Zachary Higier (Nikita Khoryakov)

2-year-old boy adpted from Orenburg Russia, died of severe head trauma. Adoptive mother Natalia Higier, stated that he had fallen out of his crib or hit his head on the floor. She later admitted to tossing him into the air and he hit his head on the coffee table. Zachary sustained a bilateral skull fracture, strokes, brain swelling, and detached retinas. Natalia pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail with 18 months balance of sentence suspended for 4 years.

The agency failed to note that Natalia Higier, a Latvian native, took out a restraining order against her husband in 1995, but dropped it a day later. Her husband, Louis, had also taken out a restraining order against his wife in the past.