Death of foster baby leaves many questions
Carol Ferguson
Eyewitness News
The death of a foster child leaves a lot of unanswered questions, and the 911 call placed by the foster family reveals confusion and desperate attempts to help the child.
Five-month-old Carl Deloney was reported not breathing on December 15th. Eyewitness News obtained recordings of the call for emergency help, which was apparently made by an adult daughter of the foster parents.
"I'm not sure if he's actually breathing," the caller is heard saying. The dispatcher responds, "I don't want an 'I don't know" answer. I want to know if the child is breathing." The woman tells the operator she is getting out of the car and heading into the foster home.
The baby was being cared for at a foster home on Eucalyptus Drive. The biological mother, La Shawn Wandick told Eyewitness News the infant had been placed in foster care at birth because drugs were found in his system.
A Kern County Sheriff's report said on December 15th the baby was being cared for by the foster father, Oswaldo Peralta. "An investigation showed that when the baby stopped breathing, Oswaldo Peralta, did not call for medical aid, but instead called Luz Peralta, who called for medical aid," reads the sheriff's search warrant. Luz Peralta is identified as the foster mother.
In the 911 call, the operator tries to sort out who is calling, and who is injured. "Is this your child or is this your father?" asks the dispatcher. "It's a foster kid," the caller responds.
The dispatcher tells the caller exactly how to do chest compressions on the infant, and stays on the line as the woman does this. Then the ambulance arrives. The baby is first taken to Kern Medical Center, and then transferred to Valley Children's Hospital in Madera. The baby died on December 18th.
The sheriff's report outlines the care the baby received. "The infant arrived at Kern Medical Center, and was being treated when bruising began to appear on the left side of the baby's face and right side of the baby's forehead. A C.A.T. scan of the baby revealed the baby was suffering from bleeding in the brain," reads the search warrant.
The foster home is certified through the "Pathways Family Services" foster family agency. Agencies like this are licensed through the state.
But, Kern County Child Protective Services will also investigate. Assistant director Bethany Christman said her department will review what happened from the perspective of the child and the foster home. "Were there complaints on the home? Had there been a recent history of social worker interaction with the home and the field worker? And the administration of the family agency."
Last week, the birth mother said the infant seemed to be doing fine. La Shawn Wandick had supervised visits with the infant and an older child every week at the Human Services Department. Both children were in the same foster home. The older son is 18-months old, and Wandick had worried about the discipline that child was getting in the home.
Wandick said she reported that to CPS, but that agency's assistant director said she could not comment on any referrals like that at this time.
The mother wants to know what happened to the baby? During the 911 call, the operator tried to find that out. "You guys see what happened?" he asks the woman caller. "No, we just saw him. My dad's been here. He said he was throwing up," she responds.
A spokesman from the Pathways Family Services agency would only say an investigation is underway by the county. The sheriff's department said Monday they had nothing new to release about the case.
A spokesman with the Kern County Coroner's office said it'll be a few more weeks before they get more test results from the autopsy, and those are needed to determine the cause of the baby's death.