Day 4: A Failure to Investigate

In addition to the case of Sylvester Brown, The Washington Post documented the cases of eight children who died after police or social workers conducted incomplete investigations or ignored signs of danger from 1993 through 2000. The deaths occurred after the children's families came to the attention of the District's child protection system or were under the watch of social workers. These accounts are based on interviews and records from the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency, the D.C. Child Fatality Review Committee, D.C. Superior Court, the medical examiner's office and the police department:

Cecelia Maria Rushing

May 5, 1991-Nov. 3, 1993
Blunt force trauma

"She was a perfect little baby," recalled Cecelia's godmother, Bernice Kareem. Kareem and her boyfriend, Purcell Campbell Jr., cared for the toddler while her mother lived on the streets. The mother later sent Cecelia to an aunt, Darnella Adams, who had a history of violence and mental illness. Neighbors soon heard cries coming from Adams's apartment. They called 911 several times, but police "failed to adequately pursue the matter," according to a prosecution memorandum filed in court.

Two months later, on Nov. 3, 1993, Adams shook Cecelia when she wet her pants, then slammed her against a wall, killing her. An autopsy showed that her brain was swollen, her liver lacerated. Adams pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Before the mother had sent Cecelia to live with Adams, Kareem notified authorities that the mother was using her welfare checks to buy drugs. Kareem feared for Cecelia's safety. But social workers never came to investigate, according to Kareem, and the mother eventually sent her daughter to Adams.

"Everybody kept saying that Cecelia got lost in the system," Kareem said recently. "That's not what happened. The system lost Cecelia."