Trying to Save Christopher Thomas Jr.

UPDATE, July 7, 2009: Woman sentenced to 50 years for death of Christopher Thomas
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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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There were people who cared about 13-month-old Christopher Thomas Jr. and his 2-year-old sister.

Darlene and Robert Logan, Christopher's foster parents, tried to adopt the baby. They were denied.

Rosie Ferguson, a special treatment foster parent, cared for Christopher's sister and briefly for Christopher. After the children left her home in June, she called frequently to check up on them. She even visited them in the summer.

Now, Crocker Stephenson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that Christoper's great-grandparents also tried to help the children.

The great-grandparents of Christopher L. Thomas Jr. said Monday they begged a state case worker in September to immediately remove the then-11-month-old and his 2-year-old sister from their Milwaukee foster home. Last week, police say, Christopher's foster mother beat him to death.

"Help me, Lord; help me, Lord," Katherine Shaw said, hugging the children's mother, Candace Glover, as they prepared to visit the girl at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Police said the child suffered months of torture at the hands of Crystal P. Keith, her aunt and foster mother.

Keith, 28, remains in jail on charges of first-degree intentional homicide and felony child abuse. Her husband, Reginald Keith, the children's biological uncle, has not been charged.

The case has sparked public outcry and calls by lawmakers for the state Department of Children and Families to conduct an in-depth investigation into how case workers tasked with monitoring the children's well-being didn't notice their injuries. Department officials say a review is under way.

"If I had been able to get those children out of there, he would be alive," Katherine Shaw said.

"Help me, Lord," she said, weeping. "This would not have happened."

The Shaws, who raised Glover, 23, live in Lanett, Ala. In September, they said, they drove to Milwaukee and stayed with Glover, hoping to catch a glimpse of the children, who had been taken from Glover in March. After temporary stays with other foster families in West Allis and Germantown, the children were placed with the Keiths in June.

Frank Shaw said he and his wife met with a Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare case worker, who, they said, promised them four supervised visits at a child welfare center. The Shaws said they stayed a month; Keith and her husband, Reginald, did not show up for any of the meetings, the Shaws said.

"Every time we got ready to go, they canceled their visit," Frank Shaw said.

Katherine Shaw said she called Reginald Keith's mother and told her: "I done come 1,000 miles to see those children. Don't make me act stupid and come over there and kick the door down."

A day or two later, the Shaws said, the Keiths parked their car across the street from Candace Glover's home. They refused to bring the children to the house. At first, they refused to even take them out of the car. The Shaws said they went across the street to peek at the two children through the car's windows.

Frank Shaw said it was early evening, just getting dark. The Keiths removed Christopher from his car seat and allowed Frank Shaw to hold him.

"It was wonderful," Shaw said.

Katherine Shaw said she insisted that Christopher's sister also come out of the car. Crystal Keith removed the girl from her car seat and placed her on the curb. Katherine Shaw said she bent down on the street and stroked the child's hair.

"I said, 'Give me a hug and a kiss,' " she said, but noticed something was wrong with the girl.

Frank Shaw said he called a case worker and told her, "My great-grandson's got scratches. He's got marks on his face."

The Shaws said they spoke with a case worker about taking the children with them, that day, to Alabama. They said they offered to sell their home and move to Milwaukee. The case worker, they said, was encouraging, but said they would have to go to court.

...According to police records, the children were removed from Glover's home because she was mentally ill. Glover said she is not mentally ill but has epilepsy. According to online state court records, she has no criminal record in Wisconsin.

Glover said she does not know when her daughter will get out of the hospital. But, she said, she hopes to take her home.

"She ain't going back into no system," she said.

The Shaws tried to save their great-grandchildren. They were even willing to sell their home and move to Milwaukee to care for the children.

They not only had to struggle with the uncooperative Keiths, but they had to struggle with the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.

There are some gaps in Stephenson's account, some unanswered questions.

What happened after the Shaws were told they had to go to court if they wanted to take the children? Did they go back to Alabama? Were they continuing to pursue getting custody of the little ones?

What about the mother? Glover says she's not mentally ill, that she has epilepsy. Police records indicate her children were taken away from her in March because she was mentally ill.

What has Glover been doing since March? Where has she been? Did she try to regain custody? Did she have any contact with her children? What was her status when she lost her children and what is it now?

When Frank Shaw reported the injuries on Christopher to the case worker, did the case worker do appropriate follow-up?

The case worker knew that the Shaws were alarmed and believed their great-grandchildren were at risk. What was done in response to that?

Crystal Keith, Christopher's torturer and murderer, will be held accountable for what she did. Will case workers be held accountable for what they didn't do?

Time will tell. An investigation is underway.

What's so sad is that there were family members and foster families trying to care for these innocent children, but there were obstacles to prevent that. The result was tragic.

One more thing--

Candace Glover is 23. Her grandmother, Katherine Shaw, the woman who raised her, is 56.

Why didn't Glover's mother raise her? Is she alive? What circumstances led to Glover being raised by Shaw?

In any event, we do know that Katherine Shaw was a grandmother at 33. That's young to be a biological grandmother.