Luckily the judge gave custody to Chris’ parents when we were arrested. The judge told Chris’ mother that she would have never given the children to her if we weren’t incarcerated. I have some comfort knowing my children are with family.

 Meanwhile all I can do is hope and pray. Maybe God will get me through this. I hope I can withstand all of this pain and suffering. My children are in another state and my fiance is in jail. I am trying to raise money for and attorney but they want 10,000 dollars just to take on our case. My public defender never returns my calls and I feel lost in a loop of madness. I just pray there is someone out there who can help me.

My name is Kathryn  Taylor , Chris Heath and I have two sons.  Devin , will turn two in November and Isaac is seven months old.  My family and I reside in Emanuel County, GA.  On July 26, 2008 Devin fell victim to a terrible self-inflected accident in which he received 2^nd degree burns on his feet that required skin grafts.  This incident led to both of my sons being removed from our custody and being placed in foster care due to suspected abuse. 

§  Prior to this incident our children had never been injured

§  There are no other signs of neglect or abuse (bruises, broken bones, etc)

§  We had never been investigated by CPS

§  We were not given the opportunity to have relatives take possession of the children rather than having them put in foster care

The purpose of this letter is to request your review of our case, and find in our favor to have our children returned to us.  The justice system has utterly failed us.  We did not and will not ever abuse or injure our children.  In the summary details below and documents attached, we are hopeful that you will see the injustice that has occurred and assist us in having this ruling overturned.  Our children are our life, and our families are devastated by the courts decision.

Prior to the accident:

§  The children were primarily cared for by Chris and  myself 

§  Devin attended daycare while we were working, and Isaac went to the office with me.

§  The children frequently spent weekends with my parents,  Rachelle and David Taylor

§  Devin had just returned from a 4-week visit with Chris’s parents, Mike and Leigh DePrince.

§  The children went to all scheduled doctor appointments, and were current with all vaccinations.

§  All doctor exams went well, and there was no concern of neglect or abuse.

July 26, 2008: (Day 1)

§  We are awoken by Devin’s screams – he had gotten out of his crib, into the bath tub and turned the hot water on; which resulted in the 2^nd degree burns on his feet.

§  Devin was repeatedly picking his feet up and down and crying. 

§  Chris and Bradley  immediately got him out of the tub, and I called 911.  I rode to the hospital in the Ambulance, which arrived 15-20 minutes after our call.  Chris and his brother, Bradley, arrived at the hospital later with our son Isaac.

§  At the hospital Devin was sedated, and examined by Dr. Howard and many nurses.  They advised that Devin had 3^rd Degree burns on his feet, and advised they would be transferring him to the Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta.  The hospital records indicate that at this point there were red marks on the back of Devin’s legs.

§  Carmen Fagler and, her father, Investigator Fagler met with us at the hospital and advised they were there to help us, and requested we complete some paper work.   It was not until the paperwork was complete that  Carmen Falger advised us that she was with DFACS.  At this point she asked if there was a family member who could look after Isaac, since she felt that it was unsafe for him to remain in our custody.  I advised her that my parents lived in Augusta, and that my mother was on her way to the burn center where they were sending Devin.  Within the hour, I contacted my mother on the phone, told her the situation, and she advised that she would come to the hospital and take Isaac into her custody.  I offered to allow Ms. Fagler to speak with my mother on the phone , at this point  Ms. Fagler did speak with my mother on the phone and advised her that it was too late for her to come pick up Isaac because DFACS had already taken custody of the children. 

o   The law states that we should have been given 24hrs to find a suitable custodian for our children; we didn’t even get 3 hrs.

