How Could You? Hall of Shame-Fabian Garcia case-Child Death UPDATED Now Lawsuit
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 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, 3-year-old foster child “Fabian Garcia died Tuesday at a hospital in Kailua-Kona.”
“No criminal charges have been filed at this point. The boy’s parents are distraught and want to know how this could have happened.”
“Because he was in foster care, Juben Garcia says Child Welfare Services, a branch under the Department of Human Services, brought them the devastating news.
“They said there’s no easy way to say this, and then my girlfriend asked, ‘Is Fabian alive?’ and she said no, and that was it,” said Juben Garcia.
Juben Garcia says his son and his two other children were removed from their home in August 2016. The family home was deemed unacceptable due to his drug use.
He says he still can’t believe that his little boy is gone.
“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s numbing. I don’t know, shock, I guess,” he said. “It’s shocking, like unbelievable. Even after I saw him, I couldn’t believe he was dead.”
He adds that CWS has not given much of an explanation as to what happened.
“They said that he was wearing some virtual reality goggles,
and then he was at the table and then he fell from like three or four feet,” Juben Garcia said. “Something startled him and then he fell face first without without putting his hands in front of him.”
We checked with Hawaii island police and Child Welfare Services for more information. All police will tell us is that the child was in foster care when he died. A CWS spokeswoman says she is not allowed to give out any information.
The spokeswoman did tell us that all foster parents are given background checks. They also have to pass certain housing and sanitation standards.
The child’s father says he’s now worried about his two other children who remain in foster care.
“They said they placed them with another foster family, which doesn’t give me any names or any assurance that this is not going to happen again,” Juben Garcia said.
A CWS spokeswoman tells us that since 2006, five children have died under foster care, but only one of those deaths was caused by the foster parents.”
http://khon2.com/2017/07/28/parents-demand-answers-after-3-year-old-boy-dies-while-in-foster-care/
[KHON 2 7/28/17 by Manolo Mireles]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update:“The Hawaii island family whose 3-year-old boy died while in foster care is seeking answers, and hopes someone out there has information on their son’s last days.
On Tuesday, a judge lifted parts of a gag order, which means the family is now allowed to talk.
The Hawaii Police Department says on July 25, paramedics were called to the foster home in Waimea, where they tried to revive Fabian Garett-Garcia, who was not breathing. The toddler was rushed to North Hawaii Community Hospital where he died.
Garett-Garcia’s family tells KHON2 all they want right now is to find out exactly how and why their 3-year-old boy died. Since they’re not getting information from the state or investigators, they want the public to help.
The state’s Child Welfare Services Branch issued a gag order on the case days later, which the family’s attorney argued in court Tuesday was too restrictive.
“The previous gag order was unconstitutional and deprived the parents of the ability to speak to police, to speak to even a family counselor,” said attorney Jeffrey Foster.
Foster says the new gag order will at least allow the family to talk to investigators, as well as a family counselor to discuss their grief. They can now also ask the public for help.
Garett-Garcia’s parents released a statement that said: “We have very little information about how Fabian died or the events and circumstances leading up to his death. If anyone has any information, we ask that you come forward.”
“Any leads, any information whatsoever as minute or as insignificant as it may seem to people out there, we ask that they come forward so we can provide the family the answers that they deserve,” Foster said.
Child Welfare Services is not allowed to discuss specific cases, but the assistant administrator, Cynthia Goss, did agree to talk about gag orders in general and why the state needs to put them in place.
“We need to do our investigation. So does law enforcement, and you want none of that tainted by information that’s incomplete or misinformation for that matter,” she said.
Goss adds that in her 33 years at Child Welfare Services, she’s only aware of five cases where a gag order was issued, and it’s ultimately to protect the children, parents, and foster parents, also known as resource caregivers.
“When information is released prematurely or it’s not based on fact, you do a lot of damage to the children, the parents, the resource caregivers, the system, to our staff,” said Goss.
The medical examiner has not released the cause of death.
Anyone with information can call Hawaii County Police or email justice4fabian@gmail.com.”
http://khon2.com/2017/08/08/parents-urge-public-to-come-forward-as-investigation-continues-into-toddlers-death/
[KHON 8/8/17 by
Update 2:“Emergency room staff at a Big Island hospital suspected abuse in the death of a 3-year-old boy who died last year in foster care, medical records show.
