***

I’m going to work chronologically, (yet in inverse order from the Nebraska DHHS safe haven page’s latest press release.)

Firstly, there was another uncounted in the official tabulation dump the Sunday night:

In addition, there was a report that the safe haven law may have been used in Lincoln last night regarding an 18-year old. DHHS has investigated and confirmed with the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office that a juvenile petition will not be filed in this instance. As a result, Landry said DHHS does not consider this a use of the safe haven law, but is providing assistance to the young woman on a voluntary basis.

Once again, another 18-year old fell down the dump slot, 18 being that age that Nebraska won’t provide foster care etc to, nor count as an official dump, yet still legally classifies as a “child”, not yet an adult.

KCCI has a report, Another Teen Abandoned In Nebraska. She was another adoptee, “returns department” dump:

The woman told officials at BryanLGH Medical Center West that her daughter, who was adopted, is bipolar and has a learning disability, Assistant Police Chief Jim Peschong said Monday. The girl was left at the hospital at about 11 p.m.

“The adoptive mother says that the daughter refused to take some medication for some conditions that she has,” Peschong said. “She won’t listen to her, can’t control her.”

Marley/Bastardette has a post up about the incident as well, MORE NEBRASKA FIASCO: WOMAN ATTEMPTS TO DUMP ADOPTED DAUGHTER.

Her tabulation of the dumped adoptees, “returns department” dumps to date:

So far, one other dumpee has been confirmed as adopted, 2 others reported (but not confirmed) as kinship adopted. I believe there are more.

Then secondly, yesterday (Monday) morning, a 17 year old boy was abandoned. According to the Nebraska DHHS safe haven page’s latest press release, his mother left him off at Creighton University Medical Center. He is counted as the 30th officially counted dumped kid in the Nebraska DHHS count. (Link opens a PDF)

Both Marley and I have been tracking the number of kids not included in official Nebraska DHHS count as well. She’s found an additional 11 cases of what she’s terming “attempted dumps.”

So DHHS count aside, the kid-centric count, actually stands at at least 41.

As I’ve said before, mine is a Bastard blog. I care about what the kids themselves are experiencing. Some of the uncounted, “unofficially” dumped kids are every bit as separated from the world they once knew as any other counted dumped kid, they just don’t match the state’s dumper criteria or age limit criteria.

Some are self “haven” cases wherein the kids themselves have reached out for help, only to find no “haven” on the other end.

Those 11, roughly 1/4 of all the Nebraska dump cases are rendered invisible. The kids are treated as mere ghosts in the machine, the memories of their dumps kept alive only by those of us who continue to insist, they are no less dumped, they are no less in need.

Yet as Nebraska legislators gather to age down to the next version of dump law failure, a Nebraska dump law 2.0, a full quarter of the cases, a quarter of the dumped kids, will likely never even be considered, because they don’t apparently count.

***

Repeal the dump laws now.

***

Just a quick little post today.

By way of this WJZ-TV piece, Dead Girls’ Mother Was Investigated For Neglect, we find two new pieces of information.

First, a fund has been established to support the surviving seven year-old. Below are the only details on it I’ve been able to find so far:

Due to the outpouring of concern and well-wishes from the community, the Calvert County Department of Social Services has established a way for interested community members to contribute funds, toys, clothes or other appropriate items to support the recovery of the surviving child in the Bowman case.Those interested in contributing should send appropriate items and tax-deductible contributions to:

Calvert County Dept. of Social Services
c/o: Calvert’s Child
200 Duke Street
Prince Frederick, MD 20678

Secondly, we have Evon Keller, claiming to have made a complaint call on Bowman back in 2003. The article says the Bowmans were living “near Landover” at the time, which would be in Prince George’s County. Authorities apparently have no record of Keller having called.

Dennis Edwards reports a social worker visited Renee Bowman’s home earlier this year after an anonymous tip.

The children were ok, but their good health didn’t last for long.

The caseworker was dispatched to Renee Bowman’s southern Maryland home in January, an anonymous neglect complaint about one child was at the heart of that investigation, but the child was in good health.

Nine months later, police found the bodies of two adopted daughters in Bowman’s freezer.

“He couldn’t figure out what it was, but they weren’t treating the little girl right,’ said Evon Keller.

Although authorities have no record of her call, Evon Keller says she also made an abuse complaint against Bowman in 2003 when the family lived near Landover.