§  My mother and father remained at the Doctor’s Hospital, and Chris, Bradley and I drove there to be with Devin.  When we arrived, we were advised that Devin had been examined by Dr. Cardie, and he reported that Devin had sustained 2^nd degree burns. 

o   In contradiction to Dr. Howard’s report that they were 3^rd degree

§  My mother also advised me that Dr. Cardie was accusing Chris and/or me of holding Devin’s feet in the water to intentionally burn him!  Based on the fact that the tops of his feet to his ankles evenly and were more burnt than his heals, in addition to the fact that there were no “splash” burns on his legs.

o   Dr. Cardie testified in court that there were no “splash” burns.  This contradicts the medical records.  The medical records state …..

o   His observation actually supports the fact that we did NOT hold him in the water, that he was burnt up to his ankles by the standing water in the tub and his heals were less burnt, because the skin is tougher and less tender than on the toes, tops and ankles.  There were no “splash” burns on his legs, because he was standing there – picking his feet up and down, screaming for help.

o   If this was intentional, wouldn’t there have been “splash” burns on his legs from where he was attempting to kick his feet out of the water AND marks or bruises on his legs or other parts of his body where someone would have been holding him tight to do such harm!

§  Later on Devin was moved into RM 615 at the Doctor’s Hospital.  Dr. Cardie advised that the skin graft procedure had been done.

o   But it had not.  We found this out when they came to get him for the surgery, which they ended up postponing.

§  We were advised that Chris, Bradley and I were not able to stay overnight with Devin and that while visiting during the day we must leave the door open.  This was devastating to us, and literally sickened us to know that we were being accused of causing intentional injury to our child.  Please be advised that Devin was never left alone.  A family member was with him at all time.  

July 27, 2008 (Day 2)

§  Devin went in for his 1^st surgery to repair the burnt skin on his feet.  My parents, Chris, Bradley  and I were at the hospital.

§  By advice of my parents, Brad and I returned to my house to take care of the pets, finish the laundry and unload the dishwasher. 

§  Mrs. Flagler came to my home, prior to me arriving, and then later accused me of “fishy” behavior because I went to my home after she had been there.

§  While at the house, the landlord call me to find out how Devin was doing.  Mrs. Fagler had contacted him and shared information regarding my case with him.  He advised that he had contacts at DFACS and said “Don’t dig yourself a hole that you wont’ be able to get yourself out of.”  I’m not sure if this was a threat or warning about DFACS.

§  Mrs. Fagler and Shanna Lewis arrived back at my house and requested to see the home, the children’s sleeping areas and the bathroom where the accident occurred.  I showed them, and Mrs. Fagler tested the water and acknowledged that it did get very hot very quickly.

§  I advised them that I had asked the landlord on at least two occasions prior to the accident to adjust the hot water heater.  However, he had not done so, nor had he made any of the other requested repairs.

§  Mrs. Fagler and Shanna Lewis also asked me to re-tell the events of the accident.  I did just as I had previously.  Mrs. Fagler began saying that Chris had told her something else, I kept to the facts, which I told her but she continued to push the issue.  Later when I spoke to Chris, he indicated that he had not ever said the things she had told me he said.  I felt as though she was trying to get me to change my recollection of events.  I didn’t and still don’t understand why she is so persistent on trying to blame Chris or I for this accident.

§  Mrs. Fagler requested that Brad (Chris’ brother) and I take drug tests at the Hospital.  Where she advised we needed to be in 10 minutes to do so.  On the way to the hospital I called my Dad to check on Devin and tell him what was happening.  He immediately called a lawyer who advised that we should not take the tests and should not speak to Mrs. Fagler again.  I then contacted Mrs. Fagler and advised her of what my Father had said.  I did not hear from her again, until the 72-hour hearing.

July 28 (Day 3)

§  72-hour hearing:

o   Judge, Sherri McDonald, awarded DFACS custody of both of our children. 

o   Our attorney, Mrs. Oliver, requested that my parents be awarded temporary custody instead of DFAC.  My Parents have a clean, child friendly home, are wonderful caregivers to our children, and they are mentally and financially stable.  Judge McDonald denied the request, pending evaluation of my parents and their home.

o   Mrs. Oliver then petitioned that our rights were violated when DFACS did not allow my parents to take custody of the children on Day 1.  Judge McDonald then ordered that the evaluation of my parents and their home be expedited.  Mrs. Fagler was to be reprimanded by her supervisor for not following protocol and to be supervised for the remainder of our case.