Fabian Garcia died in July, and the Hawaii County medical examiner determined it was due to blunt force trauma to the head.
But after a seven-month investigation, the medical examiner stopped short of saying the boy had been murdered.
Jeffrey Foster, the attorney for Fabian’s biological parents, is calling on anyone who might know about the toddler’s death to call police.
Foster provided Hawaii News Now a portion of Fabian’s hospital records, which show ER staff suspected abuse.
“I’ve never encountered a situation where we’ve seen this much damage to the body of a child,” Foster said.
Fabian’s biological parents also had concerns their son was being mistreated at his foster home.
A photograph of the little boy was snapped during a supervised visit at the Kona Aquatic Center on July 17.
The image shows Fabian with a bruise on his forehead.
Eight days later, the toddler was rushed to the ER after his foster parents said they found him face down in bed in a pool of vomit.
“We need to provide answers to this family,” Foster said. “The bruising it’s horrific. We want to know what happened in that house. We want to know what happened to Fabian.”
HNN asked the state Department of Human Services if it had received complaints about the foster family involved in this case, and whether they’re still fostering children.
A spokesperson cited privacy laws for refusing to answer the questions.
Meanwhile, Foster is asking anyone with information to come forward.
“We do have several tips. We have our experts looking into the medical reports,” Foster said. “But what we want at this time — we want anyone who has information about Fabian, about the house where he was living and the people inside the house.”
The attorney said Fabian’s parents want to share their story, but have been ordered not to speak publicly by a family court judge.
The parents’ other children were returned to them by the state after the toddler’s death.”
Records: ER staff suspected abuse in death of 3-year-old foster child
[Hawaii News Now 3/6/18 by Allison Blair]
Update 3:“The Hawaii Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a Family Court’s ruling that prohibited the Kailua-Kona parents of a toddler boy, who died last year while in foster care, from speaking about the case.
Under the Family Court’s August 2017 gag order, 3-year-old Fabian Garett-Garcia’s parents were unable to speak publicly the names of their two surviving children, who were in foster care at the time, or publicly release reports or other information that “have or will” be submitted to the court relating to the case or the parents’ two surviving children. The parents appealed the ruling with their attorney Jeffrey Foster to the state’s high court.
“Over our objections, the state was allowed to impose a gag order prohibiting us from speaking even so much as the names of our surviving children to the ‘general public,’” the family said in a statement Thursday. “The order made it so that if we were to speak the names of our children in any public place or anywhere there were people, we faced the possibility of criminal prosecution.”
The family statement added, “Today, we were grateful and relieved to learn that the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the gag order imposed against us is in fact unconstitutional.”
The family is awaiting results from the autopsy report to learn Fabian’s manner of death.
The Supreme Court ruled the Family Court failed to make the findings required to establish that the restriction against disclosing the children’s names could survive a First Amendment challenge and abused its discretion by prohibiting disclosure of records that have or will be submitted to the Family Court.
“The Family Court failed to adequately explain the basis for the order, and the record was insufficient to support its issuance,” according to the Supreme Court ruling released Thursday.
Fabian was pronounced dead July 25, 2017, at North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea. According to police, officers responded to a foster home in Waimea where the child was not breathing.
Hawaii Police Department Maj. Robert Wagner said at the time the foster parents gave police an indication of what happened to the toddler throughout the day. However, details of anyone’s statements are not being released because of the ongoing investigation.
The pathologist’s report, which police said it received Feb. 22, determined Fabian’s cause of death to be “blunt force trauma to the head,” according to a media release. The manner of death was listed as “undetermined.”
On Thursday, Wagner said the case is being reviewed by a second doctor because the first doctor couldn’t determine a manner of death.
After Fabian’s death, his father, Juben Garcia, spoke to TV station KHON2. The toddler’s mother, Sherri-Ann Garett, wrote a post on Facebook. As a result, the court granted the state Department of Human Services’ request for a gag order until the case went before Family Court.
