ALIZE VICK - 2 yo (2007) - Colorado Springs CO

A jury found a former foster mom guilty Friday in the child abuse
death of a two-year-old girl, but stopped short of convicting her on a
first-degree murder charge that would have spelled life in prison.
Instead, Jules Lynn Cuneo, 36, faces between 16 to 48 years in
prison when she is sentenced on April 12 for child abuse resulting in
the death of Alizé Vick, who died Oct. 10, 2007, in her care of a
closed head injury. Cuneo also faces another 4 to 12 years in prison
for reckless manslaughter.
Because she was convicted of a violent crime, she will have to serve
75 percent of her sentence before she becomes eligible for parole,
according to a Department of Corrections spokeswoman. If given the
shortest possible sentences, Cuneo would spend a minimum of between 12
and 15 years in prison, depending on whether the sentences are imposed
concurrently or consecutively. If given the longest possible sentences,
Cuneo would spend a minimum of between 36 and 45 years behind bars.
The nine-man, three-woman jury took about seven hours over two days
to reach the verdict, following six days of testimony. They filed out
of the courtroom, walking past the five-slat wooden coffee table where
Alizé suffered a fatal blow to the back of her head when she hit the
edge of the table.
They also passed by Cuneo, who sat sobbing from the moment when 4th
Judicial District Judge Larry Schwartz began reading the verdict.
Alizé’s parents and grandmother left the courtroom through a back
entrance and declined comment after the verdict. El Paso County Human
Services had taken custody of the child and her younger brother and
entrusted them to Cuneo after both their parents had been jailed.
The trial was a duel of medical experts who clashed on what caused
Alizé’s death. Prosecution experts said the girl’s injuries were
inconsistent with a short fall of the kind that Cuneo described. A
defense expert countered that there was no way to tell if the child was
the victim of an innocent fall or an angry shove.
Cuneo’s defense lawyer Dennis Hartley described the case as a difficult one.
“It was a case where my client made a statement that was hard to get
around,” Hartley said, referring to a videotaped interview in which
Cuneo admitted to an El Paso County Sheriff’s investigator that she had
tossed the child about five feet across the living room in a fit of
anger.
Initially, Cuneo had told investigators the child had fallen out of
her the foster mom’s lap while they were playing “bouncy horsey” and
hit the back of her head as she tumbled.
Asked if he felt some accomplishment in avoiding a first-degree
murder conviction and life sentence for his client, Hartley replied no.
“It’s still just a half a loaf,” he said. “But am I devastated? No.”
A spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors were pleased with the outcome.
“The district attorney’s office is extremely happy with this
verdict,” said spokeswoman Kathleen Walsh. “We know that the jury
worked very hard….We know now that justice has been served.”
“Jules Cuneo was supposed to take care of a child and she failed,”
Walsh added. “With this long prison sentence that she will face, we
know that she will not be able to harm the community.”
The issues raised in the trial will continue to linger in a civil
lawsuit filed by Alizé’s parents against El Paso County Human Services.
They contend the agency overlooked obvious warning signs about Cuneo
and neglected to respond to several reports of neglect and abuse. That
civil lawsuit is still pending.

A settlement may be near for the birth mother of a 2-year-old girl who died
at the hands of her foster mother in Colorado Springs, according to lawyers.

Alize Vick died in October after prosecutors said she thrown five feet across
a living room by her foster mother, 36-year-old Jules Lynn Cuneo. She was
convicted earlier this month of child abuse resulting in death.Vick's mother sued El Paso County in federal court, alleging social workers
ignored signs of abuse. Her claim included an anonymous letter and tape
recording made by a neighbor.
El Paso County Attorney William Louis said lawyers are still working out the
details of the settlement. He said county commissioners would have to approve
the settlement, including a dollar amount, in a public vote.

The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $300,000
out-of-court settlement with the estate of Alizé Vick, a 2-year-old killed while
in foster care.
The settlement clears the El Paso County Department of Human Services of all claims in a suit brought by
the estate of Vick, who died of a closed head injury while in the care of former
foster mother Jules Lynn Cuneo.
The settlement will be paid from the county's self-insurance risk management
fund, said Rick Bengtsson, director of El Paso County Department of Human Services.