She believes that complaint, based on information from another neighbor, involved one of the little girls age 9 and 11 whose bodies were apparently moved in the freezer to Lusby.

Keller goes on to say:

“I wish I would have stayed on top of it because I probably could have saved that child’s life. She didn’t have a chance,” said Keller.

Beyond the scope of the article, I wanted to at least pose a very important question that I have yet to see anyone even ask, as to the other two girls, who did not survive being Bowman’s adopted daughters, is anyone giving any thought to their families of origin or potentially even other possible foster families they might have been with prior to be placed with Bowman?

Note that the the (still living) 7 year-old, and (now deceased) 9 year-old were apparently biologically related.

As many foster kids move from foster family to foster family through the years, and no identities have been publicly released, previous families may be unaware that their former foster daughter was one of these kids.

As for their (biologically related) family members and extended family, they too, are likely unaware their daughters ended up being adopted by Renee Bowman.

Notifying the families is the right thing to do.

There can be few fates worse than to go about your life assuming your child is still out there somewhere, only to find out later that your child has not only died, but died like this.

But then, how can a family demand justice and answers if they are never even informed of their child’s death?

***

By way of The Hartford Courant were come to a July 18th article, DCF Worker Charged In Death Of Infant, which details the sad May 19th death of Michael Brown Jr, a 7-month-old foster child.

(Also note the video available on the page, while not very well written, it does mention Michael’s previous foster mother coming wanting to know what happened.)

His foster final mother, Suzanne Listro is now facing first-degree manslaughter and risk of injury to a minor charges

Unfortunately, this rapidly devolves into something far more complicated. Listro herself is a 15-year DCF employee who had been granted her foster parent license in February.

I strongly advise readers to see the entire article.

Listro herself, had a history of previous abuse investigations, she:

had been investigated twice by DCF since 2006 in response to allegations she had abused her adopted 3-year-old son. In each instance, the allegations were found to be unsubstantiated by DCF investigations, which the head of the agency described Thursday as “substandard and unacceptable.”

The article notes further down:

The 3-year-old, now in DCF custody, was adopted through an international agency that also checked Listro’s background, Hamilton said.

So both the unnamed agency and DCF’s own investigations failed to turn up the previous alleged abuse, and went ahead and gave her kids.

This has spurred a massive investigation at CT DCF, changes in policies about how previous abuse investigations, and suspensions of those involved in the placement. Commissioner Susan I. Hamilton is in essence working up an agency policy restructuring in the wake of Michael’s death:

Along with the discipline imposed on the investigators and their supervisors, Hamilton said she has called for several other steps to make sure abuse investigations are conducted more thoroughly and to make sure licensing officials have access to all background information before granting foster care licenses in the future.

Hamilton said she has placed the special investigations unit that looked into the earlier abuse allegations under new management while ordering a complete overhaul for the unit, including retraining for all staff on the proper conduct of investigations.

In the meantime, she said, she has ordered her chief of staff to review all recent unsubstantiated investigations, as well as cases that have been substantiated but with recommendations that the case be closed, to make sure they were conducted properly.

To prevent background information from slipping through the cracks, Hamilton said, she has ordered all future abuse investigations, substantiated or not, to be entered into the agency’s database and to cease keeping unsubstantiated files in hard-copy form.

She said she has also ordered a review of all DCF employees who have been granted foster care licenses to make sure they were granted properly.

The agency, which employs more than 3,400 people, has 28 employees who are licensed foster parents, as well as 15 who are in the process of obtaining a license, she said.

To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, the agency will also begin outsourcing all applications for foster care licenses involving DCF employees to a private contractor by Oct. 1, Hamilton said.

Said outsourcing will be something to keep our eyes on closely. The privatization of licensing for example has been a common facet of dismantling previous state authority over such matters. Costs related to that contract should also be examined carefully.

Child Welfare League of America is being brought in to conduct an “independent review”:

Lastly, the commissioner said, she has asked the Child Welfare League of America to conduct an independent, comprehensive review of the Listro case to identify any other systemic problems or possible solutions.

“I want to again stress that I and the entire department are responding as fully as we can to this tragic loss,” Hamilton said.

For Michael of course, this is all too little too late. The system failed him completely.

The lack of inclusion of any evidence of the previous investigations caused DCF and the unnamed agency to greenlight Suzanne Listro. As always, when I find time, I will see what I can do about finding the agency in question.

