ADRAIN HINES - 14 Months (2008) - Ithaca (NW of Binghamton) NY

Alleging that her 14-month-old son Adrian Hines suffered fatal head
injuries in a local foster home over a year and a half ago, Kristine
Freda is suing Tompkins County and the county Department of Social
Services for negligence and other claims.
Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that DSS didn't follow
protocol and procedures to ensure the foster home was a safe and healthy
environment for Adrian, or try to ascertain whether Adrian could've
been placed with one of Freda's relatives. The suit, filed by Freda's
attorney Edward E. Kopko, also alleges DSS fabricated child abuse and
other claims in order to remove Adrian from Freda's home.The county and DSS
breached their duty to provide Adrian "a safe living environment, free
from risk for personal harm or injury," Kopko wrote in documents
recently filed in Tompkins County Supreme Court."The negligence of Tompkins (County) and DSS in
breaching its duty to Hines was the proximate cause of Hines' injuries,
including his conscious pain and suffering and his untimely and
premature death on Oct. 3, 2008," Kopko wrote.Around 5:20 p.m. Oct. 2, deputies, Freeville
firefighters and Etna firefighters responded to the report of an
unresponsive child at the foster home on Etna Road, sheriff's officials
said. Adrian was taken to Cayuga Medical Center and on to Upstate
Medical Center in Syracuse, they added.A doctor there told Freda that the Adrian was brain
dead because of head trauma — including swelling and bleeding of his
brain — caused by shaken baby syndrome, the lawsuit reads. Based on the
doctor's advice, Freda discontinued Adrian's life support, and he died
in her arms.An
autopsy later determined that Adrian's death was a homicide, sheriff's
officials said.Among
its many other functions, DSS "oversees recruitment and retention of
qualified, caring families who are willing to provide temporary foster
care for children and to work with families toward reunification,"
according to its website.The
department removed Adrian from Freda's home in late July 2008, and
later alleged in a neglect petition that her home was unsafe and
unsanitary, and that she had hit Adrian, shaken him and screamed at him
on May 22, 2008 — all of which Freda denies emphatically, the lawsuit
said. A doctor examined Adrian after May 22 and found him "to be without
injury," the suit goes on to say.
On or about July 28, DSS placed Adrian in the Etna Road foster home —
which was a "more dangerous of an environment than Freda's home" because
Adrian was regularly left in the care of the foster family's
15-year-old daughter "without adult supervision," the lawsuit alleges.
The county and department should have known or could have easily found
out that the teenager lacked the training, education, maturity or
responsibility to care for Adrian, the lawsuit goes on to say.
Freda is suing for her pain and suffering due to Adrian's death, his
medical expenses, funeral costs and attorneys' fees, among other things.The county is in the
process of answering the complaint, but don't believe it is responsible
for Adrian's death, said County Attorney Jonathan Wood."This terrible tragedy was not the fault of the
department of social services," Wood said. All foster children were
removed from the home after the incident, and none have been placed
there since, he added.Her
office's investigation into the incident is closed at this point, said
District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson."We were unable to develop evidence to prove beyond a
reasonable as to who inflicted the fatal injuries," she said. They'll
reopen the case if more evidence comes to light, she added.

New York Foster Care

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2009
Infant dies in NY foster home of 'shaken baby syndrome'
Mother to sue over son slain in foster care
County should have prevented it, she says
Drumsta, Raymond. Ithaca Journal, June 8, 2009.

ITHACA - A 14-month-old boy in foster care died due to negligence by the Tompkins County Department of Social Services, according to his mother.

More:
http://newyorkfostercare.blogspot.com/2009/06/infant-dies-in-ny-foster-home-of-shaken.html

Moved now that its being called a homocide.