"MY LITTLE GRANDSON SHOULD STILL BE ALIVE"

Murdered baby Aaron Gilbert would be alive today if social services had acted on tip-offs alerting them of potential dangers, his devastated granny has insisted.Dorothy Lewis, aged 59, spoke out 24 hours after the publication of a damning report into the affair.

The 13-month-old baby was beaten to death by his mother's boyfriend two years ago.

Hard-drinking Andrew Lloyd punched, bit and kicked him.

A warning phone call to Swansea Council's social services department was not dealt with properly.

Little Aaron later died.

Grandmother Mrs Lewis, of Elphin Gardens, Townhill, said: "If social services had done its job properly, Aaron would still be here today, I am sure of it. He's turning in his grave because of this, I know he is."

Lloyd was convicted of Aaron's murder and his mum Rebecca Lewis was convicted of familial homicide in November last year.

She was sentenced to seven years in prison and Lloyd was told he would have to serve a minimum of 24 years behind bars.

But the report, by Swansea's Safeguarding Children Board, shows how a series of mistakes and failings meant the risks posed by Lloyd were never spotted and allowed Aaron's case to fall through the net.

"The report means that we were right: that we did do all we could to try to help Aaron, and it wasn't our fault social services didn't save him. It was their fault all along."

"If they'd have acted on that first phone call, Aaron would still be alive, I know it. He would be three now, and would have started nursery school.

"But I will say it again that Rebecca was a brilliant mother until she met Andrew.

"She loved him more than her own baby, and he was evil - he had evil in his eyes."

Mrs Lewis has vowed never to speak to her daughter again and has ripped up letters she sent from prison in an attempt at reconciliation.

She is supporting Lewis's cousin and her next-door neighbour Sharon Hurlow in a bid to sue Swansea Council over the case.

Mrs Hurlow said she rang social services anonymously twice in the week before his death, telling social workers of the danger.

But the social worker did not order an immediate child protection investigation, deciding instead to send a letter.

A visit to Lewis's house in Gors Avenue was planned for the day Aaron died, but by 5pm he was admitted to hospital. He died the following morning.

"What I need to do now is move on, and be able to grieve for Aaron. I'm just taking it one day at a time, but I'd like him to be able to rest in peace."

A comprehensive review into how the case was handled has now been ordered. The agencies involved have all said lessons do need to be learned from the case.

A spokesman for Swansea Council said that under Assembly Government requirements, all serious case reviews required all agencies involved in the case to review their involvement.

He added: "An independent expert is then appointed to review each agency's involvement, ask questions of individuals and organisations and to provide an overview report.

"The report into the Aaron Gilbert case is entirely independent and is a frank and honest assessment of the involvement of agencies and the lessons they need to learn."

"I AM NOT GOING TO REST UNTIL SOMETHING IS DONE"

The father of a murdered baby has launched a one-man crusade for answers on the events leading up to his son's death.Aaron Gilbert was only 13 months old when he died at his Townhill home after being treated like a punchbag by hard-drinking step-father Andrew Lloyd, who left him with 50 sickening injuries to his battered body.

Lloyd is now serving 24 years behind bars.

But Aaron's father Gareth Gilbert insists without a series of alleged blunders the tot would still be alive.

He says he wants much more detail on events leading to the tragedy and has lodged a formal complaint with council bosses.

Mr Gilbert, of Gendros, said: "I've said I'm not going to rest until something gets done about it and I want to see concrete evidence that Swansea Council, South Wales Police and the Probation Service are doing everything to ensure it doesn't happen again."

Swansea Council says all the agencies who dealt with Aaron, Andrew Lloyd and his mum, Rebecca Lewis, are "learning the lessons from this case".

But they will not say publicly what action, if any, has been taken against one of the social workers in the case.

Swansea Council's social services department received an anonymous call raising concerns for the baby's safety on April 15, 2005.

A social worker, who has not been named, failed to class the call as a child protection case and instead wrote to Lewis asking her to come into the office for an interview on May 5.

She did not attend and Aaron died the following morning.

A report by Swansea's Safeguarding Children Board, which looked into Aaron's death, highlighted the response of the social worker as one of a number of factors in the run-up to the tot's murder.

The council has previously said the female social worker is no longer on frontline duties. But Mr Gilbert said he wants to know more.

He added: "I don't understand why the social worker on this case hasn't been named.

"I'm prepared to take this all the way if I have to.

It's just not in Swansea - this type of thing is happening all over the UK and it has got to stop. It's disgusting."

A spokesman for Swansea Council said: "Council officers have met with Mr Gilbert and explained all of the issues in the Serious Case Review Report prior to its publication.

"The council is acting upon all the recommendations contained within the report to ensure we learn the lessons identified.

"Any issues relating to individual members of staff will remain confidential."

A spokesman for South Wales Police said it had not yet received Mr Gilbert's complaint, so was unable to comment.

SOCIAL WORKER WILL FACE DISCIPLINARY PANEL

10:30 - 11 May 2007

The social worker who may have failed to ensure Aaron Gilbert's safety is to face a disciplinary panel.Swansea Council's social services department received an anonymous call raising concerns for the baby's safety on April 15, 2005.

The social worker, who has not been named in the report, failed to class the call as a child protection case and instead wrote to Lewis asking her to come into the office for an interview on May 5.

She didn't attend and Aaron died the next morning.

The report highlights the inadequate response of the social worker as one of a number of factors in the run-up to Aaron's death.

Mark Roskowsky, Swansea Council's head of child and family services, said: "She has not been on frontline duties since the incident but it was considered the call was possibly malicious and a decision was taken to write to the mother."

A Swansea Council spokesman added: "The social worker no longer works in our frontline Access & Information team. Any disciplinary action will be pursued according to council policy."

November 2003

Madison County under CPS supervision,11-month-old April Patlin, died, six months after CPS officials stopped visiting her home.

Died August 11,2007

Died January 26,2007

Mother killed her children when social services allowed her an unsupervised visit

"She said her baby was in the river, drowning."

A woman described as mentally ill was charged Tuesday with murder for
allegedly jumping into the Snake River with her granddaughter in
an apparent murder-suicide attempt, authorities said. The toddler
remained missing. Kelley Jean Lodmell, 38, was to make her initial
court appearance Tuesday afternoon on a charge of first-degree murder. She also was
charged with kidnapping for allegedly taking her granddaughter from another family
member Sunday in Utah. Rescue divers continued to search the murky waters of the river
for the body of 19-month-old Acacia Patience Bishop. Authorities said the charges were
based on physical evidence and several hours of interviews with Lodmell, described as a
paranoid schizophrenic. "We have reason to believe she intentionally jumped into the
river in an attempt to commit suicide and kill the baby," Idaho Falls Police Sgt. Steve
Hunt said. "We don't believe the baby going into the water was an accident." Hunt said
earlier that baby shoes, a doll and one of the woman's shoes were found on the platform
where Lodmell told authorities Monday that she and the child fell in while dangling their
feet in the water. The woman's other shoe was found in the river. Lodmell had stopped
taking medication for her illness, according to her daughter Casey Lodmell, who is Acacia's
mother. The daughter said her mother had wanted the little girl for herself. Divers
searched for seven hours Monday in water 40 feet deep, and went back to work Tuesday
morning. Up to 10 divers would continue the search for the girl, diver Karl Casperson
said. Dogs worked the banks trying to pick up the child's tracks and boats searched a couple
of miles downriver. The spot where the woman said she and the girl fell is along a
spillway 200 yards upriver from a power plant. Ken Lawson, dispatch supervisor with
Idaho Falls Power, said the woman ran into the plant just after noon Monday. "She ran in
here soaking wet, and said that her baby had fallen in the water," Lawson said. "She said
her baby was in the river, drowning." The plant was immediately shut down so that the
river water would not be sucked into the plant's turbines, Lawson said. Last year, Lodmell
took Acacia for half an hour before relatives found them, Salt Lake County sheriff's
spokeswoman Peggy Faulkner said. No charges were filed. Since then, Acacia had only
had supervised visits with her grandmother, she said. On Sunday evening, Acacia was
being watched by her great-grandparents in Salt Lake County, Utah, while her parents
attended a wedding rehearsal dinner. Linda Lodmell, the girl's great-grandmother, said
Kelley Lodmell?her daughter?stopped by while she was watching Acacia, and then
both disappeared. Linda Lodmell said her daughter has received only short-term mental
care and took medications only when she could afford them. She tried to get mental
health care for her daughter through corrections agencies, she told the Deseret News of
Salt Lake City. Her daughter had pleaded guilty to a 1999 charge of aggravated assault of
a police officer and was put on probation. The little girl was seen Sunday night when
Lodmell checked into an Idaho Falls hotel along the river. Clerk Josh Siems said she sat
the child on the counter as she checked in at about 10 p.m. "The kid was OK," he said.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP)?Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Died April 21 ,2003

Anthony Cortez, 15, was choked to death by another child in a Stockton group home in 2003

Died May 17, 2007

"Love your kids, because you don't know how long you're going to have them."

Daycare Worker Accused Of Killing Child Was Already Under Investigation

Died August 24,2007

"I thought foster parents were supposed to protect them, not hurt them.-They chained her to a wall, they didn't feed her."

Died March 18, 2003

Beaten to death in his new foster home.

Caseworkers charged with child abuse -

Died April 6, 2003

Beaten to death by foster parents. -Michigan

Died July 29,2007

 Social Services Questions Surround Child's Death

Died January 4, 2000

Murdered by Serial Child Abuser, Kim Stevens

In the Early fall of 1999, Lloyd Saager had completed his tour of duty with the United States Army and was dismissed out of Fort Hood, Texas. He and his wife Yolanda moved to Gainesville, Texas with their three small children to live with Yolanda's grandfather.

When the family arrived in Texas, Lloyd got a new job. Yolanda stayed home caring for their three young children, Branden 5, Alyssa 3, and 2 year-old Jorden Grace. During the next few months, Yolanda befriended her neighbor Kim Stevens, whom had three children of her own. Their children often played with one another. That Halloween, the two mothers took their children Trick-or-Treating together. In November, Yolanda decided to return to the workforce. For a weekly fee, Ms. Stevens baby-sat Yolanda's children.

The morning of November 16, 1999, Yolanda Saager left for her new job, leaving their children in Kim Steven's care. After work, Stevens reported to Mrs. Saager that Jorden; her blonde haired brown-eyed two-year-old had incurred an injury that day. Ms. Steven's reported that Jorden had fallen out of a play car resulting in a bruised and swollen elbow. For the next month and a half no further injuries to the children where noted. As Christmas approached, the Saager's made plans to travel to Indiana for the holiday. When they returned the Saager children were baby-sat by Stevens, on December 31, 1999.

On January 3, 2000, Ms. Stevens treated the children to a trip to the Frank Buck Zoo. When Yolanda returned from work that day to retrieve her children, Stevens reported that "either an African Crown crane or ostrich" pecked Jorden on the hand while at the zoo. Again, Jorden had been injured while under Steven's care. This time she wasn't the only one, her sister Alyssa had a black eye. Stevens explained that Alyssa had 'a run-in with a teeter-totter'. Later that evening, after a trip to see the townhouse the family was planning to move into over the coming weekend, the family enjoyed dinner together. As bedtime approached little Jorden Grace told her mother; "Mommy my tummy hurts."

The following morning, Jorden was still complaining that her stomach hurt. In spite of the fact that Mrs. Saager was concerned for her daughter, she left Jorden and Alyssa at the home of Ms. Stevens who assured her that she would be called if Jorden's tummy ache should progress into something more serious.

