Death report shows history of child neglect
TULSA — From the time Camaron Larson was born, his mother had problems keeping up with his disabilities, leading to a string of visits by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services in three counties and ultimately a child-neglect conviction related to his November 2014 death.
Sarah Amanda McKay, 32, and her husband, Robert James Stewart McKay, 35, were found guilty Feb. 5 of two counts of child neglect. The jury recommended a life sentence for the charge associated with Camaron’s death and 27 years for the neglect count pertaining to their other son. Sarah McKay is their biological mother, and Robert McKay is their stepfather.
A pre-sentencing report has been requested by District Judge Bill LaFortune, and formal sentencing is set for March 18.
A report from the Office of Juvenile System Oversight, which is administered by the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, states that DHS offices in Tulsa, Creek and Mayes counties received at least 11 calls with concerns about Camaron’s health. The complaints were not substantiated, but workers recommended various supportive services after each instance.
Camaron was born with multiple disabilities. After the child was taken to the emergency room in February 2006, DHS workers believed his death to be imminent but due to natural causes, not neglect. Almost 10 years later, Camaron’s death was ruled by the state medical examiner’s office to be natural.
DHS spokeswoman Sheree Powell said the workers in each investigation over the years interviewed parents, neighbors, medical professionals and other family members to determine the safety of the child.
“There were several prior calls of concern referencing the family, and workers who visited this family, particularly the mother, found they were struggling with poverty, the mother had a physical disability and they were raising a child with very severe disabilities,” Powell said. “The medical professionals throughout DHS involvement said these disabilities would be difficult for any family.”
Two months before Camaron’s death, DHS workers visited the family on an allegation they were living with a relative who smoked, which would compromise their son’s health. They found the family had been keeping the medical appointments for Camaron and had plans to move within the month.
“They were not living in the conditions where the child later died,” Powell said. “Our workers saw them in a completely different environment. After our workers saw them, their circumstances obviously changed.”
Child’s medical needs
The charges filed against the McKays state the couple failed to treat the child’s medical condition and did not take care of their home, which did not have electricity and had several piles of trash and dog feces. Charges also stated the couple did not meet Camaron’s needs by failing to attend doctor appointments, provide medical services, give prescribed medication and maintain medical equipment.
On Nov. 24, 2014, Sarah McKay called 911 reporting Camaron was “not breathing” and that her “son is frozen,” a police affidavit states. He was pronounced dead a few minutes later by emergency personnel who arrived at the family’s residence in the 1000 block of North Florence Avenue.
The detective wrote in the affidavit that the boy was wearing a T-shirt and diaper in a bedroom with a temperature of 62 degrees.
Robert McKay told an officer the house had running water but had been without power for “a few days.” The family had been using a gas generator to power the child’s medical equipment, McKay told the officer.
The detective found the boy’s feeding pump was plugged into the wall, and his oxygen bottle appeared to be empty though there were two sealed oxygen bottles in the closet. There were also several bottles of prescription medication with a number of pills in the bottles indicating the boy hadn’t been taking the necessary amount, according to the affidavit.
The home was cluttered, with several large piles of dog feces on the floor, and a bag of marijuana was found on the parents’ bed, the detective wrote.
The detective learned that about two months earlier, the boy had been seen by a Child Advocacy Center doctor who specializes in child abuse and neglect. In the doctor’s report, it was stated Camaron was at risk for “aspiration and pneumonia because of his lack of activity and his thick secretions” and needed 24-hour monitoring and help, according to the affidavit.
Powell said with each DHS investigative report, a copy is sent to the district attorney’s office, which can ask for additional information or further review if the officers don’t agree with the findings or have more questions.
“That’s the checks and balances to what DHS does,” she said.
The reports from the Office of Juvenile System Oversight are in addition to the information DHS releases after a child dies or nearly dies due to abuse and neglect and a charge is filed against a caregiver.
Powell cautions the public in making judgments based on a single report.
‘It does not give the rest of the story’
“The (Office of Juvenile System Oversight) reports do not give a complete picture of DHS involvement with any given family,” Powell said. “It lists out the referrals, made sometimes in calls to the hotline, with great detail. But it does not give the rest of the story. It does not tell what the worker found, the condition of the house, what the parents were doing, what other family members were doing to help out or not and what the worker recommended and why.”
Poverty is an issue that sometimes complicates investigations into child abuse and neglect, Powell said.
“Many families we deal with are in poverty or at a standard of living that would not meet many of our standards of living, but that does not always constitute neglect of children,” Powell said. “Families struggling with poverty and other issues are why services are recommended by workers.”