From birth and abuse to a new beginning
Now 18, Avondale quads hope to write new stories
The arrival of the four known as the Avondale quads was announced weeks early on the front page of The Arizona Republic.
A young Avondale couple struggling to make a living in a one-bedroom apartment was expecting quadruplets but was ill-prepared for the births. Touched by their story, hundreds of people around the Valley donated cribs, clothing and cash. Others criticized the couple. Elizabeth Shannon Whittle and Anthony Perez were faulted for not using birth control and being on state health care.
Still, there was nothing but joy on Jan. 9, 1998, when Megan, Anthony Jr., Robert and Damian were delivered via Caesarean section. The new mom beamed from another front page devoted to the quadruplets.
Three months later, the four infants were suddenly hospitalized with broken bones and skull fractures. Child-welfare officials would place the children with foster parents as suspicion turned toward the parents.
The injuries
Not long after the four babies were hospitalized in April 1998, investigators started looking for the person or persons responsible.
Whittle and Perez denied hurting their daughter and three sons. Investigators worked slowly and methodically over months, and in October 1998, Whittle and Perez were arrested in connection with the abuse.
By that time the babies had been placed in foster homes. Doctors believed each child would be deaf and blind, and likely suffer from cerebral palsy. The most severely injured infant, Anthony, would never walk, talk or live to the age of 10, the experts said.
And the community that once rallied around Whittle and Perez were horrified by the injuries, angered by what the parents were alleged to have done.
The young couple professed their innocence.
By the time they went on trial in November 1999, few had any idea what, and who, would be blamed for the babies’ injuries.
The trial
Whittle faced 14 counts of child abuse. Perez was charged with four counts of child abuse, accused of failing to get his infants proper medical care.
With no eyewitnesses, prosecutors said Whittle was the only one with the babies when they were injured.
The defense argued that the children suffered from brittle-bone disease. And the children’s maternal grandmother testified that Whittle’s 6-year-old daughter, who had Down syndrome, may have been responsible for their injuries.
After listening to six weeks of testimony, a jury deliberated seven days before finding Whittle and Perez guilty of child abuse.
After the trial, little new information was available about the Avondale Quads. Child-welfare officials shielded them from the spotlight.
But that would change in another year.
A new chapter
The four siblings gathered in their Sunday best, chasing one another, unmindful of the otherwise staid environment of a Maricopa County courtroom.
Adults beamed, letting the children play while waiting for court to be called to order. This was a time for celebration, not correction. The quadruplets were about to start their next chapter. The date was Jan. 9, 2001 — three years to the day after they were born.
Three couples stood before a familycourt judge, waiting to welcome the four children to their families. Three of the children stood still as their legal names were read. The fourth watched from his wheelchair, head swiveling when his siblings surrounded him, cocooning him in hugs.
Once the adoptions were finalized, a clerk entered with balloons. The judge led everyone in a chorus of “Happy Birthday.”
Hannah Nelson, Brandon Rowin, and Matthew and Michael Reed left with families that included parents and uncles and aunts and grandparents. Hope accompanied them out the door. But shadows of the abuse they had suffered lined the road ahead.
Coming Sunday, The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com chronicle the journey of siblings forever associated with a tragic start, yet refusing to be defined by it. Now 18, the Avondale quads are focused on the future rather than trapped in the past.
Coming Republic Sunday,and azcentral.comThe Arizona chronicle the journey of siblings forever associated with a tragic start, yet refusing to be defined by it.