Later that afternoon, Jorden was not any better as a matter of fact she appeared worse. Stevens attempted to call the office where Mrs. Sager worked. Stevens was unable to reach Yolanda by phone so she drove Jorden to the doctor. Stevens arrived at the office of Dr. Mark Gibbs around 1:30 p.m. Six minutes after their arrival, a Cooke County ambulance was dispatched to the location. The ambulance arrived 3 minutes later and transported Jorden Grace to Gainesville Memorial Hospital. Twenty minutes after being picked up by the ambulance little Jorden Grace Saager was pronounced dead at the hospital.

That was January 4, 2000, six weeks into Yolanda's new job. She arrived home as usual, and went into her own home to use the bathroom before heading next door to pick up her babies. "Coming out of the bathroom, the phone rang and I answered it. It was the town's hospital, telling me to get there now. I remember feeling panicky and asked why, but the nurse [just] said something to the effect, 'I wouldn't tell you to get here now if it wasn't important,'" Yolanda would later write remembering that terrible day. (For the Love of My Children, Yolanda Bluehorse Saager. Pg. 2)

Upon arriving at the hospital Yolanda was told her precious two-year old was dead. Yolanda hit her knees and let out a heart-wrenching scream. The kind of scream only a parent who has lost a child understands. Yolanda wanted to know what had happened to her baby. She asked questions, but received no clear answers.

Jorden Grace Saager died after sustaining major internal injuries in which her small intestine was separated from her stomach. She also had a 4 to 5 inch skull fracture and major bruising throughout her body, as reported by Jennifer Sickening a writer for the local Gainesville newspaper, The Register.

With no clear answers to be had, local law enforcement and Child Protective Services (CPS) were called in to investigate. Right away CPS took protective custody of the Saager's remaining children. Removing the children from their parents was to protect the children. After all, no one knew who or what was responsible for little Jorden's fatal injuries. Mr. & Mrs. Saager were promised the children would only be gone over night. The promised over night 'protective stay' turned into approximately 270 nights.

The following day Jorden's parents after learning their daughter's death was determined a homicide by the Medical Examiner's office, under went 8 hours of what Yolanda recalls as "being re-victimized". She had pictures of Jorden's lifeless, bruised, and battered body thrust into her face. She recalls being yelled at and accused of knowing what had happened to Jorden. Yolanda did know what happened: her neighbor, her baby-sitter, Kim Stevens had murdered her daughter and she was going to pay. "The fight for Justice had begun" Yolanda later recounted.

A hellish month later, Mrs. Saager's phone rang. She answered; on the other end was Holly Burkett. She was the mother of Amanda, another testament to Kim Steven's abusive homicidal ways. In 1996, Stevens had cared for Holly's then 20-month-old daughter. Amanda began suffering at Steven's hands. She was coming home with bruises and eventually suffered a head injury. Amanda's little head sustained such damage that she need brain surgery to remove a dangerous clot. Holly told Yolanda how Stevens had been charged but was later acquitted after a Dallas County judge ruled the criminal case was not proven.

Yolanda Saager and Holly Burkett, two mothers wanting Justice for their Daughters, met and bonded right away. "We, two mothers, as a team, dug our heels in. We did our own investigation." Yolanda later said of how their relationship started. (For the Love of My Children, Yolanda Bluehorse Saager. Pg. 4)

Through their own investigation, the two mothers learned that Kim Stevens had a history of child abuse. She had previously lost custody of her two older children due to abuse and neglect. They also discovered that Stevens lied to investigators on many occasions, often down playing Jorden's injuries. Stevens gave inconsistent statements regarding injuries and attempted to shift the blame on to the Saagers by telling investigators that Child Protective Services had previously investigated the Saagers, when they had not.

At first, the Gainesville police bought into Stevens' deception. An investigation was opened into the death of Jorden Grace and her parents were the prime suspects. "Now my next fight was on, and that was to get this lying, child killing monster behind bars. It was all I had left to do for my baby," Yolanda pledged (For the Love of My Children, Yolanda Bluehorse Saager. Pg 4)

Yolanda and Holly's investigation was working. The evidence was beginning to mount against Stevens. Finally, the police indicted Kim Stevens on charges of Capital Murder and injury to a child in the death of little Jorden Grace Saager. Steven's was taken into custody on December 31, 2003, in Comal County, approximately 4 years after she was entrusted with Jorden's care. Kim Stevens, at the time of her arrest, was working as an EMS technician. Stevens was transported to Cooke County, six days after her arrest. Fourteen days later, she was arraigned and a one million-dollar bond was set for the charges involving the Capital Murder of Jorden Grace Saager.

Jury selection began in late May 2005, over one year later. It was a slow agonizing start, but the trial was underway and the jurors heard testimony before the month was out.

"It was the longest two weeks of our lives. Because my husband and I were considered witnesses we were not allowed in the courtroom," Yolanda said, recalling how she and her husband sat in the hall and watched as witness after witness walked past them on their way to testify.

Finally, it was Jorden's mother's turn to testify, as she walked to the witness stand 'overwhelming emotions ran through her body'. "I tried to stay strong, but when they brought out my baby's shoes from the day she died.I LOST IT" (For the Love of My Children, Yolanda Bluehorse Saager. Pg 6)

During the trial, jurors heard testimony from Steven's own children. Taylor, Stevens' 11 year old daughter, via-closed-circuit television, testified that she saw her mother step on Jorden's stomach. The jury also heard testimony from Mason Steven's older child in regards to what was now referred to as the 'bird incident' in which Jorden had been pecked by an African Crown Crane at the Frank Buck Zoo. He told the jury that Stevens either told Jorden to put her hand inside the bird's cage or had placed the little girl's hand there herself.

"It tells you she's different," prosecutor Lisa Tanner with the state's Attorney Generals office said addressing the jury. "This is a situation that involves meanness. Anyone who would do this abuse to a child would also try to kill."

Tanner asserted to the jury that there should have been "red flags" as to what this woman was capable. The fact that she attempted to down-play the seriousness of the injuries, her early efforts to shift the blame and police attention to the Saagers by falsely reporting that Child Protective Services all had previously investigated them should have been noted.

Roger White Stevens' defense attorney disputed that, "With the quality of investigation in this case, are you sure the Saagers don't have a history somewhere," he asked the jurors. White continued to discuss the naiveté of the Gainesville Police Department's handling of the investigation. "They lost the file to a capital murder case. They didn't take clothes that Kim (Stevens) laundered that day. White further stated to the jury that the remaining children, both Saager and Stevens, where checked for injuries and none were found. He surmised that with the likely time of injury and Jorden's limited exposure to Stevens', he felt it left room for reasonable doubt.

During Tanner's final comments to the jury, she told the jurors she agreed with White about one thing. "The police did a really crappy job because they bought into her (Stevens) lie that it was them, them, them (the Saagers). until the evidence started to mount." With that, the case was turned over to the jury for deliberation.

It took 4 ½ hours for the jury to reach a verdict and the note was passed to the Judge from the jury.

Judge Jerry Woodlock read the verdict. The Jury ruled that Stevens was Guilty of First Degree Murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

"I remember looking up at the ceiling, trying to see the sky, to thank god.My fight was over." State Yolanda remembering the moment the sentence was pronounced.

The Saagers were granted the right to speak to Stevens who had no reaction to the verdict.

"I just hope for the rest of your life you rot in jail and every morning you wake up and see my daughter in your mind. I miss her so much and you destroyed my family," Lloyd said to Stevens who ignored him as she continued reading a Bible she kept with her in the courtroom. Mr. Saager further stated that he was happy her children were free of her. Child Protective Services removed Stevens' children from her custody after they confirmed what Yolanda and Holy had told them all along, Stevens had lost custody of two older children due to neglect and abuse. "Read your Bible and look down all you want; it's what I expected of you. I hope you rot," he said before sitting down.

When Yolanda Saager spoke to the now proven child killer, she demanded Stevens look at her. "What's wrong? You can't look at me? Look at me," she demanded. "You're something that was created out of pure evil. You're demented. You're worse than the scum of the earth. You have no conscience. You have no soul. I'm just glad you're going to get what's coming to you. You make me sick."

As Stevens was handcuffed for removal and transport by a Cooke County Deputy, Holly Burkett, Amanda's mother told Stevens, "I did get justice for my daughter."

Stevens smile and replied, "It's a shame I can sit here and be happier than you are."

At this, Judge Woodlock asked that everyone in the courtroom refrain from talking to 'the other side'. Following the trial, Holy Burkett stated, "Justice has finally been served; it's been almost nine years for me and almost six for the Saagers. The system failed us. Today, they redeemed themselves."

Once Kim Stevens was escorted back to the Cooke County Jail, defense attorney White stated that Stevens would appeal the verdict. He thanked the jurors for their careful consideration. "I think the state just overwhelmed us with resources," he said.

Lisa Tanner, who has dealt with several murder cases in Texas, stated, "It was definitely not a run of the mill case. A careful review of witness statements and medical statements made it clear who did it." She went on to state that the serious nature and number of the injuries showed it to be a purposeful killing. "This is a capital murder," she stated.

Gainsville's Police department Chief Carl Dunlap defended the actions of his department against the allegations of the poor handling of this case "There's only one thing that I knew we made a mistake on during the investigation. Actually, it was after the investigation. We misplaced some audio tapes." Even though the audiotapes of interrogations were lost, the department had the transcripts from those tapes in the case file. "Nothing else the police department did was less than good work."

Chief Dunlap regarded that investigators had difficulty from the on set of this case when suspects wanted attorneys and victims were uncooperative. Eventually, as the investigation progressed, Dunlap said the pieces came together and one suspect rose to the top of the list, but they needed outside help to get there. Chief Dunlap further stated, "We got less than good cooperation during certain parts of the investigation with state agencies, but I saw nothing whatsoever that the investigators did that was less than acceptable work. They did an exceptional job with what they had to work with." He likewise commends Tanner's working in prosecuting whom he called the right person. "I think the prosecutor in this case did a phenomenal job. She should be commended along with her staff. This case would not have been brought before a jury if we hadn't done our job."

Dunlap reported the department had implemented a change in procedures as part of the Commission on Accreditation for Law enforcement Agencies (CALEA) sanctioning. "It was not because of this case, but for many reasons." He said, "Those tapes will not be lost again."

District Attorney Cindy Stormer was a witness to the case due to her previous involvement. Her 'previous involvement' made it unrealizable for her to try the case. She applauded Lisa Tanner's work on this case. Stormer continued by saying, "The worst travesty of justice I have ever seen in my 28-year career in the law has finally been made right. I'm very grateful to the members of the jury for their service and they should be very proud of the job they have done here to promote justice and protect the children in our community. When I investigated the case initially years ago, I was in private practice and representing the children of the defendant. I was told by representatives of the five different Child Protective Services agencies in five different counties that this defendant was the worst serial child abuser they had ever heard of in their careers."

The Saagers agreed this was a horrible case of injustice.

Yolanda later affirmed, "I look back over this and what my family had to endure. I had not only lost a child to murder but also had to regain custody of my two other children due to preemptive judgments. My family was re-victimized over and over." At times, Yolanda felt that she had to keep going even when no one else did.

A Mom's Promise to her baby

She had to; she had a mother's promise to fulfill.

"I promised her as her mother, I would not turn away from the gruesome facts.

I love all of my children, here and in Heaven. I had no choice, she was my baby."

A. Reaves, Editor

Died July 20,2007

BROKEN PACT WITH CPS

A fatal car crash on West Gentry Parkway the night of July 20 claimed the life of Jose Aguilar and sent his step-father to jail only hours after a CPS investigator visited the family's home.

CPS and court records indicate that the agency had been dealing with Jaime Patrescio and Bobbie Aguilar, Jose's mother, for several years and the couple had entered into a safety plan with the agency to keep the children from being put into foster care.

The reports of abuse and neglect stated that Jose was found wandering blocks away from his home in March of this year and that the children had been placed with family members with the parents having no unsupervised visitation and no visits if the parents were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The documents also state Tyler Police officers found Jose blocks away from his home in 2006 and that a CPS investigator heard Ms. Aguilar slap the child. The investigator also learned the family was going between the homes of family members and a local motel.

