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Dallas Morning News
Police: Foster mom delayed helping
girl
Affidavit indicates she waited for
hours before going to hospital
January 12, 2007
By Holly Yan
 As
6-year-old Katherine Frances suffered from a skull fracture, brain
damage, internal bleeding and bruising to her eye, hip and arms, her
foster mother was at a coin-operated laundry washing the blanket on
which she had been beaten, police say.
A probable-cause affidavit for the
arrest of Joyce Luvern Burks, 41, of DeSoto indicated that she
waited several hours before taking Katherine to a hospital last
month. Officials say Ms. Burks could have prevented Katherine's
death.
WFAA-TV Katherine Frances "Had she
been brought to the hospital from the beginning, she probably would
have lived," DeSoto police Capt. Ron Smith said.
The foster mother was arrested
about 6 a.m. Friday at her workplace on suspicion of injury to a
child. She was being held at the DeSoto city jail Friday in lieu of
$500,000 bail and could face up to 99 years or life in prison.
The arrest comes five weeks after
Ms. Burks' 14-year-old biological son, who has a different last
name, was taken into custody on suspicion of murder. Police say he
repeatedly body-slammed Katherine on Dec. 3. She died two days
later.
Ms. Burks could not be reached for
comment Friday.
The accused teenager's aunt has
said the 14-year-old is innocent and that her family will be
vindicated.The boy is not being named because he is a minor.
Katherine is the third child
fatally injured in a foster home once run by Mesa Family Services
Inc. of Harker Heights, Texas. Mesa had recruited Ms. Burks and her
husband as foster parents last summer. After the state moved to
revoke Mesa's license in November, Therapeutic Family Life took over
about 140 of the firm's foster homes, including Ms. Burks' home.
Also Online 15 foster kids taken
out of homes Child Care Licensing has accused Therapeutic of "gross
failure" in protecting Katherine, saying the company ignored reports
that the 14-year-old boy had hit her and her siblings. The company
denies the allegations.
Place in foster care Katherine and
her three siblings were removed from their Plano home on July 31
after allegations of neglect by their mother. They were placed with
Ms. Burks and her husband the same day that Mesa approved them as
foster parents.
On Nov. 25, DeSoto police were
called when Katherine and her 8-year-old sister were hospitalized
for bruises. Katherine suffered severe bruising on her forehead,
both cheeks, neck, shoulders, arms, back and chest, in addition to
injuries on her pelvic bone area, directly above her pubic area and
on her buttocks, court records show.
Katherine, her sister and her
foster mother told investigators that the girls were fighting, Child
Protective Services spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said. Police were
investigating whether the teenager encouraged the fight.
CPS temporarily removed Katherine
and her siblings from the DeSoto home. Six days later, Austin-based
Therapeutic determined that living conditions in Ms. Burks' home
were safe and sent them back.
"The information that we have is
that appropriate approvals were obtained" to return the children,
said Eli Bell, an Austin attorney for Therapeutic.
Ms. Gonzales said, "The plan that
had been put in place was they shouldn't be unsupervised so they
couldn't harm each other."
But the affidavit states that the
children "repeatedly complained to Joyce Burks regarding their
physical abuse by Joyce Burks' fourteen year old biological son.
Joyce Burks would not believe the foster children due to the denials
of her ... son."
Katherine's biological mother,
Marbella Frances, told an investigator that during supervised visits
with her children they told her that Ms. Burks' 14-year-old son had
been assaulting them or encouraging them to fight each other,
according to the affidavit.
Ms. Gonzales said Ms. Frances did
not report the alleged abuse to CPS officials.
After she was hurt The day that
Katherine was fatally injured, Capt. Smith said, Ms. Burks was not
home "the whole time." She works two full-time jobs, and her husband
works long hours, officials say. Police say the foster father was
not home at the time, and he has not been charged.
The affidavit states that the
14-year-old called his mother to tell her that Katherine was
vomiting. Capt. Smith said investigators now believe she was aware
Katherine was ill for at least three hours before taking her to the
hospital.
The affidavit, obtained Friday, did
not explicitly mention the body-slamming but described what happened
in the hours after Katherine was injured, including details of
conflicting accounts from Ms. Burks.
"Joyce Burks initially advised that
the victim began to vomit between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ... Joyce
Burks then called Therapeutic Family Life Agency to report the
incident at 8:36 p.m. and immediately transported the victim to
Charlton Methodist Hospital," the affidavit states.
But later in the interview with
police, Ms. Burks said Katherine was sick about 5 p.m.
Joyce Luvern Burks
Katherine "had the classic signs of
a concussion: dizziness, nausea, vomiting, convulsions," Capt. Smith
said. Her siblings said Katherine "looked as if she was sleeping
with her eyes open" and had "one of her arms stiff in a locked
straight position with her hand balled up in a fist," the arrest
warrant affidavit states.
At some point, Ms. Burks returned
home. She bathed and changed Katherine before putting her in bed,
Katherine's brother told investigators. He said the children watched
several TV shows or movies before Ms. Burks took Katherine to the
hospital.
"He advised that the victim began
to vomit while they were watching Scooby Doo the Movie. While the
victim was in the shower Drake and Josh was on. The victim was in
Joyce Burks' bed while The Mask was on. They went to the hospital
when the show Zoey 101 was on," the affidavit states.
But before arriving at the
hospital, Ms. Burks took the children to a Cedar Hill laundry
facility, two of the children told police. There she washed the
Mickey Mouse blanket that was on the floor when Katherine was
body-slammed, police said.
Examining the injury Katherine was
taken by Ms. Burks to Methodist Charlton Medical Center and then by
helicopter to Children's Medical Center Dallas.
A doctor "advised that the
6-year-old victim had findings of severe, irreversible brain tissue
injury at the time of her initial medical evaluation. ... This type
of brain tissue injury develops over the course of many hours. If
she had been brought to medical care immediately following the
traumatic event it is probable she could have survived the trauma,"
the affidavit stated.
DeSoto police say they have not
ruled out charging Ms. Burks with additional crimes, such as
tampering with evidence.
Court documents say two of
Katherine's siblings told police the 14-year-old was angry at
Katherine because she had wet her bed.
Mesa, the agency that approved and
oversaw Ms. Burks as a foster parent, was barred by the state from
placing children after a 16-month-old died of head injuries in
Corsicana and a 3-year-old girl died of head injuries in Arlington.
In November, the state moved to
revoke Mesa's license as a child-placing agency. It was then that
Therapeutic took over many Mesa homes.
Mr. Bell, the attorney for
Therapeutic, says he'll fight the state's allegations that the
foster-care contractor wrongfully recruited irresponsible foster
parents, allowed corporal punishment and improper discipline by a
minor, allowed lax supervision, abuse and failed to protect
children's rights.
Katherine's death prompted a broad
review by the state of the welfare and well-being of all children
formerly with Mesa.
Staff writer Robert T. Garrett
contributed to this report.
E-mail hyan@dallasnews.com
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