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Author Topic: LA mom who beheaded 4 yo son had been investigated  (Read 5357 times)
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MuffyBee
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« on: August 18, 2009, 01:31:30 PM »

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BOY_BEHEADED?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Aug 18, 1:12 PM EDT

LA mom who beheaded son had been investigated



LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Los Angeles woman who decapitated her 4-year-old with a kitchen knife showed signs of mental illness nine months before the attack, yet Los Angeles County child welfare officials decided she wasn't a serious threat to the boy.

Lars Sanchez was found dead on July 18 in a bedroom he shared with his mother.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that nine months earlier, Yolanda Tijerina was seen screaming and shouting "I think you killed my son" outside the boy's Highland Park preschool. The principal called a child abuse hot line.

Child welfare and mental health officials investigated but the boy wasn't removed from his home. Authorities concluded that any risk could be addressed through informal monitoring by relatives and neighbors.
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« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2009, 01:34:35 PM »

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/homicidereport/2009/07/highland-park-lars-sanchez-4.html

The Homicide Report
The Times chronicles L.A. County
homicide victims


Highland Park: Lars Sanchez, 4
July 25, 2009 |  4:31 pm
Lars Sanchez, a 4-year-old Latino boy, was stabbed to death July 18 in the 300 block of Vista Place in Highland Park, officials said.

Sanchez was apparently killed by a woman, who was also found dead in the home with her wrists slit, authorities said.

The woman, who has not been identified, and child were pronounced dead at the scene, a home ona narrow alley across the street from Garvanza Park, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Rosario Herrera.

Firefighters reported the death to police at 9:37 a.m., said Los Angeles Police Capt. Bill Murphy. Murphy would not say why firefighters were called to the area.

“It’s a brutal scene in there,” Murphy said.

Murphy would not say whether the victims had been involved with the county’s department of children and family services. He said county staff were not at the scene.

Neighbor Henry Lemus, 26, a restaurant server’s assistant, said he was shocked when he heard the news. Although he did not know them well, he was aware that a small child lived in the house.

“It’s sad because sometimes we hear that little kid crying,” Lemus said.

Lemus, a father of three, said that if he had realized the victims were in troubled, he would have intervened. “I wish I could have done something about it,” Lemus said. “I would have gone in and taken that kid away. But it’s too late now.”

Lemus and several other neighbors said they believe that an older woman also lived in the house, possibly with two grown daughters. He and other neighbors did not know the names of the people living there.

Neighbors stood in their driveways as police cordoned off surrounding streets and strung up yellow crime-scene tape.

Carlos Mendoza, 39, a bellman at a Hollywood hotel, said he moved to the neighborhood with his wife two years ago because he considered it safe.

“It was kind of strange to see something like this,” he said as he walked his dog past several police cars.

Alfred Glen, 46, a father of two, said he has lived in the neighborhood 25 years and was not worried about his family’s safety until today.

“It’s tragic,” he said of the deaths. “I try to shield my family from the news, but then it hits home.”
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« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2009, 01:37:22 PM »

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-child-death18-2009aug18,0,7683835.story
Boy's death shows weaknesses of L.A. County's child welfare system
Records show that Yolanda Tijerina exhibited signs of mental illness months before she decapitated her son Lars Sanchez, 4. But the risk was not deemed sufficient to remove him from her care.


A Highland Park neighbor of Yolanda Tijerina reacts upon hearing the news of the deaths of Tijerina and her son, Lars Sanchez. Lars had been decapitated and Tijerina had a knife wound to her wrist. (Christina House / For The Times)

 By Garrett Therolf

August 18, 2009

Such a hold allows a qualified peace officer or clinician to confine a person if the mental disorder makes her a danger to herself or others, or if it interferes with the person's ability to meet her own basic needs.

"One of the things that concerns me," Molina said, "is that no one checks to see if someone has children when they place a person" under a such a hold.

"They need to be checking that and alerting" the children's services agency.

In the end, the social workers found that Tijerina often spoke nonsensically. They found that her "emotional stability, developmental status or cognitive deficiency impairs her current ability to supervise, protect or care for the child."

But they said this risk could be addressed through three months of informal monitoring by a neighborhood resource center and observation by family members and neighbors, according to county documents.