In November 2006 CPS received unconfirmed reports that Ms. Aguilar was abusing methamphetamines.

Documents dating back to 2004 indicate the agency investigated claims of Bobbie Aguilar shaking the baby and injuring him, but the report was ruled out.

Ms. Pulliam said Aguilar's parents broke the pact with her agency which resulted in Jose's death.

She added that the family was active in many of the agency's services and were being supervised with daily visits.

"The family was seen that day and a removal was not initiated in this case due to the many immediate and extensive family members who were willing to provide supervision and care to this child," she said.

But Patrescio allegedly put Jose in the front seat of his vehicle and then ran a stop sign and was struck by another vehicle.

"Anytime a child dies it is tragic, and I can see where the community would be outraged at these two deaths, but we rely on the family being truthful and the community calling us when they see anything that indicates abuse," Ms. Pulliam said. "We need new safeguards."

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN

Concern and thoughts of how to better protect children spurred State District Judge Carole Clark to hold a meeting Thursday to address the inadequacies of the system.

"When I read the two reports on these children I was very concerned and thought, what can I do and what can our community do to better protect our children?" she said.

Her answer was to call a meeting with representatives from the district attorney's office, judges, attorneys, CPS investigators and other agencies to find a solution.

"We needed to get everyone together to learn what we could do to help this problem and we came up with one solution," she said.

Ms. Pulliam agreed new policies are needed and that the stress of the job often takes a toll on caseworkers leaving the agency with a shortage of investigators.

"Removing children from the home is always a last resort," she said. "The law requires that CPS has made reasonable efforts to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the home."

The results of Thursday's meeting brought the court into a new role when dealing with CPS cases. She said a more open line of communication between all involved agencies is needed.

New procedures were enacted to safeguard children who are 3 years old and younger and whose parents are drug addicts.

"There will now be court ordered protection where the children will be immediately housed with family members or in the worst cases placed into a foster care situation if there is no safe family member," Judge Clark said.

The judge said dealing with parents suffering from mental illnesses was a more complex issue that needed additional study before the problem could be solved.

"Mental health issues are a lot more complicated and we are trying to put our heads together to come up with ideas. We just do not have the mental health resources that we need at our disposal," she said.

Judge Clark was pleased with the meeting Thursday and said she felt confident children would be the beneficiaries of collaboration.

"Will we protect 100 percent of the children? No, because things will happen, but at least we can build-in all the safeguards we can put in place," she said.

Died December 26,2002

New foster care policies might have saved him

Baby's father charged with murder

A Daly City father appeared in San Mateo County Superior Court Monday to face charges of fatally shaking his own infant son on Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, officials with the county child welfare department that returned the 8-month-old baby to his father's care for an unsupervised Christmas visit said Monday that they are changing the way such cases are managed.

Ronnie Gile Marinda, 24, was charged Monday with murder and assault of a child under 8 -- charges that prosecutors said could send him to jail for 25 years to life if he is convicted. He has not yet entered a plea, although family members say he is not guilty.

"We're all shocked about this," said Marinda's stepsister, Maria Collins, who was present in court along with Marinda's mother and stepfather. "We cannot begin to understand what is happening to us, that the child is dead and the father is in jail."

Marinda also faces a charge of receiving stolen property -- a credit card --

that prosecutors say is unrelated to the murder case. He was ordered to return to court Thursday, when a Tagalog interpreter will be available to assist the Philippines native.

Marinda's son, Angelo, died Dec. 26 at UC Medical Center in San Francisco. Daly City police said it appears his death was caused by "shaken baby syndrome. "

Angelo had been in foster care for most of his 8 months. Family members said he was just 12 days old when his grandmother discovered swelling on his body and took him to the hospital.

There, he was diagnosed as having multiple broken bones, and was taken into county custody along with his older sister. Police and county child welfare officials said the case remained under investigation, and that no arrests had been made.

Angelo spent the next six months in two separate foster homes as his parents, who are not married but share the same Daly City home, worked with county officials on a plan for reunification.

Angelo's older sister returned to her parents about two months ago, family members said, but Angelo's reunification, originally scheduled for late November, was pushed back after his foster mother at the time reported bruises on his face after an unsupervised visit, according to the foster mother.

Angelo still bore bruises when he arrived at the home of a new foster mother, Shauna Mullins, in late November.

Mullins said the baby seemed uncomfortable after even short supervised visits with his natural parents, and said she raised concerns with the baby's case worker over the planned three-day unsupervised Christmas visit during which Angelo died.

Stuart Oppenheim, policy director for San Mateo County Children and Family Services, said the county will include Mullins' claim that her warning was disregarded as it reviews the decision to return the baby to his parents over the next two weeks.

Oppenheim said plans are already in place for a series of reforms to the child welfare system next month that will change the way reunifications are handled in the future.

Oppenheim said the county is adopting a series of reforms outlined by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Called Family to Family, the initiative is being implemented in nine California counties, including San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara.

Developed by Casey Foundation Senior Associate John Mattingly based on his own experience running a child welfare agency in Ohio, Family to Family is a series of initiatives designed to improve foster family recruitment, links within communities, and self-evaluation systems, Mattingly said.

But one of the most dramatic reforms proposed by Family to Family, Mattingly said, is a process called "Team Decision Making," in which foster parents, natural parents, case workers and other involved parties are brought together with a facilitator to make group decisions about a child's case.

Mattingly said in the existing system, the quality of decisions made in a case are often dependent mainly on the experience and quality of the assigned case worker, who often has almost sole discretion on the handling of a case.

With the new system, he said, case workers still have sole discretion to act in emergencies -- such as deciding to remove a child from its home in the night -- but those decisions must be confirmed by a team meeting the next day. Other major decisions will be handled by similar, scheduled meetings, he said.

"It doesn't mean we won't make mistakes," he said. "But the mistakes will tend to be less likely, and we'll at least know everybody got the same careful decision-making process."

San Mateo County, Santa Clara County and Contra Costa County will have the new decision-making system running next month, according to officials in each county. San Francisco officials could not be reached for comment, and Mattingly said Alameda County is just beginning the Family to Family initiative.

Mullins, Angelo's final foster mother, said Monday she likes the sound of the new policies and is optimistic that they would prevent future foster parents from feeling ignored at crucial junctures of their foster children's cases.

But Mullins said she isn't sure whether she will continue to serve as a foster parent as she had for the past six years. Right now, she said, she is concentrating on the well-being of her two children -- an 8-year-old adopted daughter, and a 3-year-old she is in the process of adopting.

E-mail Matthew B. Stannard at mstannard@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 13 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Tuesday, December 31, 2002

Died August 9, 2004

WHERE WERE WE?
A SEXUALLY ABUSED TEEN CRIED OUT FOR HELP. SHE WANTED SAFETY. NOW, SHE'S DEAD.

Died March 14 ,2007

Police said another child in the family died of SIDS nine years ago. They intend to reopen that investigation.

 Mom Charged With Murder In Daughter's Death

Died Novemeber 16,2005

Sounds like poor Dwight never had a chance.- Foster mom found guilty of child abuse in baby death.

Died  November 24, 1998

Richard Adams: "I asked for help for my anger problem ... and they didn't help me."

Died  August 20, 2007

Kin say they warned DHS before death

She said she doesn't know if they took any action to save the child.

"They're not right," Tynia Berry said of the child-welfare agency, sighing and shaking her head at her home in Spencer, "They're not right."

George Johnson, spokesman for DHS, said confidentiality laws prevent him from discussing actions DHS workers may or may not have taken, unless criminal charges are filed.

Tynia Berry, 46, was fearful because Olivia, who was 23 months old, had stopped wanting to go home to her mother since her mother had a new boyfriend. "Strange things had been happening the last two or three months," Tynia Berry said.

Olivia is now dead ? police say the girl was physically abused and murdered ? and Tynia Berry and the girl's great-grandmother, Lola Berry, are left wondering why DHS didn't prevent it.

Tynia Berry said Wednesday that Olivia would still be alive if DHS workers had taken the child from her mother, and added she notified DHS Aug. 16 after Olivia left with her mother screaming, "No. No. No." Those were the last words she heard her granddaughter say. She said DHS workers have not told her if they acted on her complaint.

On Monday, Olivia died at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City. It appears she had been beaten to death and sexually abused, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said Tuesday.

Olivia's mother, Wendy Scroggins, 22, and her boyfriend, Kerry Joe Smith, 21, remained jailed Wednesday night on murder complaints. They lived together at an apartment at 3317½ N McKinley in Oklahoma City.

Prater said he expects it will be at least Monday before a decision can be made on the filing of criminal charges. Police investigators are interviewing family members and trying to establish a timeline for Olivia's injuries, he said.

On the day Olivia died, officers noticed her brother with signs of trauma similar to Olivia's, police said.

That 9-month-old boy was treated for his injuries and placed in protective custody. The Oklahoman is not identifying him since he may be a sexual assault victim.

A doctor said the baby boy's injuries included tears in the back of his throat, an ulcerated bottom lip, a burn on the back of his head and infection on his genitalia, confidential DHS records show.

Tynia Berry and Lola Berry, 79, have cared for Olivia on weekends since she was about 2 months old. The girl's father is in federal prison.

?The life of the party'

Tynia Berry described Olivia as a smart, energetic, strong-willed daredevil who loved to jump off the couch on to pillows on the floor. Tynia Berry called her "Livi" for a nickname.

Olivia had already learned to count to 10 and say her ABCs, Lola Berry said. She was always laughing and chasing her great-grandmother and grandmother.

"Olivia was the life of the party," Lola Berry said. "She was the center of attention."

Tynia and Lola Berry last saw Olivia on Aug. 15. Scroggins "yanked" Olivia from her, Lola Berry said.

Lola Berry said Olivia did not want to go home with her mother that day. "You could see fear in the little girl's eyes," Lola Berry said.

"We tried to keep her but her mother took her anyway," she said. "She said she was a good mother. I knew something was wrong."

Lola and Tynia Berry first noticed something was wrong about six weeks ago when they noticed bruising on Olivia, Lola Berry said.

Lola Berry said their fears grew when Olivia came to visit a couple of weeks ago with a bruise on her cheek, but Olivia "couldn't tell us what happened." She said more bruising followed, to the point that she told Tynia Berry to take a camera the next time she went to pick Olivia up from her mother.

Lola Berry said she never observed signs of sexual abuse, even though she examined Olivia every time she changed her clothing.

The alleged sexual assaults may have started this past weekend, Lola Berry said. Tynia Berry said she tried to pick up Olivia Saturday from her mother but no one would answer the door.

Olivia's father

The dead girl's father is Chaz Deon Berry, 25.

He is serving a five-year federal prison term for possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Chaz Berry pleaded guilty last January to carrying a Smith & Wesson .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun while attempting to distribute 14.04 grams of cocaine.

He and 20 others, including several members of the Walnut Gangster Crips gang, were indicted by an Oklahoma City federal grand jury last October, accused of participating in a scheme to distribute more than 30 kilograms of crack cocaine and 1050 tablets of ecstasy.

Other child deaths

Olivia's death is the most recent of several child deaths that have happened in Oklahoma after DHS reportedly has received allegations of abuse or neglect.

?Lola Berry mentioned the Kelsey Smith-Briggs case, which led to changes in Oklahoma law. Kelsey, 2, died Oct. 11, 2005, at her home near Meeker after months of suffering broken bones, bruises and other injuries while DHS and the court supervised her care in response to abuse complaints.

?In March, 3-year-old William Barnard of Oklahoma City drowned in a bathtub two days after he was returned to his parent's home upon the recommendation of a DHS child welfare worker. Oklahoma City police officers had removed William and two siblings from the home just three days earlier, citing squalid living conditions.

