Lundy defends her care of infant

St. Petersburg Times

Author: MARK JOURNEY

CLEARWATER - Breaking her three-year silence in the case, the foster mother charged in the death of 4-month-old Corey Greer testified Friday that she properly fed and bathed the baby, even though she was overwhelmed with 12 other children.

Judith Lundy, 50, said Corey had a severe rash, urinated a lot and was sometimes difficult to feed. But she said she never saw any indication that the child was gravely ill, although doctors have testified that Corey's sunken eyes and listlessness should have alerted her.

''Corey Greer seemed to be a happy baby,'' Mrs. Lundy testified in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court. ''He had a lot of kicking movement. . . . He smiled. He was hard to feed but he still ate about every four hours.''

Mrs. Lundy is charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in Corey's death. If convicted, the Treasure Island woman could be sentenced to a maximum of seven years in prison under state sentencing guidelines.

When Corey died on July 21, 1985, Mrs. Lundy was caring for 12 foster children, as well as her own daughter. She was licensed by the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) to care for only four children.

After Corey's death, HRS officials admitted that they had not taken enough steps to ensure that foster children were placed in clean, uncrowded foster homes. Eventually, 13 HRS employees were disciplined, and major changes were made in the way HRS monitors foster homes.

Prosecutors say Corey died of dehydration and too much sodium in his blood. They say that Mrs. Lundy neglected him because he was black.

In applications to become a foster parent in Florida, and earlier in Chicago, Mrs. Lundy asked for only white children, prosecutors say. They say that Corey usually was cared for by an 8-year-old foster child because touching the baby gave Mrs. Lundy ''the willies.''

Mrs. Lundy said Friday that she is not a racist.

''I have no bad feelings - no prejudice,'' Mrs. Lundy said.

She said she initially was reluctant to accept Corey and his young sister from HRS because she was tired and her home was crowded with children.

''There was absolutely no place else for these children,'' Mrs. Lundy said. ''I know the word 'no.' And I do use the word 'no.' But I didn't use the word 'no.' ''

The two children were placed in Mrs. Lundy's care in July 1985 after a St. Petersburg police officer found them alone in a house without electricity, witnesses testified earlier this week.

Mrs. Lundy said she was never given Corey's medical history, although she was told he needed to wear a heart monitor as a precaution because a sibling had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Defense attorneys argue that Corey had been sick since birth, possibly from respiratory stress that could have caused brain damage.

They say he almost died after he was hospitalized by his natural mother a month earlier because he had too little - not too much - sodium in his blood. As a result, Corey suffered from seizures, defense attorneys say.

Mrs. Lundy, who was the only adult in the house, said she gradually became fatigued from washing diapers and sheets, cleaning house and caring for the other children. She said nine of the children she was caring for wet their beds, and two of them frequently took off their diapers and left them around the house.

Several witnesses have testified that the house reeked of urine and feces.

''I was running and going all day,'' Mrs. Lundy said. ''It was getting so hectic . . . I was just tired . . . I had too many children.''

Mrs. Lundy also described Corey's last day. She awoke because Corey was crying, she said. Then, Mrs. Lundy said, she changed his diaper and gave him a bottle. But Corey didn't want to eat, Mrs. Lundy said.

She fed the other children, then took them swimming in the backyard pool. About 2:30 p.m. she glanced into Corey's room.

''I got by the doorway and froze,'' she said. ''. . . I had thought he wasn't breathing.''

Mrs. Lundy said she ran to Corey's crib, picked him up and then ran screaming for the telephone to call for help.

''Nobody told me he needed a doctor,'' she said crying on the witness stand.