Trial begins of Dorchester foster mom accused of killing boy, 4

John Ellement

Boston Globe

After 10 days in a foster home in Dorchester, Dontel Jeffers, 4, arrived at Caritas Carney Hospital on March 6, 2005, with bruises under his left eye, adult scratch marks on his forehead, and ligature marks around his wrists and one ankle from a telephone cord, a prosecutor said today during opening statements in a second-degree murder trial in Suffolk Superior Court.

The boy had bruises inside his throat consistent with someone trying to cut off his breath and a ruptured intestine that was leaking human waste into his abdomen, causing a treatable but extremely painful infection, said David Deakin, a Suffolk assistant district attorney. After doctors spent 45 minutes trying to revive him, Dontel was pronounced dead.

Deakin told the jury that Dontel's foster mother, Corinne N. Stephen, was responsible for his death. Before moving into her home on Ballou Avenue, Dontel was a healthy, smiling, energetic boy, he said.

"Ten days later, the defendant brought the bruised and apparently lifeless body to the emergency department at the Carney Hospital," Deakin said.

In Stephen's trial on second-degree murder charges, Deakin told the jury that he will not present evidence that Stephen beat Dontel or inflicted his injuries. Instead, the prosecution will try to prove that she caused his death by failing to obtain medical attention when his life was clearly in jeopardy.

"She was the sole caretaker," Deakin said. "She allowed him to suffer bruises. She called no one. Not a doctor. Not a hospital. Not 911. Not anyone until it was far too late to save him."

Defense attorney John Palmer described Stephen in his opening statement as a career foster mother who had taken care of other children. She had a good reputation at Mentor Network Inc., the private child welfare agency where she worked, he said. The graduate of Madison Park Technical Vocational High School had attended nursing classes at Salem State College and had been fully screened before being hired by the Mentor Network.

Palmer urged the jury to "keep an open mind throughout this entire case" and said she was not responsible for Dontel's injuries or his death.

Dontel had been cared for most of his life by his father, Elary Jeffers. In October 2004, Elary Jeffers was deported to his native Caribbean island, Nevis, after an outstanding immigration order surfaced when he was charged with domestic violence against his girlfriend.

With Dontel's father gone, a judge awarded custody to his mother, Christal Claiborne. Within months, Dontel was pulled from her home because the state Department of Social Services alleged that she was neglecting him and abusing drugs.

After a stay at a residential center for abused and neglected children, Dontel was placed with Stephen in a foster home on Ballou Avenue in Dorchester on Feb. 24, 2005. Ten days later, he was rushed to the hospital, where he went into cardiac arrest and died.