§  After court, we met with Mr. Barbara Sikes at the Swainsboro CASA building.  We completed paperwork for visitation with Isaac.  Our visits were scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12pm – 1pm, but we would not be able to see him on the 1^st scheduled Thursday visitation.

§  Mrs. Oliver made arrangements for us to be allowed to stay overnight with Devin in the hospital.

o   Mrs. Fagler then sent a letter to the hospital, addressed to Mr. Taylor and Ms. Heath (we are Mr. Heath & Ms. Taylor) indicating that we could now stay overnight with Devin, but only with a family member present AND we were no longer able to visit during the day without supervision.  We contacted Mrs. Fagler as soon as this letter was brought to our attention, and she advised she would send over another letter to correct this…that letter was never sent.

July 31 (Day 6)

§  Case Plan Meeting @ DFACS.

o   Parenting Classes, Psycho Evaluation, Regular Alcohol and Drug screening were ordered for us to complete prior to us being able to get custody back of our children.

§  Visitation with Isaac after the meeting, my Dad also attended.

§  Mrs. Fagler and Shana advised that the evaluation of my parents and their home would be done that weekend.

§  The landlord Mr. Zorn placed many phone calls to my father.  Some threatning and others informing him of the conditions in which he would allow us to remain in the rental property.  A lot of the information Mr. Zorn spoke to my father about, was regarding our case.  Information that he should not have known, but he had obtained from DFAC.

§  Because of the issues regarding the rental property, we chose to take this opportunity to move out and into a “safer” home for our children.

August 4, 2008 (Day 10)

§  Scheduled visit with Isaac

o   We arrived at the meeting place, and waited but Mrs. Fagler never showed up with Isaac, nor did she call.

o   We were requested to do drug screening while we waited by Mrs. Sikes.  Per the advice of our lawyer, we did not.  Our objection to taking the tests was recorded as a positive result.

o   Prior to leaving Mrs. Sikes got in touch with the foster mother and at that time were informed that Isaac was sick and would not be coming.  This is the first time Isaac had been sick in his life!

o   Visitation was to be extended by ½ hour during the next two visits.

§  We contacted, Mrs. Oliver, our attorney and advised her of what had happened. 

o   She confirmed we did the right thing by not taking the drug screening.

o   She informed us that placement in my parent’s home was not looking well, due to a unsubstantiated statement from  a 3^rd party that my father had a drinking problem.

o   She advised us that Dr. Cardie and Dr. Howard would be testifying that they suspected we had burned Devin’s feet.

o   She advised us to bring her pictures of our new home immediately (unpacked and baby proof).

           August 4, 2008 – August 6, 2008 (Days 10 – 12)____________________________________________                                    

§  Events Occurring while moving from our old home to new

o   Christopher, Bradley, and I moved from our old home to the new home.

o   We baby proofed the home with door knob covers, fridge locks, cabinet locks, bolt locks, stove guards, etc.

o   We turned the hot water heater down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the new home.

o   We took pictures of the baby proofing, the children’s rooms, kitchen, dining room, the pantry full of food, living room, and play rooms.

§  Conversations with Ms. Latrell Rodgers from CASA, our children’s placement worker.

o    Ms. Rodgers advised that she was to decide where my children be placed.

o    She advised that what we talked about was completely confidential.

o    Ms. Rodgers never told me that she would be writing a report on what she would recommend for the children and us.

o    I spoke to her  several times about my interests for the children and about mine and Chris’ family.

o    She asked me questions about the event and I answered the best I could.

o    I advised her that I had not given Devin a bath the night before the incident. I  advised her that I thought that if I had given him a bath the night before this accident might have not happened.    

o    I advised her that the night before when I was at my mother’s house, when I tried to lay Devin down he had crawled out of his crib, came into the living room and said “hi” to us.

o    Ms. Rodgers wrote in her report that I had said Devin had done this at my home and that I had put him back to bed. But this had happened at my mothers.

