Wife of suspect in child's death dying of cancer

Wife of suspect in child's death dying of cancer

With son headed to Iraq -- police set up fund to help

November 27, 2004

Jim Herron Zamora

San Francisco Chronicle

Edrina Gibson-McEntire has terminal cancer and just months to live. She's lost her health insurance and is out of medication. And her son, a 19- year-old Marine infantryman, is headed for Iraq.

As if that weren't enough, her husband, Charles McEntire Jr., is sitting in jail, charged with murder and accused of fatally stabbing their adopted 18- month-old son.

"I feel so weak right now, I don't know what to do,'' the 39-year-old Richmond woman said Friday. "I can't give you the words for what I'm going through. All I know is that I just can't stop. I can't break down. I've got to hang on."

Richmond police, who have seen their share of sad tales, were so moved by Gibson-McEntire's plight that they started a fund to help her pay for her son's burial, her chemotherapy and other bills.

"Her world has basically been shattered," said Sgt. Mark Gagan. "Her adopted son has been killed, her husband has been arrested, her son is going to Iraq. She's running out of medicine, and there are no funds available to even bury her child. ... This is all happening to a woman whose doctors only give her a couple months to live."

Gibson-McEntire first became ill in February and was diagnosed with multi-centric Castleman's disease, a rare disorder characterized by benign tumors in the lymph node tissue. In early April, blood tests confirmed that the tumors were cancerous. She had aggressive lymphoma.

"It spread from my cheekbone to my neck, from my neck my chest, from my chest to my stomach and then to my pelvis," Gibson-McEntire said.

After months of chemotherapy, she learned on Aug. 3 that the cancer was not responding to treatment. Worse, it was still spreading.

"I won't ever forget that day -- it was my daughter's 13th birthday, and my oncologist told me I won't be around for her next birthday," said Gibson-McEntire, who has five children from a previous marriage. "She said I only have six months to live."

Just before Gibson-McEntire became ill, she and her husband were in the process of adopting Brandon Berry. The boy, born disabled to a drug-addicted mother, was renamed Charles McEntire III when the adoption was completed a week before Gibson-McEntire learned she had cancer.

"I promised her I would take care of her baby," she said. "I just love that little guy so much."

Gibson-McEntire, a former preschool teacher, and her husband, recently retired as a security guard for the Oakland Unified School District, moved to Dublin from East Oakland to raise the toddler. The couple were forced to move after she became ill, and they settled in a Richmond neighborhood where drug dealers work the corners and homeless people drink from bottles hidden in bags.

As she grew sicker and weaker, Gibson-McEntire said, she and her husband became "very stressed out," and he was sometimes "spacey." But he was not abusive, she said, and gave no indication he would ever become violent with the toddler he often doted on.

Police agree.

"There was no indication that this was going to occur," Gagan said. "She had no idea this was coming. She did not contribute in any way to her child's death."

McEntire called 911 at 10:15 a.m. Monday to summon officers. He waited for them outside, then led them to a bedroom where CJ, as the boy was known, lay, police said. The boy had been stabbed several times.

McEntire remains jailed in Martinez in lieu of $1 million bail and could not be reached for comment. He is expected to enter a plea Dec. 8.

"It's real hard to talk about this, but I think he just snapped,'' Gibson- McEntire said, sobbing as she spoke her husband's name. "There was a lot of stress on him. There's a lot of stress and pain for me, and I didn't snap. I don't know what to think. I'm still in shock. Everybody is human, and they can only take so much.

"I just pray that I am alive long enough to see him go though court and get the punishment he deserves."

Gibson-McEntire had been covered by her husband's Kaiser Permanente insurance, but after his retirement, he forgot to pay his premiums. As her cancer treatment ran into the thousands of dollars, Kaiser canceled the policy.

Gibson-McEntire washed down her last chemotherapy pill with a glass of water Friday afternoon and cannot afford any more.

Following McEntire's arrest, police confiscated the couple's mattress and their computer, cutting Gibson-McEntire off from her on-line cancer support group.

On Friday, Gibson-McEntire sat crying and hugging her son, Marine Pfc. Jamil Posey, who is on leave from Camp Pendleton to be with her.

Posey, who has spent the past four nights sleeping on the floor while his mom took the couch nearby, is scheduled to ship out for Iraq in January.

"I have no idea how she is handling all this," Posey said. "She's just a strong woman. Any strength I have comes from her. She's always been able to go through pain. But it's never been this bad. It could be any day now."

Gibson-McEntire says she fears more for Posey than for herself.

"I know he wants to do his duty over there, and I respect that,'' she said. "I hope he can delay it some. I don't want to be on my deathbed worrying about them shooting at Jamil."

Gagan said his fellow officers were emotionally moved by her story, and they are encouraging people to help her in any way they can.

"The hardships that Ms. Gibson is suffering are basically life and death, " he said. "Her only true support left is from her son who is going to a war zone. We're doing all we can for her. But it's not enough. She needs more help than we can provide."

How to help

Donations may be made to the McEntire Family Memorial Fund, account number 1001934719, at Washington Mutual Bank, 12121 San Pablo Ave., Richmond, CA 94805. For further information call (510) 215-4840 or 620-6614.

E-mail Jim Zamora at jzamora@sfchronicle.com.