Mon, Jul 06, 2009

Tucson Region

Lawsuit over baby's death settled

By Kim Smith
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.05.2008
A Tucson couple whose 4-month-old son died while living in foster care have settled their lawsuit against the state's Child Protective Services for $250,000.
CPS workers removed Dwight Hill from his parents' custody in July 2005 after he was born with cocaine in his system.
The baby was placed with Guadalupe Yolanda Gomez on Nov. 5, 2005, and he died 11 days later.
Gomez was charged with child abuse, and jurors were told during her trial that Dwight died as a result of a skull fracture that caused bleeding in his brain and retinal hemorrhages.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Nicol Green argued during the trial that Gomez either caused the baby's injuries or didn't get help for him.
Defense attorney Steven West described Gomez, however, as a wonderful foster mother and said the baby died as a result of "undiagnosed, undetectable" medical issues.
Gomez's conviction was recently overturned. The state will not be able to try Gomez again because it would violate her double-jeopardy rights, Green said Thursday. The case is expected to be dismissed within days.
Dwight's parents, Rachel and Kalomo Harris, filed a lawsuit against CPS and the Arizona Children's Association, claiming the agencies didn't conduct a criminal-background check on Gomez's husband, Roberto, even though he acknowledged on certain forms that he had previously committed a violent crime, said William Nelson, the Harrises' attorney.
In addition, Nelson said he discovered CPS had agreed to place Dwight with an aunt, but that decision "fell through the cracks."
CPS agreed to settle the lawsuit for $250,000, Nelson said. The Arizona Children's Association, which contracts with CPS to conduct background checks on prospective foster parents, settled for an undisclosed sum.
Jeff Bergin, who represented CPS, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Rachel Harris realized she had a problem with drugs and didn't fight with CPS when it took custody of her son, Nelson said. In fact, Rachel and Kalomo Harris, whom she married after Dwight was born, did everything CPS told them to do to regain custody of their son, Nelson said.
The birth of a second son has been "bittersweet" for the couple, Nelson said.
During Gomez's trial, Green told jurors that doctors believe Dwight suffered "blunt-force trauma" to his head within three or four days of his death.
Gomez told police that on the night of Nov. 11, Dwight forcefully vomited once and had loose stools, Green said. The next morning, both she and his baby sitters noticed the baby's eyes were rolling back in his head, and he was hard to wake up. His sitters took him for a supervised visit with his biological parents, and they, too, noticed the boy was lethargic and not eating well.
The baby was no better the next day, a Sunday, Green said. Gomez told police the child still wasn't eating well and was sleeping too much.
Although workers at Casa de los Niños crisis nursery told Gomez on that Monday she should bring him to their clinic when she called with her concerns, she didn't, Green said. Gomez told them she set up a doctor's appointment for that Wednesday. On that day, Green said, Gomez went into the doctor's office, picked up a magazine and waited to be called. When the doctor examined Dwight, he was dead, Green said.
Gomez was a foster mother for three years before she got Dwight and had nothing but praise from those who monitored her, West said. When the baby died, she was also a foster mother to his older sister and two other toddlers, and she and her husband were raising a 10-year-old biological child with cerebral palsy.
● Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com.