SAVANNAH VINCENT - 5 yo (2008)/ Charged: Father and Stepmother; William and Barbara Vincent - Lafayette LA

It was June 2008 when five year old Savannah
Vincent died of head injuries in a Lafayette Hospital.





Last year her
father and step mother were indicted for second degree murder.

Now Savannah's mother, Amber Vincent, is
suing the state saying the Department of Social Services dropped the
ball when it came to providing responding to validated complaints of
child abuse.  Amber Vincent says her purpose is to make sure, in the
future, victims of child abuse get the protection needed to save their
lives.

We are awaiting a response from the State Attorney General's Office and/or the Department of Social Services.


http://www.kplctv.com/story/15149386/savannah-vincents-mother-sues-state-for-wrongful-death

Poster's Note: Original story from 2008

June 6, 2008
Reported By: Natalie Grise
Neighbors who knew Savannah Vincent, a kindergartener at EK Key Elementary
School, say they were shocked to find out what happened to the little
girl they described as an absolute angel. This was the last thing they
said they expected to hear about the couple they knew, or at least
thought they knew, living down the street.
There's still plenty of signs that a young child lived in this Sulphur home,
but five-year-old Savannah Vincent left here for the final time on
Sunday, when she was taken to a medical facility with severe head
injuries, and then transported to Lafayette.
"It wasn't until Tuesday when we were notified by Lafayette General that
she was in danger of dying and suffered from blunt force trauma," says
Criminal Investigation Commander Mike Byrne, with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office.
The ensuing investigation lead the Sheriff's Office straight to Savannah's father,
William Stewart Vincent, and her step-mother, Barbara Virginia Vincent.
"Through our investigation, we learned the child was with the two, and because
of the nature of the injuries, because she was in their custody and what
we learned from the interviews, we made the decision to arrest them," Byrne said.
Seven News spoke to neighbors of the Vincents, all of which declined to go on camera, but
they told us the couple had lived in a home on Lock Street for about a
year. During that time, they said they had never seen either one even
raise their voice to any of the children living with them.
That, according to Sheriff's Office investigators, is a different story than the family's history with law enforcement.
"Evidently, child protective services had to get involved because there needed to
be some sort of intervention, typically that's when they step in," Byrne said.
The Vincents are charged with Second Degree Cruelty to a Juvenile, but those charges could be upgraded
once an autopsy is complete and the official cause of death confirmed.
Their bond is currently set at $40,000 each. That too is subject to being raised as the investigation continues.
Savannah Vincent's body is still in Lafayette, her organs will be donated before
her body is brought back to Lake Charles for that autopsy.

http://www.kplctv.com/story/8445165/five-year-old-dies-father-and-step-mother-arrested?redirected=true

Father, stepmother indicted in death of 5-year-old girl

Posted: Jul 14, 2010 11:08 AM CST
Updated: Jul 14, 2010 6:18 PM CST
By Theresa Schmidt

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - The father and stepmother of a 5-year-old girl who died back in 2008 have been indicted for second degree murder in her death.

William Stewart Vincent, 30, and Barbara Virginia Vincent, 29, were indicted on Wednesday morning for the second degree murder of little Savannah Vincent who died in June, 2008. Authorities say that the girl died from brain trauma.

The investigation has been ongoing since 2008.  Back then the couple had been arrested for cruelty, but formal charges were pending.  District Attorney John DeRosier says it's taken this long to gather the necessary evidence. "The investigative process for a case of this type can get very complex. In this particular case we had medical evidence from several physicians that we had to consider and it is a result of that evidence and other evidence that obviously leads to the indictment for second degree murder."

This time last year we talked with Savannah's mother and great grand parents about their loss. They described savannah's life as short and tragic. Said great grandfather Glen Vaughn, "She was neglected, mistreated as a baby. Now even in death we can't find out what happened to her. We don't even have a death certificate" Her great grandmother Clara echoed his frustration and expressed hope there would someday be justice for Savannah.  "I hope they'll get 'em and send 'em away for life," she said.   Glen added tearfully, "Oh, she meant everything in the world."