One can’t help but wonder, if this was the policy in CT, how many other states foster and adoption programs are doing placements without the full history available to them?

Torres pleads guilty in stepsister’s death

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, July 2, ‘08

Marraina Torres pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from the death of her 2-year-old stepsister.

Torres, 17, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by culpable negligence after initially being charged with capital murder. She was not sentenced but faces 2-20 years in prison.

Teenager admits killing sister, 2

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, July 3, ‘08

A tearful Marainna Torres stood before Circuit Court Judge Andrew Howorth on Wednesday and publicly admitted she killed her toddler stepsister, Enna Barreto.

She gave no details but nodded her head and said “yes sir,” when asked if she were indeed guilty of manslaughter by culpable negligence.

The legal document accusing Torres of the child’s death states that she did so “by hitting and throwing” Enna into a baby bed May 17. The child died two days later.

(Which would imply the abuse that led to Enna’s death took place in Mississippi before the trip to Memphis, .)

On May 30, the 17-year-old Torres was charged with the capital murder of her 2-year-old sister, carrying possible sentences of life in prison or the death penalty.

Her plea Wednesday now puts the sentence in the two to 20 years range.

Torres also caused a brief stir in the court when she told Howorth she was pleading guilty to a reduced charge “for a lighter sentence.”

Her attorney, Thomas Levidiotis of Oxford, quickly jumped in verbally when Torres said she was promised leniency for her plea.

That’s not really what she meant, he chattered in legal talk to Howorth.

District Attorney Ben Creekmore also was quick to say his office hadn’t promised anything to her in exchange for her guilty plea.

“Even if they did,” Howorth said to her, “this court would not be bound by it.”

Perhaps what you mean, Howorth continued, is that in pleading guilty to a lesser charge than capital murder, you anticipate a lighter sentence?

Yes, she responded.

and (The Barettos’ lawyer Tony Farese points out:)

“She’s pled down from a possible death penalty case to testify against her parents.

“I believe she has been promised a lighter sentence,” Farese noted from Torres’ remark in court.

Torres was not sentenced, further hinting at her likely testimony in a trial against the Barretos.

Creekmore said he was withholding comment until the Barreto case is “taken care of.”

A September grand jury is expected to consider what charges ultimately will be brought, if any, against the Barretos, who live in rural Union County.

And a final detail:

Union County sheriff’s Investigator Roger Garner said Torres is in an “undisclosed” jail within easy reach of him and her attorney.

The AP also issued a brief story with no other new details based on the DJ article:

Torres pleads guilty in stepsister’s death

AP July 3, ‘08

This hardly concludes the question of how did Enna eventually come to die? More details will likely be forthcoming as the Barretos’ trial moves forward.

Before we can answer how she died, though, we first need answers to how she lived; how did Enna, along with her other ’siblings’ (both the two legally adopted, and the other five Guatemalan[?] kids without adoption paperwork) come to live with the Barretos, how the Barretos came to pass them off as ‘their’ ‘adopted’ children, and what the children endured in the Barreto household.

For now, the various investigations, both state and federal continue. We can only hope, and continue to demand that the right questions are being asked.

The below represents a final round up for a last few articles that hit towards the end of June relating to Enna. While there are certainly other articles out there, these are the one that appear to contain new details. I’ve included excerpts of some of the new material. Lots of new developments happened in late June that I hadn’t had time to blog about yet.

When we left off back on June 7th, Janet Barreto’s biological daughter Marainna Torres had been charged with capital murder in Enna’s death, but not yet arrested as she was under psychiatric care in a Memphis, TN hospital. (Memphis is where Enna died.) Capital murder is definied as a murder that occurs during the commission of another crime, in this case, felony child abuse.

We pick up the story with Marainna’s arrest June 22nd after a month of psychiatric treatment:

Teen arrested, charged with killing sister

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, June 22, ‘08

After a month-long investigation, the 17-year-old accused of killing her 2-year-old adopted sister is in custody of the Union County Sheriff’s Department.

Bond for Marina Torres of 824 County Road 87, New Albany was set at $1 million after her Tuesday arrest for alleged capital murder. Torres has been a patient at Saint Francis Mental Hospital in Memphis since speculation that she may have caused the death of her adopted sister Enna Barreto last month.

and

Investigator Roger Garner said the Union County Sheriff’s Department has been working very hard to get someone charged with the child’s murder.

