it was an accident. And, unfortunately in today’s society, so many people can’t or won’t accept that accidents do happen and are constantly looking for someone to blame. Do they look for people to blame because they think that something like that could NEVER happen to them? Does it make people feel superior or better about themselves to judge others in situations they know nothing about? I cannot imagine being in the position this mother is in: finger-pointing, accusations (some of murder), blame, name-calling, and implications she was not a good or fit mother. For those of you who say “I would never…” “Why was she…” “How could she…” please be careful about your judgments. I’m thankful that I never had to deal with people who cast blame or judged regarding the loss of my son and saw his death for the accident it was. They offered comfort, support, prayers and sympathy. We could not have made it through the loss without it. And it didn’t hurt any less because he was an adult…he will ALWAYS be my child and I will ALWAYS love and miss him. I hope that none of you, even the ones of you judging this woman, ever have to experience the pain and loss this woman is going through. Accidents happen and no one is immune…no matter how much you love your child, take the utmost care of your child or give your child everything he or she needs or wants. I truly hope none of you ever find out how this woman feels through personal experience.

- PinkRoses on December 17th, 2006

This is such a tragic story…heartbreaking, really. My heart and prayers go out to the family.

- Jennifer on December 17th, 2006

Well, if you read the update, it will become clear to you. It was a tragic accident. Perhaps you can now stop accusing what seems to be an innocent mother of killing her child?

I feel so bad for the mother and the family. And the poor little baby of course. So sad.

- Hea on December 17th, 2006

I find some of these comments very disturbing and disheartening. Whatever happened to “innocent until proved guilty”? This woman has lost her child and compassion should come before speculation. For those who have painted her as a bad mother for answering her phone, get off your high horse. Everyone is human and has made a mistake or bad judgement at some point.

- Jenny on December 17th, 2006

I am really disgusted about the comments here!! My guess that the brave mothers here are perfect ,never make mistakes.
Please show more respect ,she just lost her child.Her life is ruined.No need to kick someone when she’s down.

- Irene on December 17th, 2006

I don’t think it’s right to blaim the mother for this accident, but I understand why you all react like this. You all have children and don’t want to think about something like this happening to your babies. So you say things like “why pick up your phone so fast?” or “why did she take a walk in that neighboorhoud”. This way you can convince yourself something like this would never happen to you. Because you would never pick up your phone that fast, etc… But it can. Accidents happen all the time. You can’t be always alert. That’s only normal. Think about this when you blaim the mother. She’s the victim here, not a killer.

- Sara on December 17th, 2006

I can’t believe what is being allowed to be posted here. Hopefully the owners of this website have some type of disclaimer that opinions posted are not their own etc. I am leaving the website and I won’t return.

- Carol Lee on December 17th, 2006

that’s really sad… and – to be honest – incredibly stupid. poor little baby & family! his mother must feel kinda suicidal right now cause it was all and alone her fault…

- savanna on December 17th, 2006

Oh god I feel so bad for her losing a child is a horrible thing but if it’s your own fault? damn how do you live with that feeling? All my thoughts are going to the poor family

- Amélie on December 17th, 2006

Oh my god, that poor woman. I can’t imagine what its going to take just for her to survive this.

These accusations are disgusting. I can hardly believe what I’m reading… it seems like many of you WANT her to be guilty of something malicious or evil in this tragedy.

YOU CAN’T ALWAYS PREVENT ACCIDENTS. Things will happen that you that you never dreamed possible.

When I was young, my baby brother (unbeknownst to us) had somehow learned to try to climb out of his crib. He was almost one. He fell about 4 or 5 feet onto the hard floor on his head/neck and was unconscious and not breathing. If my mother had not heard him fall and and my father had not performed CPR on him, he would have died.

This was something that no one could have anticipated or even dreamed would happen.

Imagine if one of you lost your precious baby in a freak accident and through your unfathomable pain you had to deal with self-righteous instigators viciously blaming you for something you will already blame yourself for as long as you live.

- Ada on December 18th, 2006