How Could You? Hall of Shame-Andrew Prior 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 Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Mallory Krajian, 25, “was arrested Tuesday on a charge of child abuse murder” of her 3-year-old foster child.”Kraijian’s husband [Peter]was also arrested for child abuse but was involved in a different case.”
“Mallory Krajian is accused of injuring one of the foster children in the couple’s care. The 3-year-old boy in question was taken to a hospital Aug. 27 with a head injury.
Police say the 3-year-old later died from blunt force trauma to the head.
According to official documents, one of the couple’s foster children who witnessed the scene said the toddler was jumping on the couch when he fell and hit his head on a table. Peter Krajian was reportedly asleep in the room as Mallory Krajian was helping another foster child in the other room.
The child’s condition became worse over the week, ultimately resulting in the toddler’s death Aug. 29.
Detectives say Mallory Krajian’s description of how the child sustained the injuries did not match with the “level of trauma.”
According to documents, the detective said the area in which the child was reported to have fallen contained clues that it had not been disturbed by the fall the Krajians claimed was the cause of the child’s injury.
Police say the charge against Peter Krajian is unrelated to the murder charge against Mallory Krajian. Police say he is being accused of abusing a different foster child that was in the couple’s care.
The foster parents were given three children from DHS, two brothers and a sister.
According to a family member of the foster children, this is not the first time for the children have been in a bad home.
Barbara Friend, the children’s biological great aunt, told 2NEWS the children were removed from their parents’ home due to neglect.
“I’ve just been in shock all afternoon, my sister can hardly speak,” said Friend. “I’m not at a forgiveness stage just yet.”
Court records show the children’s biological parents, Matthew and Angela Prior, were arrested in August 2013 for child neglect.
“I will do whatever I have to take care of them, it’s why I moved to Oklahoma, to take care of Angie and her sister,” said Friend.
Even those living close to the Krajian family were surprised by the incident.
“I had no idea she was capable of that. Even when she came over to my house she did say she was in the process of trying to adopt three kids and her husband wasn’t excited about adopting the oldest because he was so old, they just wanted babies,” said neighbor Michelle Bradfield
Bradfield says she gave the Krajians clothes after the foster mom begged for help, but Bradfield said the clothes were sold a few days later.
“Everybody was giving her things on Facebook because she gave these big sob stories,” said Bradfield.
For those living in the neighborhood, this will be a story not forgotten.
“They were so sweet, they were both really quiet and you would see them playing in the yard and giggling and laughing. It’s really sad something like that had to happen,” said Bradfield.
As of Tuesday, Peter Krajian is in jail on $25,000 bond and Mallory Krajian is in jail on $250,000 bond.”
Broken Arrow woman arrested as suspect in death of toddler foster child[Kjrh 9/2/4 by Liz Bryant]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update:”An Oklahoma mother was arrested on a charge of child abuse murder after police say her 3-year-old foster son died from a severe head injury.
Mallory Krajian, 25, from Broken Arrow, was taken into custody Tuesday. Her husband, Peter Krajian, 44, was also arrested on a child abuse charge in a separate case.
The couple’s foster son Andrew Prior was rushed to a hospital August 27 suffering from blunt force trauma to the head. Despite the doctors’ efforts, the toddler’s condition gradually worsened and he passed away from his injures five days later.
According to court filings, Mrs Krajian told police the 3-year-old was jumping on the couch when he fell and hit his head on a table.
However, investigators found that the foster mother’s account was not consistent with the severity of the boy’s injuries.
Andrew Prior is survived by a four-year-old sister and 6-year-old brother. The couple have been caring for siblings for more than a year, NewsOn6 reported.
Barbara Friend, the children’s biological great aunt, told the station KJRH that the kids were removed from the home of their birth parents, Angela and Matthew Prior, due to neglect.
Peter Krajian is facing charges for allegedly abusing his foster daughter. At the time of the incident involving Andrew, the 44-year-old father was allegedly sleeping.
When questioned by police, Mallory Krajian allegedly hinted that one of the older children might have been responsible for injuring the toddler.
Court documents stated that the boy sustained a skull fracture, neck fracture and brain haemorrhage. Doctors also found bald spots on the toddler’s head from suspected hair-pulling and bruises on his body.
The Krajians were approached by the Department of Human Services last summer asking them to foster Andrew and his brother and sister after their biological parents were charged with child neglect.
Police in Broken Arrow said they have no record of calls about domestic violence or disturbances from the Krajians’ home.
Mallory Krajian is being held on $250,000 bail, while her husband is jailed on $25,000 bail.
Andrew’s surviving brother and sister have been released back into the custody of the DHS.”
Foster mother arrested on child murder charge after three-year-old boy in her care died from a skull fracture and brain bleed
[Daily Mail 9/3/14 by SNEJANA FARBEROV]
Update 2:”A 3-year-old foster child who died of suspected child abuse in August was not removed from the home of his foster parents after a DHS worker smelled marijuana during a visit, according to a report released Friday.
The boy, Andrew Prior, died at a Tulsa hospital Aug. 31 from a head injury he received four days earlier. His foster parents, Mallory Krajian and Peter Krajian of Broken Arrow, have been charged with first-degree murder in his death.
