How Could You?Hall of Shame-Ariza Barreras 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 Belen, New Mexico,a respite care giver for foster children, Stephanie Crownover, 55, “has been arrested in connection with the death of an 11-month-old baby” on December 31, 2017. She “was caring for Ariza, and her two siblings while the primary foster parent was out of town.”

“Their foster family who had been caring for them had to go out of town, so the children were staying with another licensed foster care worker.

Investigators said New Year’s Eve morning they got a call to Crownover’s home in Belen. When they got there they said the house was filthy with dog feces throughout the house.

They said Ariza [Barreras] had no crib. They also said she spent the night in a car seat, next to a space heater. Crownover told investigators when she woke up she saw that Ariza was not breathing.

They charged Crownover with child abuse resulting in death for failing to get her medical care. KOAT asked investigators how the little girl died.

“At this point that is still under investigation by the office of the medical investigator. They will be conducting blood tests and other tests to determine the exact cause of death,” Lt. James Harris with the Valencia County Sheriff’s Department said.

Investigators said when they arrested Crownover she showed very little emotion. She said the child’s death wasn’t her fault and she would not take care of any more babies in her home.

KOAT asked CYFD how Crownover was able to be a licensed foster care parent. They said her home had just been inspected the first week in December.

They said at that time it was clean, warm and not in the horrific condition investigators described when they found the little girl.

CYFD said they are looking into how long Crownover had been a foster parent and are conducting an internal investigation.

KOAT spoke to the child’s biological mother who said she is simply devastated.”

Mother of baby who died while in foster care says she’s devastated

[KOAT 1/2/18 by Nancy Laflin]

“Stephanie Crownover of Belen faces three counts of child abuse, including one resulting in death after police received a call on Sunday morning regarding an unresponsive infant child.

Police arrived at the residence on Gabaldon Road and saw emergency medical personnel working on the child, which had marks associated with strangulation around the neck, the criminal complaint states.”

“According to the police report, she said she found the child unresponsive around 6 a.m.

In addition to the marks on the neck, the child also had clothing riding up her neck.

KOB has also learned that the Children Youth and Families Department has opened its own investigation parallel to the criminal probe.

The child and two siblings were initially taken out of her parents care because of drug use, homelessness and allegations of sexual abuse, the police report says. Another foster parent who cared for the children went out of town, so the criminal complaint says Crownover had the children.

The two other children, ages 2 and 3, looked dirty and unbathed, the police report says. They were also in the home when police arrived.

Police also reportedly found poor conditions in the home, including dog feces and urine along with foul odors. Other unkempt conditions included human feces in a dirty and discolored toilet, empty bags and bottles in one room, scattered food bowls, and pills under a bed, according to the report.

“Stephanie appeared to be emotionless about this situation and even stated that she would not take care of any more babies in her home,” the police report states. “Stephanie then stated that she was unsure if CYFD would even let her take care of kids anymore, but that this was not her fault.”

An autopsy determined the child likely died as a result of neglect, the police report said. The body showed no signs of trauma or natural diseases. However, the child could have had pneumonia potentially aggravated due to cold conditions in the home.

The biological parents cried when they heard the news, but they also reportedly told police the children looked unbathed and did not have shoes or socks during a weekly visit. The father also said the infant had a soiled diaper and diaper rash.

CYFD Secretary Monique Jacobsen said the department has launched an investigation, and there are big questions to answer now.

Jacobsen said a home visit to Crownover’s residence less than a month ago didn’t raise any red flags. But when deputies discovered the dead child Sunday, they even recorded the structural issues.

“If we were in this house and this is not what we saw, what caused it to change?” Jacobson said. “When did it change? How did it change? what would it have taken for us to know there was a change?”

But the state of that house is only one serious question. Crownover is a fully licensed foster care provider, according to the department, but on Sunday she was watching the children for their full-time foster mother who was out of town. That is called respite care.

KOB asked Jacobsen to clarify whether there was a hard and fast written policy dictating respite care must be arranged through official CYFD channels. She said it was a “best practice” and indicated it was part of policies and procedures.

Jacobson said it is required for many different reasons, including department record-keeping because respite providers are compensated for their work.

“It is certainly what we need to have happened around the state,” she said. We know there are counties where it’s not always happening.”

Though respite providers hold the same exact license as full-time foster parents, Jacobsen admits temporary care isn’t always arranged the way it’s supposed to be — directly through CYFD.