“After a month we finally got the suspect in custody,” said Garner. “We are keeping her in an undisclosed location.”

Torres’ parents, Ramon Barreto, 29, and Janet Killough Barreto, 36, are still in the Union County Jail on seven counts of child endangerment each and their bonds are set at $350,000.

and

Garner said information Torres has provided during interviews may lead to charges against the Barretos being upgraded.

Three days later, this DJ article hit detailing new charges against the Barettos.

UPDATE: Barrestos face new charges in daughter’s death

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, June 25, ‘08

Charges of manslaughter by culpable negligence have been added to Janet and Ramon Barreto’s troubles related to the death of their 2-year-old daughter last month.

Union County Sheriff’s Investigator Roger Garner said this afternoon, the new charge has upped their bond another $150,000 each – bringing their total to $300,000 per person. The Barretos are still in jail charged with seven counts of child endangerment concerning their seven other children.

Their attorney, Tony Farese of Ashland, said they will be arraigned in Union County Justice Court at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Meanwhile, no arraignment has been set for Marainna Torres, Janet Barreto’s 17-year-old daughter, who is charged with capital murder in her adopted sister’s death.

The following day, this article appeared (same name, I know, it would seem the reverse order, but I’m working from the dates.) This article is from Thursday, the day of the hearing:

Barretos face new charges in daughter’s death

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, June 26, ‘08

The Barretos are still in jail charged with seven counts of child endangerment concerning their seven other children.

Their attorney, Tony Farese of Ashland, said they will be arraigned in Union County Justice Court at 9 a.m. today.

He said the new charge is based on their allowing Janet Barreto’s 17-year-old daughter, Marainna Torres, to care for the young children.

and

Enna Isabel Barreto died May 19 in a Memphis hospital where she had been taken by her parents after they claimed she had fallen from a shopping cart during a family outing. An autopsy ruled the child’s death a homicide.

This, the claim the Barrestos and their lawyer made that Enna’s injuries were caused by falling from the shopping cart in Memphis (thus leading to her death) while in Torres’ care, would go on to become an issue later on.

The Barretos initially were charged with child neglect but that was changed to child endangerment after deputies and child welfare officials searched their 824 County Road 87 trailer-home near New Albany and found squalid conditions inside and a puppy mill operation outside.

All of which were found during the raid on the property back in Mississippi that was sparked by the doctors in Memphis concerns about the children’s welfare.

The next two articles mainly detail how the roughly 2 minute long hearing went.

Couple pleads not guilty in daughter’s death

AP June 26, ‘08

A Union County couple pleaded not guilty Thursday to new charges of manslaughter by culpable negligence related to the death of their 2-year-old daughter last month.

Janet and Ramon Barreto entered the plea Thursday in Union County Circuit Court. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Aug. 5. Their bond was set at $100,000 each.

UPDATE: Barretos plead not guilty to new charges

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, June 26, ‘08

Janet and Ramon Barreto, shackled and handcuffed in a justice court hearing Thursday, pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter by culpable negligence in the death of their 2-year-old adopted daughter, Enna.

Their attorney, Tony Farese of Ashland, actually pronounced the words “not guilty” for them before Judge Ronnie Rackestraw. The entire hearing took less than two minutes.

Their bond was set at $100,000 each.

They have been in jail more than a month, on $350,000 bond each, on seven charges of child endangerment after their daughter’s death from head trauma.

Janet Barreto’s 17-year-old biological daughter, Marainna Torres, is in custody in an undisclosed location accused of capital murder in the child’s death. She only recently was released from a Memphis psychiatric hospital, where she was admitted immediately after Enna died.

and

The Barretos are scheduled for a preliminary hearing Aug. 5 in Union County Circuit Court.

and

The six adopted children are in foster homes in custody of the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

(As far as I’ve been able to find, still only two of the children have adoption paperwork, while the others are constantly labeled “adopted” in the media, but as far as I can tell, the investigation into the disposition of the other children remains ongoing. See my earlier writings, particularly “Enna and her ’siblings’, where did they all come from?” to understand the scope of the investigation.)

Barretos plead not guilty to new charges

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, June 27, ‘08

It took two minutes Thursday for Ramon and Janet Barreto to formally be charged and plead not guilty to accusations they so grossly neglected their 2-year-old adoptive child that she died at the hands of her 17-year-old sister.

