Baby Dies In Foster Care

MILWAUKEE - A 2-month-old baby died in foster care on October 2.

Now, his parents want answers about what happened.

Valissa Reynolds and Robert Whitman, Senior. say their nightmare began last week when Child Protective Services removed all four of their kids from their Milwaukee home.

"It's really hard. It's really, really hard," Reynolds said.

The couple says their world stopped when they learned their youngest son, Robert Whitman Junior, died in his foster home just two days after being placed there.

"They were just saying that Junior had some issues during the night, and we were asking how, and then they bust out, ‘he's dead, he's deceased,’" Reynolds explained.

"It had to be the biggest shock in the world that I've ever come across in my lifetime. It's just an unreal situation," Whitman said.

The couple will bury Robert Junior Thursday. They don't know when they'll get their other three children back.

The Bureau of Child Welfare says they removed all of the children because the 3-year-old girl had bruises and because of filthy living conditions in the house.

An investigation report says there was "garbage all over the floors, contaminated cat litter, and flies in the home."

Whitman admits the house was messy, but says Valissa was recovering from surgery and couldn't clean up. They say their daughter's bruises happened after she fell off the bed.

The couple says they'll do whatever it takes to get their kids back, but say the hardest part is that they'll never see little Robert Junior again.

"We don't sleep, we don't eat, and it's very hard," Reynolds said.

Milwaukee police say there were no obvious signs of trauma on the boy, but they are still waiting for toxicology results before they know exactly how he died. The foster mother denied our request for an interview.