Judge Kenneth King (file photo, Deadline Detroit)
Two Wayne County social workers got a break on Thursday when a 36th District Court judge dropped felony charges against them in the death of a three-year-old Detroit boy. The judge said there was insufficient evidence.
Judge Kenneth King of the 36th District Court dismissed the felony charges of manslaughter and child abuse against social workers for Child Protective Services (CPS), Elaina Brown, 24, and Kelly Williams, 47. They both still face a misdemeanor charge of neglect of duty.
"The office is reviewing the court's decision focr a possible appeal of the court's decision regarding the felony counts," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
“I’m not in the business of doing what’s popular. I want to do what’s right,” Judge King said during his ruling, reports Oralandar Brand-Williams of the Detroit News.
Prosecutors alleged that the two social workers Brown and Williams ignored ongoing reports that the mother, Deanna Minor, was becoming more incapable of caring for her son due to mental illness and that the child was becoming more at risk of being harmed.
On April 21, Child Protective Services worker Brown received a referral from the mental health worker of Deanna S. Minor, 28, the mother of the three-year-old boy. So, on April 21 and 22, she visited the mother and child and determined there was inadequate food in the house, the prosecutor's office says.
Authorities allege that Brown never saw the mother and child again after April 22. Brown also spoke to her supervisor, on April 22. On May 9, Brown sent a letter asking the mother to contact Child Protective Services, but she never did.
On May 25, Detroit police responded to an apartment in the 4400 block of Trumbull on Detroit's west side where they discovered a bed with the decomposed remains of the child, Aaron Minor. The death was ruled a homicide and on Aug. 4, and the mother was arrested and charged with second-degree felony murder, child abuse and failure to report a dead body.
The CPS policy and procedure requires that when a family cannot be located, fails to cooperate, and there are allegations of imminent risk, the CPS worker must contact the police for a safety check, and file a petition with the juvenile court, the prosecutor's office said.
A press release issued by the prosecutor's office in November alleged that Brown and Williams were:
Grossly negligent and reckless in performing their duties because they failed to: 1) provide a safety plan to protect Aaron; 2) respond and follow through on reports of the mental health workers; 3) ask the police for a safety check; 4) file a petition with the juvenile court authorities; and 5) follow the CPS policy and procedure.