On Aug. 8, Family Court Judge Aley Auna rescinded the gag order and replaced it with the restrictions of not allowing the parents to speak the names of their two surviving children in public or releasing reports relative to the case, including information that involved their two surviving children.
“We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to the Hawaii Supreme Court justices who all ruled in our favor. Thank you for agreeing to hear our case and for promptly deciding in our favor after oral argument,” the family stated Thursday.
Looking forward, the family said it is hopeful the autopsy is released and the investigation into Fabian’s death will be completed as soon as possible.
Since the Hawaii Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday, the gag order will be lifted in 45 days and remanded back to Family Court for further proceedings consistent with the high court’s decision.”
Gag order overturned in case of child who died in foster care
[Hawaii Tribune 6/29/18 by Tiffany Demasters]
Update 4:“More than a year after a 3-year-old Big Island boy died in foster care, police have arrested a woman in connection with his death. 
Chasity Alcosiba, 44, of Honokaa, was arrested on second-degree murder charges Wednesday.
She was subsequently released without being charged.
Big Island police said two forensic pathologists determined little Fabian Garcia died last year from non-accidental head trauma.
“Due to these results, a murder investigation was initiated,” police said, in a news release.
Garcia was placed in foster care in 2016, and his mother said it wasn’t long before she spotted signs of mistreatment.
She told Hawaii News Now earlier this year that the last time she visited her son, he screamed when it was time to say goodbye.
In a statement released by attorney Jeffrey Foster, parents Sherri-Ann Garett and Juben Garcia said the arrest confirmed “our suspicions and worst fears.”
“There are no words that can describe the way we feel today,” the parents said. “We are hopeful that criminal charges against Fabian’s killer will be filed promptly and pursued vigorously by the prosecutor’s office.”
The statement adds:
“We also hope that Fabian’s murder will result in long-overdue changes to the way the state of Hawaii responds to complaints of child abuse against children in the state’s custody. We do not want any other family to have to endure the daily nightmare that we will be living through for the rest of our lives.”
The state Department of Human Services did not answer a series of questions from Hawaii News Now about the case.
But in a statement, DHS said that Alcosiba has not been caring for foster youth since July 2017, when Garcia died.
The department also said it “intervenes in cases where children’s safety and well-being are at risk or threatened” and that if a caregiver is ever accused of abuse, the state investigates.
“At the time of the allegation and throughout the investigation, we remove any children still in their care and place them with another resource caregiver,” the department said, in its statement.
“Generally, we cannot provide any confirmation of a family’s involvement in CWS (Child Welfare Services). … We also do not want to impede on any ongoing criminal investigation. We will continue to provide information to the public as we are able. For now, we want to assure the public that the above outlined policies were followed.””
Woman arrested in connection with toddler’s death in foster care
[Hawaii News Now 8/16/18]
Update 5:“The parents of a 3-year-old who died in 2017 while in foster care are suing the state, Catholic Charities, the caregivers and others for the wrongful death of their son.
The “horrific injuries” that caused Fabian Garett-Garcia’s “tragic, untimely, and wrongful death” on July 25, 2017, were the result of negligence by the state Department of Human Services and its contract provider Catholic Charities, state-licensed caregivers Chasity Alcosiba-McKenzie and Clifton McKenzie and others yet to be named, the lawsuit filed Thursday in 3rd Circuit Court alleges.
Fabian’s parents, Sherri-Ann Garett and Juben Garcia, are seeking justice for their son and his ohana “by holding those responsible for his death legally accountable,” the family’s attorney said Friday. They are also looking to raise awareness of the longstanding and systemic problems with the manner in which the state appoints and oversees foster parents.
“And, to create change that will result in the protection of children in the foster care system here on Hawaii Island,” Attorney Jeffrey Foster continued.
That’s despite the parents and siblings “living every day in a family’s worst nightmare.”
“Their lives are filled with a profound sense of grief and sadness that only those who have suffered such a loss can understand. While the family has received tremendous emotional support from family, friends, and their church community, they will never be the same,” Foster said.
The family, the attorney said, doesn’t want Fabian’s “death to be in vain.”