“I think the state’s gone out on a limb,” their attorney, Tony Farese of Ashland, said immediately after their arraignment at the Union County Justice Center.

and

Janet Barreto’s teenage daughter by a previous marriage, Marainna Torres, is being kept from the public eye, under $1 million bond, charged with capital murder in Enna’s death.

Her attorney, Thomas Levidiotis of Oxford, said later Thursday that Torres attended a circuit court hearing last week in lieu of an initial appearance to explain to her the charges and her legal situation.

Capital murder is murder during the commission of another crime; in this case, the other crime is child abuse.

Keep in mind that Torres is a minor (17) and her lawyer, Thomas Levidiotis of Oxford, appears to be a court appointed public defender.

Tony Farese, the Barretos’ lawyer on the other hand, is described below as “one of the state’s top defense attorneys” which I find interesting considering the Barretos themselves do not to first impression appear to be people of vast means.

They made their living renting dilapidated trailers and running animal sales at area flea markets and on the web (see this article, “Horror lurked in country home; children, animals live in filthy conditions” for more details on the treatment the animals received. This quote from the article in particular stood out for me,

“The people that did this should be shot, or at least when we come to spay and neuter these animals we should spay and neuter these people along with them,” said Mississippi State University School of Veterinary Medicine Professor Phil Bushby.”

As the animal article points out though, these animals may have fetched quite the price, giving the Barretos perhaps more of an income than might be assumed at first glance.)

Farese, one of the state’s top defense attorneys, also predicted prosecutors will offer Torres a deal for leniency to testify against her parents.

(speaking of Enna, herself:)

She died of severe head and lower body trauma, which family members originally said was caused after she fell from a shopping cart during a Memphis outing.

(Once again, watch that claim. It will matter further down into this post.)

The endangerment charges come from a sheriff’s department investigation of their 824 County Road 87 trailer home, where they found squalid conditions inside and a puppy mill out back.

“The 17-year-old is the lady who killed the child in question,” Farese insisted Thursday.

For nearly a month after the death, Torres was treated in a Memphis psychiatric facility. It’s only in the past few days that investigators have been able to question her.

“Ultimately, the parents are responsible for their children,” said Investigator Roger Garner. “We’re beginning to get some understanding of what happened.”

Farese said prosecutors, after interviewing Torres, decided the Barretos should be charged anew with manslaughter by culpable negligence because they entrusted Enna’s care to the teenager.

According to Union County’s official charge, Torres became “overwhelmed” with “all care, nourishment, and supervision” of Enna, which led to her death.

If convicted of the new charges, the Barretos could face no more than two years in prison. Justice Judge Ronnie Rakestraw set their bonds at $100,000 each. That brings to $450,000 their total bonds each.

Two years.

You read that right.

Hopefully as the investigations continue more charges will be leveled against them, possibly relating to the immigration status of the Guatemalan kids they ‘adopted’, yet seem to have no paperwork. Animal abuse charges are also in here somewhere, I believe, but in light of the immensity of what the Barretos have done, a pathetic two years seems unthinkbale.

I want to digress for a moment and once again discuss the ongoing coverage. First of all, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal is really the only paper doing ongoing coverage of the aftermath of Enna’s death and their detailing of the developments has been invaluable!

But unfortunately, even in the DJ, the framing continues to be toned down, (referring to the story below.) While I fully understand how difficult it can be to fit all the angles and details into any given story, language assumptions such as ‘adoptive parents’ in light of the ongoing investigation into how the Barretos got a hold of the Guatemalan children really needs some retooling.

Everything surrounding Enna’s death goes far beyond tragic, much of it is criminal, and caught in a legal system, that to date, has only been able to apply charges with relatively minimal penalties.

It is far from “tragic” that her ‘adoptive parents’ are in jail and thus cannot walk to visit her grave, it is instead tragic that the few penalties they face to date relating to Enna’s death are so minimal that they may very well be able out to visit her grave in the not distant future.

Everything surrounding Enna Barreto’s death is tragic

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, June 30, ‘08

Who is responsible for the death of Enna Barreto?

Did her parents, one American and one naturalized from Mexico, treat her so poorly by entrusting her care to her older sister that the teenager became overwhelmed and killed her?

It’s going to be Torres (’s) word against the Barretos. Is it that simple?

The questions surrounding Enna’s procurement, suffering, and death, and that of her so called ’siblings’ run far deeper than a mere they said/she said.

Farese describes his clients as good people, who love children. They apparently went to some lengths and extensive financial burdens to adopt the seven.

