How Could You? Hall of Shame-Samayah Anne Emmanuel 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.

A case from 2018 came to light.

From Miami, Florida, the “adoptive mother accused of abusing three girls, one of them dying while in her care, is still listed as a registered nurse in Florida and also has a for-profit corporation with the state Total Excellent Care Corp.

Gina Emmanuel, 50, who began fostering the children in 2014 and then adopted the three girls, ages 6, 7 and 12, along with their 4-year-old brother, is in jail facing multiple charges after she was taken to the Miami-Dade Police Department on Tuesday to provide a statement about the alleged abuse. She was subsequently arrested on three counts of aggravated child abuse, three counts of child neglect and three counts of psychological abuse. Police said she has admitted to some of the charges.

Emmanuel, who is listed on the Florida Department of Health website as a registered nurse and whose license remains “clear and active,” also has no public complaints listed and no discipline actions on file, according to the site.

Total Excellent Care Corp Inc.’s status is also active and listed at 480 NE 111th St. in Miami, although no business is licensed by the state as a health or care facility, Local 10 News reporter Glenna Milberg reported. She was also a foster parent.

Because so many agencies would have or should have been involved with this woman, the question is how could the abuse have fallen through the cracks for so many years?

An arrest affidavit lists a number of child abuse acts allegedly committed by Emmanuel against the three girls. On Nov. 18, 2018, the 7-year-old girl was unresponsive at Emmanuel’s home and was pronounced dead at a hospital two hours later.

One neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified on camera, said that she saw activity at the house. “Around October or November, we saw a lot of cops standing around her house and an ambulance.”

Another neighbor, Alba Guevara, said that when she saw the girls, they would say hello to her, but they were noticeably scared and acted timid.

Miami-Dade police homicide investigators noted suspicious injuries on the girl’s body during the death investigation. They notified the Department of Children and Families, which began an investigation into the other children living in the home, according to the police report.

Two days after the death of the girl, two girls, ages 6 and 12, living in the home were examined and interviewed by child abuse experts from the University of Miami’s Child Protection Team.

According to the report, numerous injuries from past beatings were found on their bodies, including healed marks and healed burn scars on their hands and fingers.

The girls told CPT that Emmanuel had beat them, along with the 7-year-old who died, with belts, a brush and a back scratcher for punishment, made them stand for hours at a time, tied their hands and bodies to furniture when they were unable to stand any longer, tied socks around their eyes, burned their hands and fingers on a hot stove and made them sleep on the floor if they wet the bed.

Also detailed in the report was an incident from “June or July 2018.” The deceased child and the 6-year-old girl were punished after waking in the middle of the night while being made to sleep on the floor of the home.

Emmanuel allegedly became enraged when the two girls took bread that was intended for the woman’s biological adult son. Emmanuel then allegedly woke the third child, the 12-year-old girl, so that she could watch the beating of the other two girls. Emmanuel, according to the report, then held the 6-year-old’s and 7-year-old’s hands on a hot stove repeatedly until they were burned.

“Their hands were permanently disfigured as a result,” the report stated.

Soon after the punishment, the 7-year-old girl started to suffer from flu-like symptoms, but, police said, Emmanuel did not seek medical attention for the child. Doctors later stated that the girl’s death was due to pneumonia and sepsis, a bacterial infection in the bloodstream.

Although she faces multiple charges, Emmanuel has not been charged with murder or manslaughter in the 7-year-old’s death. According to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office, it has not yet formally filed the results of what the cause or manner of the girl’s death.

In the three years that it would have taken Emmanuel to adopt the children, DCF would have been involved, but the agency has not made those case records public, Milberg reported.”

Alleged abusive adoptive mother listed as registered nurse

[ABC 10 10/18/19 by Michelle F. Solomon]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “A NURSE who allegedly tortured, beat and burned the hands of her seven-year-old adoptive daughter kept her license for nearly a year after the little girl died.

The sadistic abuse was apparently reflected in the burns, bruises, and “open wounds” all over Samayah Anne Emmanuel’s emaciated body when she died last November.

Her foster mom Gina Emmanuel, 50, is currently free on bail after being charged with three counts of child abuse, three counts of child neglect, and three counts of psychological abuse.

Emmanuel – who had adopted little Samayah from foster care in 2017 – was still a registered nurse when she was arrested in October until an emergency suspension last Friday, reports the Miami Herald.

A 13-year-old girl, a seven-year-old girl, and a boy, 5, were also taken out of her care and placed in foster care in the wake of Samayah’s death.

The Arrest Affidavit dated October 15, 2019, details allegations of the sickening abuse and how apparently Emmanuel burnt the child’s hands on a stove resulting in Samayah contracting pneumonia and sepsis. She didn’t receive any medical attention before she died, according to the report.

Emmanuel is accused of scarring her children’s hands with an open flame and making them sleep on the floor when they wet the bed.

The report also alleges she hit them with belts and brushes, made them stand for hours with their arms out and tying them to furniture.

Last summer, starving Samayah – whose body had allegedly shriveled away from malnutrition – and her little sister took a piece of bread Emmanuel was saving for her biological adult son, who was developmentally disabled.

Their mom became “enraged,” the report states.

She allegedly woke up her oldest daughter and made her watch as she savagely beat Samayah and her younger sister, holding their hands repeatedly over the hot stove.

They were permanently disfigured as a result of the incident.

DCF investigated whether Samayah had been horrifically abused and alerted the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) because Emmanuel operated a separate Miami group home for people with disabilities.

Although the two residents living there were promptly removed, the Herald says state Department of Health, waited seven months to take disciplinary action on Emmanuel’s license.

The complaint to shut down her group home was only filed on October 28.

DCF have now said that they will review their caregiver policy since the horrific allegations came to light.

“Following a DCF verified finding of abuse or neglect involving a death, APD will initiate an administrative complaint against the group home licensee, even if the finding does not involve an APD customer or [didn’t] occur at an APD licensed group home,” a representative said.

Samayah’s autopsy revealed that a specialised team would have been needed to treat the gaping wounds on her hands and knees if she had lived.

The little girl had apparently been completely confined to Emmanuel’s apartment by the time of her death.

Samayah was placed in foster care at the age of three.”
‘BEATEN & STARVED’ Nurse ‘tortured and burned fingers of starved adoptive daughter’ who died aged 7 – but kept her license

[The Sun 11/18/19 by Fionnaula O’Leary]