Foster mom held in death

Michele Baber, 29, admits she inflicted head injuries on a girl, 3, in her care. The tot later died.

Kirk Mitchell

The Denver Post

01/30/2008

A 29-year-old foster mother was arrested in the death of a 3-year-old girl she admitted striking on the head and then shaking until the girl's head violently hit the floor, officials said.

Michele Baber of Grand Lake was arrested for investigation of felony child abuse and is being held in the Grand County Jail in the death of Daisia Derzon, who was seriously injured Jan. 9 and died three days later, Grand County Sheriff Rodney Johnson said Tuesday.

Bail has not been set in the case.

Sheriff's investigators were called to Baber's home at 12:57 p.m. on Jan. 9 and found that Daisia had suffered severe injuries to the back of the head, according to Grand County District Court records.

Daisia was taken to Children's Hospital in Aurora, where a doctor said she had been struck violently on the back of the head and that it was child abuse.

At first, Baber claimed she found Daisia smacking her head against the wall during a violent dream. After several interviews with investigators, she admitted hitting the girl so hard she fell forward into a table. She also admitted grabbing the girl's head and shaking her violently so that her head hit the floor, according to court records. The girl had a seizure and vomited.

The arrest came Monday, the same day The Denver Post ran a story about the deaths of Daisia and another child in foster care while their mothers were in prison.

In an interview Thursday at the Colorado Women's Correctional Facility in Denver, Shannon Derzon, Daisia's mother, said Daisia and her two sons, ages 4 and 6, went into foster care after she was convicted of dealing methamphetamines and was sentenced to six years in prison.

The children moved into Baber's home eight months ago, and Baber and her husband were in the final stages of adopting the three kids, according to court records.

Shannon Derzon said she feels tremendous guilt because her children wouldn't have gone into foster care if she hadn't been arrested.

"I know I let them down," she said. "They were so quick to take my rights away instead of getting me help. I'm their mom. I'm the one who should be caring for them."

Shannon Derzon said her two boys have been placed in another foster home.

"I really hurt because I'll never be able to do the mommy-daughter thing," Shannon Derzon said.

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com