LAMOUR CAESAR-BURNLEY - 2 months (2008) - Milwaukee WI

In the end, it was Lamour Caesar-Burnley's tiny body that spoke most forcefully of the
neglect he endured in the final weeks of his life.
Lamour, a preemie who spent the first three weeks of his life in a hospital,
had been home less than a month when he died of starvation in July 2008.
In that short time, his 4-pound 12.9-ounce body dropped three-quarters of
a pound. Desperate to stave off starvation, his body devoured its fat,
then its muscle, then began to steal protein from its own vital organs.
"Lamour's death was one of great and prolonged suffering," Assistant District
Attorney Matt Torbenson said Thursday, describing the infant's wasted
condition during the sentencing hearing of his mother, Vera Morehouse.
"His body turned on itself."
Morehouse, 22, who in November pleaded guilty to child neglect, resulting in
death, was sentenced to serve six years in prison by Milwaukee County
Circuit Judge Kevin Martens, who also ordered Morehouse to serve seven
years of extended supervision.
In many child-death sentencing hearings, the court gallery is crowded with
people wearing shirts commemorating the child. Tearful relatives and
friends take turns telling the judge what the child's loss means to
them.
Not Thursday. Only Torbenson and Assistant District Attorney Denis Stingl spoke for the child.
Morehouse's parents, Robert Morehouse and Tina Jefferson, told Martens they believed that Lamour's death was an accident.
"I think she was a great mother to her kids," Jefferson told Martens. "She did all she could."
Morehouse told Martens: "I love my kids. I did not know my baby wasn't OK."
They were not the only adults who failed to appreciate the gravity of Lamour's condition.
Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare workers, according to a Journal Sentinel
investigative report that appeared in October, failed to act on clear
and repeated warnings that the infant was in danger.
Morehouse, while pregnant with Lamour, was arrested on charges of trying to run
over Lamour's father, Damone Burnley, according to court records.
Second-degree recklessly endangering safety charges were dropped after
Lamour's death.
When Lamour was born on June 1, 2008, a misdemeanor neglect charge was
pending against Morehouse. According to court documents, she had left a
6-year-old son home alone. The boy was found sleeping in a park across
the street from her apartment.
The bureau was notified of the neglect. It was the second call the bureau
had received about Morehouse in a week, the sixth in less than three
years.
Morehouse was first reported to the bureau in November 2005 because her
18-month-old child had a broken arm. Morehouse said the child had
fallen down steps. A bureau worker ruled claims of abuse
unsubstantiated.
Five days later, the bureau received a report that Morehouse's boyfriend was
abusing the toddler. Though the abuse allegation was substantiated,
child welfare investigators were unable to determine who had injured
the child, and the case was closed.
The bureau received a third call in February 2007. The allegation of neglect was unsubstantiated, and the case was closed.
The bureau received yet another call alleging neglect six months later. That complaint also was ruled unsubstantiated.
Four days before Morehouse's 6-year-old was found in the park, the bureau
investigated allegations that the boy had been left alone while she was
in jail. The child had been with relatives, a worker determined.
Morehouse was six months pregnant with Lamour when the 6-year-old was found.
After the misdemeanor neglect charge was issued later that month, a
bureau worker made three unsuccessful visits to Morehouse and her
children at their home. No one answered the door, and the worker left.
"No services were provided to the family prior to the death of Baby Lamar
(sic)," according to a report by the Department of Children and
Families, which runs the Milwaukee bureau.
Cyrus Behroozi, a department administrator, said at the time: "The failure to act is inexcusable."
Martens echoed Behroozi's remark in sentencing Morehouse.
"There is no reason, no explanation, no excuse for why this child died under these conditions," he said.