“They do not want any other family to have to endure the loss of a child or a child being victimized by the ‘caregivers’ who are assigned by the state to keep children safe and protected,” Foster said. “The parents hope and pray that Fabian’s death will result in wholesale changes to the system, and ultimately, the safety and protection of those innocent children who are forced to rely on the State to keep them safe.”
The civil suit demands a jury trial and is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
“We will be leaving the issue of damages to the jury,” Foster said Friday.
As the civil litigation gets rolling, prosecutors haven’t yet filed criminal charges in Fabian’s death — despite police having arrested back in August 2018 Fabian’s caregiver, Chastity Alcosiba-McKenzie, on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder.
The arrest followed police earlier that month receiving findings from a forensic pathologist determining Fabian died from non-accidental blunt force trauma to the head.
The Honokaa woman was subsequently released, police said, after prosecutors declined to press charges at the time.
Reached Friday, Hawaii County Prosecutor Mitch Roth acknowledged his office still has the case. He said it remained under investigation.
Catholic Charities said Friday afternoon it had yet to receive the complaint and was unable to comment.
The state Department of Human Services also said it hadn’t received the complaint as of Friday afternoon.
“In July 2017, a child passed away while he was in foster care. This kind of news is heart-breaking for our staff who work day in and day out to support families and protect kids. We haven’t yet received the lawsuit so can’t provide specific information about it. For now, we do want the community to know this resource caregiver is no longer licensed to care for kids in foster care,” Keopu Reelitz, DHS spokeswoman, said.
Fabian died at 7:54 p.m. July 25, 2017, at North Hawaii Community Hospital, just 37 minutes after emergency responders got the initial 911 call reporting an emergency involving the toddler at Hoohoa Street home in Waimea.
Hawaii Fire Department personnel found “Fabian lifeless and lying face down beside a pool of his own vomit on a bed” in the McKenzie residence, the lawsuit that references an incident report states. Responders also observed, “various stages of bruising” throughout Fabian’s head, neck and body and “copious amounts of brown-color food-type vomitus in his throat.”
Alcosiba-McKenzie and/or McKenzie — whom the state licensed, appointed and compensated to provide temporary custodial care for the children — told responders the bruising was caused by a fall from a 3-foot bench two weeks prior, according to the lawsuit.
At the Waimea hospital, ER personnel “immediately suspected Fabian was a victim of child abuse,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit claims a chart note contained in “capital letters that domestic abuse is ‘SUSPECTED.’” It also states physicians noted bruising on Fabian’s forehead, right lateral orbital bone, left eyelid, left cheek to scalp line, right cheek, left chin, right forearm, left scapular region left flank and under the right eye, as well as subconjuntival hemorrhage in both eyes.
Neither Fabian’s mother, Garett, nor his father, Garcia, were called to the hospital, the lawsuit contends.
But, the lawsuit said, state Child Welfare Services social workers were present shortly after Fabian arrived via ambulance. The workers were seen and overheard speaking with Alcosiba-McKenzie while at the hospital.
That’s when Alcosiba-McKenzie’s story changed from what she’d told first responders at the home, the lawsuit alleges.
“In this second version of the story, Defendant Alcosiba-McKenzie claimed Fabian’s alleged fall with the virtual reality goggles occurred on the date of Fabian’s death – July 25, 2017, not July 12, 2017.”
The court filing also alleges the suspected abuse dated further back — and that the state and others were made aware.
“Fabian’s death followed months of visible injuries on Fabian and his younger siblings and numerous notifications of suspected child abuse by Fabian’s parents to defendant State of Hawaii’s social workers,” the lawsuit reads.
The two younger siblings were reunited with their parents in September 2017.
In addition, the lawsuit alleges that an employee of Catholic Charities sent an email to DHS advising the state agency of a police incident at the McKenzie residence that resulted in inaction.
The lawsuit also states it’s unknown if the employee reported to police or the state concerns about bruising on Fabian that his parents reported to the employee the day before the toddler died.
It further claims the state never should have licensed either Alcosiba-McKenzie or McKenzie in the first place, noting each “maintained a documented history of legal, psychological and personal problems that should have disqualified” each from being licensed as resource caregivers and should have never assigned Fabian and his siblings in their care and custody.
