The Background

I recently found out that people other than family have been reading my blog, and are confused about a few things. The last time I tried to put this information in, the investigators took my blog down, so I have tried to refrain from saying much on here. But I everything I am writing is truth, so I don't feel that they should be threatened by it.

So, here is a background: In Aug, 08 my sister in law had a Sickle Cell attack and was in a coma with little chance to live. She was 26 weeks pregnant with my nephew. She had many blood transfusions and ended up with kidney damage and liver failure. She needed an immediate liver transplant to survive. The Dr's performed a Cesarean section and delivered my nephew. He struggled for weeks just to survive. A few days after the transplant, my sister in law came out of her coma and slowly recovered. She had to have another operation a week later to stop interal bleeding. A month later she was able to go home. My nephew was finally able to come home in November. Even tho he was home, he continued to have struggles, as one being a preemie would, and one whose mother had so many health struggles while still pregnant. It was one Dr after another for them. In Dec he quit breathing and was limp and blue. My brother performed CPR on him, while the paramedics were on their way. He was in the hospital for a week, and they could not determine what was the cause for it. In Feb my brother, who is in the Navy, had just returned from being gone a week. Michelle was in the bedroom getting some much needed rest after a week of two little ones. My brother was holding his son, when the baby jerked and he fell out of my brothers arms. Michelle called the Pediatrician who told them to take him to the ER. They rushed him in, and within a few hours there, the Dr's said he had taken a turn for the worst. He was on life support, and a few days later the Dr's said he was brain dead. The next day his parents, my mom & dad, and a few close family friends, played music and sang to him while they turned off the life support.

He died in their arms.

When they first brought their son to the ER, they left their daughter with a close friend. When the Dr's said they didn't think their son would live, they had the friend bring her to the hospital. Once she got there, CPS took her.

Apparently a Dr thought that when they very first brought the baby in, before they even completely looked him over that it maybe it was abuse, so they called CPS. I flew out from Florida immediately to get custody of her so she would not be in foster care. We took her to a bone Dr that did a complete bone scan and determined she never had any broken bones. Not one single Dr that has ever seen her has thought that she was abused. (and she has seen a few because she has severe food and skin allergies.) We went to court to return her 3 weeks later and the judge having watched her with her parents, said, "That this was a child that showed no signs of abuse", as she ran to her parents saying over and over, "Mommy Daddy, Mommy Daddy" while hugging and kissing them. The judge returned her to Michelle (since she had been in the other room at the time of the accident) providing my brother not be in the house with her. As much as it broke their hearts not having him home, they were willing to do anything that they were told.

So my brother moved into the house I was staying in. (a member of their church is letting us stay in this house rent free). We thought at this point that it was a battle to prove that my brother did not hurt the baby intentionally.

Then, on May 13th I got a call from the social worker saying they had taken my niece back from Michelle and I was needed to take custody of her again.

CPS has a report that has many erroneous statements in it. For what ever reasons, that we do not understand, they think Michelle was the one that dropped the baby. Even tho my brothers story has never changed. (My brother had called my mom shortly after it happened.

My mom had just arrived in Florida to visit me when she got his call, so I heard every word.

He stated in that call exactly as I have written above. He would have no reason whatsoever to lie to my mom about this) CPS cannot get their facts straight. The report has so many blatant untruths in it.

Page after page contradicts themselves. My brother goes thru with a pen correcting mistakes and most pages are filled with his corrections.

The coroners report came back a few weeks ago, and basically says that they could not determine 100% exactly what it was that caused the death.

They could tell that he was well fed and growing and thriving. He did not have any broken bones, or bruises or any signs at all of any kind of abuse.

They determined that he had a stroke, (*Strokes become evident in babies either just after birth or not until they're four to eight months of age. He was 6 months. Those who are sick at birth usually have seizures (uncontrolled movements and rhythmic jerking) or apnea, spells where they stop breathing. A mother who has eclampsia (coma or convulsions before, during or after childbirth) have a greater risk of her child having a stroke than a mother who doesn't have eclampsia. The fact that a baby has had a stroke might not become evident until about age 1 when parents notice a child is not using one hand like they should)

he had brain bleeds, probably from the strokes, he had lung disease, he had many other things. But because the baby had 'head trauma' (he hit his head on the counter and the floor) that maybe it was a homicide. Because the report says the word 'homicide' CPS feels that must mean that he was intentionally hurt. The DA has had the report, and is suppose to decide whether or not there is enough overwhelming evidence to convict either or both of them.

CPS will only let her parents see her twice a week for 2 hours each time, at a supervised place called The Clover House. (even the social workers that work there that supervise the visits have said several times that they should not be there. They are trained to watch the child for abuse signs, and they see nothing but a happy child that terribly misses her parents.)