We should have a record of those requests being made,” she said. “Again, all of this is part of the investigation we have doing on right now.”

Foster child found dead in Belen home, woman charged

[KOB 1/3/18 by J.R. Oppenheim and Caleb James]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “New details have emerged in the death of a foster child in Belen, N.M.

It all started when police were called to a home in Belen Sunday morning in regards to an unresponsive 11-month-old girl.

When deputies arrived, emergency medical personnel were working to resuscitate the child but their efforts were unsuccessful.

A criminal complaint details what a deputy on scene experienced at the home of 55-year-old Respite caregiver Stephanie Crownover. He said, “the house had animal feces in several rooms, dirty floors, animal urine, what smelled like rotten food coming from the fridge, fecal matter in the toilet, full litter boxes next to the children, and several dirty food bowls throughout the house.”

A detective on scene also noted that the home was cold, and that the heater was not on.

According to the complaint, Crownover told deputies she was watching the children while their foster mother was out of town.

She stated that all of the children had been sick recently and when asked why she hadn’t taken them to the hospital, Crownover told detectives she had tried home remedies but they were unsuccessful. When asked again why then she didn’t take the children to a doctor she said “I know, I guess I was just neglectful and should have taken the children to the doctors.”

Crownover told detectives she had put the infant in her car seat to sleep and buckled the lap belt. She said she then put a blanket over the infant and put the car seat next to a space heater.  She found her unresponsive the next morning.

While at the scene, a CYFD official with the children on her case load, informed deputies that the infant had been infected with RSV recently.

According to the criminal complaint, an autopsy has been completed on the infant at which time the pathologist did not find any signs of trauma or of natural diseases.  The pathologist did tell detectives that the infant “could have had pneumonia and with the cold weather in the home it may have aggravated it.”

In an interview with the biological parents of the child, detectives noted that the parents said they had a recent visitation with the children and noticed that they were unbathed and not wearing any shoes or socks.

The father told detectives that at that time, he changed the infant’s diaper and noticed severe diaper rash.  The parents told detectives that they had reported the conditions of the children to the facilitator and was told they would report it. ”

Crownover has been arrested and faces three counts of child abuse, including one resulting in death.”

Criminal complaint reveals new details in foster child’s death

[KOB 1/5/18 by Marian Camacho]

Update 2:“STEPHANIE CROWNOVER’S FOSTER LICENSE IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REVOKED.THAT MEANS SHE WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO BE A FOSTER PARENT IN THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO.”

“SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY FOSTER CHILDREN WITH HER.HER LICENSE IS ON HOLD WHILE WE PROCEED WITH THE REVOCATION PROCESS.”

Foster parent’s license in the process of being revoked after baby’s death

[KOAT 1/10/18 by Sasha Lenninger]
Update 3:“The foster caretaker charged with child abuse after a baby girl died under her care in Belen had her charges dropped.

But the move does not mean Stephanie Crownover is off the hook.

Crownover was charged with child abuse — a first-degree felony — after a baby she was looking after died in her home.

A criminal complaint filed in Valencia County said 11-month-old Ariza Barreras spent the night sleeping in a car seat because a crib was not available in Crownover’s home.

Barreras was suffering from a respiratory infection at the time, according to the complaint.

Crownover was arrested and later released on her own recognizance due to her lack of criminal history.

But the legal journey she faces is only beginning.

Crownover’s case is an example of how prosecutors often handle high-profile cases like hers. It is not uncommon for her charges, initially filed in magistrate court, to be dropped.

“Basically it starts over,” said KOAT legal expert John Day.

Dropping the charges does not mean Crownover’s case is dismissed.

“Prosecutors are generally going to go on a grand jury route on a big case like this one,”
Day said.

It’s a common move that could allow prosecutors to forego a preliminary hearing. Sending the case to a grand jury gives prosecutors more control.

“It gives prosecutors and investigators more time to examine the case and they’re not under the gun that they would be if it’s still pending in the magistrate court below,” Day said. ”

Charges dropped against foster caretaker accused of child abuse
[KOAT 2/14/18]

Update 4:“The state Children, Youth and Families Department and several of its employees, supervisors and an approved foster parent have been named in a lawsuit alleging, among other things, the wrongful death of a child in December 2017.

The lawsuit also alleges negligence and causing the “physical injury, pain and severe emotional distress” of the deceased child’s two siblings.

