A child is dead, and it sounds like it could have been prevented. Because just days beforehand a judge ordered her returned to her allegedly abusive parents.
On September 20, 1-year-old Ella Vitalis sadly passed away at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn — just five days after her parents called emergency services claiming she’d sustained injuries while feeding.
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The child was seen by doctors, who, according to court docs obtained by the New York Times, determined she had blunt-force injuries on her head, bruising and cuts on her forehead, and swollen eyelids, in addition to other injuries which were described as a broken jaw and, according to the outlet, bite marks. BITE MARKS?!
WTF?!
The infant’s mother, Lafayette Browne, 29, allegedly told law enforcement her daughter began choking while her father, Johnson Vitalis, 28, fed her milk, and that was how she got the injuries — but we’ve certainly never heard of such brutal results from drinking milk…
Sadly, after five days of fighting in the hospital, the little one lost her life. But the thing is, this could have all been avoided. You see, last year, Ella and her older brother Liam, 2, were taken away from Lafayette and Johnson, after a similar incident. According to the New York Times, the parents allegedly got into some sort of heated argument, resulting in a fractured skull, a small brain hemorrhage, and two broken ankles for Ella. She was just THREE WEEKS OLD at the time. Later that year in September, Ella was apparently treated after “a moderate amount of blood” was found in her mouth during a hospital stay for a tongue laceration — which she allegedly got under the watch of her father. At the time, doctors “determined a sharp object must have been used to cause that level of harm,” according to the outlet.
Following that, the children were placed in foster care with family members due to the “substantiated finding of abuse,” according to the Administration for Children’s Services. The parents regained custody in June of this year, but allegedly failed to bring the children to multiple appointments. Yet somehow in a hearing on September 14, Judge Erik S. Pitchal ruled to let the children remain with the allegedly abusive parents instead of removing custody. The very next day Ella landed in the hospital with the fatal injuries.
In a statement to People on Tuesday, the ACS said:
“The safety and well-being of New York City’s children is our top priority. We are investigating this tragedy with the NYPD.”
As of now, no arrests or charges have been made, but sources told DailyMail.com on Tuesday that the death is being investigated as a homicide.
Poor little angel. We hope she sees justice and her brother is removed far, far, away from his parents. Rest in peace.
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
[Image via CBS News/YouTube]
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