DFCS says it "missed the signs" that led to boy's death

DFCS says it "missed the signs" that led to boy's death
By MEGAN MATTEUCCI and CRAIG SCHNEIDER


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The state child welfare director on Monday said his agency “missed the signs” while investigating child abuse against a 6-year-old boy, a special needs student who police say was beaten to death by his mother’s boyfriend.

Enlarge photo FORSYTH COUNTY Eder Acosta, 20, is charged in the death of his girlfriend's 6 year-old son.

Mark Washington, director of the state Division of Family and Children Services, said the agency responded to four prior complaints regarding trouble in Bryan Guzman-Moreno’s Forsyth County home.

“I can see we missed asking the right questions, bringing in the right specialists and making the right decisions at the right time,” Washington said. “I have very strong concerns and questions about what I see.”

Police say the mother’s boyfriend, 20-year-old Eder Acosta of Cumming, beat Bryan to death Thursday.

Acosta, who is not the boy’s natural father, was arrested Saturday for Bryan’s death, Forsyth County Sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Frank Huggins said. He allegedly attacked Bryan early Thursday after taking the boy’s mother, Laura Moreno, to work at 6 a.m. He returned to the mobile home the couple shared and began beating Bryan, Huggins said.

“By 6:30 a.m., the boy was at the hospital in full cardiac arrest,” Huggins said Monday.

State Child Advocate Tom Rawlings said he is also looking into the case. He said Acosta had been accused in January of hitting the boy.

Rawlings said the January accusation was among three complaints to DFCS of child abuse against Bryan. He said there was another complaint involving a fight between two uncles in the home.

Rawlings said that in January, another child of the boy’s mother had said he did not want to be in that house because his mother and her boyfriend fight a lot.

The sibling also said that Acosta had on one occasion hit Bryan hard on the leg with his fist because the boy would not go to the bathroom, Rawlings said.

Rawlings said DFCS worked with the family for some months after that, but it remains unclear whether the agency had an open case on the boy at the time of his death.

The state child advocate is a post appointed by the governor to watch over state child welfare services.

In September 2008, DFCS looked into a complaint regarding a bruise on Bryan’s thigh, and in November of last year, DFCS looked into a report of scratches on the boy’s face, he said.

The agency did not substantiate either of those instances as child abuse, he said.

Washington, the DFCS director, said “hot buttons” and “cues” were missed during the agency’s work on the cases involving Bryan.

Noting that the boy was uncooperative and had difficulty communicating, Washington said the DFCS workers should have brought in specialists who work with children with such conditions.

Washington said he is not sure exactly what was missed.

“It’s very important that we learn what we missed, why we missed it, and how we improve our practice.”

On Thursday, Acosta assaulted the boy and drove him to the emergency room at Northside Hospital-Forsyth, deputies said.

“He told the ER he [the boy] had a medical problem and stopped breathing,” Huggins said.

The boy was later transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy showed the boy died from blunt force trauma. Coroners found extensive internal injuries to the boy’s head and body, Huggins said. The injuries were not visible when Acosta brought the boy to the emergency room.

Huggins declined to release details about the attack, including if a weapon was used.

Acosta is being held without bond in the Forsyth County jail on charges of murder, cruelty to children and aggravated battery.

The boy, who attended special needs classes, was scheduled to enter first grade next month at Sawnee Elementary School in Cumming, Forsyth County Schools Superintendent Buster Evans said.

Two other children, including a 1-year-old and an 11-year-old, were home at the time of the attack. They were not injured and have since been turned over to DFCS, Huggins said.

Deputies interviewed the boy’s mother, and she’s not expected to be charged, Huggins said. Several other relatives who live with the family were also interviewed.

Huggins declined to say if Acosta has a prior criminal record. However, he said Acosta had never been arrested by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, and deputies had never been to the couple’s home prior to the murder.


Staff writer Katie Leslie contributed to this article.