Again, speaking to those ‘adoptions’ only two appear to have the paperwork intact. As for the others, there are vast questions about how the Barretos managed to procure so many Guatemalan children, and the lack of an official paperwork trail on the kids.

Did they “love children” as their lawyer presents them, or did they just love collecting children, perhaps illegally?

The limited in scope questions the DJ article asks are simply not the right questions.

Unfortunately articles, such as this continue to be riddled with broken language, (”adoptive parents”.) While yes, the kids ended up with the Barretos, calling such a (legal) “adoption” remains a long way from being proven.

But the article does provide some insight into how Janet Barreto’s Daughter, Marainna Torres’ attorney, Thomas Levidotis intends to portray her:

Torres’ attorney, Thomas Levidiotis of Oxford, says he won’t predict any outcome except to find a way to protect “this child,” as he calls her.

and

Levidiotis says Torres is “a fragile person.” After Enna’s death, she spent 30 days in a Memphis psychiatric facility.

“She’s not some kind of mean person, a hoodlum,” he insists. “She’s entitled to our best efforts.”

It also discusses a bit about how the case will likely go forward:

First, unless District Attorney Ben Creekmore comes up with acceptable plea agreements all around, a Union County grand jury will take a look at the facts.

That’s expected in September.

The Barretos’ attorney, Tony Farese of Ashland, is working to portray his clients as victims, placing the blame for Enna’s death squarely on Marainna Torres and seeking a lower bond for the Barretos.

(I’m in inverting the order of these next two article excerpts for a moment;)

Last week, they walked into the Union County Justice Center courtroom to face the new charges – Ramon, 29, a slight man wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, hands cuffed, legs shackled. Janet, 36, in grey sweatpants and a navy T-shirt, hands cuffed, legs shackled.

After the two-minute hearing they stood docily beside Farese staring blankly at two sheets of paper outlining the charges against them as TV cameras got their video.

“It’s been a tragedy – losing not only your child … locked in jail, accused of capital murder, paraded around to and from jail,” Farese observed afterward.

and

… Farese soon plans to ask for a lower bond so the Barretos can get out of jail and go home to the trailers where investigators believe Enna was attacked by Torres.

This last bit, “home to the trailers where investigators believe Enna was attacked by Torres” would seem an important direct contradiction to the family’s earlier claim that Enna died after (as a result of) having fallen from a shopping cart in Memphis, TN while under Torres’s care (the same argument their lawyer has used.) (See “The family initially claimed she had fallen from a shopping cart during a Memphis outing.” from the earlier in the same article.)

This then would then place the harm Torres allegedly caused to Enna back ‘home’ in Mississippi prior to the trip to Tennessee.

So we now have a new question, did Enna’s injuries (severe head and lower body trauma) take place in Mississippi or Tennessee? (stay tuned on that front… .)

A secondary question then comes- IF the injuries to Enna primarily took place in Mississippi, were the Barretos aware of such and if so, at what point?

Fortunately, the investigation has been ongoing:

Union County sheriff’s Investigator Roger Garner says he hasn’t stopped his investigation.

Farese, pressing ahead with the conversation, said prosecutors are going to have to tell him what Torres said, then he’ll have a chance to disprove it.

“She’s going to allege crazy stuff and we’re going to put her on the polygraph,” he told reporters Thursday.

Garner came right back, confident about what he’s got.

“I’m not crawling out on a thin limb, if I didn’t think the state’s case would hold.”

The article also includes a few details concerning Enna’s final resting place:

Back at Martin Cemetery, Enna Barreto’s grave at plot No. 50 is the last one on the back side of a relatively undeveloped part where almost all the 11 other graves are as far away from hers as possible.

Looming over the red dirt shoveled atop her tiny white casket, a few floral arrangements from her May 22 funeral are still there, now in varying degrees of decomposition. The stuffed toys on some of them have lost their fluff from the changeable weather.

Even though the Barretos cannot visit her grave yet, Garner says he does.

That’s it for June. I’ll have the ‘early July’ Enna related stories up soon by way of kind of a ‘part II’ on this catching up.

There’s more, much more to come to this long sad saga.

*

Meanwhile, my usual 3 adoption questions remain-

Who did the homestudies on the two adoptions that were legal?

What part of the adoption establishment did the two placements?

And where the fuck was the follow up for these kids? Did anyone ever bother to check on them after placement?