How Could You? Hall of Shame-Diane Ramirez case-Child Death UPDATED and 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 Murrieta, California, foster child Diane Ramirez, 16, died when she “had trouble breathing and choked on bile. Mother, Angel Cadena, was told that then her heart stopped.”

Read the rest here:

A year after her ‘Spectacular Prom,’ 16-year-old dies in care of controversial Murrieta foster home

[OC Register 4/30/19 by Teri Sforza]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “Michelle Morris, whose foster homes in Orange and Riverside counties were hailed as a godsend by some and denounced as a nightmare by others, has surrendered her license in the aftermath of a 16-year-old girl’s death.”

 

“Morris has adopted at least eight disabled children, including Ryan Morris, a man with the intellectual abilities of a young child who married a man of regular intelligence, 18 years his senior, in Morris’ backyard. Morris was one of Ryan Morris’ legal guardians at the time. Last week, a judge ruled that Ryan Morris doesn’t have the capacity to understand marriage, and ordered that he be removed from the home he now shares with his husband.”

Read the rest here:

Parents file $10 million claim against Riverside County for death of ‘Princess Diane’
[Orange County Register 10/12/19 by Teri Sforza and David Downey]

Update 2: “On her watch, Ryan Morris, her adopted son with the intellectual capacity of a kindergartner, married a man in Morris’ backyard in 2014. The grooms wore matching tuxedos, and Ryan Morris mistook the ceremony for a baptism.

Foster child Diane Ramirez spent an agonizing night in Morris’ home, moaning and vomiting blood. Despite specific instructions to get her to the emergency room if that happened, no one did. She died on April 6, 2019. She was 17.”

Read the rest here:Grand jury probes tragedy, controversy at now-closed group foster home

[Orange County Register 7/7/21 by Teri Sforza]

Update 3: “On Monday, a California woman who previously ran a foster home was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder and lewd acts amid an investigation into the 2019 death of a disabled girl in her care.

Michelle Morris Kerin, 80, and her husband, Edward Kerin, 79, are charged with child endangerment likely to cause great bodily injury or death, dependent adult endangerment likely to cause great bodily injury or death, and lewd acts on a dependent adult. Riverside County prosecutors said in a statement that the charges involve several disabled victims, as CrimeOnline previously reported.

The couple operated the now-closed Morris Small Family Home near Murrieta. Diane Ramirez, 17, who had cerebral palsy but was otherwise healthy, died at the home in April 2019.

According to People magazine, Ramirez was prone to volvulus, or when the intestines wrap around itself, resulting in bowel obstruction. Investigators determined that Morris Kerin did not seek medical care for Ramirez — who vomited blood and writhed in pain for eight to nine hours before her death.

According to prosecutors, an investigation uncovered years’ worth of abuse and neglect. Three of the sexual abuse victims are reportedly adult dependent women.

“Some of the adult dependent residents were found to lack the mental capacity to give consent but engaged in sexual activities facilitated and encouraged by both defendants,” they said.

The Press-Enterprise reported that Morris Kerin opened the foster home in the 1990s, and she has regularly sparred with officials who claimed she had Munchausen by proxy, a disorder in which a caregiver lies about someone in their care having an illness or sometimes causes that person to become sick.

One of the foster children Morris Kerin adopted, Ryan Morris, grabbed headlines when he married a man 18 years his senior in 2014. Reports indicated that the 20-year-old, who has the intellectual capacity of a kindergartner, got married in Morris Kerin’s backyard.

For years, Ryan Morris’ family has fought for custody, claiming he was sexually abused while in his adoptive mother’s care.

In 2004, Morris Kerin sued the Regional Center of Orange County, two years after the agency alleged in a report that she had Munchausen by proxy and expressed concerns about the care her foster children were receiving. The agency’s insurer settled the case for $750,000 in an outcome that did not require it to admit any wrongdoing — and spared the disabled foster children from testifying in court, according to The Press-Enterprise.

Morris Kerin is charged with murder in connection with Ramirez’s 2019 death. She remains jailed on $1 million bail. Her husband posted bail on Sunday and his arraignment is scheduled for December.”

UPDATE: ‘Munchausen’ Foster Mom & Husband Let Disabled Teen Girl Writhe In Pain, Vomit Blood For Hours Before She Died: Report
[Crime Online 8/11/21 by Jacqueline Gray]