Savannah's mother Amber Vincent said she was determined to seek justice for her little girl.  Tears streamed down her face as she told us, "I feel like I'm not a good mom sometimes. I feel like I'm letting her down."

Late this afternoon Savannah's father known as Stewart Vincent was brought into the Calcasieu Correctional Center. At last word Savannah's step mother Barbara Virginia Vincent was not yet in custody.

Late this afternoon we spoke to the great grandparents who are pleased with the indictment.  Said Glen Vaughan, "It ain't gonna bring her back but at least we can know what happened and get it over with."   Clara said, "We know she's at peace now because we know she had been mistreated and they're bringing it to justice now so the baby could at least rest in peace."

The Vaughans hope that the legal process will at least help them find out what actually happened to Savannah. Said Glen, "It's just hard to have to worry every day not really knowing what happened to her."

Savannah would have turned eight July 4th.

Judge Kent Savoie set bond for Barbara and William Vincent at $150 thousand each. At last word neither had been arrested on the new charges.

http://www.kplctv.com/story/12805592/father-stepmother-indicted-in-death-of-5-year-old-girl

Savannah Vincent's mother sues state for wrongful death

Posted: Jul 26, 2011 11:32 AM CST
Updated: Jul 26, 2011 6:48 PM CST
By Theresa Schmidt

Her death broke the hearts of many in the community and those charged in connection with the murder of 5 year old Savannah Vincent must still face trial. But there's also a civil action in connection with Savannah's death. And it aims to hold the State Department of Social Services accountable for a system some say failed Savannah.

It was June 2008, when five year old Savannah Vincent died of head injuries. Ultimately her father and stepmother were arrested and indicted for murder-- but Savannah's mother, Amber Vincent, says the system that helps to protect children from abuse must be held accountable as well. She says she complained that Savannah and her sister had suffered abuse while at their father's house.  "I've asked them for help over and over again and they did nothing."

She says because the state dropped the ball, Savannah was subjected to unsupervised visitation with her father and stepmother. Attorney Beth Zilbert represents Amber in the civil case.  "Amber did everything that a mother could do to the fullest extent of the law and the process that's available to her and the state agency failed her. She could not get the state agency to act on what she knew was occurring."

Zilbert says the state is trying to keep the suit from seeing the light of day by raising various technical issues that could bog it down. Said Zilbert, "Right now the state is doing everything legally possible to make sure that the public doesn't find out what happened."

Zilbert and Amber say their goal is to hold the State Department of Social Services accountable to prevent children from dying in the future.  Zilbert hopes,"that the procedures that are used will become much more rigorous and that follow through will be something that happens in every case."   Said Amber, "It's not about money because I would give everything they give me to have five minutes with her. You don't ever get used to losing a child."

Officials with the Department of Social Services say they cannot comment because the litigation is pending.

The criminal case against William Stewart Vincent and Barbara Virginia Vincent is set for trial in November. They are charged with second degree murder. William Vincent is out of jail on $100,000 bond. Barbara Vincent is still in jail awaiting trial.

http://www.kplctv.com/story/15149386/savannah-vincents-mother-sues-state-for-wrongful-death

State Supreme Court: DA can subpoena Public Defender Board's financial records

Last Modified: Saturday, June 01, 2013 11:14 PM
By Johnathan Manning / American Press

The Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office can subpoena the financial records of the state Public Defender Board, the state Supreme Court has decided.

The Supreme Court reinstated a decision made by Judge David Ritchie in November that gave the District Attorney’s Office the power to subpoena the board’s records as the court sought funds for an expert witness for William and Barbara Vincent’s defense.

The Vincents are charged with second-degree murder in the death of their 5-year-old daughter, Savannah Vincent. William Vincent is Savannah’s father, and Barbara Vincent is her stepmother.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal in March overruled Ritchie, saying the state did not show the “relevance” of the information. Prosecutor Carla Sigler appealed to the Supreme Court.

“We were concerned, but we always felt like this was the appropriate way to gather the information we needed,” District Attorney John DeRosier said.

Justice John Weimer offered a four-page dissent.

