MIKAYLA TABIN - 7 Weeks (2010) - Fresno CA

A 23-year-old Fresno foster mother was
booked this week on murder charges in the death of a 7-week-old girl who
police say was the victim of shaken-baby syndrome.Mikayla Tabin
died last September at Children's Hospital Central California, prompting
child welfare and law enforcement officials to launch an investigation.Jovannee
Reynolds was arrested by Fresno police Thursday after a months-long
investigation that revealed shaken-baby syndrome, a term used to
describe symptoms resulting from violent shaking of an infant or small
child's head.On Aug. 30, Fresno County Child Protective Services
placed Mikayla with Reynolds and her husband at their central Fresno
apartment on the 3200 block of West Ashlan Avenue.On Sept. 13,
the couple took Mikayla to Children's Hospital, saying the infant was
having difficulty breathing. Mikayla died Sept. 20.


Jovannee Reynolds

The Fresno Police Department's Child Abuse Unit and the Fresno County
Coroner's Office began investigating what they determined was a
suspicious death.Reynolds' husband was not arrested, and police Lt. Mark Salazar said he is not a suspect.Fresno
County Social Services Director Catherine Huerta said the news was
devastating. "When children go into a foster system, we assume the child
is going to be safe," she said. "That obviously wasn't the case. It's
just heartbreaking."Huerta said social service workers routinely
look into home safety, do background checks on potential foster parents
and arrange for parenting classes. She said workers are trained to spot
those who should not be parenting.Huerta said after news of
Mikayla's death last year, her department looked back at the case to see
if there were any warning signs that Reynolds should not be a candidate
for foster parenting. Huerta said there weren't.Huerta said putting children
in foster homes "puts us in a vulnerable situation. I don't know how we can't be."Fresno
County Supervisor Henry Perea said there must be "massive reform" of
the state's foster care system. "It's always a tragedy to a community
when we lose a child," he said. "Here's another child who died in the
care of Fresno County. We should do better."Since 2006, there
have been at least three cases that resulted in a parent or guardian
being charged with killing a child after Fresno County social workers
already had been warned about abuse or neglect.The deaths of
10-year-old Seth Ireland, 3-year-old Erianna Beltran and 3-month-old
Roman Quiroz led Perea to make repeated calls for reform of the county's
Child Protective Services. The last publicized case of a child
dying in Fresno County foster care happened in 2008. In that case, there
was a dispute about what caused the child's death.
Justin Thomas Murrieta's natural parents have said they believe
he was smothered by a pillow.
But the Coroner's Office found that Justin died of natural circumstances --
a sudden, unexplained death of an otherwise healthy baby, Deputy
Coroner Sarah Davis said. No signs of trauma were found, she said.

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/03/18/2315330/fresno-foster-mom-arrested-in.html#ixzz1H3r2vtYv

Police: Foster mother was just in it for money
Fresno woman accused in death of infant girl.
Posted at 09:43 PM on Tuesday, Jul. 05, 2011

A Fresno woman who is accused of killing her 7-week-old foster child didn't like children, but became a foster mother to make money, according to a police affidavit filed in Fresno County Superior Court.
Jovannee Reynolds and her husband, Randall Reynolds, became foster parents in August last year because the couple had credit card debt and outstanding loans, Fresno police detective Teri Terry wrote in her affidavit.
The affidavit was written in support of a search warrant to get copies of the couple's bank records from Aug. 1, 2009, to June 7 of this year, court documents show.
A criminal complaint accuses only Jovannee Reynolds, 23, of murdering her foster child, Mikayla Tabin, who died in September at Children's Hospital Central California. She also is charged with assault causing Mikayla's death by violently shaking the child and child endangerment involving another foster child in her home.
If convicted, she faces at least 25 years to life in prison.