CPS will not allow me to take her to Church the same time as her parents. They will not allow her to view them on our webcams either. But she is allowed to talk to them on the phone if it is supervised. CPS will not let me take my niece anywhere out of the state. Most of our family lives in AZ. She has Grandparents on both sides, Great Grandparents, God Parents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and family friends there. All who would love to see her and spend time with her. My parents have passed the background checks, so there should be no reason that she would not be allowed to visit or stay with them. In fact, there is not a single person in our family that would not pass a background check. I cannot take her to Florida, which is where I live, with my husband and our 3 kids. My other brother lives in Florida as well. My brother and Michelle are some of the most loving, wonderful people you could ever hope to meet. When my hubby and I took a cruise last year and needed a sitter for a week, Michelle was the first person we thought of that we wanted to watch our kids. She came out with her daughter and my kids had a great time with her. She is a wonderful mother and aunt. My brother helped me with my daughter since she was little. He was 13 when she was born and helped me out more times than I can count. He played with her down on her level. He is a wonderful father and Uncle.

We are hoping and praying that the truth is obvious to those that don't know them. That they are loving, wonderful parents that would never hurt their children. Now they need to get this CPS issue behind them so they can be together as a family and grieve. Since this has happened they have not been able to be together as a family. Can you imagine?

 

One more sad thing: I just learned that my cousin Kim passed away this morning.

My heart goes out to our extended family in AZ

Baby JJ cannot rest in peace until his parents and sister are reunited.

*****EDITED*********OCT 27 2010***********
San Jose CPS refused to ever give her back to her parents,
In Sept 09 Mike and I took custody of Elektra and brought her back to FL.
The DA in San Jose and the Sheriffs dept had decided that there was not enough evidence to convict either Leonard or Michelle.  They believe that it was an accident.
However, my brother is in the Navy, and the admiral found out that my brother was being questioned in his babys death, so the admiral opened an investigation and has decided to see if my brother should face being Court Martialed.   My brother has had to hire a JAG attorney and one who has specialized in areas of child abuse.  We are praying that this attorney can do what the last one didn't even attempt (public lawyers have no business defending you against CPS. They are completely 100% ineffective). This attorney should be able to PROVE my brothers innocence. Then he and Michelle can work on getting their daughter back.
Today the judge issued a continuance until Nov 22-23.  Leonards attorney has many expert witnesses that he is lining up. He needed the extra time to schedule everyone.
Please pray that the truth is finally believed by the right people and their family can be reunited, and start to heal from all the pain.
****EDITED*****DEC 23, 2010******
On Nov 22-23 my brother attending a hearing on whether or not he should be court martialed in the death of his son.   Today we received the recommendation of the Investigating Officer that heard the case.
In his very extensive and detailed report he wrote that ALL charges be dismissed.
Now, the final say will come from the Admiral.  We will know more in January when he makes his final decision.     If all the charges are dismissed my brother and Michelle can work towards getting Elektra back to them.  
Please let this post have a final happy ending.
*******EDITED*********March 31, 2011
Finally!!!! I can post the start of what should be a happy ending!
The Admiral DISMISSED all charges against my brother!!!!!!
Their findings were that the coroner did not do an accurate job.  The baby had soooo many other health issues.  If he had been a full term, healthy 6 month old, then the injuries he received from the fall would not have lead to his death.  He would have been fine. But since he had sooo many other health issues, his little body could simply not take any more and it gave out.   The judge and the Admiral determined that what happened was an ACCIDENT.  A tragic, sad accident.  Most likely the baby may not have lived whether or not he fell because of all his other issues.  They believe that he had a seizure which is what cause him to jerk so suddenly from my brothers arms.  That seizure led to his brain bleed as well, which is what the coroner based all of her opinions on.  She never even looked at his medical history!  The experts that testified at the trial were able to show everything that was wrong with the baby, and basically ripped the coroner apart for not doing her job thoroughly.  My brothers experts were able to prove that the baby did NOT die at the hands of my brother.  The coroner was forced to admit, that after looking at ALL the findings, she could not truly determine an exact cause of death, and that she was wrong!!
Now, my brother will be able to file for cps to return their daughter.  If they do not return her, he will hire a local attorney (he had a JAG attorney for the trial, but will be able to have a local one if it goes that way)
and they will sue cps and the coroner to change the death certificate and get their daughter back.
Please, still keep them in your prayers as they continue to struggle with the loss of their son, and to give them strength to finish the fight for their daughter.
Thank you all for caring so much! And believing in the truth!