UPDATE, July 7, 2009: Woman sentenced to 50 years for death of Christopher Thomas
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UPDATE, May 7, 2009: Aunt convicted in death of Christopher Thomas
Crystal Keith was convicted Thursday of beating 13-month-old Christopher Thomas to death and with torturing his 2-year-old sister._______________
The jury began deliberations at 10:37 a.m. and returned announced it had reached a verdict at 11:23 a.m.
...Keith, 25, the children's aunt and kinship foster mother, was found guilty of one count of first-degree reckless homicide and one count of physical abuse of a child (intentionally causing great bodily harm.)
UPDATE, May 6, 2009: On tape, aunt recounts abuse
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UPDATE, January 27, 2009: Crystal Keith
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UPDATE, December 4, 2008: Denise Revels Robinson
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UPDATE, November 26, 2008: Protest planned next week over child welfare agencies
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UPDATE, November 21, 2008: Foster mother pleads not guilty in boy's homicide, girl's abuse
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UPDATE, November 19, 2008: Brawl at Christopher Thomas Jr.'s Funeral
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Christopher L. Thomas Jr., 1, plays at his West Allis foster home earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of Robert J. and Darlene M. Logan)
How could Crystal P. Keith, foster mother to her 13-month-old nephew and 2-year-old niece, torture those innocent babies?
What she did to little Christopher Thomas Jr. is incomprehensible.
What she put his sister through is absolutely sickening.
Keith told police, whom she called to her home Monday, that she repeatedly slapped Christopher in the face for not eating, according to the criminal complaint. She said she choked him, hung him upside down and pressed his head on the floor. At some point, the infant's eyes rolled back into his head and he began to vomit. He stopped breathing. She then stuck the handle of a hairbrush down Christopher's throat, she said, in order to revive him.
The boy died the next day at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. He had suffered blunt-force trauma to his head, had a broken right arm, bruises on his thighs, throat and neck, multiple scalp injuries and a lacerated tongue. Keith described to police a number of beatings she had given the child since he began crawling.
Keith also told police she began abusing the boy's 2-year-old sister in June, the complaint states.
Doctors found burn marks on the child from her head to her feet. She had ligature scars on her back and chest, as well as to her neck, left armpit and legs. She had many broken bones. She was severely undernourished; her body weight, according to the complaint, put her among the lowest 1% of children her age.
Keith told police she scalded the girl with hot water. Her scalded feet had been bandaged, but the blisters broke, adhering the bandages to her feet.
When the girl was brought to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin after her brother's death, medical workers had to soak the bandages off, records show.
A medical report called the girl's injuries blatant, and it is unclear why Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare case workers did not notice the abuse.
"With the Police Department, medical examiner and other authorities, we are investigating this tragic incident," said Denise Revels Robinson, director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.
"When we learn all of the facts surrounding this situation, we will take all necessary and appropriate action," Robinson said.
She said the agency vetted Keith before placing the two children in her home.
The agony that these children endured is just horrible. The mistreatment of the children was no accident. Keith meant to torture the children. She granted Christopher no mercy. She brutally murdered him.
These innocent children were tortured. That's not an overstatement.
People who are aware of this story are extremely upset, for now. There is outrage, but will the cries be loud enough and will they be sustained enough to bring about real change in a system that did not look out for the best interests of the children?
I'm afraid the case will be forgotten. Another story will replace this one and community outrage will shift to the latest ghastly news.
I hope that's not the way this plays out.
I hope that disgust over the death of Christopher and the torture of his sister will mean change in the system so that it will effectively prevent other children from experiencing similar suffering.
How could the agency have been so terribly wrong about Keith?
According to a medical examiner's office report:
The boy and girl were taken from their mother about five months after the boy's birth on Oct. 14, 2007. The mother suffered from mental illness and admitted to shaking her daughter, who was diagnosed at the time with failure to thrive. The mother told police she punished the children twice a day.
The boy's father was arrested in late 2007. He pleaded guilty in June to manufacturing/delivering cocaine and is now in custody at the House of Correction, according to court records.
Christopher was placed in temporary custody with the Logans.
"He was a good baby. He laughed all the time. It made you feel good just to be around him," Darlene Logan recalled.
Christopher's sister, who was unable to talk, was placed with Rosie Ferguson, a 63-year-old special treatment foster parent in Germantown. Ferguson said Christopher joined his sister with Ferguson in May.
In June, they were placed with the Keiths.
Ferguson said she called the Keiths frequently and visited them over the summer. The children appeared to her to be doing well.
But two weeks ago, Ferguson said, she called and spoke to Keith, who told Ferguson the children were still sleeping. That struck Ferguson as odd because it was 10 a.m.
What is so tragic about this case is that both Christopher and his sister were being cared for by responsible and loving foster parents.
Ferguson followed up on the children, even visiting them after they left her care.
Darlene and Robert Logan actually tried to adopt Christopher, make him their son, but they were denied.
Why?
Who is responsible for denying that adoption?
It was a death sentence for Christopher.
Christopher died on Tuesday and as of early on Friday, no family member had come forward to claim his remains.
That is heartbreaking, tragic beyond words.
JSOnline is reporting that no one has come forward to claim the child's remains. Christopher Thomas Jr. died at the hands of his aunt, who told prosecutors she repeatedly abused the boy and his 2-year-old sister. Crystal Keith is now facing charges in the case.
According to the report, the child's biological mother would be responsible for claiming his body and seeing to his remains. That has not happened.
The Logans, the couple who wanted to adopt Christopher, stepped forward again, this time to care for him in death.
On Friday, they sought a way to help with his burial, but could find no assistance in figuring out how.