“Defendant Alcosiba-McKenzie maintained a documented history of problems with other children assigned to her care and custody (by defendant State of Hawaii) prior to being assigned Fabian and his siblings,” the lawsuit alleges.
Despite such knowledge, no investigation into the alleged abuse was undertaken by the state, the lawsuit claims, and neither Fabian nor his siblings were removed from the temporary custody of Alcosiba-McKenzie or McKenzie until after Fabian’s death.
“Had defendant State of Hawaii not failed to properly supervise, investigate and/or remove Fabian and his siblings from the McKenzie residence, this horrible tragedy would have been averted and Fabian would be alive today,” the lawsuit alleges.
West Hawaii Today was unable to reach either Alcosiba-McKenzie or McKenzie. Court records also listed no attorney for either party.
The state confirmed to the newspaper in August 2018 that Alcosiba-McKenzie had not cared for foster youth since July 2017.
The Department of Human Services was awarded foster custody of Fabian and his two siblings in mid-2016, according to a Supreme Court ruling that overturned an August 2017 gag order on the family filed in connection with the case.
That followed the family court determining the children’s parents weren’t complying with a court-ordered service plan issued six months prior based on a petition asserting the parents had substance abuse issues and “hazardous and dangerous” physical living conditions on the parents’ property, according to the ruling.
To report a child being abused or neglected call the Department of Human Services 24-hour child abuse and neglect hotline at 832-5300.”
Lawsuit filed in toddler death
[Hawaii Tribune-Herald 4/6/19 by Chelsea Jensen]
Update 6:“Chasity Alcosiba, 45, was this week charged with second-degree murder over the death of three-year-old Fabian Garcia in Hawaii.
Horrified first responders found little Fabian face down on his bed at Alcosiba’s home on July 25, 2017.
He was rushed to North Hawaii Community Hospital but was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Tests found he had suffered non-accidental blunt force trauma to the head, according to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
Tragic Fabian – who was put in Alcosiba’s care along with his younger siblings – also had “various stages of bruising” on his head, neck and body.
And paramedics found he had “copious amounts of brown-color food-type vomitus in his throat” – suggesting he had been violently sick.
Fabian’s biological parents, Sherri-Ann Garett and Juben Garcia, had filed a lawsuit against Alcosiba and state authorities over the child’s death.
According to the lawsuit, medics “immediately suspected Fabian was a victim of child abuse.”
He had suffered cuts and bruises to his face as well as subconjunctival hemorrhages in both eyes – meaning the interior blood vessels had broken as the result of head trauma.
It is unclear why the toddler and his siblings had been placed in foster care.
Alcosiba had told cops Fabian’s injuries were caused by a fall from a work bench two weeks earlier, the family’s lawsuit claimed.
But she later changed her story to allege Fabian fell while wearing virtual reality goggles on the day he was found.
The family claimed Fabian had been subjected to long term brutal abuse.
Part of the lawsuit read: “Fabian’s death followed months of visible injuries on Fabian and his younger siblings and numerous notifications of suspected child abuse by Fabian’s parents to defendant State of Hawaii’s social workers.”
Police have now charged Alcosiba over the child’s death – meaning she now faces the threat of prison as well as the potential consequences of the civil lawsuit.
Jeffrey Foster, the family’s attorney, told Hawaii News Now: “For the last two and a half years, the Garett-Garcia family has been stuck in a purgatory, waiting for Fabian’s killer to be held legally accountable for Fabian’s death.
“While the legal charges for the foster mother confirm the family’s worst fears, it also serves as an indictment for the foster care system on Hawaii Island.”
Alcosiba was being held on $10,000 bail ahead of her trial, scheduled for January 7, 2020.”
[The Sun 11/3/19 by Neal Baker]
Update 7:” Jury trial for a woman accused of murder in the 2017 death of a 3-year-old Waimea boy was continued.
Chasity Alcosiba-McKenzie is now set to stand trial Feb. 18, 2020, on a single count of second-degree murder in connection with the July 25, 2017, death of Fabian Garett-Garcia. Alcosiba-McKenzie, who was Garett-Garcia’s caregiver, pleaded not guilty Oct. 31 following her Oct. 23 indictment.