?Police are still investigating the Aug. 11 death of Declan Stewart, 5, of Edmond. Declan died from blunt force trauma to the head suffered about a month after he was returned to his mother's home over the objections of an aunt who had been caring for him. Declan had been removed from the home a year earlier.

Contributing: Nolan Clay, Staff Writer

Died October 4, 2004

Refused to eat his dinner.....

 FREMONT - After 2-year-old Dylan George refused to eat his dinner, Terry Corder became so upset with the toddler that he forced food into his mouth, slapped his face and made him walk in circles while he punched him in the head, his wife told police.

He then kicked the toddler several times, including a blow to the head that caused Dylan's motionless body to move two inches, Sherrie Corder told investigators, a detective testified Thursday during a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for the Corders to stand trial for murder.

Terry Corder had kicked their own children, his wife told police, but "she'd never seen him kick any of their children with as much force as he used to kick Dylan," Fremont police Detective Michael Tegner testified.

The Corders have been charged with murder in the death of Dylan, who had been in their care for three weeks when he died Oct. 4. Terry Corder is accused of assaulting Dylan with enough force to cause great bodily injury or death. Sherrie Corder is believed to have allowed Dylan to suffer because she failed to seek medical attention for him.

The Corders' three daughters - one of whom testified Wednesday have been placed into foster care.

Died  January 26,2007

" I wanted to run away with them when Social Services got in touch. I obeyed the law and let them go - I wish I had not done that. So now this is what I'm left with, nothing."

Sick Mum Who Killed Her Kids Is Locked Up

Died October 12,2002

Died May 30,2007

"They told me they were on my side but never did anything about it."

Died August 27,2007

Police were called to family's apartment twice last year for child welfare issues.

Died Novmber 28,2006

Waited a little bit to long for an investigation !! 4 children are dead !!!!

The boy's death prompted Onondaga and Jefferson counties to reopen investigations into the deaths of Winters' three children in 1979 and 1980.

Shirley Winters was accused Tuesday of drowning a St. Lawrence County toddler in the bathtub of his grandparents' home.

A St. Lawrence County grand jury handed up an indictment against Winters that was unsealed before Judge Jerome Richards.

Winters, 49, was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child in the Nov. 28 death of Ryan Rivers.

Winters was a visitor in the Pierrepont home, the boy's relatives have said. Also in the home were Ryan's grandparents, Ryan and Ryan's mother, Connie Gollinger. Ryan was three days short of his second birthday.

Gollinger saw Winters coming out of the bathroom shortly before Gollinger found her son lying face up in the tub, the child's relatives have said.

Gollinger declined to comment Tuesday.

Richards ordered Winters held in jail in lieu of bail of $75,000 cash or $150,000 bond. Winters pleaded innocent.

Winters was transported to St. Lawrence County recently from the Onondaga County Justice Center jail in Syracuse, where she was awaiting sentencing on a misdemeanor drunken driving conviction.

An Onondaga County judge recently dismissed a murder indictment against Winters in the death of 5-month-old son in 1980. Judge Joseph Fahey ruled the grand jury presentation was tainted by the medical examiner's testimony regarding the 1979 deaths of two of Winters' other children. The Onondaga County District Attorney's Office plans to present the 1980 case to another grand jury.

Winters was in the Gollingers' home because she's a longtime friend of Connie Gollinger's mother-in-law, Lena Gollinger, relatives have said.

Ryan Rivers' family said his mother found him lying fully clothed on his back in the bathtub in 2 inches of water. Only his backside and hair were wet, and his sneakers were dry, the relatives said. Winters was visiting the home at the time, according to relatives.

The boy's death prompted Onondaga and Jefferson counties to reopen investigations into the deaths of Winters' three children in 1979 and 1980.

Winters has been around arson fires and deaths all her adult life. She got out of prison in 2005 after serving eight years for burning down her late mother's home in the town of Onondaga in 1997. She's been nearby for 18 fires in the past 27 years. The 1979 fire that killed her two children was the first. No one was charged. The death of her third child in 1980 was at the time attributed to sudden infant death syndrome.

As a result of suspicions raised after Ryan Rivers' death, investigators exhumed the bodies of Winters' three children in March from a cemetery in the town of Onondaga.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

John O'Brien can be reached at jobrien@syracuse.com or 470-2187.

Woman charged in death of boy, 2

Died December 31, 2001

Burned to death by foster mother.- Pueblo Colorado

Died March 29,2007

CPS vows to probe child's death, but what did we expect?

Died July 8,2007

Despite CPS, Children Remained In Danger

Families were investigated before children were killed

TYLER ? State caseworkers received an anonymous warning that a mother threatened to kill her son more than a year before the toddler was recently found strangled to death, according to court records. The case is one of two July deaths involving Tyler children in which Child Protective Services investigated the families before the children were killed. Court records obtained by the Tyler Morning Telegraph show CPS case workers for the Texas Department of Family Health were aware of threats made by Catherine Stevens toward her 2-year-old son William, who was found strangled to death July 8. Stevens remains in Smith County Jail on a $1 million bond on a charge of capital murder.

A court document filed in May 2006 by a Tyler CPS investigator shows the agency went to Stevens' home to investigate allegations of abuse. But when the investigator arrived, she found that the woman was in a hospital being treated for "depression with psychosis." The document also outlines an anonymous report that Stevens threatened to drown or suffocate her son if allowed to return home. CPS spokeswoman Shari Pulliam said the report was unsubstantiated and mental health professionals later told the agency that Stevens wasn't a danger to herself or her child.

"We had no further contact with the family and the case was closed 14 months ago because there was family support both inside and outside of the home," she said in Friday's online edition of the newspaper. CPS and court records also show the agency had been investigating a couple for alleged child abuse and neglect for several years before the stepfather was involved in a July 20 vehicle accident that killed his 4-year-old stepson, Jose Luis Aguilar.

Jaime Oscar Patrescio has been charged with intoxicated manslaughter and remains jailed on a $750,000 bond.

Patrescio and Bobbie Aguilar, Jose's mother, had agreed to a safety plan with CPS to keep the child from being placed in foster care. But Pulliam said the couple broke the agreement with the agency, which resulted in Jose's death.

State District Judge Carole Clark, who called a meeting Thursday to discuss the shortfalls of the system, stressed better communication among agencies and said new procedures were enacted to safeguard children who are 3 years old and younger and whose parents are drug addicts.

By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
Posted on Friday, July 27, 2007

Two Tyler children have died in less than a month, and court records reveal that both families were subjects of Child Protective Services investigations detailing neglect - and in one case a threat to kill the child.

Court records obtained by the Tyler Morning Telegraph Thursday indicate the Texas Department of Family Health CPS case workers were aware of threats made by Catherine Stevens toward her son, William, and also had documented abuse at the home of Jose Luis Aguilar.

Mrs. Stevens remains in the Smith County Jail on a $1 million bond for allegedly strangling 2-year-old William to death earlier this month.

THREATS AND MENTAL ILLNESS

A court document filed by a Tyler CPS investigator in May 2006 said the agency went to investigate allegations of abuse of William at the hands of Mrs. Stevens.

When the investigator arrived at the home on Memory Lane in Tyler, she discovered Mrs. Stevens was in the Rusk State Hospital for treatment for "depression with psychosis."

According to the document, "The report alleges that Mrs. Stevens was scheduled for release on May 19, 2006, but she made threats that if she was to return home, William would drown, suffocate or something else. The report states that Mr. Stevens has visited the hospital trying to get his wife released, because he doesn't want to take care of the baby himself."

CPS officials said the report was not substantiated.

"The comments reported came from an anonymous tip and could not be confirmed," Shari Pulliam, CPS public information officer, told the newspaper in an interview Thursday night.

The document further stated that the case worker was verbally abused by Mickey Stevens, the child's father, who told the investigator he worked for the agency until 1997 and was familiar with CPS procedures and would not be bullied.

"Throughout my contacts with Mr. Stevens, I observed him shaking. It appeared as if he was shaking from anger and had difficulty controlling his impulses due to his passive aggressive behavior ordering me out of the home, then allowing me to return," the document states.

Stevens remains in the Smith County Jail after allegedly assaulting a public servant in the district attorney's office earlier this week.

When asked to enter into a Safety Plan with the agency concerning his child's safety, Stevens replied, "I am the father, I will make sure he is safe. There is your safety plan."

However, the documents filed in the 321st District Court in 2006 included a petition to the court in aid of investigation. The request from CPS stated the agency was afraid William would be removed from the state before the conclusion of any investigation.

But the investigation was suddenly halted.

Ms. Pulliam said mental health professionals later told CPS that Mrs. Stevens was not a danger to herself or her child and the investigation was concluded.

Died 1997

 The case of Kathy Jo changed foster care - "Or the laws she gave her life for."

Died June 2004

Kevin Fox: "I Did Not Kill My Daughter"

"Statement Of Kevin Fox Regarding His Interrogation By The Will County Sheriff's Office"

"I want the public to know that I did not kill my daughter. I have always cooperated with the authorities in the investigation of my daughter's death. On Oct. 26, I went to the Will County Sheriff's Department at the request of the investigators. I tried to cooperate and answer their questions, however, they became very abusive -- yelling and screaming at me that I had killed her."

"For hours, I told the investigators that I did not kill my daughter. I asked them repeatedly to call my father so that he could get me a lawyer. I was told that I did not need to speak to my father or a lawyer."

"I was kept in a locked area for approximately 14 ½ hours. I was told by the investigators that if I did not give a statement saying I was involved in my daughter's death that they "knew inmates at the jail" that would make sure that I was (expletive) every day I was there."

One of the investigators "got 6 inches from my face screaming at me that I was a (expletive) for not talking and that my wife was going to divorce me if I didn't cooperate."

"I was told that I would be in jail for 30 years unless I talked. At one point the investigators threw a picture of my deceased daughter on the table in front of me. They screamed that I had duct taped her mouth and hands. This was the first time I learned that she had been bound. The wanted me to say that there had been an accident at home and that she had hit her head -- that was the first time I learned that she had lumps on her head."T

hey said if I said that she fell and I panicked and tried to cover up the accident I could only be charged with involuntary manslaughter and would immediately go home on bond and could not get more than 3-5 years. They told me to say that I duct taped her mouth and hands."

Kevin then says authorities told him to say that he performed an act on his daughter to make it "look like a sexual attack."

"I have never been under this kind of pressure in my life. I was isolated, alone and terrified. As soon as I saw my brother and lawyer I told them I did not do this. I love my wife, daughter and son more than anything in this world. I trusted the authorities and they betrayed me and my family. I can only hope the truth will come out."

DNA clears dad in girl's slaying
Father jailed 8 months in 3-year-old's death


Chicago Tribune By Deborah Horan, Jo Napolitano and John Biemer
June 18, 2005




After nearly eight months in jail, a Will County man who police said had confessed on videotape to the June 2004 murder and sexual assault of his 3-year-old daughter was set free Friday, after DNA tests failed to link him to the crime.

Kevin Fox walked out of jail and into a knot of cheering, sobbing relatives and friends after a brief court hearing at which prosecutors said they no longer had enough evidence to hold Fox for the slaying of his daughter, Riley.

The DNA testing of evidence resulted in an "absolute exclusion of Kevin Fox as a donor," State's Atty. James Glasgow told the judge.

A short time later, a tearful but smiling Fox emerged from jail. He walked with an arm around his wife, Melissa, and 7-year-old son, Tyler, at his side. He was also accompanied by his lawyers, Kathleen Zellner and Paul DeLuca.

He said he was eager to spend the night with his family in his own home. "I dreamed of that every night, every single night," he said. "Finally, it's here."

Fox turned aside questions about the videotaped confession at the heart of the case, saying "it was a nightmare and I don't want to relive it right now."

