I think most of us have gut reactions or feelings about various statements and events that occur in the course of our daily lives.

Such was the case when I read the article about an infant’s death.

What churned my gut and tied it in knots was the statement quoted here in part, “the death of Ethan Anderson, a 10-week-old boy who allegedly was shaken and thrown into a chair by his father.”

In my dictionary, the word “allegedly” is defined as (archaic) asserted to be true or to exist.

However, the modern and most commonly used and understood meaning of the word is given as “questionably true, supposedly, so called.”

What is “questionably true, supposedly, so called” about a statement by the father, reported by the newspaper as I understood it approximately as follows: “Ethan was crying. I got angry. I picked him up by the head, shook him, and threw him into the chair.”

That sounds like a pretty factual statement to me. Simple. Direct. Factual.

How does allegedly enter in to it? An infant child is dead.

His father said his actions resulted in his son’s death.

I believe the state has charged the father with some form of murder. What charge belongs to the rest of us?

Ash Gilmore

Albion

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