Foster parents cleared in baby Cherokeewolf's death

Eight months after the death of 12-week-old Cherokeewolf William Diedrich, Metro police on Wednesday dropped the homicide investigation into the baby's foster parents after the medical examiner's office determined he died of a birth defect.

Todd and Cheri Green, who became the baby's foster parents after he was born in November 2009 to a homeless woman on a downtown Nashville sidewalk, received a call from their Nashville-based attorney, Jennifer Thompson, with the news that they had been cleared.
The baby stopped breathing while living with the Greens in January, and a doctor at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt determined the child showed signs of multiple bleeding episodes in his brain. Police launched a homicide investigation focused on the foster home.
"It's been a long nine months for us," Cheri Green said.

In March, the Metro medical examiner's office said the infant died of natural causes, but police did not clear the couple until Wednesday. Metro police said they were waiting on an official report from the medical examiner's office.
Green said she and her husband had hoped that possibly the case had been cleared and no one had told them.

Her husband lost his job at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center because of the May flood. The family relocated when he found a job in Florida.
Davidson County Associate Medical Examiner Adele Lewis, who conducted the autopsy on the baby's body, ruled that Cherokeewolf died of complications from a birth defect involving his brain and heart, according to a Metro police news release.
Cherokeewolf, who was named for his 35-year-old birth mother's Native American roots and free spirit, was placed in the Greens' care by the state Department of Children's Services shortly after his birth.
The couple, who also have a 2-year-old daughter, had been on a waiting list to receive a foster child.
They had intended to adopt the boy, whom they called William.
Around 8 p.m. on Jan. 9, police records state that Cheri Green, 37, put the couple's daughter to bed and then went to bed herself. Todd Green, 42, stayed downstairs with Cherokeewolf.
At about 10 p.m., he noticed the baby had vomited. After he vomited again, the baby had trouble breathing, Todd Green told police. Then, he went limp.
Cherokeewolf spent almost a month on life support before he died.
Reach Erin Quinn at equinn@tennessean.com