How Could You? Hall of Shame-Tamiyah Audain case-Child Death UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Miami, Florida,  “Latoya Patterson faces life in prison after being charged with felony murder. She was arrested Tuesday and is being held without bail. Investigators called it “child torture.”

“A Broward grand jury has charged a child welfare caseworker and three other women after a severely disabled girl died while under state care.

A cousin who was given custody of 12-year-old Tamiyah Audain after her mother died was among those indicted by grand jurors on Tuesday. Audain’s emaciated body was found in her caregiver’s home last September.

“The whole house smelled like rotting flesh when law enforcement showed up,” prosecutors said Tuesday. “This child’s body rotted around her while she was still alive.”

Tamiyah originally went to live with her grandparents when her mom passed away. But DCF removed the girl due to her grandfather’s health problems.

“If it wasn’t for them snatching my children away from me, I feel they’d still be here today,” Tamiyah’s grandfather Willie Bryant said.

Tamiyah originally went to live with her grandparents when her mom passed away. But DCF removed the girl due to her grandfather’s health problems.

“If it wasn’t for them snatching my children away from me, I feel they’d still be here today,” Tamiyah’s grandfather Willie Bryant said.

Still, Bryant said he stands behind Patterson, his niece.

“I saw her at least three weeks to a month before she died. She wasn’t that small,” Bryant said. “Police call it child torture. From doing what? They can say what they want, I still don’t believe it.”

Jabeth Moye, an employee of ChildNet, which is contracted by the Department of Children and Families, faces second-degree child neglect charges. She remained in jail on Wednesday. An attorney wasn’t listed on jail records.

In addition to Patterson and Moye, psychologist Helene Richardson, who tested the girl for autism spectrum disorder, and Juliana Gerena, who signed off on Richardson’s report, were also arrested. The MIami Herald reported both were charged with failure to report child neglect.

ChildNetreleased a statement saying: “ChildNet takes the immense responsibility of protecting Florida’s most vulnerable children extremely seriously; we are constantly reviewing and evaluating our policies and procedures to ensure that we are doing everything in our power to protect children from abuse, abandonment, and neglect.””

Caseworker, 3 Others Charged in Girl’s Death

[NBC Miami 8/27/14 by Associated Press]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “Latoya Patterson is accused of allowing her 12-year-old cousin, Tamiyah Audain, to waste away while in Patterson’s care before the little girl died in September 2013.

However, on investigative DVD’s and audio CD’s released by the Broward State Attorney’s Office from the criminal case against Patterson, you can hear Patterson describe her struggles in caring for Tamiyah.

Audain was autistic, could not speak and suffered from a debilitating illness. After her mother died, Tamiyah was placed in Patterson’s care.  They lived in this Lauderhill apartment with Patterson’s other children. Crime scene pictures show the living conditions. Tamiyah was discovered dead on the floor in September 2013.

A 911 call from the day of Tamiyah’s passing reveals the anguish in Patterson’s voice.

“My little cousin’s in the bedroom and I don’t think she’s breathing,” Patterson told a 911 dispatcher.

In the hours after Patterson made the 911 call, she gave a recorded statement to a detective and indicated that caring for Tamiyah was challenging.

“I would never hurt that little girl,” she said. “She was more like a baby. You had to do everything for her.”

Investigators said that once in Patterson’s care, Tamiyah deteriorated, developing multiple pressure sores. They say Tamiyah lost a significant amount of weight, stopped attending school, rarely saw a doctor and was isolated by Patterson. Patterson is accused of felony murder.

A Childnet employee who oversaw Tamiyah’s case — Jabeth Moye — is charged with child neglect. In an interview with a detective last January, Patterson admitted that Tamiyah had lost weight.

“If you were to see her from the beginning, she had already started losing weight from the beginning,” Patterson told a Lauderhill Police detective.

But Patterson said that Tamiyah had access to the food in the home and ate with the family. However, Patterson admitted that caring for Tamiyah — who rarely slept and roamed the halls at all hours and would even bite — was too much for her and her children.

“Did you feel like you were equipped to take care of Tamiyah?” the detective asked.
“No,” Patterson said.
“Did you ever relay that information to Jabeth?” the detective asked.
“Yes,” Patterson said.

Patterson said she rarely received assistance for Tamiyah and in the weeks before Tamiyah’s death Patterson reached out to child welfare workers to express her desperation.

Patterson’s attorney, Melissa Minsk Donoho, says Patterson never kept Tamiyah from school or doctor’s appointments and never denied her food.

Donoho says the system failed Tamiyah, not Latoya Patterson.

“There was no evidence of isolation of this child,”  Minsk Donoho said. “There is no evidence whatsoever that there was a willful, knowing, wanton intent to cause harm to this child.”

Patterson is being held in jail without bond. She is asking to be released from jail and a judge is expected to rule on that in the coming weeks.”

Exclusive: Caretaker Accused In Autistic Girl’s Death Says She’d Never Hurt Her [CBS local 2/13/15 by Carey Codd]