http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/CPS_never_deemed_Colon_a_threat_to_her_2_boys.html
CPS never deemed Colon a threat to her 2 boysWeb Posted: 02/07/2010 12:00 CST
Jose Luis Garcia, 3 (left), and Guillermo Garcia, 19 months, during a visit with Santa Claus.
By Peter J. Holley - Express-News
If any threat existed against the two small boys living with their parents in a weathered North Side house, officials said, it was their father.
Authorities had responded to the home on Weizmann Street, near Blanco Road, six times in six months for reports of domestic violence.
In late September, the tension appeared to escalate, with three 911 calls made in four days, police records show, culminating with the arrest of the father, Luis Garcia-Pacheco.
With his Sept. 30 arrest on a battery charge, the apparent threat was removed — or so thought a Child Protective Services caseworker, who had visited the home seven times that month.
Through last Monday, the caseworker made 26 other scheduled and unscheduled visits and became increasingly confident that the boys' mother, Elyse Marsyl Colon, was becoming a better parent, a CPS official said.
But the day after the caseworker's final visit last week, the young brothers were stabbed to death. Police said Colon, 22, met officers outside the house Tuesday and held out her hands, saying: “I just killed my babies.”
Colon was charged with two counts of capital murder and remains jailed in lieu of posting $2 million bail. The slayings of Guillermo Garcia, 19 months, and Jose Luis Garcia, 3, marked the first child killings this year in San Antonio.
Authorities on Saturday said the disappearance of 9-month-old Gabriel Johnson now is being investigated as a homicide. His mother, who last was seen with her son in San Antonio, remains jailed in Arizona.
Last year, five children were killed in San Antonio, allegedly by their caregivers.
Authorities have released few other details about last week's killings of Guillermo and Jose Luis, including a possible motive.
District Attorney Susan Reed, though, said there is more to the case than has been made public.
“Drugs are a very big part of why people do things like this,” Reed said by phone. “We may learn more about that as this case develops.”
Authorities haven't said whether Colon might have been using drugs at the time of the killings.
Mary Walker, a CPS spokeswoman, said someone reported in 2006 and again in 2008 that Colon was using drugs. But tests were negative, she said.
Colon wasn't tested for drugs during a CPS investigation last summer. Nor was she tested any time after the case was transferred to the agency's Family Based Safety Services Division, Walker said, because no new allegations were made.
Reed called the case “gut-wrenching,” and said she has requested that authorities investigate Colon's state of mind before her sons were killed.
“The fact that she called police to tell them she killed her children indicates she knew what she was doing was wrong,” she said.
A violent father
Walker said Colon's caseworker, who has been with the state agency since June 2008, saw no signs that Colon was violent.
In fact, Walker said, since Colon began working with CPS last summer, she had been receptive to the agency's services, which included the teaching of basic parenting skills, help with the $650 monthly rent and lessons on keeping her children clean.
Walker said the caseworker, whom she wouldn't identify, visited Colon about twice a week, on average, to keep tabs on her progress. With what appeared to be strong family support and a seeming willingness to work with CPS, Walker said the agency saw no reason to remove the children from the home.
“These aren't heartless, uncaring folks,” Walker said, referring to caseworkers.
In Colon's final visit with her caseworker, who was juggling seven other cases, Colon talked about her children's new haircut. There was no indication, Walker said, that the boys were in trouble.
One local child abuse expert said that even though warning signs are foggy, domestic violence in a household significantly increases the risk of physical abuse of children.
“The fact that you have domestic violence in a household means you have one or more individuals who are willing to take out their frustrations physically,” said Dr. Nancy Kellogg, a pediatrics professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
But domestic violence isn't enough to remove children from a house, Walker said. The agency's investigation found no evidence of physical abuse against Colon's children, concluding instead that their proximity to domestic violence had left them physically neglected.
“At the time of the children's death, there was no safety plan in place for the mother,” Walker said. “The father posed no further risk because he had been incarcerated.”
CPS began working with Colon in May after she admitted to being in a violent relationship with Garcia-Pacheco.
Three months later, the case was transferred to the Family Based Safety Services division, which offers help to parents and advice on how best to protect their children.
A month after being enrolled, Walker said the caseworker learned Garcia-Pacheco was accused of physically and sexually assaulting Colon. In October, Colon applied for a protective order for herself and the boys. The two-year order was agreed upon on Nov. 5, according to court documents.
Garcia-Pacheco has been jailed since his September arrest. Authorities said he also has been charged with entering the country illegally and is being held on a federal detainer.
Concerns about mom
Aside from CPS, staff members at Brighton, a nonprofit that helps educate children with learning disabilities, began working with Colon and her youngest son late last year.
“From their initial visit, there was some concern about the mom's ability to understand what they were talking about and what was going on so we contacted the CPS caseworker who was already working with the family,” Brighton Director Kim Jeffries said.
Jefferies said her staff raised concerns with CPS about Colon's apparent inattention to her child, her inability to take instruction and what appeared to be bruising on the boy's arm.
Walker said CPS investigated the bruising complaint but found no indication of child abuse. There was, however, a rash on the child. Because of that, Colon was given additional instructions to help her focus on hygiene and keeping her home and children clean.
State Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, whose work with the multiagency Blue Ribbon Task Force seeks to prevent child abuse and neglect in the city, said last week's killings have forced public officials to consider what could have been done differently.
“I think the city has been in denial,” Uresti said. “We can't imagine how somebody could do this. But we need to move from shock to action. We can't give up. There still needs to be awareness.”
And, he said, last week's case is another opportunity to improve CPS, which in recent years has struggled with high turnover and overtaxed caseworkers.
“They need more on-the-job training so they can have the experience to know when somebody is pulling their leg,” he said. “That comes with being a seasoned caseworker.”
The caseworker assigned to Colon was especially attentive, Walker said.
The month after Garcia-Pacheco was jailed, the caseworker visited Colon eight times. She visited six times in November and seven more in December.
In Colon's case, things seemed to be improving, Walker said.
Brighton's director agreed, as the staff last met with Colon and the CPS caseworker in late January.
“That last visit they had was all very positive and the mom showed a different interaction” with her son, Jefferies said.
Walker said Colon was receptive, even taking the agency's suggestion that she and her children stay with her mother, who lives about a mile away and who could help monitor and care for the boys.
“The children's mother did so, remaining there through the final visit by the worker,” Walker said.
Relatives of Colon haven't responded to repeated requests for interviews. Last week, they released a statement thanking the community for its prayers.
“With broken spirits and shattered hearts we are humbled and so very grateful for your thoughts and prayers,” the statement said. “Thank you for giving us strength. Please know that we are certain that our angels ... are in the arms of Jesus. Please know that nothing will ever fill the void this tragedy has caused.”
On the night of the final CPS visit, hours before police said the boys were fatally stabbed, neighbors of her mother said Colon ate dinner with her family. If she followed her typical routine, she put her children in their stroller and went for a walk around the block afterward, saying hello to neighbors who had known her all her life.
Until she was accused of killing her children, these neighbors were the people who thought they knew her best.
“She was a sweetheart and I never saw her angry,” said Martha Arkene, a family friend. “She just snapped the wrong way.”
Staff Writers Michelle Mondo and Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje contributed to this report.