But later, in an interview with the Tribune, he said he was "fed lies and threats the entire time." His wife, who stood by him through his arrest and time in jail, said that when she was questioned "they messed with my mind so much in what little time they had so I couldn't even imagine what they did" with him.

Fox's release sidetracked a case that was contentious from the start, and one that whipsawed the emotions of residents in the tiny community of Wilmington where it occurred. Faced with the disappearance of a child, they gathered together to search for her and mourned on learning she had been slain.

Then, they were forced to come to grips with the idea one of their own had committed the crime. Now, a year after it all began, they are confronted with a new set of facts: that authorities erred when they charged Fox with the slaying.

The case also focused renewed attention on the issue of false confessions, one that has plagued the criminal justice system in Illinois. The Fox case appears to be the second in which a videotaped confession proved false.

In January 2002, Cook County prosecutors dismissed the murder case against Corethian Bell after DNA undermined a videotaped confession that he had killed his mother. Like Fox, Bell said police coerced him to confess. He spent 17 months in jail before he was released.

Though DNA cleared Bell and connected another man to his mother's slaying, police said they have no suspects in the Fox case. Glasgow stopped short of saying Fox was innocent, and said he could not explain why he confessed.

"Numerous confessions are made without coercion," he said.

In court, the case was marked by contentiousness, as Zellner took an aggressive tack to fight the charges. She criticized investigators for botching the investigation and took the unusual step of filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Will County sheriff's office and several detectives, alleging that they had coerced Fox's confession.

Zellner also investigated the case on Fox's behalf in an effort to develop other suspects, and she sought the DNA tests that led to Fox's release. She alleged sheriff's investigators and prosecutors had rushed to judgment in the case, relying on the confession without waiting for the tests.

"The ultimate thing to learn is, do the tests before you make the arrest," Zellner quipped after the hearing at which the charges were dropped.

Even after evidence was sent to the FBI's lab at Quantico, Va., Zellner charged that sheriff's officials told the agency not to pursue the testing. A report from the FBI lab indicates that a sheriff's officer told FBI analysts in early November to stop testing.

"Once they got a confession, they told them to stop the testing," Zellner said. "There's absolutely no excuse for not having those tested."

The decision to release Fox followed a meeting Thursday evening between Glasgow and Zellner, who recounted the discussion and described the county's lead prosecutor as "flabbergasted" by the DNA results.

Zellner criticized the Illinois State Police lab for failing to get a genetic profile when analysts at the Joliet lab examined the vaginal swab.

Lt. Lincoln Hampton, a state police spokesman, said the lab did only preliminary work on the case before the evidence was sent to a private lab, and so it never had the opportunity to try to isolate the DNA--an explanation Zellner challenged.

With the case against Fox dismissed, Glasgow said prosecutors and sheriff's detectives--although none whose work led to charges against Fox--will reopen the case and investigate it with renewed vigor.

Additional DNA testing also will be performed, he said.

"A vicious sexual predator murdered Riley Fox last June, and we are making it our No. 1 priority to reopen this case and aggressively investigate it ..." Glasgow said, adding that there were a "number of leads" investigators were reviewing.

Sheriff Paul Kaupas declined to answer questions about the case but read a brief statement in which he said that "... if evidence presents itself, we'll keep an open mind, continue the investigation and follow any and all leads."

The case began on a quiet Sunday last June. Fox was home with Riley and Tyler, while his wife was in Chicago taking part in a charity walk.

The night before, Fox told police, he had gone to a street festival. He had left the two children in the care of their grandparents. After he picked them up, around midnight, he put them to bed.

In the morning, the front door to the home was open, but Kevin Fox said he did not know whether his daughter had opened it and wandered off.

Between 500 and 600 volunteers took up the effort, and her body was found later that day in Forked Creek, 4 miles from the family's home.

An autopsy determined that Riley Fox had been drowned.

Kevin Fox, then 27, was arrested four months later after the sheriff's office said he gave a videotaped statement implicating himself in the crime.

According to sheriff's officials, Fox said in the videotape that he accidentally killed his daughter but tried to make her death look like a murder and sexual assault so police would not suspect him of the crime.

Fox, in the interview, said he sometimes despaired being in jail but never gave up hope that the truth would emerge and he would be released.

He told himself "there is a big light at the end of the tunnel. It's just how far is the tunnel. And we're arriving at the end."

Some observers charged that then-State's Atty. Jeff Tomczak, who was in a tight race for re-election against Glasgow, filed charges against Fox and quickly decided to seek the death penalty only to quiet criticism over the failure to make an arrest in the case.

Tomczak denied the allegations but eventually was beaten by Glasgow.

Glasgow renewed criticism of Tomczak on Friday, saying at a news conference that it was the state's attorney's duty to stay on top of the forensic evidence and that the office had failed.

"So when you send something to the lab, you monitor it," he said. "The state's attorney's office at that point needs to get involved and say, `Wait a minute. We've got to get this to the laboratory so that we can process it quickly.'"

Zellner praised Glasgow for his handling of the case, saying that Glasgow had "inherited somebody else's mess and still he did the right thing."

The confession was the most contentious piece of evidence and, from the start, Zellner aggressively challenged how the police obtained it.

Fox, according to Zellner, confessed only after he was questioned for 14 hours and was exhausted, and because authorities allegedly promised him that he would face lesser charges and quickly be released if he said his daughter's death was an accident.

"They get people who are emotionally traumatized and obtain a bogus confession," said Zellner, who has helped to free several wrongly convicted inmates but, in an unusual move, took on the defense of Fox before trial.

"People say to me that they would never confess to killing their child," said Zellner. "Have you ever had a child who was murdered? Do you know what it's like to go through that kind of trauma and then be suspected of something like this?"

Melissa Fox said she never thought her husband killed their child.

"... there was nothing that triggered in my mind or my heart that he had ever done anything wrong," she said.

Friday's hearing saw none of the contentiousness that had marked the case.

Fox entered the courtroom wearing a blue jail uniform and crying. When he met his wife's gaze, she began to cry as well. And when Glasgow began to explain he was dismissing the case, their crying grew stronger and Fox's thin shoulders began to shake.

After the judge dismissed the charges, friends and family who had packed the courtroom started to whoop and cheer, then broke into prolonged applause.

Fox family members were jubilant. They told Fox's father, Curtis, that his son's release was a perfect Father's Day gift--two days early.

Sitting in Zellner's office while family members ate pizza and drank champagne and beer, Kevin Fox said his immediate plans are to enjoy his wife and son--and continue to mourn his brown-haired daughter.

While in jail, he had not wanted Tyler to see him in a bad place.

Consequently, he went eight months without seeing his son, although they did talk on the phone.

He may also become a spokesman for falsely accused people, and he said he certainly would press ahead with his federal civil rights lawsuit.

"It's not over," he said. "It's far from over. We have so many more obstacles to hurdle. But we've gotten this far, and I don't think anything could tear us apart after what we've been through."

Died August 9,2004

Children killed before fire

Parent slit throats, investigators say, before blaze gutted York County home


ROCK HILL - At some point after 11:30 p.m. Sunday, investigators say either the father or the mother of Jairo, Denise and Denia Meza used a knife to slash their throats.

Died April 10,2007

 Baby death spotlights services to disabled

Grandfather says agencies paid too little attention

From the start, social workers were concerned for Seth. They were present in the emergency room when he was born and visited his mentally disabled parents' Abingdon apartment in the days after he went home to make sure he was receiving proper care.

But after that, alleges the boy's maternal grandfather, Jesse Stacey, a retired Aberdeen police officer, the social workers didn't do enough.

He complained to them that his daughter, Giovanna Mosley, and her husband, Richard, who was left with brain damage from a car accident, weren't properly caring for his grandson. Social workers returned to the apartment in April and found the 7-week-old child unresponsive in his crib. Seth was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Last week, the Mosleys and a man who was living with them were arrested and charged with second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse resulting in death. The three were ordered held without bond yesterday during a hearing in which a prosecutor alleged the two men had "tossed the baby around" and the mother had not intervened.

The case is likely to draw new attention to the challenges faced by mentally disabled parents and the support agencies assisting them. As recently as 50 years ago, the mentally disabled could be forcibly sterilized, but today the government recognizes their rights and only intervenes if the parents request help or if there are allegations of abuse and neglect.

"It shouldn't be assumed that having a disability and an inability to parent are things that co-exist," said Lauren Young, director of litigation for the Maryland Disability Law Center. "There has to be a vigilant analysis, not focusing on disability but the parent's conduct, that needs to be examined. ... They have rights to have families, too."

Stacey said his daughter does not understand that her son is dead, underscoring her mental shortcomings and the need for social services to have kept close watch over the new parents. He believes Seth should have been taken from the couple at birth.

"There were enough issues raised [by the department] about their ability to take care of a child that they should've never been able to leave that hospital," said Stacey, 56.

Jerry Reyerson, the county's director of social services, said the agency was actively involved with the family and aware of "issues" that required greater scrutiny. He said he could not comment on specifics related to the case because social workers are likely to be called to testify.

"We were actively involved with this family," Reyerson said. In general, the agency tries "to do as much as we can while respecting fundamental parents' rights."

Though there is little research in the field, one estimate placed the number of children born annually to mentally disabled parents at 120,000 - with as many as 40 percent ending up in foster care.

A 1993 study by a quality care commission in New York found many parents with mental retardation had low self-esteem and resisted help from outsiders. Nearly half of the families were subjected to allegations of abuse or neglect, and one-fourth of the children did not receive adequate medical care, dental care or nutrition.

But in 2002, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that social service officials must offer services tailored to the needs of mentally impaired parents who do not want their children placed for adoption, siding with a Westminster man who officials said was well-intentioned but unable to care for his two children.

The man, identified in court papers only as "Mr. F," had limited intellectual capacity, resulting in his feeding his younger child pumpkin bread that was past its expiration date and wanting to take his children swimming at a pool that has no shallow section. But the court said social service officials must evaluate parents and refer them to suitable programs.

Social service agencies typically get involved through a referral from someone such as a health professional, neighbor or teacher who reports concerns about a child's care, and a Social Services employee investigates whether the child is in danger, said Elyn Jones, a spokeswoman for the Maryland department of human resources.

The number of programs available for mentally disabled parents has grown in the past 10 to 15 years, but advocates say they are still inadequate because of the large number of adults in need.

"The mandate of most child protective services is to support the integrity of the family," said Barbara Whitman, director of family services and studies at St. Louis University School of Medicine. "When you have to allow for somebody to fail, and that failure is the death of a child, that's where we question our laws."

At a bail review hearing yesterday, Assistant State's Attorney Bruce M. Smith told the judge that the man who had been living with the Mosleys, 21-year-old Daniel Evan Reilly, had "vigorously shook the infant saying 'Stop it. Stop it,'" on the day of the baby's death and that Reilly had told law enforcement officers that he and Richard Mosely had shaken the baby before.

Seth had suffered hemorrhaging, left and right optic nerve damage, and was severely underweight, Smith said.

Giovanna Mosley, a slight woman with a pale face and long, wispy brown hair, was led into court with her hands shackled. Her eyes welled with tears when she saw her father and gave him a quick wave and bowed her head throughout the hearing.

She was described to the court by her public defender, Howard Greenberg, as mildly retarded and schizoaffective, a psychiatric disorder that can cause hallucinations and poor attention. Stacey pleaded with the judge to release Mosley to their family's custody.

"She had nothing to do with the incident ... I don't see where she's a threat to anyone," Stacey said.

Smith countered that Giovanna Mosley should be held precisely because she did "nothing for the infant."

"While Daniel Reilly and Richard Mosley tossed the baby around, she did nothing to safeguard the infant," he said. All three were denied bond.

