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Toddler dies three days after abuse; foster father charged

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Lewis, Kimathi

The State

COLUMBIA, S.C. _ A 2-year-old girl was taken off life support and died Friday, three days after police said her foster father beat her and shook her until she lost consciousness in their Richland Northeast home.

Passion Gardner, who was in a coma since Tuesday, was pronounced dead about 2:30 p.m. at Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital, Richland County Coroner Frank Barron said.

Her death shocked child-care providers, whose required monthly visits to the foster home showed no signs of trouble.

"Much as we try, we haven't been able to totally prevent this," said Libba Patterson, director of the state Department of Social Services.

Passion was beaten with a belt around her bottom and shaken back and forth until she became unresponsive, First Circuit Assistant Solicitor Thomas Scott said.

Nathaniel Mitchell, 36, of 312 Forestwood Drive was charged Friday with homicide by child abuse, Richland County Sheriff's spokesman Joseph Pellicci said.

He was originally charged with assault with intent to kill when he was arrested Thursday night, Pellicci said.

Mitchell, who is 6 feet 3 inches and weighs 289 pounds, was denied bond Friday and is in the Richland County jail, Scott said.

The incident happened between 7:30 and 8 a.m. Tuesday at the home, Pellicci said.

Passion's 3-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister were in the home when their youngest sibling was beaten, Pellicci said.

The children were taken Tuesday into DSS custody and are being examined for abuse.

Passion had bleeding around the brain and eyes when she was taken to the hospital, Pellicci said. Mitchell called his wife at work and waited until she came home before driving the child to the hospital, he said.

Mitchell and his wife, Sonja, were planning to adopt Passion and her two siblings, Patterson said.

Mitchell, who has a job delivering medical supplies, cleared the 90-day background screening and examination program with his wife, Patterson said.

The screening included criminal checks through the FBI, the State Law Enforcement Division, the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect and the Sex Offender Registry.

Mitchell and his wife, who works in a school cafeteria, passed medical examinations that showed they were physically fit and can handle the stress of dealing with children.

They even received a 12-hour training over six days on how to handle children and help them deal with the change in their lives.

But something went wrong and so far no one knows why.

"It's a question I've asked myself since I learned about it," Patterson said. "There were no warning signs, no previous incidents.

"The children showed every indication that they were happy and that they wanted to be adopted," Patterson said.

Passion and her siblings were taken into DSS custody in March 1998 after they were abused and neglected by their parents, Patterson said.

A judge decided to terminate the parents' rights at a March 13 hearing, but has not signed the order, Patterson said.

The Mitchells were caring for the 3-year-old since March 1998. They got custody of Passion and her sister in June 1999 when their foster parent died, Patterson said.

Passion, who was born premature, and her brother had special needs so the Mitchells were getting more money for the children than normally given to foster parents, Patterson said.

A case worker visited the family every month to make sure the children were getting proper care, Patterson said. A licensing worker, also visited the Mitchells quarterly to assure they were good foster parents.

Patterson said the last case involving a foster parent charged in the death of a foster child was in Chesterfield County in 1996.

Joyce Edmond was charged with beating to death 7-year-old Rachel Nelson in December 1996.

"We plan to review our procedure, policy and training protocol to see if we can't do a better job," Patterson said.

2000 Mar 31