Trial was slated for early January prior to Kona Circuit Judge Melvin H. Fujino granting a motion filed by Deputy Public Defender Ann Datta on behalf of Alcosiba-McKenzie.
Alcosiba-McKenzie remains free in lieu of $10,000 bail pending trial.
Police initially arrested Alcosiba-McKenzie last August on suspicion of second-degree murder after findings from a forensic pathologist determined Garett-Garcia died from nonaccidental blunt force trauma to the head. However, Alcosiba-McKenzie was released when prosecutors declined to file charges at the time, police said in a press release.
The indictment states Alcosiba-McKenzie intentionally or knowingly caused the death of Garett-Garcia, including voluntarily omitting to obtain reasonable necessary and available medical service.
Garett-Garcia died at July 25, 2017, at North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea, just 37 minutes after emergency responders got the initial 911 call reporting an emergency involving the toddler at a Hoohoa Street home in Waimea.
Hawaii Fire Department personnel found the child “lifeless and lying face down beside a pool of his own vomit on a bed” in the McKenzie residence.
Responders also observed “various stages of bruising” throughout Garett-Garcia’s head, neck and body and “copious amounts of brown-color food-type vomitus in his throat,” according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed in April by Garett-Garcia’s parents, Sherri-Ann Garett and Juben Garcia, against the state Department of Human Services, Catholic Charities, state-licensed caregivers Chasity Alcosiba-McKenzie and Clifton McKenzie and others.
Alcosiba-McKenzie — whom the state licensed, appointed and compensated to provide temporary custodial care for children — told responders the bruising was caused by a fall from a 3-foot bench two weeks prior, according to the suit.
No trial date has been set for the civil litigation.
The civil suit seeks unspecified monetary damages, which attorney Jeffrey Foster, counsel for Garett-Garcia’s parents, previously said would be determined by a jury.
Clifton McKenzie has not been arrested nor charged with a crime in connection with the incident, and is only a defendant in the civil litigation.”
Trial continued for woman accused in death of foster child
[Hawaii Tribune 12/21/19 by Chelsea Jensen]
Update 8:“The foster mother of a three-year-old Big Island boy was acquitted of his murder at a non-jury trial on Thursday, Nov. 4.
Officials said Chasity Alcosiba-McKenzie was arrested in August 2018 for alleged second-degree murder after the death of Fabian Garrett-Garcia. The boy died on July 25, 2017 while he was under the care of his foster mother. Two of his siblings were also under Alcosiba-McKenzie’s care at the time.
She was then released without charges until she was indicted in October 2019.
During her non-jury trial on Thursday, Alcosiba-McKenzie told officers that Fabian apparently fell off of a short bench while wearing virtual reality goggles. She also said this happened around noon on the day he died.
Alcosiba-McKenzie continued and said that he got up, finished his lunch and took a nap. A few hours later, when she went to check on the boy, he vomited. Alcosiba-McKenzie then checked on him again shortly after 7 p.m. the same day and found Fabian was unresponsive.
According to a forensic pathologist and the Honolulu Medical Examiner said Fabian had several bruises in different stages. They also determined that the boy died due to blunt force trauma to the head that would not have been caused by falling a short distance.
A Child Welfare Services supervisor testified that she met the three-year-old in 2015 or 2016 and noticed he was “kind of feral,” an active child and non-verbal.
Another outreach worker testified and said she visited the family once a week and noted that there were no signs or concerns of abuse as Alcosiba-McKenzie was always well-prepared. When the outreach worker asked about the bruises, Alcosiba-McKenzie had videos to prove that the boys would fight all the time. This outreach worker also saw Fabian the day before he died and did not find anything unusual.
A judge determined that the state could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Alcosiba-McKenzie caused Fabian’s fatal injuries. The state was also unable to prove the exact time he fell and if immediate medical attention would have saved Fabian’s life. 
Fabian was taken away from his biological parents due to his father’s drug use, officials stated. KHON2 spoke to his biological mother a month after his death and after the boy was laid to rest in California. Fabian’s biological mother told KHON2 that she would focus on more pleasant memories to help deal with the loss.”
Foster mother found not guilty for death of three-year-old Big Island boy in 2017
[KLHON 11/4/21 by Howard Dashefsky]
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