daisy7
Retired WS Staff
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Broward child-abuse investigators had no concerns for a baby's safety after she suffered two head injuries, according to records.
The first time Angeliah Duncan was rushed to the hospital with a head injury, her mother said she fell off a bed. Child welfare authorities in Broward County suggested the mother seek parenting classes.
The next time Angeliah was in the hospital, her mom said she accidentally banged the infant's head on a dresser. Authorities' response to mom: Enroll in parenting classes.
No one suggested parenting classes on June 12, when Angeliah was once again rushed to the hospital -- this time with a severe head injury doctors believed resulted from a violent shaking. Angeliah died three days later -- less than three weeks before her first birthday.
On Monday, Hollywood police charged Cecil O. Weekes, 39, the boyfriend of Angeliah's mother, with murder. In a sworn statement, detectives say Weekes admitted he shook the little girl to make her quiet down. ``He said, `just stop [expletive] crying,' '' the affidavit states.
Angeliah was baptized the day before she died, a Sunday, records say. Her organs were harvested for transplantation.
In Broward County, the Broward Sheriff's Office conducts all child-abuse investigations for the state under contract with the state Department of Children & Families. On Tuesday, DCF quickly released all its records on Angeliah in response to a public-records request by The Miami Herald.
Veda Coleman-Wright, a spokeswoman for the BSO, defended the department's handling of the case, saying both the child's doctors and the state Department of Health's Child Protection Team in Broward, which examines children for signs of abuse, found no evidence that Angeliah's previous head injuries resulted from physical abuse.
(snipped)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1171639.html
How many cases are we gonna see like this before we have a much-needed overhaul of the protection system? And, it's another boyfriend of the Mom!!:furious: