Khalil Wimes,6, died of blunt force trauma to the head on Monday March 19, 2012. He had been starved and only weighed 28 pounds. Daily Mail reports that “doctors found scars, bruises and cuts all over his frail body. ” and “His parents claimed that Khalil had fallen over in the bathroom and had seemed fine but then passed out.
Doctors reported that they found both new and old injuries all over Khalil’s body and the cause of his death was determined to be multiple blunt force trauma and malnutrition.
Investigators say Khalil’s scars are consistent with regular beatings with belts and cords.”
His parents, Tina Wimes, 44, and Floyd Wimes, 48, were arrested on Wednesday March 22, 2012 and charged with his murder.
NBC reports that “Relatives say when Kahlil was born they saw the deplorable conditions he and his six siblings were living in with Tina and Floyd Wimes. They called the Department of Human Services. The family says they asked to care for all of the Wimes seven children when they were removed from the home. A cousin in this family was given only the infant, Khalil, to foster. At age three, they say they were stunned when they were told by Family Court and the DHS that they had to give him back to Tina and Floyd Wimes.
“They [Family Court and DHS] took him out of a situation that was absolutely deplorable and put him back in the same situation,” said Khalil’s uncle, Sulaiman Hadi.”We had no contact with this child, so I would think, logically, they would check on this little boy,”
Floyd Wimes’ brother, Sulaiman Hadi, says they petitioned and tried to have some contact with Khalil, but they were cut out of his life.
“Every door we tried was shut in our face,” Hadi said. He said they tried the legal route and they even tried to find out from other family members if they’d seen Khalil or knew where they could find him. “We were completely shut out,” Hadi said.
Daily Mail reports that “City officials are now trying to find out why Khalil and his 3-year-old sister, Maya, were living with their mother after Family Court judges had terminated her right to the couple’s five other children.”
Kinship care was working
NBC reports that “Khalil lived with the Nixon family for the first three years of his life. The Nixons are relatives of the Wimes and were asked by the couple’s family to help care for Khalil when he was born.
Police say DHS already moved five other children from Floyd and Tina because of drug abuse, neglect and child abuse from the couple. When Khalil was nearly a year old however, a court judge ordered the Nixon family to return Khalil to his birth parents. Four days later the Nixons say Khalil was hospitalized, dehydrated and dirty. They claim DHS then returned Khalil to them, urging them to become the permanent caregivers for the child.
“DHS said, ‘Miss Nixon, in order to prevent this from happening again, we need you to become a foster parent so that we can move forward the process of adoption,” said Alicia Nixon.
When Khalil turned 3 however, the Nixons claim a family court judge forced them to return Khalil to the Wimes.
“We cared for him, we nurtured him, we loved him” said La Reine Nixon. “And these strangers get to make decisions.”
After Khalil’s death, the Nixons, who were not allowed to see Khalil for three years, were given the right to bury the boy.
Frank Cervone of the Support Center for Child Advocates, reviewed Khalil’s case.
“What we know about addicts is they hide and lie,” said Cervone. “We have to know that these two people with a history of addiction were probably going to hide and lie again.”
When asked why Khalil was given back to his birth parents, Cervone shrugged and said, “That’s always the hard question.”
The Nixon family says Khalil’s DHS case worker, Jessica Campbell, sent them an email after the boy returned to the Wimes.
“I told him in no uncertain terms that we don’t believe it is in Khalil’s best interest to be reunified with his birth parents for many reasons,” wrote Campbell.
The Nixon family says Campbell also encouraged them to write letters to the mayor or anyone else who could help.
“Irreparable damage is done to our families and our children,” wrote Campbell. “It’s really unfair.”
“People need to stop hiding behind the letter of the law and start owning up to the immoral decisions they are making,” said Alicia.
While Cervone has questions about the court that returned Khalil to his birth parents when he was a year old, he also says Floyd and Tina appeared to meet their goals of drug rehab, employment and new housing upon Khalil’s second return at 3-years-old.
“I’m not seeing anywhere that the system really blew it,” said Cervone.
Cervone says their rights come before the child’s if they are deemed fit to be parents.
“It doesn’t look like the case worker spoke against the parents,” said Cervone. “The case worker appears to have spoken in favor of the bond with the new family.”
Cervone says the biggest failure was that the system found no way to keep the child connected to blood relatives who could have kept an eye on him. Neighbors of the Wimes told police they never saw Khalil while he was in the care of his birth parents.
“I think the neglect caused the death, that’s clear,” said Cervone. “But the isolation allowed him to die.”
The Nixon family says they’ll fight for changes to make sure what happened to Khalil will never happen to another child.
“I was hoping when he was old enough he would find us,” said a tearful Alicia. “I didn’t want the last time I saw him to be when I buried him.”
Cervone says DHS has recently adopted a program that helps prevent the isolation of children reunited with birth parents. DHS claims they will review the case in a report which Mayor Nutter will then make public. “
CBS reports that Mayor Nutter stated that CPS did not have an open file on Khalil at the time of his death ““The two children who lived in the home, one of whom was Khalil, had no matters involving the Department of Human Services at all. None. Next question.”
The police commissioner was quick to push the all guilt from the government as CBS reports “Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says, “Parents are supposed to protect their children, not beat them up and starve them to death.”
Ramsey says government can’t raise every child in Philadelphia, “that’s where the fault lies. That’s where the blame lies. Nowhere else.”
Sources:
Boy, 6, beaten and starved to death by his parents ‘was locked in room with just a urine soaked mattress’
[Daily Mail 3/22/12 by Laura Pullman]
Khalil’s Death Shocks, Hurts Relatives
[NBC Philadelphia 3/23/12 by Karen Araiza and Lu Ann Cahn]
Nutter: DHS Did Not Have Open Case On Deceased 6-Year-Old Khalil Wime
[CBS Philly 3/23/12 by Steve Tawa]
Foster Parents of Murdered Boy Speak Out
[NBC Philadelphia 3/30/12 by Lu Ann Cahn and David Chang]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: “The city removed a social worker from active casework Tuesday after The Inquirer revealed repeated failures by the city’s Department of Human Services to intervene in the ongoing abuse of 6-year-old Khalil Wimes that ended with his parents being charged with his murder.
In announcing the step involving the social worker, Mayor Nutter also said DHS would review all child-welfare cases handled by the worker and her supervisor.
“Our hearts are very heavy for Khalil,” Nutter said, adding, “We will conduct a complete review of everything that happened in this case. If systemic changes are required, we will make them.”
“The Inquirer review found that, in the last eight months of Khalil’s life, DHS saw the child eight times during visits to his home and a DHS facility, but did not recognize that he was in danger.
Though the agency had no active case on Khalil, they were engaged in official oversight of two of his siblings and, since August, responsible for supervised visits between Khalil, his siblings, and Cuffie and Wimes at the DHS center and at the Wimes’ apartment.
During those months, Khalil was regularly starved and beaten by his parents with extension cords, belts, books, and shoes, according to two of Khalil’s adult siblings.
Social worker Courtnei Nance questioned Cuffie about Khalil’s weight, the scars on his face, and other bruising, but took no further action, according to multiple sources aware of the inquiry into DHS’s handling of the case. On four occasions, Nance visited the apartment where Khalil, in the last days of his life, slept on the floor of a latched, empty bedroom on a soiled, plastic mattress, including a visit two weeks before Khalil was killed.”
“Nutter said the findings of the inquiry into the agency’s involvement would be made public.”
[Philadelphia Enquirer 4/25/12 by Mike Newall]
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