How Could You? Hall of Shame-Serenity Nickelberry case-Child Death

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 Dallas, Texas, 5-month-old Serenity Nickelberry was under the care of a foster parent’s babysitter when “”the baby “stopped breathing.”

“The foster parent was out of town.”

“Since Serenity’s death Thursday,[grandfather Norman] Nickelberry said he’s been calling CPS with urgent questions: What happened to his granddaughter? Where is her body? And where are his other four grandchildren?

But he said that CPS refused to talk to him because he’s not one of their parents. Both his daughter and Serenity’s father were in jail when the baby died.

“We want answers,” Nickelberry said Friday. “We’ve been getting information on the status of the kids up until this day. But now they’re saying only the parents, only the parents.”

Marleigh Meisner, a CPS spokeswoman, said Serenity’s death is under investigation by both her agency and law enforcement. She didn’t provide other answers to questions specific about Serenity’s case, but responded more generally about procedures.

Department policy, she said, requires staff to notify the child’s parents within 24 hours of a death. If the parents can’t be located, the caseworker should notify “relatives who have been involved with the child,” she said.

Meisner said in an email that the agency shares information with the biological parents of children.

“It is up to them to decide what, if any, further information is provided” to other relatives, she said.

Serenity’s mother, Whitney Nickelberry, 25, was in Collin County Jail on charges of theft and assault by threat when the child died. Whitney was notified by a guard but was unable to contact her father or other family members, said the baby’s aunt, Renee Richardson, 30.

Richardson said Serenity’s father, who is in Dallas County Jail on a murder charge, also was notified. The Nickelberry family found out about Serenity’s death from one of his relatives, Richardson said.

Whitney’s five children were placed in foster care when she was arrested about a month ago. Norman Nickelberry said he has been trying to get custody of them ever since.

Besides Serenity, Whitney also has four other children in foster care: three boys, ages 6, 7 and 9, and a girl, 4.

Richardson said the surviving children have been moved to another foster home.

Nickelberry said he believed he was going to get custody of the children. He said CPS visited his Dallas home two weeks ago and performed a background check.

Meisner, the CPS spokeswoman, did not respond directly when she was asked why the children weren’t placed with a relative such as Nickelberry.

“It is always our goal that children who are in court-ordered CPS custody have the best and most appropriate placement,” she wrote in an email. “We first look to appropriate and available relatives. And if none are available, then a judge will order the children to be placed in temporary foster care.”

Nickelberry said CPS let him visit the children on Wednesday. The kids and the baby seemed fine, he said.

A CPS staffer called the baby’s godmother about 6 p.m. Thursday and asked how to contact Serenity’s doctor but refused to say whether anything was wrong, Richardson said. The godmother sometimes helped Serenity’s mother take her to the doctor.

About two hours later, a relative of the baby’s father called Nickelberry and said the baby was dead.

Richardson said she tried to contact CPS Thursday night but was unable to get in touch with anyone for a long time. Eventually, someone told her she would have to call back at 8 a.m., she said.

“I couldn’t believe that,” Richardson said. “If this was your daughter, you’d wait until 8 a.m. to find out what happened? We have to make sure the other kids are OK.”

\Baby girl’s death in foster care leaves family with unanswered questions [Dallas Morning News 10/17/15 by Naomi Martin]

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