Our Story

Dear Reader:

My name is Kaye Maze and I am writing to ask for your help.

You see, my infant son collapsed at 5 weeks old. My husband and I were charged with harming our precious baby. My husband, Russell, was charged with aggravated child abuse by Shaken Baby Syndrome. I was charged with failure to protect.

My son, Alex, was born 6 weeks premature, weighing only 3 pounds and 12 ounces on March 25, 1999. We were told that he was small but fine. Only that was very far from being the truth. He spent 13 days in the Special Care Nursery after birth. He had an attack of superventricular tachycardia (fast beating heart) and had to have ice on his forehead to bring it down. He started a pattern of crying that continued after we brought him home. We were told that he was crying because he was not being satisfied by his formula. I would go in to feed him every 3 hours and a nurse would be holding and rocking him. They would always say he was just a hand full and started him on Enfamil with rice.

The special care nursery missed several things about my son’s health that lead to the collapse on May 3, 1999. Such as, his head circumference grew 4.25 cm in a 7 day period. They didn’t do an ultrasound of his head which should have been protocol for a premature baby. They also injected him with Heptavax on his 9th day of life. His weight and other issues should have prevented this injection from being given. This lead to several problems when we brought him home from the hospital. In the short 25 days we had Alex home, he went to the doctor 7 times. We brought him home from the hospital with a heart monitor on. On his 2nd well baby visit to the pediatrician, he was given another hepatitis b shot. This was only 3 weeks from the 1st shot. Exactly 7 days later, he stopped breathing. From the moment we brought him home from the hospital, Alex did not behave like the average baby. In fact, he rarely slept more that 10 to 20 minutes at a time. He would cry and I would feed him and he would be consoled, but only for a few minutes. He had severe constipation. My sister came to visit to help out and although she had raised 3 kids of her own, was unable to discern what was happening with Alex. She and other people commented on not being able to see Alex’s fontanel. Being a novice mother, I foolishly thought that was a good thing. I could not have been more wrong. Russell and I started to notice a slight discoloration on Alex’s left temple. Barely discernable, but there. We both thought that we had accidentally bumped the baby’s head taking him from his carrier. A few days later, we discover another discoloration on the right temple. We were growing increasingly concerned, but since it did not appear to be anything more than a discoloration, we decided to monitor it. We both still believed that we had somehow caused these things to happen accidentally.

Russell baby sat Alex for the 3 days prior to his collapse on May 3rd while I worked a temporary job at a local music festival. Alex began having prolonged crying spells that we contributed to my absence. On the 3rd evening, I came home and fed the baby while my husband slept. Alex was crying more than usual and having reflux. I was up all night with him. He started running a fever of 100.4 by mid morning and I gave him some baby Tylenol. Russell came in around noon from work and I began telling him about the baby being sick. We were worried, but had been told we needed to stop jumping at shadows by a pediatrician. We were out of formula and Russell volunteered to stay with the baby while I went out for formula and a bite to eat for us. He wanted to give me a break from caring for the baby as I had been up all night. I was only gone approximately 40 minutes and I returned to find the ambulance in front of our apartment complex.

This would only be the beginning of our nightmare. Temporary custody was granted to the state and we were only allowed to see our sick baby when a social worker was present. We were questioned repeatedly by nurses, doctors, social workers and the police. They tried every manipulation they could think of to get me to admit that Russell shook our son. They presented me with their theories, to which I intently listened. I was waiting for some scrap of truth from them that would tell me without a doubt that Russell had hurt the baby. Nothing in their theories made any sense then and they especially don’t make sense now. Russell is a large man. He weighs in at 225 pounds and stands 6 feet 1 inches tall. He has huge hands and if even one of the things they said he did to Alex were true, he would have instantly crushed him. So forensically it doesn’t make sense.

Alex survived this ordeal, but remained a medically fragile child. He was unable to swallow and had to have a feeding tube in his stomach. He also had to have his secretions suctioned frequently. He was placed with a foster family, even though both sides of our families wanted him. The state refused to even consider them.

Russell and I were arrested at 1:00 AM the morning of June 23, 1999. I would make bail, but Russell’s bail was too high for us to get him out. He was tried and convicted February 2000. I continued to drive south to see my son and north to see my husband.

Alex’s full name is Bryan Alexander Maze. When the state placed him in the foster parent’s home, they began calling him Bryan. We explained that they should be calling him Alex. They did not respect our wishes and always called him Bryan. It was as though they tried to completely erase us from his life.

I took a best interest plea on my charge and was given 2 years suspended sentence and 3 years probation. I took the plea, not because I was guilty, but becasue I knew I would not be allowed to get my son back with my criminal case still pending. I took the plea on May 25, 2000 and the hearing scheduled for September was post-poned. They never heard our case.

Our beautiful baby boy lost his fight for life on October 25, 2000. He collapsed a 2nd time and didn’t have his father there to save his life. He was flown into the hospital where he remained in the hospital 6 days. The hospital fought me in court to remove him from life support. Luckily, Alex decided that he would not wait for that to happen and was pronounced brain dead before they pulled the plug. I held my son and sang him into heaven with my sister and the foster parents looking on. It took 20 minutes for his heart to stop beating. I had to fight to get Russell there to say goodbye. He was shackled and not allowed to even touch him. It was after Russell’s visit that Alex was pronounced brain dead. I think he was just waiting to see his father.

I made arrangements for my little boy’s funeral by myself. My co-workers chipped in to help me pay for his funeral. God bless all those caring people or the state would have buried my son without my having any say it.

Russell’s conviction was overturned on appeal due to a technical error. Because our son had died during the appeal process, the state then charged him with murder in addition to the aggravated child abuse. We went to trial again in March 2004. We had a court appointed attorney that was unfamiliar with this type of case. He did his best, but my husband was again convicted. This time he received a life sentence.

My husband is an innocent man condemned to spend the rest of his life in prison, unless we are able to raise enough money to pay for an attorney experienced in this type of case. Defense in shaken baby cases is very difficult due to the massive amount of medical, biomechanical, scientific and related information.

Our friends and family have all been very supportive during this crisis, but they are no longer able to help us financially. It is my prayer that if you are touched by our story that you will find it in your heart to help in some way. I have taken to selling off the few possessions we have left to fund this case. (See my virtual yard sale.) I am my family’s sole financial support. I work a full time job, provide for my husband’s needs, and pay for all my household expenses. I have learned to live off very little in order to provide for my family. Please help me prove my husband’s innocence and find out the truth about what happened to Alex.

Russell has been turned down on direct appeal and his case is now before the Supreme Court of Appeals. This is likely to be turned down there as well, so our only hope for justice lies with the post-conviction process. It is here that we hope to prove his innocence.

Our story is sadly all too common these days. Remember….this is not a situation that could have only happened to my family. It could happen to yours. Please, help stop this madness.

Thank you for reading my story.

Kaye Maze
Russell’s wife and Alex’s mother

To read part 2 of Alex's story, click here to read Russell's testimony.