Death of child in foster care ruled a homicide
Raymond Drumsta
The death of a 14-month-old child who lived in a Dryden foster home last fall has been ruled a homicide, Tompkins County Sheriff's officials and District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson said Tuesday.
The announcement about Adrian Hines, the son of Kristine Freda, followed several months of investigation, including the Onondaga County Medical Examiner's conclusion on Feb. 11 that Adrian's death was a homicide and Wilkinson's consultations with other medical experts.
"The investigation is ongoing, so no additional details regarding the child's injuries, the evidence, suspects, or possible charges will be released at this time," sheriff's officials said Tuesday. The officials did not identify the foster family.
Before the announcement, the sheriff's office and district attorney's office hadn't disclosed the child's name or the fact that he had been in foster care - and not in Freda's care - when the incident occurred.
"The child was not in her care or custody when this happened," said Capt. Derek Osborne of the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office. He said he did not know why Adrian had been placed in foster care.
Around 5:20 p.m. Oct. 2, deputies, Freeville firefighters and Etna firefighters responded to the report of an unresponsive child at the foster home on Etna Road, sheriff's officials said. Adrian was taken to Cayuga Medical Center and on to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, where he "subsequently died from injuries he sustained," they added.
Sheriff's investigators interviewed several witnesses in the following days, and at the time, Wilkinson cautioned that the full autopsy results could take two to three weeks. She later said that "if preliminary findings lead to tests or consultations that develop new findings, the process may be extended significantly," and that "specialists in fields related to preliminary findings may be consulted to contribute opinions regarding specific findings."
"It's not unusual for a full autopsy report to take several months," she said on Tuesday, adding that the full autopsy results into the death of 2-year-old Grace Manos in 2007 weren't available until two weeks before the trial of Marie Manos, her aunt and babysitter. Marie was later convicted of murder in connection with Grace's death and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Wilkinson also said she consulted with medical experts and specialists after the autopsy ruled Adrian's death a homicide in February.
"I sometimes have to seek additional information because I'm doing a criminal investigation," Wilkinson said. The investigation is continuing, and details are being held in confidence, in part because they're used to evaluate witnesses' credibility, she said.
She also declined to comment on why Adrian was in foster care, saying that fact isn't relevant.
"Why he was in foster care is not part of the investigation," she said, adding that she sees no conflict of interest in the fact that she was once an attorney for the Tompkins County Department of Social Services.
Among many other functions, the Department of Social Services "oversees recruitment and retention of qualified, caring families who are willing to provide temporary foster care for children and to work with families toward reunification," according to its Web site.
The department has nothing to do with the investigation, Wilkinson said, emphasizing that she's "never had a legal relationship with the parties in the investigation."
Department of Social Services officials could not be reached for comment.