IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A man accused in the death of his infant son in Iowa City denies he ever hurt the boy.

Brian Dykstra is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his son, Isaac, in 2005. The Gazette in Cedar Rapids reports Dykstra took the stand on Tuesday and told the jury “absolutely not” when asked if he ever “beat up” the child, who was adopted from Russia.

Dykstra says Isaac fell down two stairs three days before he was rushed to the hospital on Aug. 13, 2005. Dykstra described a knot on his son’s head, and said it turned soft. He also described a slow change in behavior and said he wished they would have taken him to the hospital after the fall.

There's some confusion, especially for two married women having a child. Does the non-birthing parent have to adopt to make it legal? And how a new law could fix it.

Inset: Diane Natasha Mack (Highlands County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The home and garage where Diane Natasha Mack allegedly abused her adoptive daughter (Highlands County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube).

Deputies in Sebring, Florida, were called to a “horrific” crime scene on Friday that “no amount of law enforcement experience” could have ever prepared them for, according to police officials.

Diane Natasha Mack — a 34-year-old former Florida Department of Children and Families employee who worked as a guardian ad litem (GAL) — had phoned police to report the death of her 13-year-old adopted daughter after finding her “lying unresponsive” on a floor at their home in the Sun ‘n Lake of Sebring golf and recreation community early Friday at 12:19 a.m., per the Highland County Sheriff’s Office.

What authorities discovered there, according to Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman, they will not soon forget.

HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. - More information has come to light in a Hernando County case surrounding a 13-year-old girl who deputies say was murdered by her adoptive mother and a Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) employee.

Selena's birth mom, Jennifer Kellum, says she and Selena's adoptive mother, Diana Mack, who also adopted her 12-year-old daughter, have recently been in communication.

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A 51-year-old woman and 59-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of murder, torture, and child abuse in the death of their 10-year-old adopted son, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department says.

By Jonathan Lloyd • Published November 23, 2024 • Updated on November 23, 2024 at 11:08 am

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Riverside County Sheriff's Department

PORTER COUNTY, Ind. (WLS) -- A Northwest Indiana woman charged in the death of her foster son was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday.

Dakota Levi Stevens, 10, died last April after a medical emergency at a home in Porter County. His death was eventually ruled a homicide.

Cherish Deven described Blake as malnourished and said she was forced to dismember his body after he died.

Posted 4:09 AM yesterday Updated 6:54 PM yesterday

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Woman shares witnessing brother's final moments in Fayetteville murder case

SALINA, Kan. (KAKE) - New details have emerged from the biological mother of the child finally identified after being dug up in a backyard in Rose Hill. 

"It's kinda like hearing about it for the first time again today considering they finally figured it out,” said Christa Helm, biological mother. 

Helm says she is tired, she says it's been a long day, as DNA evidence confirms the body found buried in the backyard of a Rose Hill home is her biological daughter she named Natalie Marie Garcia. Police identified the remains as 6-year-old Kennedy Jean Schroer. 

"She was a really sweet girl,” said Helm. 

The unsealed indictment reveals evidence and testimony on disturbing child torture details and missed opportunities by San Diego County to intervene.

By Alexis Rivas, Mike Dorfman and Meredith Royster • Published February 26, 2025 • Updated on February 27, 2025 at 12:15 pm

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Trezell and Jacqueline West receive sentence for death and disappearance of Orrin and Orson West

Photo by: California City Police Department