Darlene Logan, 63, said she tried to call her case worker at the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare to find out how she might go about doing this, whom she should contact or for any guidance at all, but no one responded.
"They don't even have the common courtesy to return my calls," she said.
"It is important for us - and for him - that we get closure on this," Robert Logan said.
Friday afternoon, the Serenity Funeral Home picked up Christopher's remains from the Milwaukee medical examiner's office.
The funeral home's owner, Randy Guy, said the funeral home would pay for Christopher's burial.
"We're just helping the family out a little bit," Guy said. "They've gone through enough."
There is something terribly wrong when a system supposedly designed to protect children does the opposite.
State Sen. Alberta Darling has taken up this cause, demanding that the Department of Children and Families investigate Christopher's death.
In a letter to Reggie Bicha, secretary of the Department of Children and Families, Darling wrote: "It is clear that something in the child welfare system is broken and as Secretary, it is your job to identify that something and work with legislators, staff, advocates, and citizens to fix it.
"I am calling on you to investigate the death of Christopher L. Thomas thoroughly and to evaluate the appropriateness of BMCW staff actions while he was in the Bureau's protection. Please identify what should have been done to prevent this tragedy, especially since the case worker had not fulfilled the monthly visit requirement.
"In addition, I would like an explanation as to why the sister's broken bones were not brought to the attention of the case worker by the medical staff treating her. If the case worker had received this information, why wasn't it a red flag for possible placement concerns?"
Christopher could have had a stable home and loving parents, but the Logans weren't allowed to adopt him.
The Logans were denied Christopher and Christopher was denied his right to live.
Heartbreaking.
6 comments:
Why?? Why can't people just walk away if they feel the need to hurt a child?? I bet you she was getting money from the state to take care of those 2 kids. That was her only reason she took those kids. Greed.
I believe that there should be laws in place in order to have children.
Where were the other family members when this abuse was going on?? You tell me that NO ONE notice them getting abused? Please!! They are ALL to blame in this!!
God have mercy on their souls.
If you ask me that "woman" deserves the death penalty. ANYONE who abuses a child is the lowest life form on earth! May poor Christopher rest in peace.
This story is not new at all. The same type of situation happened twice in Sacramento, Ca. A set of twins and another boy named Christopher Thomas.
The system has a compulsive habit of letting children and their families down. All without the slightest bit of remorse for failing at the tasks they take on.
We need to expect more from everyone.
I think that's true.
It's not too much to expect people to behave responsibly and respect the preciousness of life.
So many people failed Christopher and his sister, too many to count.
This is supposed to be the United States! What happened here? Now we sound like the people in Iran, who tortured their own people! Get real America, and start doing a better job, to guard our own! I am appalled and embarassed to say, that I live here! This is world news, imagine how other countries look at us, thru this senseless abuse! I believe that the whole government is to blame, state, county, and city officals! No one was clearly doing their job! So sad to say, that it has not changed since 1991, in fact, it is worse!! And here is why!
In 1990, we had a major fire and loss everything. We had 8 young children then. We could not find a house that would rent to a huge family, so we had to sleep in our cars. It was realy sad, with no help from Milwaukee at all. We gave our 2 girls to my aunt to care for, and my baby boy to her neighbor, who had adopted a girl thru foster care, (still being paid for her care). We thought he would be in good hands, since Milwaukee County social services were to license her, and make constant unannouced visits. After a month, we had trouble visiting our own son, and workers did nothing about it, or checked. WE picked up our son on a Sunday, and found that our son, a baby, had cigarette burns and bruises on much of his body. We were upset and angry! This was supposed to be a safe haven! We called the Bureau and workers to report the abuse, and wanted charges! We believe nothing was ever done. Our son was actually safer with us in the cars! We never took him back, and the foster mother refused to give us his belongings. One night while we all were sleeping in our cars, the Oak Creek police came up. They stated that we had stole our son from the foster home. What a joke! Upon investigating, they found that we had placed our son for protection, and there was nothng they could do. They left us alone! What would have happened if our son was taken from us? He too, may have been dead, because of an ill and lazy system? My son is now happy, with a new baby daughter today! Sure, we all suffered, but we were healthy and happy to be together with love!
The system needs a complete overall of social workers, and pubic officials! Fire them all, and start new, with caring and loving people who will do the job!!
Why did they take that "lil Christopher" away from loving adoptive parents? They killed that child and all who loved him, along with his sister, who will suffer the rest of her life.
I cry for these children and the real people who loved and cared for them. No one can replace or fix the hurt that they feel!
Ok, Wisconsin, get your ass in gear and do it right from now on!
I hear this quote, "Children First" here in Wisconsin, and that praise is a down right lie!! It is untrue and frivolous!! Fix it!
My prayers to the foster parents in West Allis and Germantown, lil Chrisopher, and his sister. God loves you all!
(Denise in Milwaukee informs me that the above anonymous comment is hers.)
First, congratulations on your granddaughter! What a blessing she must be to your family!
Thanks for sharing your experience with the foster care system. It's an awful story. You were dealing with such enormous hardships at the time and trying to do what was best for your son. Instead, you discover he was being abused. It's horrible.
It's frightening to think what may have happened to him if you weren't free to take him from the foster home. It's inexcusable that such abuse occurs. I consider the case workers and social services as guilty of abuse as the foster parents themselves.
Something that's so sad about Christopher's story is that he was with loving foster parents. Not all are abusers, but the fact that any are abusive is unacceptable.
I worry that people will forget about Christopher and nothing about the system will change. That would really be a tragedy and guarantee more heartbreak.
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