Judge extends state custody for infant in Stoddard County abuse case

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A judge ordered a 2-month-old mentally disabled Dexter, Mo., infant remain in protective custody Tuesday and awaits a recommendation before placing her with a relative.

The girl, who has Down syndrome and weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces at a doctor's visit last week, has been in the custody of the Missouri Children's Division since she was removed from her parents' home June 3.

The girl's parents, Amanda Knight Garrett, 20, and Vabian Webb, 18, are charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse.

Garrett and Webb are to appear at 9 a.m. today before Satterfield for arraignment on their criminal charges.

They were given summonses to appear at 10 a.m. July 13 for a jurisdictional hearing. Chief juvenile officer Michael Davis said the hearing is a trial in juvenile court to prove or disprove the allegations.

During the child protective custody hearing before Juvenile Judge Joe Satterfield, Kristi Burns, a child abuse and neglect investigator with the Children's Division, said officials learned of the allegations on May 27.

The allegations, she said, involved the baby being "very thin" and having only gained 1 pound since birth. The infant's parents, she said, allegedly were not using the "high-calorie formula" prescribed by the doctor.

Burns said a "safety plan" was put in place on May 27.

The plan, she said, called for the use of high-calorie formula and cooperation with Intensive In Home Services (IIS), as well as supervision by the Children's Division. IIS reportedly requires daily contact in the home by IIS for six weeks.

IIS personnel accompanied Garrett and the infant to a doctor's appointment June 2 in St. Louis, Burns said. During a nine-hour period, she said, Garrett only fed her daughter once.

When Chief Juvenile Officer Michael Davis asked Burns if she believed the infant was in imminent danger, she confirmed she was.

Burns also confirmed the baby should not be returned to the "care and custody" of her parents, who are incarcerated in the Stoddard County Jail.

According to Burns, Garrett and Webb admitted to using marijuana. Webb, she said, tested positive for benzodiazepines and opiates, but to her knowledge he does not have a prescription for either one.

Brooke Nimmo, Stoddard County juvenile officer, said she reviewed all the medical information.

Like Burns, Nimmo, who previously investigated child abuse and neglect cases for the Children's Division, didn't think the child should be returned to her parents.

"If the mother and father were not incarcerated, would your recommendation be the same?" Davis asked.

Nimmo confirmed it would.

Nimmo said reasonable efforts are made toward reunification of the child and parents. Those efforts, she said, include the safety plan between the Children's Division, Juvenile Office and parents.

Angie Wheelehon, a case manager for the Stoddard County Children's Division, said Webb and Garrett willingly agreed Monday to enter the reunification process.

The primary goal, Wheelehon said, is reunification, with the secondary plan being relative guardianship.

The parents "both expressed" they want their daughter returned to them and realize it will take hard work for that to happen, said Wheelehon, who confirmed the infant's special needs are being met and that efforts were made, before removing the child, for her to remain in the home.

Davis asked Nimmo to provide a timetable in regards to the infant's weight.

That timetable reportedly indicates the child weighed 5 pound 9 ounces at birth on March 13, but lost 2 ounces by a March 22 doctor's visit.

A gain of 2 ounces was noted on April 12, followed by a loss of 1 ounce on April 26 and a 2-ounce loss on May 4.

The child had a 10-ounce gain between May 24 and May 26, which Nimmo explained was while she was hospitalized. Nimmo said Dr. Joseph Fernando, a Poplar Bluff pediatrician, noted her weight loss.

Subsequently, Nimmo said, the child lost another 4 ounces before she was placed in protective custody Thursday.

The infant's weight on Friday, after she was removed from the home, reflected a 2-ounce gain, Nimmo said.

According to Nimmo, the child weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces Monday.

When Satterfield asked for a total weight gain while in protective custody, he was told 13 ounces.

Davis also asked Nimmo about the mandated reporting of suspected abuse and neglect.

Nimmo said professionals, such as health providers, social workers and law enforcement, are among those mandated to make reports.

Nimmo said she spoke with a social worker at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center about the infant and whether a hot line call had been made.

"I know the social worker had a conversation with the medical doctor (Fernando)," Nimmo said. " ... At the time, he asked her not to hot line it."

Nimmo confirmed this was the same doctor who felt the child needed hospitalization.

"You've reviewed these records; at different times, do you feel a report should have been made by the medical professionals, especially the doctor?" Davis asked.

In the past, doctors have made reports when there were concerns, said Nimmo.

The doctor, she said, was concerned about the lack of weight gain and hospitalized her. That, along with her weight gain in the hospital, "I would make a report," she said.

Satterfield said Fernando's notes indicated the child had lost 2 ounces since birth and the mother had told him her daughter was tolerating the formula well and did not have problems with vomiting or diarrhea.

The notes, Satterfield said, also indicated Garrett forgot the baby's bottle in the car and told the doctor she had two other children she was watching in a "very unfriendly manner."

"The doctor has all this information about weight loss, a reported gain of 10 ounces while hospitalized," Satterfield said. "Debbie Pruitt, the social worker, is talking about hotlining (the situation) because she thinks a hot line (call) needs to be made, but he says no.

"He won't let her make it. Is that what this comes down to?"

Nimmo confirmed it was.

During his testimony, Dexter Police Detective Trevor Pulley said, the investigation in the allegations of abuse and neglect is ongoing.

Pulley said he and Lt. Charles Sanders took photographs of the child when she was removed from her home. In the photos, the infant's ribs and collar bone can be seen, as well as loose and sagging skin on her arms and legs.

Davis said it was his recommendation for the infant to remain in the "care and custody" of the Children's Division and for the Children's Division to prepare home studies for the court to consider in regards to family member placement.

Davis said anyone who resided in the home with the child could be considered.

Since Webb's mother, Veronica Baker, was among those asking to be considered, she was called to testify.

Satterfield asked if Baker had helped care for the child.

Baker indicated she had not because she spent time at her mother's Circle City home caring for her son, who suffers from a "traumatic brain injury" and needs 24-hour care. She said her son is in a "semicoma" state.

Baker confirmed she lived in the home, sleeping there "pretty much."

"How do you plan to take care of a baby, at this age with this problem, and care for a son and sleep ...?" Satterfield asked.

"It can be done," Baker said.

Satterfield asked how.

Baker said her granddaughter would be in the room with her and her son. "(She) is a lot smaller ... I can hold her in my arm," she said.

When asked when she would sleep, Baker said, she would sleep when her granddaughter did.

Satterfield asked whether Baker previously had "cared for" the infant.

"No, I wanted them to do it; I wanted them to learn and take responsibility," Baker said.

When asked if she saw and held her granddaughter, Baker said, she had fed her.

"How many times?" Satterfield asked.

At that point, Davis asked Satterfield if they needed to advise Baker of her right to remain silent because criminal charges could be brought against her.

After hearing from all parties, Satterfield ordered the infant remain in protective custody with the Children's Division and for relative placement to be considered.

"I don't want the child moved without talking to me; I'll make the decision," Satterfield said.