by Utopian Reformist 1242 Replies latest members private
I have received a barrage of emails, as to be expected, I know you guys care. I don't think it's my place to expound, but here is a link where if you scroll down, you will see a video link to a sad, heartbreaking story.
I will continue to let Mario know via email how much we all care.
Love,
Lisa
Mario is needing us. Are any of you near Providence? I am in California. We need to rally round him now. Please speak up. If you wish to PM me because you do not want to reveal your identity please do so.
Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.
Girl trapped in set fire dies of burns
Talia Balletta, 11, had suffered second- and third-degree burns in the blaze set by her mother.
01:00 AM EST on Thursday, December 2, 2004
BY AMANDA MILKOVITS
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- The young girl who was trapped in a burning bedroom when her mother barricaded their house and set the room on fire in late October died at Hasbro Children's Hospital Monday.
Talia Balletta, 11, had struggled for a month to survive second- and third-degree burns over half of her body.
Police officers had dragged her mother, Tonya Fuller-Balletta, 37, and sister, Marina, 13, out through the bedroom windows, but they couldn't get to Talia. Firefighters found her in the bedroom closet.
On the same day that her youngest daughter died, Fuller-Balletta was found incompetent to stand trial.
The results of her competency exam were revealed in District Court on Monday, said Michael Healey, spokesman for the attorney general's office. The case is expected to go before a grand jury.
"At some point, we will amend the charges against her" because of Talia's death, Healey said. Fuller-Balletta remains held without bail at the state Eleanor Slater Hospital.
The events on Oct. 29 were set off when a state trooper came to the house at 36 Ophelia St. with an old warrant.
Fuller-Balletta was wanted for allegedly writing a bad check in 1989 to Johnson & Wales University, which she had attended.
The trooper tried to persuade her to go with him to the station.
That set off chaos. The state police said Fuller-Balletta became enraged and screamed to her daughters that the trooper was hurting her. The girls tried to defend their mother by hitting and kicking him, and even got a can of pepper spray when Fuller-Balletta shouted for it, the police said.
They forced the trooper outside and barricaded themselves. More state troopers and Providence police officers arrived, and Fuller-Balletta's estranged husband, Mario, tried talking to her through the locked door. But she didn't respond, the police said.
The lights went off inside the house. When the police burst in, they found the mother and her daughters in a back bedroom clutching knives and sitting near a mattress that had been set on fire. She allegedly told the daughters the police were there to kill them.
The police went outside and grabbed for Fuller-Balletta and Marina through the windows. But Talia had crawled into the closet.
Fuller-Balletta, once a candidate for governor, is charged with first-degree arson, six counts of felony assault with a dangerous weapon, simple assault on a trooper, and resisting arrest.
I couldn't get the link to play but it wasn't really needed anyway, the headline said it all
I'm so sorry Mario
Mario Juliano Balletta
PO BOX 91016
JOHNSTON, RI 02919
God, I am so sorry Mario....
I am so lost for words......
I have just read the entire thread for the first time.
One of the most used phrases from people here is "words fail me".That will do for me too.
All the very,very best to you my Friend.
Thanks so much, LDH, I'm sure I speak for all of us who wanted to continue sending Mario words of encouragement. I appreciate that you put up the address for us....
hugs,
Annie
Mario,
I returned form Paris the day your little Talia passed. I am only now reading your last post. I sit hear now at my computer: keyless, though my mind races. What can anyone say? Many of us have lost loved ones. Though, most likely, non of us have lost anyone in this senseless manner. All of of us wish we could reach through and just hold you for a moment. Take a bit of your pain. But we are helpless other than simple words for you and Marina.
Hope you two can heal... Your ex can pay... And that as soon as possible you can find the joy God intended for you.
Bryan
thanks for the post LDH .. Mario, my sincerest condolences, you and your family are still in our prayers. hugs
Thank You for informing us LDH.
(((((((((((((((Mario, Marina, & Talia))))))))))))))))
I am saddened by this news. I am so sorry for your loss Mario.
CC