As a result of Vick's death, the department initiated what it called a "best
practices review." The department has since assigned an additional employee to
its team that investigates alleged child abuse
cases in foster homes, among other changes, the county said.
“We were responsible for her care and well-being,” Bengtsson said Tuesday.
“But the person who killed the child was ultimately responsible.”
A supervisor now reviews any allegation of child abuse, including
photographs, videotape, audio tape or other relevant information. And the
three-person team that reviews child abuse complaints investigates all assigned
allegations involving a foster home within 24 hours.
“It was a tragic event,” said Bengtsson, “and we’re going to do everything we
can to make sure it never happens again.”
On Feb. 19, a 4th Judicial District jury found Cuneo guilty of child abuse resulting in death
but did not convict her of first-degree murder, which would have meant
mandatory life in prison.
The jurors in the criminal case did not hear some evidence that might have
figured in a civil trial, such as alleged instances of verbal abuse by Cuneo
overheard by a neighbor on a baby monitor.
A civil trial also could have raised other issues, such as allegations that
authorities ignored obvious issues about Cuneo’s suitability before she was
approved as a foster care mom and complaints raised months prior to Alizé’s
death by her grandmother.
El Paso County Human Services removed Alizé and her younger brother Anthoni from
their home in March 2007, in part because they were living with their paternal
grandfather, a registered sex offender.
On the day the county took custody of the children, their mother, Ashley Lindenberger, said she was high on drugs.
One month later, she and the children's father were in jail.
Lindenberger also filed lawsuits in 4th Judicial District Court against
Cuneo and Kids Crossing, the nonprofit agency that placed the Vick children with Cuneo.
However, all sides reached an agreement to dismiss those lawsuits on Nov. 25,
according to court records.
Jeffrey R. Hill, the attorney for Lindenberger in both the state and federal lawsuits, said earlier
this month he could not comment on the reason for the dismissal.

OMG this makes me so angry. Nobody owes this mother a FF thing. She exposed her child to a sex offender and she is a useless druggy who couldn't take care of her children because she was in jail. This baby would not have needed to be with any other caregiver if it weren't for this mothers actions. She obviously feels no sense of responsibility in the part she played in the death of her child, and it's some ridiculous law that would make it ok for her to sue and be given $300,000 of tax payers money. FF crazy world we live in

kiwimom wrote:OMG this makes me so angry. Nobody owes this mother a FF thing. She exposed her child to a sex offender and she is a useless druggy who couldn't take care of her children because she was in jail. This baby would not have needed to be with any other caregiver if it weren't for this mothers actions. She obviously feels no sense of responsibility in the part she played in the death of her child, and it's some ridiculous law that would make it ok for her to sue and be given $300,000 of tax payers money. FF crazy world we live in

---The money, as I understand it, will go to the child's estate. It was the birth parents who were suing the authorities because of the foster mother they placed the child with.

Jules Lynn Cuneo was recently convicted of child abuse resulting in the death
of her foster child, 2-year-old Alize Vick. Cuneo's sentencing scheduled for
Monday afternoon has been re-set to April 19, 2010.
It was back in October of 2007 when prosecutors say Cuneo was "angry at Alize
and threw her across a coffee table." Alize died of her injuries.Vick's biological mother sued El Paso County. She alleged social workers
ignored signs of abuse inside Cuneo's home. The county made a $300,000
settlement with Alize's family. The director of human services for the county,
Rick Bengtsson tells 11 News the department has added staff, increased
supervision and will soon be advised by a volunteer board.
"The Alize case is a tragedy," he said. "I hope we've learned lessons from
this."
Those in the foster care community in El Paso County are frustrated with the
negative attention surrounding the foster care system. Patti Svendson who says
she's been a foster mother for more than two decades says the Alize Vick case is
the exception, not the rule.
"There are so many of us that are out there that work so hard and are so
good," said Svendson. It's really sad that an instance like this puts such a
dark light on all of us." she said.

A woman convicted of killing the foster child was sentenced to 32 years in
prison Monday afternoon. Jules Cuneo killed 2-year-old Alize Vick in 2007.
Alize died in 2007 at the age of 2 of injuries sustained when prosecutors say
Cuneo threw the girl across the room and onto a coffee table.
Vick's biological mother sued El Paso County. She alleged social workers
ignored signs of abuse inside Cuneo's home. The county made a $300,000
settlement with Alize's family. The director of human services for the county,
Rick Bengtsson says the department has added staff, increased
supervision and will soon be advised by a volunteer board.
"The Alize case is a tragedy," he said. "I hope we've learned lessons from this."
Cuneo was originally charged with first-degree murder, but the jury convicted
her instead on lesser charges of child abuse and reckless manslaughter.
Cuneo will get credit for time she's already served, about two years.