o    I advised Ms. Rodgers that Chris had taken a shower the night before and that he had taken Devin’s toys out of the tub and put them on the floor. When I saw the tub after the accident the toys were in the tub, like Devin wanted to play with his toys while he attempted to take a bath. 

o   Ms. Rodgers wrote in her report that we Chris had removed the toys from the bathroom and that they were in the tub after the incident. But Chris had only put them on the floor, next to the tub.

o   Ms. Rodgers also wrote in her report that I was fast paced and changed subjects a lot. She wrote that because of this I needed to see a psychiatrist/counselor for this issue. Ms. Rodgers never bothered to ask me why I was fast paced in the three conversations we had. If she had asked she would have known that I am ADHD, which would have explained her concerns.

o   Ms. Rodgers wrote in her report that we were often busy with other things and we were not a permanent placement beside Devin’s bedside while he was hospitalized. She also wrote that we were absent for his surgeries. But we were there all but the few days we were moving frantically to have pictures for the court and a safe home for the children to come home to. I was also there for 2 out of 3 of Devin’s surgeries.

 §  Mike DePrince’s Conversation with Dr. Cardie

o   Dr. Cardie spoke with Chris’ step-father regarding the burns to Devin’s feet. He advised that he believed that Devin could have sustained the injuries accidentally by entering and stepping into the tub a certain way.

o   Dr. Cardie testified in court that there was no possible way Devin could have been burned un-intentionally. Mike was not able to give his testimony to this in court due to the objections that it was hearsay and irrelevant.   

o   Mike called us immediately and advised us about what Dr. Cardy had told him.

                 August 7, 2008 – (Day 13) _______________________________________________________    

§  Ms. Rodgers came to visit me while I was at work.

o   Ms. Rodgers came to my work on Thursday, August 7, 2008 to inquire about an incident at Doctors Hospital that had happened during my visits with Devin concerning my father and me.

o   I advised Ms. Rodgers that the incident had happened outside of the hospital and that a police report had been written up concerning my father’s behavior. I explained to her that my father was very tired and  under a tremendous amount of stress due to the situation and this had led to a disagreement between him and Chris. 

§  We traveled to Augusta to visit with Devin and prepare for court in the morning.

o   We went to see Devin at Doctor’s Hospital. Devin was really glad to see us and seemed to be in no pain. He gave us kisses and did not want us to leave. But Court was in the morning and we had to leave to prepare. We stayed for an hour with him. Everyone was rushing us to leave, and I had left my vehicle at home so we had to go.

                 August 8, 2008 – (Day 14)________________________________________________________

§  Court Date to decide placement of my children.

o   Court was early in the morning.

§  Defense Side

o   Mike and Leigh DePrince (paternal grandparents)

o   David and Rachelle Taylor (maternal grandparents)

o   Marcus Williams (Devin’s babysitter)

o   Brandon and Sarah Patterson (long time friends of ours).

§  Offense Side

o   State District Attorney General, Mr. Hamilton.

o   Carmen Fagler, DFAC’s Investigator (Stuart Fagler’ daughter)

o   Stuart Fagler, Detective Investigator (Carmen Fagler’ father)

o   District Attorney.  Our lawyer and we had requested that the district attorney not sit in the court room for the fact that it violated our 5^th amendment rights and that she had nothing to do with the case. The judge allowed her to be present even though we had requested she not be.

o   Our children’s attorney

o   Shana Lewis – Our current case worker

o   Latrell Rodgers- CASA Placement worker

o   Marty Zorn – Our previous landlord

o   Dr. Howard – The doctor from Emanuel County Hospital

o   Dr. Cardie – The doctor from Doctor’s Hospital

§  Chris Heath’s Testimony

o   Mr. Hamilton called Christopher first. Chris gave his recollection of events on July 26, 2008. He advised the court that he loved his children very much and he would never stop fighting for them.