Both Stacey and Richard Mosley's mother, Denise Joseph, say social services let the family down. Joseph, who could not be reached by telephone for comment, said in an e-mail to a reporter that she told social workers she needed "more legal access to Seth and that the kids really needed help."

"They smiled at me and basically ignored me," wrote Joseph, who works for the public defender's office in Harford County.

Smith acknowledged that Child Protective Services and Social Services didn't have constant contact with the family, but blamed it on Richard Mosley's "violent outbursts" and an inability to reach the family for four weeks, a period of time Stacey said defies explanation.

"Child Protective Services came back at the very end and were alarmed by the grossly emaciated baby," Smith said.

Giovanna Mosley took special education courses growing up, and as an adult participated with the Alliance Inc., an organization for people with disabilities. Stacey said his daughter has never held a job and is unable to perform simple tasks, such as writing a check, but could follow spoken directions if given the proper structure.

After she and Richard Mosley were married, they moved into an Abingdon apartment. It took months until Giovanna realized she was carrying a child, and only when a family member noticed and told her to get a pregnancy test.

"If social services would've went there on a regular basis they say they did, then these things would've jumped out at them," Stacey said. "I'm not saying its their fault, but I think it's a contributing factor."

Died January 11, 2006

"I wanted her to be protected and get good care!"

Mother charged after baby's death
CPS caseworker fired

The Herald Bulletin

An Anderson child under supervision of Child Protective Services is dead, her caseworker fired and mother charged with neglect.

Anderson police arrested Julie D. Gray, 24, Anderson, Tuesday on preliminary charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Class A felony.

Her daughter, 4-month-old Skye Gray-Johnson, died with narcotics in her system, according to Anderson police Detective Joel Sandefur.

"She lived four months; she was 13 weeks premature," he said. "When she was born, she was about a pound."

According to police, Skye Gray-Johnson lived most of her short life in the hospital. After her premature birth in December, she spent three months in Riley Hospital for Children before being sent home with her parents, Julie Gray and Duane Johnson, on March, 11.

Just over a month later, on April 20, she was dead.

"This started out as a sudden infant death syndrome case," Sandefur said. But the autopsy revealed narcotics in the baby's toxicology report.

In interviews, police say, Gray "repeatedly lied about the care the child received," according to the probable cause affidavit.

The baby should have been given five medications a day, police said. The prescriptions were never even filled.

She was to have been taken to the hospital for follow-up appointments. Gray missed many, if not all.

Gray gave the hospital staff a substance she said was breast milk. It wasn't.

She told police that Johnson, the baby's father, refused to give the baby his last name ? he had wanted an abortion.

Hospital officials suspected Gray may have been a drug user and informed the Child Protective Services.

Though a caseworker was assigned, Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings said, visits and reports were made rarely, if ever.

"(Gray) misrepresented information time after time," Cummings said. "The caseworker didn't act on it."

The worker, whose name was not available at press time, was fired and her supervisor demoted, according to Cummings.

"I'm just frustrated these things continue to happen," the prosecutor said. "Someone has to start thinking about the children."

He said the "institutional attitude" of keeping children with their parents can be detrimental to children. The Madison County Trauma Team, he said, recommended taking the baby away from Gray but the department kept her with her mother.

Cummings said criminal charges against the caseworker are possible. In January 2003, Cummings filed criminal charges against Mike Warrum, the caseworker assigned to protect 8-year-old wheelchair-bound Mark Norris, who died of pneumonia and malnutrition.

But in that case, Norris was a ward of the state, while Gray-Johnson was only under supervision.

When Gray was arrested, she was already in jail, having been arrested on separate charges ? theft, a Class D felony, forgery, a Class C felony, and felony probation violation ? on May 18.

Just before she was due to be released on those charges, Gray was arrested on neglect charges.

Bond is set at $35,000. If convicted, she faces 20 to 50 years in prison.

Gray-Johnson is the third child in three years to die in Madison County under CPS supervision. Besides Norris, in November 2003 11-month-old April Patlin, died, six months after CPS officials stopped visiting her home.

_____________________________

Died September 14, 2000

Wayne County Foster Care Review Boards

 

 

 

Died May 22, 2002

In Spokane, social workers worried about chronic neglect in the life of Serenity Rudd, 2.

"The mother appeared more interested in doing crossword puzzles than interacting with the child," according to the first complaint received by the state in 2000, more than two years before Serenity's death.

A string of allegations followed: Melissa Rudd, then 21, nearly suffocated her daughter on the bus, wrapping her tightly in a blanket. Serenity's ear infection went untreated for weeks, Melissa made her daughter fall, and was uncooperative, according to state records.

Of the five complaints investigated, the state ruled three were unfounded.

On April 30, 2002, a CPS social worker found the neglect to be chronic and suggested the state might file a dependency petition to remove Serenity from the home.

Three weeks later, Rudd left Serenity with friends for six days.

On May 21, Serenity arrived at a Spokane hospital with cigarette burns on her feet, a broken collarbone and a body temperature of 87 degrees.

Kenneth C. Brian, an acquaintance of Rudd's, told police he threw Serenity against a wall to stop her crying. He is serving a 24-year prison term.

An internal CPS review praised the social workers' documentation of the case.

"Reviews look at whether policy was followed," said Kathy Spears, a CPS spokeswoman for Washington. "It could be a situation where nothing we could have done would have made the difference."

Died June 12, 2003

4-Year-Old Killed for Refusing to Call Mom's Lesbian Lover "Daddy"

Died August 31, 2002

Women's Center Shelter -a safe place to stay.