According to the lawsuit, the child, 11-month-old Ariza Barreras, and her two siblings, identified only as 2-year-old T.B. and 1-year-old F.B., were placed in one foster home with a couple that an independent home study said should not have been granted a license – an assessment with which CYFD officials disagreed.

The children were also placed from time to time in a “respite” foster home that did not have adequate bedding for the children, was dirty and in disrepair, and where the homeowner had a history of criminal activity and alcohol and drug abuse.

It was in that respite home in Valencia County that the child was found dead.

An amended version of the lawsuit was filed in state District Court in Bernalillo County on Monday by three law firms: Martinez, Hart, Thompson and Sanchez; Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin and Robb; and Williams Injury Law.

Plaintiffs are Lee Hunt, the personal representative of Ariza Barreras, and Gabrielle Valdez, guardian ad litem for Ariza’s two siblings.

Named as defendants are Stephanie Crownover, of Belen, the respite foster care provider, as well as CYFD and two of its social workers and three supervisors.

CYFD spokesman Charlie Pabst-Moore said Wednesday that he can’t comment on pending litigation. While he did confirm that the two social workers have resigned, he said the state Children’s Code prohibits him from saying if foster parents mentioned in the lawsuit are still licensed.

The Journal tried unsuccessfully to reach Crownover for comment.

According to the lawsuit, Ariza Barreras and her siblings were removed from their biological parents in May 2017 and taken into CYFD custody because the parents were homeless and drug users. The children on May 8 were placed in the foster home of Vanessa Dominguez and Justin Romero, who were licensed by CYFD to provide “respite” care only, meaning short-term care for children when the child’s original foster parents are unable to provide care or need a break.

They are not named as defendants in the lawsuit.

An 18-page home study on Dominguez and Romero was compiled by a licensed independent social worker with La Familia Inc. on behalf of CYFD. Citing a variety of reasons, La Familia recommended that Dominguez and Romero be denied a foster parent license, the lawsuit says.

However, CYFD supervisors prepared a one-page addendum in which “they disagreed with the findings of the home study investigator.” As a result, in July 2016 Dominguez and Romero were issued a license to provide respite foster care. Sometime before May 2017, the couple began serving as full-time foster parents, despite a lack of documentation saying they had been approved for this, the lawsuit claims.

Within weeks, Dominguez and Romero sought respite care for the three children. Initially a CYFD social worker arranged for the children to be temporarily placed with Crownover, who lived nearby. Subsequently, when Dominguez and Romero needed respite care for the children, they contacted Crownover directly and filed paperwork with CYFD later so Crownover could receive payment – a violation of established CYFD procedure.

According to the lawsuit, Crownover “had an extensive criminal history,” including aggravated battery. Further, “Crownover related a history of alcohol and drug abuse and associating with dangerous social groups who were involved in criminal activity.”

The Barreras children were dropped off with Crownover for the last time on Dec. 28, 2017. The home apparently lacked adequate bedding for the children. During each of the nights she provided care, Ariza Barreras slept strapped into a car seat that was set on the floor, the lawsuit says. When Crownover awoke on the morning of Dec. 31, she found the child cold, not breathing, and unresponsive, with her head “slumped forward and her left arm caught in the shoulder strap.”

Authorities described the house as being in disrepair and dirty, and they said it had a foul odor. That description is in contrast to the last documented visit to Crownover’s home by CYFD in late August 2017, in which an investigation concluded that “no safety threats” were identified, the lawsuit says.

Four days after the death of Ariza Barreras, the primary CYFD social worker assigned to the case updated the CYFD’s computerized logs, making about 25 separate entries “documenting her contacts and observations from the previous 13 months.”

Eighteen days after the child’s death, a supervisor made about 10 separate entries, documenting her contacts and observations from the previous year. The supervisor “repeatedly wrote throughout 2017, ‘No concerns noted with the Crownover home,’ ” according to the lawsuit.

Crownover was arrested and charged with one count of abuse of a child resulting in death, but the charges were eventually dropped. In the court filing dismissing the charges, a prosecutor with the 13th District Attorney’s Office wrote that the case would be presented to a grand jury. It appears no subsequent charges or indictment has been filed.

The lawsuit asks for compensatory damages to be determined, punitive damages “in an amount sufficient to punish defendants for their intentional, reckless and indifferent conduct,” and reasonable fees for attorneys and related costs.”

CYFD and foster parent sued over baby’s death

[Albuquerque Journal 7/31/19 by Rick Nathanson]