Reynolds, who is free on $200,000 bail, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Reynolds' attorney, Martin Taleisnik, said Tuesday the detective's affidavit surprised him.
"I don't believe she hates children," Taleisnik said.
Taleisnik also said that if police are successful in "planting a seed" that Reynolds hates children, it will cause potential jurors to dislike her and hurt her chances of getting a fair trial.
A police investigation shows the couple were in financial difficulty before becoming foster parents, the affidavit said. Jovannee Reynolds was unemployed, the affidavit said.
"They became foster parents for financial gain, rather than their desire to take care of children," Terry wrote. Foster parents can earn hundreds of dollars a month per child.
To bolster the case, police interviewed the manager of the apartment complex where the couple lived at the time of Mikayla's death. The manager said she was surprised to learn that Jovannee Reynolds was a foster mother because she thought Reynolds hated children, the affidavit said.
The manager also said Jovannee Reynolds complained on a regular basis "about kids playing in the apartment complex and making noise," the detective wrote.
In addition, before Jovannee Reynolds posted bail, jail officials recorded a conversation she had with a visitor, the affidavit said.
The visitor told Reynolds about the allegation that she didn't like kids and Reynolds "acknowledged that this was the case," the affidavit said.
The affidavit says Fresno County social workers placed Mikayla with Reynolds and her husband at their central Fresno apartment on the 3200 block of West Ashlan Avenue on Aug. 30. On Sept. 13, the couple took Mikayla to the hospital after the infant had trouble breathing.
When Mikayla died Sept. 20, the Fresno Police Department's Child Abuse Unit and the Fresno County Coroner's Office launched an investigation.
Reynolds was arrested March 17 after police said the investigation revealed Mikayla died of shaken-baby syndrome, a term used to describe symptoms resulting from violent shaking of an infant or small child's head.
Police did not arrest Reynolds' husband. The couple did not have children of their own.
Reynolds' next court appearance is Thursday.


Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/07/05/2453426/police-fresno-foster-mom-accused.html#storylink=mirelated#ixzz1Uq5bHHna

Foster Mom Shows Up in Court

For the first time since new evidence surfaced in her case, the Fresno foster mom accused of killing a 7-week-old baby girl showed up in court Thursday.

KMJ News was first to report details of a search warrant that alleges defendant Jovannee Reynolds, 23, and her husband may have been in money trouble -- so they became foster parents for financial gain.

"I don't think that's true," defense lawyer Martin Taleisnik told KMJ News.

Taliesnik also said other details in that warrant are wrong, such as the assertion by the manager of the apartment complex where Jovannee and her husband lived that she thought Jovannee hated children because she often complained about kids playing and making noise.

"Those were isolated incidents," Taliesnik said.

Jovannee Reynolds is accused of killing Mikayla Tabin last year, a short time after Mikayla was placed in Reynolds' care.

Reynolds has pleaded not guilty to murder and child endangerment and faces the prospect of life in prison.

http://www.kmjnow.com/pages/landing_news?Foster-Mom-Shows-Up-in-Court=1&blockID=536956&feedID=806

Foster Mom Shows Up in Court

Sorry if this is a silly and naive question but i'm not from america, why would they allow somebody so young and inexperienced foster a tiny baby???

Aussie Girl wrote:Foster Mom Shows Up in Court

Sorry if this is a silly and naive question but i'm not from america, why would they allow somebody so young and inexperienced foster a tiny baby???

---Welcome to J4C AG!
There is a definite shortage of "fostering" parents here. Maybe I should say that a different way...
There is an overabundance of children who need caring, loving, supportive families here.
Our government pays these folks to take care of these children.
Some people fool their way through the initial investigations and processes and wind up as caregivers.
To these people the children become a source of income but when they realize it isn't worth the bother
they will abuse and/or murder the children rather than turn them back to the system.
It's all about the money for them.

Its just so tragic, my expectation is that a foster family is a warm loving family because they have chosen to take care of a child in need. Its disturbing that kids are dying while in the care of a foster family.

I feel compelled to read all the stories listed on this site to somehow honour the kids murdered, to let them know that people care that they lived and died, that they deserved to be loved and protected by the adults in their lives but they were let down. I can't help feeling the loneliness these poor kids felt, they were too young to know that they had a right to a better life, to be loved and to feel safe.

The stories are the same, its really just the names and faces that change, young adults out of their depth, undeveloped coping skills and not enough life skills. Or its a mother boyfriend who kills the child because they have no emotional attachment because the child is not their flesh and blood. Or they are simply monsters who don't care.

I think abuse is a never-ending cycle that gets passed down from one generation to the next because they don't seem to know any better and therefore continue the cycle. We only really become aware of child abuse when they take it to far and either seriously injure a child and become know to the authorities or they murder the child. Think of all the children out there experiencing child abuse on a day to day basis who are undetected. The tragic part is that only in death are these precious children free from these monsters.

Sorry I got completely off the track but I really needed to say the above.

You are welcome to share your opinions here, AG.
That's what we are all about. We need an open exchange of ideas on how
we can stop these horrific crimes to the most innocent of victims.
When you see a member "Kiwimom"- she's a neighbor of yours to the East, from NZ. Another member is "karma" she's from Canada. We have British, Mexican and other areas too. This is not just a US problem...this needs a global solution.
When did people stop caring about children?

P.S. I know karma would welcome help in the International rooms if you are interested in becoming more involved...