 Kelly Ann Nakaji is charged with murdering her infant son, Dallon Yoshio Furtwangler, sometime between August 30 and August 31, 2002.  She is currently scheduled to stand trial before a jury on April 21, 2003.  The defendant has filed a motion seeking to suppress certain statements made in the presence of law enforcement officers during the course of the investigation immediately following her contact and subsequent arrest by police.  A lengthy hearing was conducted presenting evidence to the court and extensive briefing has been submitted.  A hearing was held on April 1, 2003 for the consideration of oral argument and the court entered a partial decision covering certain issues.  The remaining questions were taken under advisement.
    STATEMENT OF FACTS
 The record before the court includes the testimony presented at the suppression hearing as well as the transcript from the preliminary hearing conducted on October 4, 2002, along with a stipulation of facts regarding certain police dispatch times.
 On August 31, 2002, Tammy Meyer was working as the assistant manager at the Women's Center Shelter in Kootenai County.  The shelter is a house that is operated to provide women and children that are victims of domestic violence a safe place to stay.  Kelly Nakaji and her four-month old son, "Yosh," were living in one of the rooms.  At approximately ten o'clock in the morning, Ms. Meyers observed Kelly Nakaji walk into the kitchen and noticed that her arms were covered with blood.  Since another client and three children were present in the room, Ms. Meyer escorted Ms. Nakaji to the office.  At 10:17 a.m., Ms. Meyer called 911 and reported a suicide attempt.  Ms. Meyer asked Ms. Nakaji where the baby was and she responded, "he was dead."  She also told Ms. Meyer that she put a pillow over his head, that she couldn't let "him" have the baby, and that her older boys did not want to be with her.
 At this time, Ms. Meyer described Ms. Nakaji's demeanor as "hollow", stating that she wasn't there, her eyes were glazed over, and there wasn't any spirit at all.  Ms. Nakaji told Ms. Meyer over and over that her boys did not want to be with her and that she couldn't let "him" have the baby. Ms. Nakaji seemed to be responsive to Ms. Meyer's questions, but she was blunt and to the point and did not elaborate on anything.  Ms. Meyer noted that Ms. Nakaji would cry periodically.
 At 10:22 a.m., Officers Buhl, Martin and Greensides arrived at the shelter along with ambulance personnel.  As Officer Buhl entered the house, he was contacted at the door by the manager, who told him that there might be something wrong with the baby.  He was led into a back room where Ms. Nakaji was seated on a couch.  He noted that she was crying and that she had dried blood on her clothing, hands, and wrists. Buhl first inquired of Nakaji whether there was a baby in the house, to which she replied that "the baby is dead" and that the baby was located in her bedroom.  Buhl inquired what she meant by telling him that the baby was dead and she responded, "I killed the baby."  He asked her how and she said that she had suffocated the baby.  When he asked her why, she responded that her two older children were supposed to arrive in town and they never showed up.  Buhl continued to ask Nakaji how she killed the baby and she responded that she asphyxiated the baby with a pillow at about 3:30 in the morning.
 Buhl's entire contact with Nakaji at the house lasted about ten minutes.  During this contact, Greensides entered the room and advised Buhl that the baby was dead.  At 10:32 a.m., a call was made by police to Lt. Jiran asking him to respond regarding an infant homicide on scene. 
While Buhl was in the office with Nakaji, medical personnel arrived and treated her injuries.  According to Buhl, he heard Nakaji tell medical personnel several times "I killed my baby." One of the EMTs attending to Nakaji testified that he did not hear her make that statement; he did, however, hear her say "the baby is dead" in the form of a question.  He heard her make that statement again in the ambulance on her way to the hospital.
 Buhl was directed by Greensides to follow Nakaji to the hospital.  He followed the ambulance and was present when she was unloaded and transported to the emergency room.  He sat in the room and watched and listened as medical personnel were working on her.  When she was asked how she cut her wrist, she told the nurse that she attempted to kill herself because she killed her baby.  After the medical people left the room, Buhl testified that Nakaji started talking to him without any questions presented to her.  She talked about her two older boys in California and said that their father had called her and told her that they were not coming to see her.  She said that made her upset and she killed the baby.  Later when Nakaji was being treated by a psychiatric technician, Buhl heard Nakaji state that she killed her baby with a pillow.  The two nurses that treated the defendant as well as the on-call psychiatrist and the technician testified that they never heard Nakaji make any incriminating statements about killing her baby.
 When Nakaji started discussing more detailed circumstances about the baby's death, Buhl decided he wanted to ask further questions and decided to administer Miranda warnings.  The warnings were administered from a card that Buhl kept in his pocket.  After administering the warning he asked her if she understood, to which she shook her head "yes" and verbally said "yes".  He then asked if she was willing to talk to him, to which she responded "yes". 
At the suppression hearing, Buhl indicated that he asked Nakaji the same general questions that he asked earlier.  The preliminary hearing transcript, however, sets things forth in more detail. 
Once Mirandized, Nakaji told Buhl that she was involved with a gentleman from Sandpoint and, because of the abusive nature of that relationship, she was in the women's shelter.  She said that they had been separated for three months and she had been in hiding.  She said that his name was Devin Furtwangler and that he did not deserve to have the baby.  When asked by Buhl why she killed the baby, she indicated that she did not want the baby growing up and having a life as an abuser so she needed to take the baby's life.  She told Buhl that Devin has only seen the baby during the first two weeks of his life and ever since there has been a custody battle.  She said she could not allow Devin to have custody because she was afraid the child would grow up to be like him.
She told Buhl that she planned to kill her child and then use the knife to cut her wrist and kill herself.  Nakaji said that she was in the bedroom and the baby was sleeping on the bed.  She lay with the upper half of her body over the top of the baby and used her hand to cover the baby's nose and mouth.  She took a pillow and placed it over the top of her hand and the baby died.  According to Buhl, she did not say how long she laid on top of the baby.  She said that when she felt the baby was dead she got off the bed.  She also described to Buhl how the day before she made about twenty-five phone calls to her attorney, Ken Adler, because she wanted advice regarding what she was thinking about doing to the baby.
At the preliminary hearing, Buhl described Nakaji's demeanor as vacillating.  She would talk about one thing and then, all of a sudden, she was bouncing around on the subject.  She would cry for a few minutes and seem really upset, then she would stop and seem normal, and then start crying again.  At the suppression hearing, he indicated that she was crying, but that she also appeared calm.  Buhl said Nakaji told him that she had taken 15 Xanex pills the night before.
Patrick Stanford, a nurse who treated her in the emergency room described the defendant as appearing awake and alert and seeming to know what was going on.  When asked about her injuries and medical history, she made appropriate responses.  Tony Allison Wilson-Bly was the psychiatric technician assigned to do an evaluation on Nakaji in the emergency room.  He described the defendant as one of the most distraught people he has ever seen. She appeared upset and tearful, possessed a high degree of anxiety, and seemed depressed and sad.
Dr. Mark Mays, a psychologist, met with Nakaji the day after her arrest and performed an evaluation.  According to his testimony, Nakaji had been suffering from anxiety and depression prior to the events of August 30 and 31.  This psychological condition was exacerbated by the apparent overdose of Xanex, which he believed caused her to experience a psychotic episode.  Dr. Mays noted that Nakaji was still significantly impaired and suffering a high degree of cognitive impairment at the time of the interview with the police.  According to Dr. Mays, it was his opinion that, at the time of her arrest, the defendant did not have the capacity to make a knowing decision about her legal rights and could not make an intelligent waiver of her Miranda rights.
Dr. Gummow, a psychologist with a specialty in neuropsychology, testified that she examined Nakaji for several hours during October of 2002.  She diagnosed the defendant as suffering from major depression, posttraumatic shock, anorexia-bulimia, sleepwalking, and a personality disorder.  Additionally, from her examination of the investigative reports provided to her and a review of the testimony presented in court at the suppression hearing, she also concluded that Nakaji was suffering from anxiolytic intoxication at the time of her contact with police.  She stated that the defendant had a prescription for two pills per day and apparently consumed a handful consisting of anywhere from ten to sixty pills the night before her arrest.
Dr. Gummow indicated that anxiolytic intoxication would impair Nakaji's cognitive understanding and render her incapable of understanding and responding to questions.  She further testified that the effects of such intoxication could not be determined simply by looking at someone.  She noted that a mental status evaluation would be the best means to determine the impairment and that Dr. Wait would have been in the best position to render such an opinion.
Finally testimony was presented from Dr. Julien, a drug pharmacologist, on the effects of Xanex.  Dr. Julien testified that, if the defendant had consumed 4 milligrams of Xanex between midnight and noon, that amount would be sufficient to constitute an amnesic level. Based upon the information indicating the overdose by the defendant, Dr. Julien concluded that she would be unable to understand the Miranda waiver.  He noted that medical patients on a substantially lower dose would not be capable of signing a consent form for purposes of performing a surgical procedure.  He agreed with Dr. Gummow that the best way to determine the Nakaji's level of impairment at the time would be a full mental status evaluation.
DISCUSSION
I.  The defendant was in custody for the purpose of Miranda after Officer Buhl made his initial inquiry of Ms. Nakaji at the women's' shelter and was told by her that the baby was dead and that she killed the baby.
This court has the task in this case of evaluating the fundamental Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination, which has been protected by our courts in the landmark decision of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).  It is well settled that, before a suspect may be properly subjected to custodial interrogation, he must be advised of his constitutional rights.  Miranda is operative whenever the person being interrogated actually is in custody or is subjected to a restraint on his liberty of a degree associated with an arrest.  New York v. Quarles, 467 U.S. 649, 104 S.Ct. 2626, 81 L.Ed.2d 550 (1984); California v. Beheler, 463 U.S. 1121, 103 S.Ct. 3517, 77 L.Ed.2d 1275 (1983). In making such a determination, the relevant inquiry by the court is how a reasonable man in the suspect's position would have understood his situation. United States v. Mahan, 190 F.3d 416 (6th Cir. 1999); State v. Kuzmichev, 132 Idaho 536, 976 P.2d 462 (Ct.App. 1999).  The court is required to examine the totality of the circumstances and the court's determination of whether a person is in custody for Miranda purposes is a mixed question of law and fact. Thomson v. Keohane, 516 U.S. 99, 116 S.Ct. 457, 133 L.Ed.2d 383 (1995); State v. Frank 133 Idaho 364, 986 P.2d. 1030 (Ct.App. 1999).
When applying the foregoing analysis, the court first recognizes that Nakaji was not subjected to a formal arrest until she had been fully questioned by law enforcement and had completed her medical treatment for her injuries at the hospital.  The actual arrest, of course, does not trigger the requirement of Miranda, but rather it is triggered by a determination of when the surrounding circumstances have created the custodial setting.
Nakaji was in her home when first contacted by police.  Her residence at the women's shelter was subject to certain rules of the house and was supervised by the employees at the shelter.  Just prior to the arrival of the police she had confessed to the assistant manager that she had killed her baby.  She was then escorted to the office where a call was made to 911 regarding her suicide attempt.  She remained on the couch until paramedics and police arrived.
When Officer Buhl made his initial contact with the defendant, he possessed information that something might be wrong with the baby.  He also observed Ms. Nakaji's physical condition and was aware that paramedics were responding.  After Buhl asked Nakaji about the baby. he quickly became aware that the subject of the suicide attempt dispatch was admitting to having killed her baby.  Paramedics arrived and began treating Nakaji.  Sgt. Greensides entered the room and confirmed that the baby was dead and Lt. Jiran was summoned to respond to a homicide.   These events all occurred within a very brief time frame.
Clearly, a reasonable person in a similar situation, who had admitted to a homicide to an employee at the shelter, subsequently confessed to police, and was being administered emergency medical treatment in the presence of the police, would not feel free to leave.  Officer Buhl testified that he was not going to allow Ms. Nakaji to leave.  Further, police conduct supported this fact when Buhl was directed to follow Nakaji to the hospital and when he remained with her in the hospital room. The police presence and control continued to be demonstrated at the hospital until she was finally arrested and transported to jail. 
If Nakaji had simply been a patient of a suicide attempt being responded to by police and EMTs, questioning by police under such circumstances would not be custodial.  However, when the police obtained information that made it apparent that she was a suspect in a homicide investigation, her restraint of freedom rose to a degree associated with a formal arrest.  This point was achieved after Buhl had received responses from Nakaji to his initial questions about the baby.
The State should be permitted to offer the statements made by Nakaji to Buhl when she first told him the baby was dead, that she killed the baby, and her explanation as to why and how she killed the baby. After this point, any further questions by police would be considered to be in a custodial setting invoking the protection of Miranda.  
The defendant argues that even the initial questions presented to her by Buhl at the shelter were custodial interrogations based upon the information the police had about something being wrong with the baby. The court finds, however, that the circumstances establish the custodial setting only after Nakaji provided her responses.  General on-scene questioning by police as to facts surrounding a crime or routine background information does not trigger the constitutional protections under Miranda.  United States v. Klein , 13 F.3d 1182 (8th Cir. 1994).
II.  Statements made by Nakaji to medical personnel or spontaneously volunteered statements overheard by police are admissible without Miranda.
Any statement made by the defendant that was given freely and voluntarily without any compelling influence is clearly admissible. Miranda only applies in those situations where the defendant is both in custody and subjected to either express police questioning or its functional equivalent.  United States v. Davis, 40 F.3d 1069 (10th Cir. 1994).
Officer Buhl testified that Ms. Nakaji made several statements about killing her baby that were not in response to any questions that he presented to her.  Some statements were directed to medical providers while Buhl was in the room and some statements were simply made spontaneously at times when others were in the room or Nakaji was alone in the room with Buhl.
Officer Buhl's credibility has been challenged by the defense regarding these statements.  The medical personnel that testified did not recall any incriminating statement made by Ms. Nakaji to them during their treatment of her wounds.  The preliminary question concerning the admissibility of evidence shall be determined by the court pursuant to Rule 104, Idaho Rules of Evidence.  The admissibility of statements by the defendant is dependant upon the court making a preliminary determination of the factual circumstances surrounding the statements.
 The defendant would argue that the court should find that Buhl lacks credibility and, therefore, there is no factual showing that Nakaji made any voluntary or spontaneous statements so such statements should not be admitted.  The court is not persuaded.  Buhl has set forth the foundation upon which certain statements were offered by Nakaji free from any police interrogation.  Those statements shall be admitted, although the reliability of those statements may certainly be challenged before the finder of fact at the time of trial.
III.  Nakaji's subsequent warned statements at KMC are not tainted by virtue of the unwarned statements made at the shelter.
The defendant has urged the court to reject as involuntary the statements made by Nakaji at the hospital subsequent to Miranda warnings based upon the holding in Oregon v. Elstad, 470 U.S. 298, 105 S.Ct. 1285, 84 L.Ed.2d 222 (1985), as applied in State v. McLean, 123 Idaho 108, 844 P.2d 1358 (Ct.App. 1992).  In Elstad, the Supreme Court held that a confession made after proper Miranda warnings should not be suppressed solely because police obtained an earlier unwarned admission from the subject.  In McLean, the Idaho Court of Appeals held that Elstad was inapplicable where the facts showed that the warned statement was not a second statement but merely the same unwarned statement given earlier.
This court finds that such an analysis as that in McLean does not serve as a basis to suppress the Mirandized statements made at the hospital in this case.  As noted above, this court has concluded that the initial routine questioning by Buhl of Nakaji should be admissible as well as certain spontaneous or voluntary statements.  There may be some statements made by Nakaji to Buhl in response to questions after the custodial situation was established; however, it is the untainted statements that form the basis of Buhl's questioning after Miranda was given.
Even if the court was inclined to agree that all of the unwarned earlier statements should be suppressed, the natures of the two sets of statements are sufficiently distinguishable.  In the dissenting opinion in Elstad, the court explained the problem in considering confessions obtained after earlier confessions were illegally secured:
Subsequent confessions in these circumstances are not per se inadmissible, but the prosecution must demonstrate facts ?sufficient to insulate the [subsequent] statement from the effect of all that went before,' if the accused's subsequent confession was merely the culmination of ?one continuous process,' or if the first confession was merely ?filled in and perfected by additional statements given in rapid succession,' the subsequent confession is inadmissible even though it was not obtained through the same illegal means as the first.  The question in each case is whether the accused's will was ?overborne at the time he confessed,' and the prosecution must demonstrate that the second confession ?was an act independent of the [earlier] confession.'  (Citations omitted.)

Died September 29,2002

"What about Hailey?"

He told social workers from Child Protective Services that he suspected child abuse, but they didn't step in!

Man, sentenced to 4 years in toddler's death, leaves jail

Died December  9, 2005

Victim's father: 'No one told us'

Boy, 12, charged as adult in arson death

Djinn Buckingham set the 12:30 a.m. fire on Dec. 9 to a house in Polk Township, about 20 miles north of Allentown, killing Sierra Carranza, police said. Buckingham was charged as an adult and sent to Monroe County jail.

A preliminary hearing was expected next week, though a date wasn't announced. Michael Mancuso, a Monroe County assistant district attorney, said when a defense lawyer is appointed, the court may be petitioned to prosecute Buckingham as a juvenile.

Six people in the house, including the defendant and Sierra's mother and siblings, escaped the blaze.

Police said Buckingham admitted spilling tiki torch fuel on the carpet in a hallway outside Carranza's room, then starting the fire with two matches. He told police he thought he put out the fire and went downstairs, then heard Sierra screaming, saw flames and evacuated other family members from the house, according to a police affidavit.

Mancuso said it wasn't clear why the boy allegedly started the fire.

"It seemed there was some arguing going on between them, but there are a lot of different angles, and we don't have a definitive motive, Mancuso said.

Neighbors said they were not surprised that Djinn Buckingham was charged, described him as a bully who started small fires, vandalized cars and attacked other children. He had to take a special school bus each day after threatening other students, a bus driver and a teacher, neighbors said.

State police and Monroe County Children & Youth officials were frequently called to the home, according to neighbors.

