Foster mom won’t face charges in boy’s death

A foster mother will not face criminal charges in the death of a 3-year-old foster boy who died in her care, Las Vegas police said Thursday.

The boy died Tuesday night at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center after the mother found him in his bedroom with a plastic bag over his head.

"This incident, tragic as it is, was accidental," Lt. Ray Steiber said at a news conference.

The coroner's office, which identified the boy as Adrian Madrid, had not released his cause of death.

The boy and two of his siblings, ages 2 years and 8 months, had been living with the mother at a condominium on the 5200 block of Caspian Springs Drive, near Pecos Road and Tropicana Avenue, since late October.

The mother told investigators she put the children to bed about 8 p.m.

When she checked the room shared by the siblings about an hour later, she discovered Adrian with a 1-gallon plastic storage bag over his head, Steiber said.

She called 911, and Adrian was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he died.

Investigators believe Adrian got out of bed and found the bag, which contained toys, emptied the bag and put it over his head, Steiber said.

The mother properly cared for the children, and the home was "extremely clean," he said. Police would not release the name of the woman, who had been a licensed foster parent about five years.

The Clark County Department of Family Services removed the children from the home of their natural parents in early October after a substantiated complaint about parental substance abuse, according to a state report on the boy's death.

A June 2007 report of parental substance abuse was unsubstantiated, as was a December report of possible sexual abuse, according to the report.

After Adrian's death, his two siblings were removed from the home and placed in another foster home, said Christine Skorupski, spokeswoman for the Department of Family Services.

The agency was conducting parallel investigations involving child protective services and foster care licensing. Depending on the findings, the foster mother could face sanctions or revocation of her foster care license, she said.

"What gets lost is there are two mothers grieving here," Skorupski said. The foster mother "cared for those children as if they were her own."

Donna Coleman, a child advocate and frequent critic of the county agency, which several years ago was found to be underreporting child fatalities, said Adrian's death appeared to be a tragic accident.

"I'm sure she's just sick about it," Coleman said of the foster mother. "It's just a horrible thing."

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.