Girl left to die

[Desx]

Not sure if anyone posted this.

Starved, disabled girl was failed at every turn - Yahoo! News

PHILADELPHIA - For days before Danieal Kelly died in a fetid, airless room — made stifling hot by a midsummer heat wave — the bedridden teenager begged for something to drink until she could muster only one word: water.

Unable to help herself because of her cerebral palsy, she wasted away from malnutrition and maggot-infested bedsores that ate her flesh. She died alone on a putrid mattress in her mother's home, the floor covered in feces. She was 14 but weighed just 42 pounds.

The nightmare of forced starvation and infection that killed Danieal while she was under the protection of the city's human services agency is documented in a 258-page grand jury report released this week that charges nine people — her parents, four social workers and three family friends — in her ghastly death.

The report describes a mother, Andrea Kelly, who was embarrassed by her disabled daughter and didn't want to touch her, take her out in public, change her diapers or make sure she had enough fluids. It portrays Daniel Kelly, the father who once had custody of Danieal, as having no interest in raising her.

And it accuses the city Department of Human Services of being "uncaring and incompetent."

"It was this indifference that helped kill Danieal Kelly," an angry District Attorney Lynne Abraham said. "How is it possible for this to have happened?"

The report should "outrage the entire Philadelphia community" and bring about "earth-shattering, cataclysmic changes" at the Department of Human Services, Abraham said.

Andrea Kelly, 39, the only defendant charged with murder, was ordered held Friday without bail. The social workers — suspected of falsifying home visits and progress reports in the case — face charges ranging from child endangerment to involuntary manslaughter. The family friends are accused of lying to the grand jury about the girl's condition before her death.

None of the lawyers for any of the defendants had any immediate comment.

Human Services Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose, in office only a month, said Thursday that she is intent on improving child safety and worker accountability in an agency that has repeatedly been accused of failing to protect children.

Late Friday, the city announced the resignation of Assistant Health Commissioner Carmen Paris. The grand jury had accused Paris of interfering in the investigation of the girl's death while she was acting health commissioner, but found insufficient evidence to charge her with obstruction of justice.

The report on Danieal's death in August 2006 documents a downward spiral from the early years that she spent in Arizona with her father and his girlfriend.

Though Danieal attended special-needs classes only sporadically, a school report described her as an active learner and "one of the sweetest students ever enrolled in this program." But allegations of parental neglect soon surfaced, and following Daniel Kelly's breakup with his girlfriend in 2001, Danieal never again attended school.

Daniel Kelly and his children moved to Philadelphia in 2003. He eventually asked his estranged wife to move in, even though she had several other children and he knew she was incapable of caring for Danieal, authorities say. He then moved out.

"Daniel Kelly was well aware what deserting his daughter meant to her safety and welfare," the grand jury report said. "He just did not care."

The Department of Human Services received at least five reports of Danieal being mistreated between 2003 and 2005. All described a "helpless child sitting unattended, unkempt and unwashed, in a small stroller in her own urine and feces," her screams ignored by her mother, the grand jury report said. The stroller, which served as a wheelchair, apparently never left the house.

Agency employee Dana Poindexter, assigned to investigate, also ignored Danieal, authorities say. Already having been suspended after a 3-week-old baby died on his watch in 2002, Poindexter continued his "slovenly, neglectful and dangerously reckless work habits" after being assigned the Kelly case, the grand jury said. He did not file a single report, authorities said.

The Kellys finally were assigned help from a private agency in 2005. Employee Julius Murray was required to visit the family twice a week, but authorities believe he may have come to the house only once — to have Andrea Kelly sign predated forms attesting to future visits.

The grand jury report said Laura Sommerer, a city social worker, failed to hold the now-defunct company accountable when, months later, Danieal still was not enrolled in school or receiving medical care.

And after Danieal died, authorities say, company director Mickal Kamuvaka held a "forgery fest" in her office where she had employees "concoct almost a year's worth of false progress reports."

But authorities say Andrea Kelly, whose other children are now in foster care, is primarily responsible for her daughter's death.

The report said she was confronted repeatedly by her own mother, uncle, friends and even two of her sons about Danieal's deteriorating health. She would lie or put them off by saying she would seek help, or banish them from the house, authorities say.

In the meantime, the report said, she entertained friends, attended classes and fed her other children.

"This behavior indicates that Andrea Kelly did not merely allow Danieal to die," the report said. "She may have even wanted her disabled daughter to die."

When an ambulance responded to a 911 call for Danieal on Aug. 4, 2006, the girl had been dead for several hours. Authorities said she was so emaciated she looked like the victim of a concentration camp.

She had been lying on the filthy mattress for so long that her body outline was imprinted on it.

How the fuck can people live like that? seriously?

[Frax]

The majority of people suck. The mother in this case is such a pathetic excuse for a human being. I treat my dog better than she treated her kid. Thats just sad.

[Eomer]

Pretty awful. It does raise an interesting question about euthanasia though. It seems like in this case the girl was still able to lead a healthy life if given the chance to. It does remind me a bit of the Latimer case in Canada, though: CBC News In Depth: Robert Latimer. At least he had the courtesy to end her life painlessly.