"It was a troubled situation there, the children were unsupervised, and they had a lot of problems with that young man," said next-door neighbor Joanne Frankunas. "It makes me sad and gives me a chill, but I'm not surprised."

DJINN BUCKINGHAM, then 12, set a Dec. 9, 2005, house fire at Robin Hood Lake Estates near Jonas that killed his 11-year-old cousin. Buckingham and his siblings were in foster care in 2004 and 2005, then returned to the home based on C&Y recommendations, according to court records. Neighbors said the home was the scene of all-night parties, frequent arguments and police interventions.

Buckingham was charged with second-degree murder in adult court before the case was transferred to family court, where Buckingham admitted the crime. Monroe County Judge Jonathan Mark reviewed voluminous case files on Buckingham and his family life, compiled by C&Y and other agencies, before sentencing him to a specialized treatment program for fire-setters west of Gettysburg. His treatment alone costs C&Y nearly $300 per day, more than $100,000 per year, and could total more than $1 million by the time Buckingham is released at age 21.

Died 2000

14 months after she was returned to the Warren home, following a C&Y-supervised placement in foster care.

 Died 1996 -Beaten to death by foster parents.

Little Julio was just 19 months old when he died  of fractured bones, a bruised skull and neglect. His body was bruised and he had injuries to his head, eyes, lips, face ,back and abdomen were consistent with shaken baby syndrome. His foster parents were charged with his death.
Fernando Paz, 34 years old was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Maria Del Carmen Elizabeth Paz, 29 years old was given probation.

Died May 10 ,1999

 Scalded to death in hot water by foster parents.  Los Angeles California.

Died March 11, 2004

December 2003 state Child Protective Services had warned ....ONLY WARNED ?!

Mesa man convicted of drowning little boy

PHOENIX (AP) -- Prosecutors said it was a love triangle between a mother, her boyfriend and the woman's young son.

The defense maintained the wrong man was on trial.

Tuesday, a Maricopa County jury met for only a few hours before finding a 25-year-old Mesa man guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend's two-year-old son.

The quick verdict moves the case of Derek Chappell closer to a possible death sentence in the drowning death of Devon Hinman Shackleford on March 11, 2004.

"Early that morning, when he walked Devon to his death, he silenced him forever," Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Patricia Stevens said during closing arguments Monday.

"He put him in the water and held him down while the child struggled for life," Stevens said. "He walked away from the child and left him face down, floating in that pool."

Chappell was also found guilty in a child-abuse incident four months earlier when he was accused of choking Devon.

Chappell's attorney, Lawrence Matthew, disputed the prosecution's theory that Chappell killed the boy because Devon's mother, Kristal Shackleford, picked the child over the defendant a day before the slaying.

Chappell had been accused of choking the child during a December 2003 incident and state Child Protective Services had warned Shackleford to discontinue her relationship with Chappell. The couple ended their relationship, but Stevens said they secretly got back together.

"He had no need to kill Devon because he already was with her," Matthew said, noting that the two became engaged to marry on March 6. "There was no reason for Derek to do anything except shopping for a bigger ring, because that's what Kristal wanted."

Matthew also suggested Shackleford could have been responsible for her son's death because immediately after his arrest, Chappell said Shackleford had planned the boy's murder, an allegation she denied.

Shackleford never was charged with any crimes.

Died April 6, 1995

Kathleen Schormann and the Unquiet Death of Lance Helms
by Richard Bermack

Died June 4, 2003

Died June 9, 2005

DHS worker faked forms in abuse case that ended with murder

Baby Thrown In Florida Canal

Grandmother warned state of danger 6 months before boy tossed into canal.

DELRAY BEACH ? Six months before Charles Edward Tyson threw his son into a canal and left him there to die, the infant's grandmother told state child-abuse investigators that she worried he could be in danger.

Joanne Mosley, the child's maternal grandmother, called the state Department of Children and Families and Delray Beach police in October because she did not believe Tyson and her daughter could care for Charles Edward Tyson Jr., then only 2 months old. Mosley, 47, said she had raised the baby, whom everyone called C.J., at her house since his birth in July. On Oct. 3, she got upset because Tyson and Shameka Mosley, then 16, were trying to take him for the night.

Joanne Mosley called Delray Beach police. But when officers arrived, they told her that the parents had custody of their child and were free to leave with him at any time.

The next morning, Mosley called the Florida DCF. She said that during the argument, Tyson had tried to grab C.J. from her arms. She said Tyson had pulled on the infant's arm and leg until she let go, afraid he would be hurt.

Baby C.J. wore a monitor for a heart defect, she said, and Tyson was pressing on the boy's chest to prevent Mosley from taking him back.

C.J. was not bruised or hurt in the scuffle, Mosley said, but she did not think Tyson, 20, and her teenage daughter were able to care for a baby. Her daughter has learning disabilities and seizures, she said.

DCF records released to The Palm Beach Post show the department started investigating the case on the day it got the call.

A DCF investigator contacted Delray Beach police to ask what had happened the night before. Officers said that when they got to the house during the argument, C.J. was not crying. They took an incident report but did not file charges because there was no evidence that he had been injured. Law enforcement classified the child-abuse allegation "false," DCF noted.

On Nov. 14, DCF closed its child-abuse investigation as unfounded. The risk to C.J., department investigators wrote, "is considered low."

He was killed five months later.

On April 27, Tyson and Shameka Mosley were taking C.J. home from West Boca Medical Center, where he had been treated for diarrhea. While in the car, they got into a fight about rumors that she had been unfaithful.

Tyson allegedly grabbed C.J. and tossed him out of the car's passenger-side window.

Shameka Mosley said she reached for C.J. as he lay helpless in the dirt, but Tyson allegedly got the baby by the legs and threw him face-down onto the car. The impact left a dent in the hood.

C.J. was still alive and crying, she told police.

Tyson then allegedly sped off with the boy and threw him into a canal on Lowson Boulevard.

Later, he calmly confessed to police. Tyson pleaded not guilty at a court appearance May 19. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Marilyn Muñoz, DCF spokeswoman for Palm Beach County, said supervisors cannot answer questions about her agency's involvement in the case until they finish their review of the file. Managers in Tallahassee also will look at the records, she said.

Delray Beach police spokesman Jeff Messer said his agency did not see any evidence of child abuse after the October incident.

Police officers and fire-rescue workers examined the child and found no signs that the baby was hurt, he said.

"Nobody could conceive the way in which this child ended up dying," Messer said.

Records released to The Post show that DCF investigators tracked down most family members Oct. 4, the day the state got the report. Tyson said Joanne Mosley was fighting for sole custody of C.J. because she hoped to claim all of the winnings in a malpractice lawsuit against a local hospital for birth defects.

Mosley told The Post that the family did contact a lawyer after C.J.'s birth, but she said money had nothing to do with her decision to care for the baby. She also has raised her son Allen Mosley's two children since he was sentenced to federal prison on weapons and drug charges.

Shameka Mosley told investigators that she often cared for all three children while her mother was gone, according to DCF records.

Four weeks later, on Nov. 11, a DCF investigator followed up with the family again. Tyson said he did not want any help or services from the state, and that Joanne Mosley was allowing him to visit his child.

Mosley agreed that the family had reconciled since the October dispute over who should care for the baby.

Doctors confirmed that C.J. was doing fine and said relatives were following all recommendations for his care, according to the investigator's notes.

DCF closed its case Nov. 14.

A week later, Joanne Mosley applied for a restraining order against Tyson, telling a judge that he had sex with her daughter before she turned 16 and that she thought he was too old to be dating her, court records show.

The order, which was granted Dec. 8, gave Tyson two hours a week on Friday nights to see his son and prohibited him from coming close to Shameka Mosley at home, at work, at school or in her car.

Later Joanne Mosley allowed Tyson to visit her home despite the order.

"Charles was her first love," Joanne Mosley said. "I felt it was safer for me to let him come here to see the baby. That was better than Meka sneaking off with the baby to see Charles."

Although she worried about his outbursts and threats, Joanne Mosley said Tyson did his best to provide for his son. When he could keep a job and C.J. needed something, he would buy it. When C.J. went to the doctor, he was there. When C.J. stayed overnight in the hospital, he was there.

"I heard Charles pray when my daughter was pregnant for God to give him a son," Mosley said. "I don't know what happened to make him do what he did. But I know Charles loved his son."

It is unclear from the file whether DCF was notified of the restraining order. The last notes in the case were typed by a DCF supervisor Nov. 14, the day the state closed its case on C.J.

"Child is safe with grandmother," the supervisor wrote.

Died August 9,2004

Mistakes detailed in handling of Meza case - "The case is closed."

S.C. social services workers missed monthly visits, skipped interviews about sexual abuse allegations and didn't make sure the right documents were provided in Spanish in a case that ended in the slayings of three York County children last year.

Two supervisors were suspended without pay for five days and a caseworker received a written warning because of the failures, S.C. Department of Social Services records show.

The agency released the records Friday after the Observer requested them under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.

The documents detail the mistakes social services workers made when handling the Meza family's case.

The bodies of the three Meza children -- Denia, 14, Denise, 8, and Jairo, 5 -- were found after a fire consumed their home north of Rock Hill on Aug. 9, 2004.

Someone had slit their throats. Their parents, Denis and Marbely, also died in the blaze.

Investigators say they will never know exactly what happened in the home that night.

But DSS had reported allegations that Denis was molesting Denia to the Sheriff's Office in May and ordered him out of the house. Denis was arrested in July.

Neighbors say he had returned to the home -- despite orders from DSS and the court to stay away.

The records released Friday say Sherita Davis, an assessment caseworker who took the case May 3, made these missteps:

1. Failed to interview all family members about the sexual abuse allegations. Documents did not specify who was left out.

2. Failed to interview other people involved -- called collateral contacts -- about the abuse. Collateral contacts can include teachers and police.

3. Failed to make sure that a copy of a key document called a "safety plan" that was provided in Spanish to Marbely, who spoke limited English, was the same as the English version. A safety plan is developed with the family and outlines ways in which the child must be protected.

4. Failed to see whether the family was following the safety plan.

5. Failed to visit the family at least once a month.

The written warning to Davis said further violations could result in discipline and termination.

Davis has an unpublished phone number and could not be reached for comment Friday.

The records do not show how many workers were on the case, what caseload Davis had or what she did correctly.

They do show that two supervisors overseeing the case received harsher punishments than Davis for violating agency rules.

Supervisor Tammy Crisp was suspended after failing to go over the case with a DSS worker, not making sure the monthly visits were made and not checking to see whether a worker followed other recommendations for handling the case, records show.

DSS officials also reprimanded her for failing to make sure an interpreter was used -- especially for conversations with Marbely.

A message left at Crisp's home Friday evening was not immediately returned. She returned to work Jan. 25, records said.

The second supervisor, Willa Barnett, was suspended for failing to make sure the caseworker completed tasks such as interviewing all of the family, monitoring the safety plan and making the monthly visits, records show.

She also failed to review and sign two DSS worksheets. One provides a comprehensive analysis of a family's situation; the other is used to assess whether adults involved in a case can protect the children, documents say.

A message left at Barnett's home was also not returned. She returned to work Jan. 14.

DSS first talked about its internal review of the case's handling when it released a report Feb. 1 that said three workers were disciplined. The agency didn't say what they did wrong.

But because of the case, the agency did say it had expanded caseworkers' manuals to include more guidance on helping families who speak limited English.

DSS attorney Virginia Williamson said Friday that DSS is standing by the Feb. 1 report.

"We took the policy action and the personnel action, met with sheriff and the solicitor," she said. "The case is closed."

HEATHER VOGELL
Staff Writer

Died August 8,2007

Department of Children and Families had been called to the residence in the past.

Mother charged in drowning death of child

Died February 12, 1994

Sisha Harris said she had lied to social services workers to protect her husband after an earlier incident when her daughter had suffered a broken leg.