Anguish, outrage follow the death of a foster child

Christina Jewett

The Sacramento Bee

Oct. 26--The death of a toddler and arrest of her foster mother on suspicion of child abuse and homicide left two families grappling for answers Thursday.

The aunt and grandmother of Tamaihia Lynae Moore, 17 months, mourned the loss of a little girl who loved to give kisses.

They also posed indignant questions over their attempts to urge a Child Protective Services social worker to take the child to the hospital Saturday after she appeared bruised and disoriented.

The request was not fulfilled, the CPS director said Thursday.

"Saturday she didn't know who she was," the child's aunt Patrice Moore said. "We just don't know what happened."

Two miles away, the accused woman's parents sorted through Tamekca Walker's immaculate home and day care center in disbelief, insisting that their daughter would never harm a child.

Walker's living room is a rainbow-toned array of children's toys and educational posters, with her day care inspection sheets and licensing documents neatly tacked on a bulletin board.

"Sometimes you have to wonder, where is God?" said her father, Willie Walker, sighing in disbelief.

Sacramento police went to Tamekca Walker's home Monday at 6:20 a.m. after Fire Department paramedics transported Tamaihia Moore, who had been unresponsive, to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead later that morning.

Police interviewed Walker several times, her parents said. Police arrested her Wednesday night on suspicion of homicide and assault resulting in the death of a child under 8 years old.

Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Matt Young said the investigation produced evidence of abuse and neglect.

"We're confident that the child's death was a result of criminal conduct," Young said.

However, Assistant Coroner Ed Smith said his office has not determined if the death was a homicide or how it occurred.

Walker's two other foster children were placed in protective custody by CPS workers Monday and her day care business was shut down, police said.

Patrice Moore said CPS workers removed Tamaihia from her mother at birth after testing positive for cocaine exposure.

The baby was in a foster home for six months, then with her aunt and then with her father, Calvin Moore, until he was arrested about a month ago. Then Tamaihia was placed in Walker's care, Patrice Moore said.

Cathy Walker, the defendant's mother, said social workers brought the baby to her daughter's south Sacramento home with only the clothes she was wearing and cream for a diaper rash. Cathy Walker said her daughter sought medical information about the child, but got none.

CPS officials said foster parents are paid a base rate of $425 each month to care for an infant.

Cathy Walker said Tamaihia cried often and pitched tantrums.

Willie Walker said the child had hit her head about a week ago while playing with children.

Cathy Walker said her daughter asked a social worker on Oct. 17 to place the child elsewhere. However, the social worker urged Tamekca Walker, 34, to keep the child, her mother said.

"I just wish that Tamekca was a little stronger about doing stuff like that," Willie Walker said.

CPS director Laura Coulthard, who could not confirm the request to move the child had been made, replied generally. She said social workers assess such requests and either take steps to remove the child or provide struggling foster parents with more support services.

Meanwhile, Patrice Moore, the child's aunt, said she was petitioning the child dependency court to gain custody of the child. She said a judge ordered that CPS expedite turning the child over to her late in September.

"I didn't hear anything," she said, saying she'd hoped to hear from CPS to arrange for an inspection of her home. She said her criminal background check was completed and clean.

While the process apparently lagged, Moore said she was growing concerned about Tamaihia. She visited that baby Oct. 7 and noticed that she had lost weight.

She saw Tamaihia again Saturday during a formal visit at the home of Debra Oliver, the baby's grandmother, and was outraged. Tamaihia was wearing a skirt that was too big for her, held up with a rubber band. She seemed dehydrated and had healing scratches on her back, Moore said.

The usually alert and engaging baby was remote, Moore said.

"She didn't know her name," Moore said. "It took five minutes to get her to smile."

At one point, the child's eyes didn't move in the same direction at the same time.

Moore said she and Oliver begged the social worker who came to return Tamaihia to her foster mother to take the child to the hospital.

"(We) pleaded with her," Moore said.

Coulthard confirmed that the family relayed concerns to the social worker, who did not take the child to get medical care.

On Monday, Moore said she went to CPS offices and arranged for a social worker to inspect her home Oct. 30. She did not know at the time that Tamaihia had already died.

Coulthard, the CPS director, said there was no record of any complaints against Walker for her day care or foster care.

Officials are combing through the details of the case to see if there are lessons they can glean, Coulthard said.

"When we lose a child, we take that personally, we take that as an opportunity to renew and look and see if there was anything we could do differently," she said.