Andrew and his two siblings were in Department of Human Services custody and had been placed with the Krajians in August 2013, according to a report by the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, an oversight agency. Two months later, DHS visited the home, and a case worker documented smelling marijuana. Andrew’s siblings also told the case worker that the children had been spanked by the foster parents.
During the DHS worker’s visit, Mallory Krajian denied using marijuana and spanking the children, the report states. DHS told her the agency would follow up with unannounced visits.”
Report released in death of Tulsa foster child[Tulsa World 11/22/14 by Jennifer Palmer]
Update 3:“A Tulsa County special judge on Friday imposed a four-year suspended sentence against a 44-year-old man charged with abusing the sibling of a foster child who died in his wife’s care.
Peter Krajian was charged with child abuse by injury of a 4-year-old girl whose hair he’s accused of pulling out. He was scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Friday but waived his right to a trial and entered a plea of no contest.
Special Judge Cliff Smith found him guilty and imposed a four-year suspended sentence.
Both he and his wife were arrested two days after the death of their 3-year-old foster son. Mallory Krajian has been charged with child abuse murder in the boy’s death.
An affidavit filed in the case notes that when interviewed about the fatal injuries her brother suffered at the Krajian’s home in the 7400 block of South Elm Avenue, the girl told investigators about the alleged abuse against her.
Her 6-year-old brother told police the girl was also spanked with a wooden hanger.
Their younger brother died after he suffered fractures to his skull and neck as well as a brain bleed.
The older boy told police his brother had been jumping on the couch and fell off of it backward, hitting his head, according to the documents.
He first told them his brother hit his head on the floor but later said he wasn’t in the room and didn’t know what happened.
The older siblings told police they’d heard a loud noise from the living room immediately before their younger brother threw up and was taken to the hospital.
Mallory Krajian, and the children, told police her husband was asleep at the time.
Pediatricians cited inconsistent statements from the family and the severity of the boy’s injuries as evidence of abusive head trauma, the documents show.
Mallory Krajian appears for a preliminary hearing in her case on Jan. 16.”
BA foster dad enters no contest plea to child abuse by injury discovered after 3-year-old’s death[Tulsa World 12/13/14 by Amanda Bland]
Update 4:“An Oklahoma family claims negligence by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
They tell 2 Works For You the agency’s actions led to the death of a 3-year-old boy and the abuse of his siblings. Now with court cases dried up and no answers as to how the little boy died, they’re devastated.
“Somebody needs to pay for what these little kids has gone through,” great aunt Lois Ritchie said.
His baby book is all Andrew Prior’s family has to remember him by.
Andrew was 3 years old when he died in foster care in 2014. Richie and her sister Connie Hubbard are Andrew’s great aunts. Both tried to get custody of Andrew and his siblings when they were put into foster care in 2013.
The children’s biological parents were jailed on child neglect charges.
“DHS wouldn’t even talk to us,” Richie said.
“I was in Missouri calling to come to get them and was turned down,” Hubbard said.
Family says they didn’t understand why.
Hubbard was already a certified foster parent in Missouri.
“Fingerprints had been done, home inspections had been done, everything was completed,” she said.
Hubbard says she was confused but thought maybe the caseworker had a good reason.
Andrew’s great aunt she told me that the children were in a very good foster home, they were seeing counselor which they really needed and that they had bonded with their counselor. Connie says she never was called about any problems and was not notified when Andrew died.
“They make their own rules, they do what they want to do,” Hubbard said. “And they feel like they have the authority and the power above you and there’s nothing you can do.”
Richie and Hubbard say they were shocked to learn the details of Andrew’s case.
According to a state oversight report, Andrew went to the hospital for a brain bleed due to head trauma and died a few days later. His foster mother, Mallory Kraijan, told DHS he fell off the couch. Kraijan was later charged with child abuse murder.
Leading up to Andrew’s death, family says, there were warning signs, some even documented by DHS.
In two previous issues at the home, one involved inappropriate behavior between siblings. The other — allegations of marijuana in the home and complaints by the kids of hitting and spanking. DHS determined those claims were unsubstantiated.
But after Andrew’s death, foster father Peter Kraijan pleaded no contest to child abuse by injury in an incident with Andrew’s sister.
“For pulling her bald-headed,” Hubbard said. “When I got her, that baby on one side of her head was totally bald. She was 4 years old.”
Richie and Hubbard say that alone proves the home wasn’t safe and that DHS didn’t do due diligence.
“They should have been removed right then and there on the spot,” Richie said. “But they didn’t. So yes, I do blame DHS for it.”
Citing insufficient evidence, the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office dismissed Mallory Kraijan’s case in December 2018. Family hopes more charges will eventually be filed in that case.
As for DHS, officials say they cannot comment.
The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit last year, but it’s since been dropped.
You can read the full report on Andrew Prior’s death here .”
Oklahoma family blames DHS for child’s death
[KJRH 1/31/19 by Erin Conrad]
They had better get all of those kids out of that house, and into the care of the great aunt. I for one am really disgusted at what they have been doing with kids for a long time. It has been going on for a long time. Believe me, since at least the 70s.