PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "While Joe and Sam say Gabe crawled off the couch one week earlier and bumped his forehead, they insist a second fall alleged in the lawsuit affecting the back of his head never happened. They provided videos to police showing Gabe acting normally in the week after the fall. "He had fallen off the couch and got a little bit of rug burn on the side of his forehead," Joe said. "And there were no other side effects or after-effects afterwards."
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STORY: "Final review' of 2017 alleged shaken baby case underway by Hennepin County Attorney's Office," by Reporter Lou Raguse, published by KARE 11, on June 11, 2025. (Lou Raguse is a journalist based in Minnesota specializing in crime and courts. Since 2005, he’s reported for local NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates in Minnesota, New York, Arizona, and South Dakota. Early in his career, Raguse developed a niche for crime reporting and has covered national cases such as the murder of George Floyd and the resulting trials, the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and the kidnapping and escape of thirteen-year-old Jayme Closs.)
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SUBpHEADING: "Daycare provider Sylwia Pawlak-Reynolds is charged with 2nd-degree murder in the death of Gabe Cooper."
GIST: "MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly eight years have passed since the day Joe Cooper dropped off his son Gabe at daycare, only for his wife Sam to learn a couple of hours later that something was terribly wrong.
"I got a phone call from Sylwia. I couldn't understand anything she was saying," Sam Cooper said.
It was Gabe's third day of daycare at Sylwia Pawlak-Reynolds' house in south Minneapolis where Gabe's sister had gone for a couple of years.
According to a criminal complaint, Sylwia told police she went to the backyard briefly to check on the other children and when she returned, Gabe was limp.
Joe got there to find paramedics giving Gabe CPR.
"Sylvia was being interviewed by Minneapolis PD, and as soon as she saw me, her focus turns over to me and I kept hearing, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.' That's all I heard from her," Joe said.
Gabe turned 1 year old in the hospital, then died.
"God, he was such an amazing kid," Sam said.
Court papers say the opinion of medical experts was that Gabe suffered an acceleration-deceleration injury, commonly called shaken baby syndrome.
Months later, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office charged Sylwia with 2nd-degree murder, but she was in Poland at that time and has not returned.
"What reason does she have to believe she would get a fair trial?" said Sylwia's husband Will Reynolds, who believes in her innocence. "The evidence indicates that Sylwia didn't do anything wrong with that child. That's why.
"
Will has filed a federal lawsuit accusing medical professionals of conspiracy, including altering records to exclude other possibilities for Gabe's death.
"They omitted exculpatory medical evidence," Will said, "Including but not limited to the CT imaging that clearly demonstrated an injury to the back of Gabriel's head. That pre-existed Sylwia's care."
While Joe and Sam say Gabe crawled off the couch one week earlier and bumped his forehead, they insist a second fall alleged in the lawsuit affecting the back of his head never happened.
They provided videos to police showing Gabe acting normally in the week after the fall.
"He had fallen off the couch and got a little bit of rug burn on the side of his forehead," Joe said. "And there were no other side effects or after-effects afterwards."
The Coopers are speaking publicly for the first time, feeling that as the years go by without Sylwia's case going to court, their son is the one being forgotten. "I just want some kind of justice for my son," Sam said. "Through this entire ordeal, there's a child that's not here anymore. What about him? I just want some kind of justice for him."
Authorities in Poland refused to extradite Sylwia to the United States to face her charges.
In a statement, the Hennepin County Attorney's office indicated they are actively working on the case:
“The death of Gabriel Cooper in 2017 was an unimaginable tragedy and he and his family deserve a considered assessment of the cause. We had previously agreed to dismiss the case in a manner that would allow us to recharge in the future to facilitate Ms. Pawlak-Reynolds' return to the country while we worked to resolve concerns about conflicting medical conclusions. However, we later learned that the dismissal would not allow her to return to the country. While the case originated and significant staff work occurred under a prior administration, our office is continuing to work to address concerns regarding the medical conclusions and the overall strength of the case. We are committed to completing a final, thorough review of this case to clarify the path forward for all parties.”
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
———————————————————————————————
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