Tracy was a 40-pound quadriplegic, a 12-year-old who functioned at the level of a three-month-old. She had been repeatedly operated on and at the time of her murder was due for more surgery, this time to remove a thigh bone. She could not walk, talk or feed herself, though she responded to affection and occasionally smiled. Tracy was in constant, excruciating pain yet, for reasons not entirely clear, could not be treated with a painkiller stronger than Tylenol.

Fuck cerebral palsy.

[Simas]

Fuck those parents.

It may make me a bad person but if I find out my child will be retarded I'll abort it in a heartbeat (assuming wife is down etc).

[Tolanin]

I dunno i think its safe to say that none of us know what its like to have a kid like that.. i think in alot of cases these are just normal people put in horrible circumstances and they snap. Having a kid like that basically ruins your life.

[AngryGerbil]

Originally Posted by Tolanin

I dunno i think its safe to say that none of us know what its like to have a kid like that.. i think in alot of cases these are just normal people put in horrible circumstances and they snap. Having a kid like that basically ruins your life.

Man the fuck up.

[Cybsled]

No one is doubting it's hard to deal with that situation (raising a child with a major disability).

But there is a big difference between being an asshole/smacking a kid/not being able to provide vs. letting someone be eaten by maggots and letting them lie in their own shit and piss until they die of starvation and dehydration.

Lets put it this way: Who would you perceive as being more "evil"? A person who walks up to someone and shoots them in the head or a person who walks up to someone, kidnaps them, tortures them horribly over a 3 month period, THEN kills them.

[Chrisb3]

If you can't get a job and look after yourself then you deserve to die, thats the american way.

[Tolanin]

Originally Posted by Cybsled

No one is doubting it's hard to deal with that situation (raising a child with a major disability).

But there is a big difference between being an asshole/smacking a kid/not being able to provide vs. letting someone be eaten by maggots and letting them lie in their own shit and piss until they die of starvation and dehydration.

Lets put it this way: Who would you perceive as being more "evil"? A person who walks up to someone and shoots them in the head or a person who walks up to someone, kidnaps them, tortures them horribly over a 3 month period, THEN kills them.

I wasnt really commenting on whether it was evil to do or not, cause obviously it was. I just think any discussion about it needs to take into account the kinds of pressure we put on people unfortunate enough to have a severely disabled child. Is it right to starve the kid to death? no. Is it right to force the parent to care for a child who cannot move or do anything or speak to spend their life and fortune providing for that child even though all that care is basically spent on someone who will never live a life? I think that needs to be discussed.

People put in horrible situations do horrible things... its easy to sit on the internet and be altruistic and decry how evil the people are but that really shows a total lack of perspective. IMO we need to come up with a better solution on how to deal with the very very severely handicapped.

You might treat your dog better than that kid was treated but I also bet that if your dog had puppies and one was so severely disabled that it couldnt move you would have it put down and maybe if you were forced to care for it for 15 years your view and love would fade into hate and resentment?

[Vorph]

Originally Posted by Cybsled

Lets put it this way: Who would you perceive as being more "evil"? A person who walks up to someone and shoots them in the head or a person who walks up to someone, kidnaps them, tortures them horribly over a 3 month period, THEN kills them.

Personally, I think that the person who allows scenario B to happen through indifference/laziness when they are being paid by the government to actively prevent it deserves the same punishment as the person who carries it out directly. Those social services people should be looking at more than just involuntary manslaughter (which they'll probably plea down anyway).

[GrobbeeTrull2.0]

@Cybsled:

It's disgusting that someone could possibly think those are the only two outcomes of this particular scenario.

People with Cerebal Palsy can lead productive and useful lives; euthenasia shouldn't even enter into the equation in this circumstance.

[Cybsled]

Uh, when did I ever say I supported euthanasia or was only giving two options? Scroll up. I was describing the difference between bad caregivers and fucked up caregivers. I was not even factoring the actual disabled person into the equation, just whom they were dependent on. And in this case, it was a child, so they were dependent disabled or not.

[Alyssarie]

This disgust me. I dont understand it at all. Why did'nt the woman get tests done before the kid was born to determine whether or not it had birth defects? or put it up for adoption when it was born when it became obvious that it had birth defects?

It's not 100% her fault though. People in SS knew the circumstances and did'nt do shit to help. I agree with chagring them all. There were major levels of failure here in many areas.


Ugh people are retarded

[chaos]

Originally Posted by Frax

The majority of people suck. The mother in this case is such a pathetic excuse for a human being. I treat my dog better than she treated her kid. Thats just sad.

I treat my pets better than a lot of people treat their kids. And I just do the basics, food, water, exercise and the minimum of attention, I'm not one of those people who dresses his pet up in clothes and shit. That, simple as it may be, is more than a lot of people do for their kids.

[Quineloe]

Originally Posted by Simas

Fuck those parents.

It may make me a bad person but if I find out my child will be retarded I'll abort it in a heartbeat (assuming wife is down etc).

By the time they can figure that out I think your only option would be a Falcon Punch and your wife will definatly not be down for that.