How Could You? Hall of Shame- Two Utah adopted children’s cases-child deaths 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 West Point, Utah, the 15-year-old biological son of an adoptive couple has been arrested in the stabbing deaths of his 10-year-old adoptive brother (adopted at birth) and 4-year-old adoptive brother (adopted recently from foster care with his two sisters). There was a total of six children living in the home. The father is  in the military and is currently deployed out of state.

“A teenager was arrested Thursday in the deaths of his two younger brothers, ages 4 and 10, at the family home in a Utah subdivision of new homes and tidy lawns, police said.

Davis County Sheriff Todd Richardson said authorities believe the boys died from knife wounds. It appeared the 15-year-old boy acted alone, he said.

“As result of the emerging details, the 15-year-old juvenile has officially been taken into custody,” Richardson said.

The Associated Press withheld the name of the boy because of his age. He was being held at a juvenile detention center on suspicion of homicide, Richardson said. Formal charges have yet to be filed.

It was the second time in a month that an older brother has been arrested in the death of a sibling. Prosecutors have filed murder charges against a 12-year-old boy accused in the stabbing death of his 8-year-old sister on April 27 at their home in Central California.

In Utah, Richardson said the 15-year-old boy had run away about a year ago before police found him. Neighbors said he was only gone a few hours.

His parents had six children, four of whom were adopted, said family friend and neighbor Lindsey Caballero, adding the parents were sweet, kind and loving.

The 15-year-old was the oldest and a biological son of the couple. The victims were both adopted, Caballero said.

Their bodies were found Wednesday night at the home in West Point, about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. Police said the boys had been left with their older brother while their mother took her other children to a dance recital.

Richardson didn’t take questions at the news conference and offered only scant details. He said the mother found her 4-year-old dead on the floor and called 911.

She thought both her 10-year-old and 15-year-old were missing, but police discovered the body of the 10-year-old while searching the house.

Police found the 15-year-old shortly before midnight in Layton — about five miles away. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation. Police declined to comment on his mental status.

The homicide case has been taxing on his deputies, Richardson said.

“You see a lot of things, but it’s hard to walk in there,” said Richardson, pointing to the house

The boys’ father is in the military and was recently deployed to another state, officials said. The suspect was an avid runner like his father, neighbors said.

The family lives in a ranch-style house with a basketball hoop in the driveway. Neighbors had set up a makeshift memorial at the foot of the mailbox with colored balloons, monkey stuffed animals and flowers.

“I’m still in shock,” neighbor Karin Jackson said. “This is a wonderful neighborhood and the kids are usually outside playing.”

Neighbor Ann Durrwatcher called the family “picture perfect” and said the 15-year-old kept to himself. He was not often seen playing with his younger brothers, but when he ventured outside, he was “out running around the block,” Durrwatcher said.

“They were a really happy family,” she said.”

Teen arrested in death of his 2 brothers in Utah

[Xfnity 5/23/13 by Paul Foy/Associated Press]

“Davis County Sheriff Todd Richardson said during a Thursday afternoon press conference that the blood linked the teen to the crime scene. No weapons were found on the suspect, but two knives believed to be the murder weapons were recovered at the home.

Richardson said the teen was cooperating with investigators and had spoken “bluntly” with them. The suspect has no known history of mental illness and there is no evidence or premeditation, he said. The teen has no prior history with law enforcement other than running away for a brief time when he was 12, according to Richardson.

“Nothing led up to this. … There are big holes we have to fill,” he said.

Neighbors in the quiet, well-kept middle-class neighborhood were stunned by the murders and the news that the teen, who was described as an academically gifted ninth-grader, could have committed such a crime.

“It’s sad. It’s very sad,” said neighbor Lindsey Caballero, who lives across the street.

Richardson said bodies of the boys, a 10-year-old and a 4-year-old, were found about 7:35 p.m. Wednesday with what appeared to be  “penetrating knife wounds.”

Deputies rushed to the home at 120 S. 1660 West after the boys’ mother called 911 to report finding her 4-year-old son dead, and her 15-year-old and 10-year-old sons missing.

Deputies arrived to find the 4-year-old boy dead on the floor of the home. Officers found the 10-year-old’s body a short time later in another part of the house.

The 15-year-old boy had been put in charge of the 10-year-old and 4-year-old boys when their mother took her other children to a dance recital at about 4:45 p.m., investigators said.”

“The teen was found walking on the street by Layton police about 11:30 p.m., some eight miles away from the crime scene. He was taken to the hospital to be checked out before questioning. He was then booked into at the Farmington Bay Youth Detention Center on suspicion of two counts of homicide, Richardson said, adding, “We believe he acted alone.”

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said Thursday that his office was working with sheriff’s authorities to screen charges against the teen, and to decide whether to seek charges against him as an adult.

“We grieve for the family involved,” Rawlings said. “There are more questions than answers at this point. This teen in custody has a presumption of innocence. Facts are being gathered to assist with critical decisions.”

 ”

Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams said the 15-year-old was enrolled as a ninth-grader at West Point Junior High. The 10-year-old attended fourth grade at Lakeside Elementary School. Grief counselors were at both schools Thursday morning.

Williams said the youths’ parents would move them in and out of public school, so he didn’t know how well other students might have known them. Sometimes they’d be enrolled in public school and at other times they’d be home-schooled, he said.

Williams said the teen was an honors student, a member of the National Honors Society and a distance runner on the track team.

Thursday night, he was supposed to receive some academic awards at a school ceremony, Williams said.

Caballero said there were six children in the home: the teen in custody and his younger brother, who are the couple’s biological children; the 10-year-old boy, who was adopted at birth; and the 4-year-old boy and his two younger sisters, who were recently adopted from the foster care system.

She was shocked by the accusation that the older boy was involved in the children’s deaths.”

 

Blood found on teen arrested in deaths of 2 adopted brothers

[The Salt Lake Tribune 5/23/13 by Janelle Stecklein and Bob Mims]

 

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update: Photos of the small home and blurred photos of the children can be seen at the Daily Mail article: Honors student and track team star, 15, ‘stabbed his adopted brothers, 4 and 10, to death at their home while their mother was out at a dance recital’ [Daily Mail 5/23/13 by Lydia Warren]

 

“County Attorney Troy Rawlings said he wasn’t prepared to file charges. He was trying to find out more about the boy and killings that stunned the community, about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City.

Officials described the older brother as an honor student and a long-distance runner on the track team – when his mother wasn’t home-schooling him, while neighbors said he was socially awkward with a speech impediment.

“I’m still in shock,” neighbor Karin Jackson said Thursday. “This is a wonderful neighborhood and the kids are usually outside playing.”

“Their father, reportedly a Department of Defense engineer, was away in Alabama.

Nobody was at the home throughout much of Thursday, when the home was cordoned off by police tape, and the parents couldn’t be reached.

4 of the family’s six children are adopted, and neighbors spoke highly of them.

But the 15-year-old was “different,” said Scott Green, an ex-neighbor who said he once found him throwing dozens of rocks over a fence onto his trampoline.

The father is an engineer working for the Air Force, Green said. At first, authorities said he was active duty military, but later said they weren’t certain about his status with what they believed was the Air Force. The couple had spent time in South Korea before moving to Utah, Green said.

The 10-year-old adopted boy spent a lot of time at his house, playing with Green’s daughter – “best of pals,” he said.

The 15-year-old was enrolled as a ninth grader at West Point Junior High, member of the National Honors Society and a distance runner on the track team, Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams told The Salt Lake Tribune and KSL-TV.

Williams said the youths’ parents moved them in and out of public school over the years, sometimes home-schooling them.

Neighbors interviewed by The Associated Press were unanimous: The 15-year-old kept to himself and wasn’t seen except when jogging.”

“It was two or three years ago, police and neighbors said. After a 7-hour search, according to the Standard-Examiner of Ogden, police found him four miles away at a Wendy’s restaurant, KSL reported.

The sheriff said the 15-year-old had undisclosed, minor injuries when found late Wednesday walking along a street in nearby Layton. The injuries were consistent with having been involved in an attack, said Richardson. He declined to elaborate.

“It’s very sad,” said Lindsey Caballero, a young mother who lives directly across the street from the suspect’s home. “It’s scary. It goes to show you never know what’s happening.””

Older brother held in deaths of 2 younger siblings

[WBTV 5/24/13 by Paul Foy/Associated Press]