Agency warned of abuse

      Doctors alerted Henderson police and county social workers that they suspected a child was the victim of abuse a week before 21-month-old Samantha Storm died from head trauma, authorities confirmed Tuesday.
      The Friday afternoon death of the Henderson child is the third time in less than two months that Child Protective Services has received warnings of potential neglect or abuse in cases that culminated with a child's death.
      "I've been asked, 'Is the child welfare system at fault for the deaths of these children?' and I want to give a very assertive yes to that question," said Adrienne Cox, assistant director of Family and Youth Services, which oversees Child Protective Services.
      "We collectively -- the police, prosecutors, the coroner, our agency, families, day care providers -- we collectively are responsible for every child's well-being in this community.
      "We are taking these cases very seriously," Cox continued, noting that each of the fatalities is being investigated internally to determine whether mistakes were made. "We are moving too fast (in the handling of individual cases) and it appears we have missed a few things."
      Henderson Police Department Capt. Monty Hall said day care providers for Samantha noticed bruises on the child's head April 10. The caretakers notified the child's mother, who rushed her to Columbia Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.
      After examining Samantha, doctors at the hospital notified police that they suspected the child was abused, but police and Child Protective Services decided not to remove the baby from her home.
      Hall said that decision was made because the mother was not the person suspected of hurting the child and that the woman promised she would keep the baby away from the suspect in the case. Police have not released the names of the mother or the suspect. Police said he is the mother's boyfriend.
      "It was a joint decision," Hall said. "We (Child Protective Services and police) both agreed the mother was going to abide by this request to keep the child away (from the suspect)."
      On Thursday, a week after the original abuse report, the mother called Henderson police to report her child was very ill. The baby was again rushed to the hospital, where doctors determined she was suffering from a severe skull fracture. The child died the next day.
      Las Vegas police Sgt. Ken Hefner said Storm's injuries were not accidental, that they were comparable in severity to an approximate 25-foot, head-first fall.
      The boyfriend of Samantha's mother, an airman at Nellis Air Force Base, has been in custody at the base since Friday for questioning in connection with the death. No charges have been filed against him.
      U.S. Air Force Lt. John Elolf said the names of those involved have not been released because of a federal privacy law.
      Hall said that when Samantha was killed, police were preparing to submit a child abuse case concerning the soldier to the Clark County district attorney's office for review.
      Hefner said police are still trying to determine where and how the baby was injured. Authorities also are investigating the actions of the child's mother prior to the death.
      In early March, police said 14-month-old Kierra Harrison of Las Vegas suffered fatal head injuries that also were nonaccidental. Her day care provider, Alica Wegner, 33, of Las Vegas has been charged with murder in that case. Wegner has maintained her innocence.
      An investigation revealed that Wegner's aunt and her therapist expressed concerns to authorities that the woman had beaten her own child. The complaints, which couldn't be substantiated, didn't surface during licensing checks for Wegner's day care business because Wegner's name was listed as "Wagner" in a computer database maintained by Child Protective Services.
      Two weeks ago, authorities conceded that a public health nurse was in the home of North Las Vegas infant Tevonte Johnson a day before the child died. After the visit, the nurse expressed concerns to Child Protective Services about a decline in the two-month-old's weight and also about the health of his twin sister, Tatyna.
      The agency decided not to intervene.
      A day after the nurse expressed the concerns, Tevonte Johnson died and his sister was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. An autopsy on Tevonte and medical examinations of Tatyna, who has since recovered, indicated both infants suffered from severe malnutrition.
      Law enforcement officials said the agency had investigated previous abuse allegations at the residence regarding another child.
      Prosecutors said no charges will be filed against the twins' parents, in part, because a trained professional was in the home a day before the children became ill.
      Cox said agents investigating abuse complaints have to consider a number of factors, including the frailty of the child, the age, the circumstances of the alleged abuse, case history and the family support system surrounding the child. Those combined factors lead to the decision of whether to remove a child.
      "We are not infallible in predicting human behavior," Cox said, referring to Samantha's case. "In this particular instance, there were a whole range of people who had access to the child. It was a safety assessment made in tandem with Henderson police."
      In 1996 Child Protective Services investigated roughly 7,380 cases of suspected abuse or neglect, which breaks down to about 235 cases per case worker, Cox said.