§  Dr. Howard’s Testimony

o   Mr. Hamilton called on Dr. Anthony Howard. Dr. Anthony Howard believed Devin’s burns to be 3^rd degree.

o   But his burns were 2^nd degree.

o   Dr. Howard advised that I had told him at the hospital that I got Devin out of the bath tub and my brother came to help me remove him.

o   But Chris’ brother was in town, not mine, and I advised him of this that day. I also advised him that Christopher removed Devin out of the tub.

o   Dr. Howard also advised that he had not seen any bruises on Devin because he had not removed his clothes.

o   But Devin did not have any clothes on when he arrived he came in only a diaper.

§  Dr. Cardie’s Testimony

o   Dr. Cardie testified that he had many years experience in his field and with pediatric burns.

o   The court believed Dr. Cardie to be an “expert” in his field and he was allowed to give his opinion to the court.

o   Dr. Cardie advised that he believed Devin’s burns to be intentional, but there were no bruises or signs of forced injuries.

o   Dr. Cardie advised that he was knew Devin’s injuries were inflicted purposely because of the lack of splash marks, even burns on both ankles, and the extent of the burns to the heels of Devin’s feet. Dr. Cardie believed that the tub should have provided a certain amount of insulation to the bottoms of Devin’s feet.

o    Dr. Cardies observations were wrong. Devin did not have splash marks because he was found at the back of the tub (away from the faucet). The tub did not provide insulation to the bottom of Devin’s feet because Devin was picking his feet up and down trying to remove them from the water. The tub would be unable to insulate his feet because his feet were not permanent y  on the bottom of the tub. 

o   Dr. Cardie gave pictures to judge McDonald of Devin’s feet.

o   Dr. Card ie  was asked by my attorney if he has ever been wrong in his whole 20-30 years of experience about child abuse case or diagnoses. Dr. Cardie advised her that no, he had never been wrong.

o   Dr. Cardie finished up his testimony. Mr. Hamilton asked the judge if Dr. Cardie could leave because he had to return to Doctors Hospital in Augusta. My attorney did not want Dr. Cardie to leave in case she might have had to  cross examine him. The judge gave Dr. Cardie the permission to leave. My attorney never had her chance to  cross examine him.

§  Marty Zorn’s Testimony

o   Marty Zorn advised that Chris and I had lived in his house for three months.

o   But we had lived there for 5 months.

o   Mr. Zorn advised that he had come frequently to repair things at our home whenever we had asked him to.

o   Mr. Zorn had only come two times to repair leaks in the home so that they would not ruin his floor. He had never come for any of our other requests.

o   Mr. Zorn advised that he was never called by Chris or me to come turn the hot water heater down. He also advised that he turned his hot water heaters to 150 degrees in all of his mobile homes prior to rental.

o   Mr. Zorn was called several times by Chris and me to inquire about the hot water being turned down. We had been burnt on many occasions.

o   Mr. Zorn stated that we were very messy unorganized people and that when we moved out he was going to file a lawsuit against us for damages to his mobile home.

o   Mr. Zorn was very obsessive about his mobile homes, especially ours. He made a walk-through once a month due to my indoor pet, and would have a fit if he saw even a speck of dirt. We never damaged his home.

§  Mike and Leigh DePrince’s testimonies

o   Mike and Leigh advised that Devin had stayed with them for 4 weeks and had returned home a week prior to the incident.

o   Mike and Leigh stated that Devin could open doors, turn on the bath water, climb out of his bed, and always wanted to take a bath.

o   Mike attempted to talk about Dr. Cardie’s conversation with him and the judge would not let him, due to the fact that it was “irrelevant” to the case. It was only hearsay. 

§  Outcome of the trial

o   Our attorney gave her closing statement. She advised the court that Chris and I loved our children and that there was no factual evidence that we hurt our child. She advised the court that Devin was not afraid of us therefore we could not have hurt him intentionally. She advised that court that the law gives us the right to raise our own children and that by taking our children, we were being denied that right.

o   The children’s attorney advised that she felt that the children should be kept in DFACS care for 12 months.

o   The judge did not even look over the CASA report or any paperwork. She advised that she felt the injuries to Devin’s feet were very severe and that they were a result of neglect. She advised that the children be placed in DFACS custody until an expedited home evaluation was done of Mike and Leigh DePrince’s home in Virginia and the children would be placed there.