“Myself and the majority of the criminal defense attorneys I’ve discussed this with, we were all pretty shocked that they reversed the 3rd Circuit, for basically the reasons Justice Weimer says in his dissenting opinion,” said Shane Hinch, who was appointed to represent William Vincent, said.

“Allowing the prosecution to go on a fishing expedition for financial information over and above that of the state audit is just dangerous. Is that going to stop with regard to public entities or the capital assistance project? Will that be extended to individual law firms? I think the argument could be made that it could.”

Frank Neuner, head of the Public Defender Board, said the board is asking the state Supreme Court for a rehearing and is willing to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The group also plans to fight the breadth and scope of the subpoenas when they are issued, he said.

“I’m very disappointed in the court’s failure to recognize that allowing the 42 DAs around the state to delve into our finances is akin to allowing opposing football coaches to have your playbook for every game,” Neuner said. “I don’t think there’s any place in the law for the DA to be able to second-guess how the Public Defender Board, which is a 15-person volunteer board that receives no compensation, authorizes the expenditure of funds.”

A lack of funds at the Calcasieu Public Defender’s Office forced the office to cut positions and to farm some cases out to be worked for free by members of the local bar association.

While DeRosier said the PDO needs more money, he said that money is available from the Public Defender Board. He said the board is spending a disproportionate amount of its funds on capital defense and that it needs government oversight.

“We have asked them on many occasions, show us where you get your money and we may help you get more money,” DeRosier said.

He said 4.25 percent of the state’s population lives in Calcasieu Parish, but the public defense funding the parish receives from the board does not reflect those numbers. Neuner said much of the problem lies within Calcasieu.

Each parish is responsible for funding a portion of indigent defense through traffic tickets, court fines and fees, and bail-bond forfeitures, with traffic tickets accounting for most of that amount.

“The reality is there’s not enough funding for public defense statewide,” but “Calcasieu doesn’t raise its fair share through fines, fees and taxes. That’s the problem,” Neuner said.

He said PDO funding from Lake Charles City Court is down $100,000 over the past 12 months. “That is a perfect example of Lake Charles not carrying its load in funding the office,” he said.

Hinch also said local issues are contributing to the problem.

“The reason why we have the number of cases we have is that our DAs office seems to accept cases that should never be accepted,” he said. “Their screening process is poor. In addition to that, while the judges are getting better at this, they have not really perfected this as I’ve seen in other jurisdictions. They seem to be much more liberal about giving individual’s court-appointed lawyers.

“I think it’s disingenuous for the state to say that the Louisiana indigent defender board should allocate more funds due to the percentage that we have when they’re a part of the problem in the way they accept the cases. Everybody bears a little bit of the burden, and to throw it off on the PDO and say, ‘You guys are mismanaging your funds, otherwise you’d have more money,’ is really just a poor argument and an unfortunate argument because the people of our parish do need adequate representation. They need good representation.”

DeRosier reiterated something he has said many times — that the nearly one-third of the board’s annual $33 million budget it designates for capital punishment is too much.

“If an individual wants to do away with capital punishment in Louisiana, the best way to do it is not to go to the Legislature and ask them to do away with capital punishment. It’s to try and price capital punishment out of the marketplace. That’s the approach they’re taking to do it,” he said.

“The number of capital cases probably amount to one-tenth or two-tenths of 1 percent of all of cases that PDOs handle around the state, and they’re taking one-third of the budget. That should be reversed,”

Of the $33 million the board doled out last year, it spent $9.3 million to $9.5 million on capital defense, Neuner said.

He agreed that “it’s a lot of money,” but he said it’s necessary because the state requires that every capital offense case have two certified capital defense lawyers, an investigator and a mitigation specialist.

DeRosier said he isn’t trying to do away with public defense, but “fix the waste.”

“We’re here to make sure justice is done, not build up a high conviction rate,” DeRosier said. “We try not to prosecute innocent people. We just don’t do that.

“We want everybody to have a lawyer; we want everybody to have a defense. It does not necessarily have to be a Rolls Royce defense. It can be a Ford or Chevrolet defense, just as the rest of us would have if we were charged with a crime.”

http://www.americanpress.com/news/local/DA-can-subpoena-Public-Defender-Boards-financial-records