Oct 10, 2008 7:35 pm US/Eastern
Mother Of Slain Infant Loses Children To DCF
A Liberty City Baby Died From Head Injuries, According To An Autopsy Report
NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE (CBS4) ―
-
-
Police were called to a home on the 1300 block of Northwest 77th Terrace where a child was having trouble breathing on Tuesday.
A mother has lost custody of her three remaining children, just three days after her 6-month-old child was murdered. The same day, her boyfriend, charged with that baby's death, faced a judge in bond court.
Surrounded by relatives, Sabrina Darien sobbed as a judge decided whether she would lose all of her children.
The Florida Department of Children And Family Services told CBS4 Reporter Gary Nelson it had visited Darien's home at a previous time and removed one of the mother's children, an 8-year-old boy with special needs, who was malnourished. They left three other children in the home because they seemed to be healthy.
DCF spokesperson Flora Beale explained there was nothing to indicate anyone else was in danger when the home was visited.
"Sometimes you make the best decisions you can based on what you know," Beale said, "and still have a bad outcome." She continued, "We don't think the investigator could have done anything different to avoid this tragedy."
But just Tuesday, paramedics with Miami Dade Fire Rescue were called to the home in the 1300 block of Northwest 77th Terrace after an emergency call came in that an infant was having trouble breathing.
Later that night, little "Jazira" was dead and his brother M.J. was hospitalized with injuries. In court, there was nothing to indicate Darien had participated in injuring the children, but officials were concerned there may have been ongoing neglect. They reported that after the baby's murder, they found drug paraphernalia in the home.
Judge George Sarduy told Darien he felt horrible for her, having lost her baby to murder, but ordered that the state take custody of her children, to be safe.
Darien's boyfriend, 24-year-old Watson Dorval, was formally read the second-degree murder charge against him in Miami-Dade Criminal Court Friday. He's accused of beating the baby boy "Jazira" to death while babysitting him.
"I didn't do anything," Dorval said in a previous interview outside the house before his arrest on Thursday. "I love this baby like my own, so please stop the accusations." Despite the tearful denial, police say Dorval struck the baby repeatedly and fatally. An autopsy report shows the baby died of blunt trauma to the head.
When CBS4 talked to friends and family of Dorval, they said he loved "Jazira" as his own, and that he shouldn't be the only one under scrutiny.
"You all have proof that the baby had been beaten, but you all didn't prove who actually beat the baby," said Shelda St. Vil, the suspect's sister.
Neighbors were shocked over the news.
"It's just sad," said Latarsha Hamilton, "I have two kids of my own and I can't see myself hurting one of them. It shocked everybody around here."
Tyletha Wright, the mother's cousin, said she believed the baby had just been to the hospital within the last two weeks, but did not elaborate. Montia Moss, another cousin, said she just could not believe it.
"It's a pretty bad situation," said Moss, "I feel sorry for her, I feel sorry for her other kids also. I don't know what was really going on with her at this house, but I don't think that she would neglect her kids."
Miami-Dade police say the investigation into the infant's death remains "very much ongoing." The baby-sitter has been charged with murder, but they say he may not be the last to be arrested.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