§  Events After Court That I fee l should be addressed.

o   DFACS has refused to let my parents visit the children (not even once a month) Due to the fact that they believe it will affect our bonding with the children.

o   I have seen many other grandparents come to visits with their children to see their grandkids during my visits at CASA.

o   DFACS based my case plan on a review made by Gail Miller. Ms. Miller was court ordered to evaluate Christopher and I to decide what I needed to complete on my case plan to reunite my children with us. She gave us parenting tests, asked us questions about our parents, grandparents, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, etc, she asked us about drug use, and asked us to draw pictures of our futures and other things.

o   The problem with this is we answered the questions very well we drew happy, sunny things, and were very cooperative with her. We answered the parenting questions like any normal parent and expected to see great results. When we got to DFACS to review her evaluation and decide our case plan we were told that we needed parenting classes, clean drug screens for 6 months, psychiatric evaluations (which we were already sent to because Shana already knew we were going to need them –weird huh?), and drug and alcohol assessments before we could get our children back. I was later told by my lawyer that Gail Miller did not work for DFACS but she sided with them every time no matter what. I believe that this is wrong, because everyone is different and does not deserve the same treatment as someone who did hurt their child.

o   What I found strange was that when we went to the parenting class and we were given a test very similar to the one Gail gave us and we passed EVERY section, but yet we still had to take 8 classes. When we went for the drug and alcohol assessment we were told we did not need the drug and alcohol classes. We went to a psychiatric evaluation and the doctor told me that I would not need psychiatric help, but when I called my case worker later she told me that I needed to have a psychological done.

o   My caseworker, Shana Lewis explained to me that I had a right to know when Devin’s appointments were and that she would let me know when they were a week ahead of time.

o   Devin had a doctor’s appointment Friday, September 19. Shana never called me to let me know anything and never even brought it up afterwards. I called her the day before and asked her if there was anything I needed to know and she said no.  Fortunately, the foster mother told me about the appointment   for  t he next day and I  was able to be there. When I told my attorney she told me that there was nothing she could do about it.

Mr. Barrow,  it is obvious that my rights as a parent are continually being violated, due to this situation  I am giving my rights up as a parent to Mike and Leigh DePrince just so I can get out of this  beauracratic nightmare and be around my children. I  have cooperated with all of DFCS requirements and still no one will listen.  I love my children  very much and I feel that there is nothing I can do to get them back. DFACS has made numerous mistakes from the very beginning , however there is no supervision over the DFCAS division and there seems to be no regulation either. Every time I jump a hurdle that they have requested that I jump they place another one in front of me.  I keep finding out things that make me feel like I am being lied to. Even the judge that resided over my case was once DFACS attorney. Everyone works with these people in this small town. I do not feel like I had a fair trial or that I am being treated fairly even now. I just would like the law to be right. I pay my taxes every year, I live quietly without bothering anyone, and I follow the laws.  I do not feel that this is right. I continually see people abusing their children at grocery stores, restaurants, and even in public parking lots. No one tries to take their children. I have never even tapped my children let alone abuse them. My children are not scared of me, they love me and we deserve to be a  family again.   I am not saying I am a perfect parent, but I will tell you that I know I am doing the best I can. I am a good mother, I have only had kids for 2 years and my children are healthy, happy and well taken care of. I do not deserve this. 

I am asking you to investigate this matter.  I would hate to believe that other innocent people will lose their children to DFCAS and children that are being abused will be overlooked because DFCS is too busy trying to keep my children.  My case worker has seventeen children and families!! There are forty other workers in her office that carry this case load.  I am requesting that you look into this, I can only imagine how many innocent people have been dragged into this system while the guilty are left alone.   I would appreciate your assistance in this matter.  If I can be of assistance to you I can be reached on my cell phone at 540-809-4804.

Sincerely,

Kathryn M. Taylor