Hi everyone,
Luis Encalada didn’t have to die.
The Ecuadorean immigrant who was found beaten and bleeding internally from a lacerated liver last November in Danbury could have been saved, according to a local doctor familiar with trauma-based medicine.
“The sad thing about these types of injuries is — if you catch them early, right after they happen — they’re 99 percent curable,” the doctor said Tuesday afternoon.
“If someone is brought to the ER right away — say a kid who got hurt playing lacrosse, or there was a car accident — there’s a very good chance you’re going to have a positive outcome.”
Instead, the 42-year-old Encalada spent precious time bleeding — nearly an hour — last Nov. 6 in a driveway on Town Hill Avenue in Danbury.
To read more about Encalada, and the man accused of manslaughter and assault in his death, check out my “Take on Life” column on Wednesday.
Only in the print edition of The News-Times.
Kindness can only be extended so far.
Is what DaSilva did wrong?
Legal or not, you can’t take the law into your own hands.
Laws apply to everyone, rich and poor.
All DaSilva had to do was call the cops.
Let them deal with the squatters.
Let them be the “bad guys.”
So now DaSilva will go to jail.
Poor judgement led to a man’s death.
Is this justice?
Can anyone deny that DaSilva needs to be punished?
Sorry, but he deserves to go to jail.
Comment by equalinall — February 17th, 2010 @ 10:06 am
He was here illegally and causing trouble. We shouldn’t care what happened to him
Comment by NYer — February 17th, 2010 @ 4:02 pm
While I must say that I agree with everything that the above “equalinall” said, I just wanted to say I find it funny that someone is now using this identity here, as that was my identity on the old forums for a very long time. Well, Kudo’s on THIS one, Mr. Or Mrs. Double. I agree.
Thanks for the article, Mr. Koontz. Much as I had been thinking too. Why didn’t DaSilva call the authorities? Why didn’t the plumber call the authorities when he saw what was happening? Will he be called to account too for failure to report the crime?
Comment by RealEqualinall — February 17th, 2010 @ 11:26 pm
Brian, I’m curious as to what your medical consultant thinks about what role Mr. Encalada’s BAC (I believe it was .37, nearly 4 times the legal limit) had in his demise. At .37, most people would be completely passed out and unable to move themselves down the street. To my knowledge, the fact that he was able to tolerate .37 enough to get down the street while injured indicates he spent a good amount of time drinking. If he habitualy drank to this extent, his liver probably had considerable damage to start with. Maybe it wouldn’t have taken a forceful blow to cause bleeding?
Don’t get me wrong, if the allegations against DaSilva outlined in the affidavit are true then I agree with equalinall’s statement completely. But maybe DaSilva’s blows wouldn’t have killed someone in better condition. I doubt there was any intent to kill him.
Comment by joe.still.not.the. plumber — February 18th, 2010 @ 12:41 am
Why would someone beat up a person that intoxicated? He can’t defend himself. Then he pushed him down stairs as if beating him up wasn’t enough. That is cold! You call the police if you have trespassers you don’t kill them. The fact that this guy is illegal and the other one is rich is irrelevant, murder is murder. Is the victim’s life less valuable because he is illegal? Should the murderer not be held accountable because he is rich? While it isn’t premeditated and only he knows if the victim’s death was intentional I am sure the thought of killing him crossed his mind as he was beating him.
Comment by Catherine29 — March 15th, 2010 @ 6:33 am