(Neighbors said the boy's grandmother was seen frequently around the house, but it was unclear whether she lived there.)

Also counting in favor of the mother was the fact that she had been cooperative during the child-abuse investigation.

Department of Children and Family Services Director Trish Ploehn said confidentiality laws prohibited her from speaking about the case.

Dr. Roderick Shaner, medical director of the Mental Health department, said he also was constrained by confidentiality restrictions.

But he noted that records of an involuntary psychiatric hold at a private hospital would not necessarily come to light without the patient's explicit consent to search for the record.

Shaner said such mental health evaluations were "not geared to make determinations or predictions of what might happen."

Children and Family Services social workers "should be aware of the limited sources of information we have," Shaner said.
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« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2009, 01:40:19 PM »

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-child-deaths5-2009aug05,0,1098087.story
L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina blames the system in slaying of young boy
A 4-year-old killed by his mother in July had been the subject of a botched child-abuse investigation, she says.

    *

By Garrett Therolf

August 5, 2009

A 4-year-old boy killed last month by his mother at their Highland Park home had been the subject of a botched child-abuse investigation, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina said Tuesday. The mother committed suicide after decapitating her young son with a kitchen knife, according to police.

Last fall, the principal at the preschool that Lars Sanchez attended called the Department of Children and Family Services' child-abuse hotline to report "emotional abuse" of the boy by his mother, according to LAPD Capt. William A. Murphy.

Although the hotline call triggered an investigation by family services department officials, Molina said Tuesday that officials did not properly assess the mother's serious mental health problems. She said the investigation also failed to uncover the fact that Lars' mother previously had been involuntarily confined to a hospital after hospital officials determined her mental health problems to be severe enough to make her a threat to herself or others.

As a result, Lars was left in his mother's care, according to Molina, who represents the area and has been briefed on the case.

Molina said the system "made a huge mistake in this case." Lars was killed about 9 a.m. July 18 in the 300 block of Vista Place, across the street from Garvanza Park, authorities said. Murphy did not release the mother's name, saying he was waiting for clearance from homicide detectives. Police previously said she was 43.

Less than a week after Lars was killed, 6-year-old Dae'von Bailey was beaten to death in South Los Angeles.

Dae'von's death, which police allege was at the hands of a caregiver, came after a history of calls to the child-abuse hotline -- and accounts of abuse from the boy himself. It was the 18th time since January 2008 that a child died of abuse or neglect after coming to the attention of the family services department.

"Dae'von's death has attracted a lot of attention, but the case in Highland Park was equally severe, if not more so," Molina said.

It was still not clear Tuesday exactly where the system broke down in Lars' case and whether it involved family services agency social worker error or mistakes by another agency.

Molina and family services department Director Trish Ploehn said additional information could not be released because of confidentiality laws.

On the day of the murder-suicide, Murphy said the crime scene was among the worst he had ever seen and added that police psychologists were working with officers and others who saw it.

In response to the killings of Lars and Dae'von, supervisors began to consider reform measures Tuesday that included increased vetting of child-abuse investigations that are judged "unsubstantiated." Molina wants such cases reviewed by two additional managers.

In addition, supervisors hope to expand the number of children who undergo medical and mental health assessments during child abuse investigations at county facilities. Such assessments are conducted at six "hub" clinics, staffed with forensic pediatricians and other experts trained to spot abuse or neglect.

The supervisors, however, delayed final approval on the reform measures for another 30 days as county staffers study possible problems they might confront. Supervisor Mark-Ridley Thomas has called for an independent review of system failures in Dae'von's case.

Meanwhile, the supervisors approved Ridley-Thomas' request to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Marcas Fisher, 36, who was caring for Dae'von and is wanted by police.

The Los Angeles County district attorney has issued a warrant for Fisher, alleging one count each of murder and assault on a child causing death. Ridley-Thomas said the offer would also reward information leading to the arrest and conviction of any individual or individuals who are harboring or sheltering Fisher.

"LAPD investigators believe there are some who know of Mr. Fisher's whereabouts and may be harboring and helping him avoid arrest," Ridley-Thomas said.
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  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
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