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Author Topic: Disabled 12 Year Old Andrea Ruth Died from Gangrene and Infected Bedsores  (Read 3920 times)
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MuffyBee
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« on: February 22, 2014, 02:16:41 PM »

http://wreg.com/2014/02/20/millington-girl-who-died-of-gangrene-was-under-dcs-watch/
Millington Girl Who Died Of Gangrene Was Under DCS Watch
February 20, 2014

(Millington) There is new information on who was watching as a 12-year-old Millington girl who died from bedsores and gangrene ON Nov. 24, 2012.
It appears the child was one of the cases assigned to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, an agency under fire for the number of children that have died on its watch.
 
When we dug through the hundreds of cases and mounds of paperwork, we uncovered the case of 12-year-old Andrea Ruth.
The DCS file for Andrea Ruth shows DCS opened a case on June 7, 2011, but closed it less than two months later, saying no services needed.
We asked why.
“We visited with the family. We talked to the child. We saw that there had been appointments. We saw that there were more appointments in the future and the child was getting the services of medical professionals,” said Rob Johnson, DCS spokesperson.
DCS closed the case even though Andrea missed an appointment to have her legs amputated because of a severe case of gangrene.
“A previous doctor was in midtown Memphis and the family lived in Millington and we understand they had changed doctors to someone who was closer to where they lived,” said Johnson.
Thursday, WREG went through the file DCS kept on Andrea’s care and lack thereof.
Here’s just some of what it says: The 12-year-old did not have any home medical services. Andrea had a disease where her skin peeled away and showed signs of being left in a bed for long periods of time. There were maggots in a dressing that covered a foot with no flesh.
We also uncovered DCS did a more thorough job investigating after Andrea’s death than before.
The agency spent eight months looking into how she died, even though DCS closed the case thinking Andrea was getting the proper care.
DCS questioned healthcare aide Chasara Jones, the woman hired to help keep Andrea healthy.
She’s now charged with murder in her death.
Andrea Ruth died of infected bedsores and gangrene.
Jones said she assisted but that Andrea’s mother, Raven Ruth, actually changed the bandages.
The aide said she never noticed maggots.
Ruth and her husband, Errol Johnson, are also charged with neglect in the death of their daughter, Andrea.
The case file shows that DCS also interviewed the Shelby County Schools home bound teacher who taught Andrea.
She said she beats herself up wondering if she could have done more.
She says at the time, her concern centered around whether Andrea would be promoted to the next grade or not.
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MuffyBee
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« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2014, 02:20:30 PM »

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/dad-caregiver-disabled-tenn-girl-charged-murder-article-1.1620547
Father and caregiver of disabled Tenn. girl who died from gangrene, bedsores charged with murder
The father and a home-health aid of a 12-year-old Nashville girl found with sores allegedly so advanced the bones in her toes were visible has been charged with first-degree murder.
February 19, 2014

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The father of a disabled girl who died from gangrene and infected bedsores due to neglect has been charged with first-degree murder along with a home-health aide in what is being described as one of the worst child-neglect cases police have ever seen in Tennessee.

When 12-year-old Andrea Ruth died, paramedics and police are said to have reported that the Millington, Tenn., girl had sores so advanced the bones in her toes were visible.
 
The girl died in November 2012. An autopsy revealed she died from sepsis from the gangrene, said Vince Higgins, a spokesman for Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich.
 
The girl suffered from high blood pressure, obesity and asthma, but her medical problems and fragile health were ignored, according to the district attorney's news release. The condition in Andrea's legs had deteriorated so much that she was scheduled to have both legs amputated in May of 2011 because of gangrene. The family, however, never showed up for the surgery and missed all later medical appointments, the release said.

Child-protection workers received a call after the girl did not show up for her appointments, said Rob Johnson, a spokesman for the Department of Children's Services. DCS arranged for a home-health care worker to be there for the girl and presumed that the health-care agency was taking care of her, Johnson said. He said there were no other reports of additional problems until she died.

Jones, the home-health aide, is said to have told investigators that she was aware of the child's condition, but didn't notify the health-care company she worked for or contact police or child-welfare investigators. Records show that a Chasara Jones of Memphis is still a licensed nursing aide in the state of Tennessee, state Department of Health spokeswoman Shelley Walker said in an email. Walker said the department as a policy does not say whether a health-care worker is being investigated by the state.

Higgins, the spokesman for the D.A.'s office, said nobody ever told police that the girl might be in trouble.
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MuffyBee
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« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2014, 02:24:52 PM »

I can't begin to fathom the agony twelve year old Andrea Ruth must have experienced in her life before she died .    It doesn't appear there was one person to champion her.  All that was needed was one person to stand up and say something.  Just one.  One person speaking up could have saved her life.    
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  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
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