Dallas-area adoption ends with one toddler dead, twin in foster care, dad charged with capital murder

Dallas-area adoption ends with one toddler dead, twin in foster care, dad charged with capital murder

By VALERIE WIGGLESWORTH Staff Writer vwigglesworth@dallasnews.com

Published: 08 January 2012 11:20 PM

The adoption was supposed to signal a better life for the dark-haired twins.

The boy and girl had been born to a single mother with little money, a history of drug use and multiple allegations of neglecting her children. Months after their first birthday, they got new names and new parents. They moved last March into a $440,493 home with a pool in Frisco.

But now, months later, one of the toddlers is dead, the other is in foster care, and the man who adopted them is facing a capital murder charge.

The twins’ life with their adoptive parents, Scott and Emily Garrett, was not all it seemed to be, according to police and court records. There was a trip to an urgent-care center after Logan fell from a crib. Another emergency trip was made for his sister after she and her mother fell down the stairs. There were bruises from another fall by Logan in the tub. And then, after playing horsey too hard, the boy had more severe bruising.

On Oct. 11, a little more than a week after the adoption was finalized, Logan was taken by ambulance to Children’s Medical Center at Legacy in Plano with unknown injuries. The 22-month-old boy was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

Emily Garrett was in Wisconsin on business that day. Scott Garrett told Frisco police he had been wrestling with his son and knocked the wind out of him. His son started moaning and his eyes appeared to roll backward, Garrett told police. He told his wife that he had been rough-housing, tickling and playing “Superman” with Logan and that he must have done something, according to the police report.

Deep bruising

The autopsy, finalized weeks later, revealed Logan had a tear in his small intestine that “is usually the result of abusive trauma,” according to the police report. Collin County Medical Examiner William Rohr told police that Logan had alcohol in his system that hadn’t come from any medicine. Logan also had deep bruising on his backside that seemed to have been caused by blows such as kicking, Rohr told police.

The official cause of death: blunt-force trauma to the abdomen.

In December, Frisco police arrested Garrett, 40, and charged him with capital murder. He was released from the Frisco jail on a $75,000 bond.

The Garretts could not be reached for comment.

Scott Garrett’s attorney, David Haynes, said he was still gathering information about what happened. The charge “implies that the police believe that he deliberately set out on purpose to kill his son, and that is absolutely not true,” Haynes said. “It’s just a very sad situation for everyone involved.”

Sgt. Brad Merritt said the police investigation was continuing.

Women who sometimes baby-sat for the Garretts told Frisco police that the twins would cry and become hysterical when their father picked them up, according to police. And one caregiver interviewed by Child Protective Services added: “Every time Emily is out of town, something happens to Logan.”

A week after Logan’s death, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services alleged in court documents that Logan’s sister was in “immediate danger” if allowed to remain with the Garretts. She was temporarily placed with a family friend.

Girl underweight

A medical exam after her brother’s death revealed that at 22 pounds, 11 ounces — down nearly half a pound from a doctor’s visit four months earlier — the girl was significantly underweight for her age.

“This finding is consistent with inadequate nutrition and failure to thrive,” according to the doctor’s affidavit. The little girl also showed signs of traumatic hair loss or hair pulling. X-rays indicated a healing foot fracture that would “most commonly be the result of compression or crushing of the foot,” the affidavit states.

Haynes said he wasn’t aware of any allegations of abuse involving the girl.

“They both had a difficult history before the adoption involving a lot of CPS involvement,” Haynes said.

‘A difficult history’

Court records show that the twins were living last March with their birth mother and six other relatives in a home with no electricity or running water. “They cannot keep any fresh food in the home or milk for the 1-year-old twins in the home,” the note from CPS states.

The children also saw their mom abused by a boyfriend, according to the records.

Shortly after that CPS visit, the mother gave the twins to a friend. The friend arranged a private adoption with the Garretts, records show.

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said her agency was not involved in the adoption. A state adoption involves background checks, home visits, interviews with family and friends and a review of finances. “It’s very all-encompassing,” Gonzales said.

It’s unclear what was involved with the twins’ adoption. Those records were sealed by the state District Court in Collin County that approved them. CPS documents note that the birth mother could not be located to finalize the adoption, so she was served with termination papers “through publication.”

Attorney Robert Matlock, who represented Emily Garrett in the adoption, declined to comment.

In November, CPS recommended parenting classes, counseling and other steps before the Garretts could regain custody of their daughter. But there were concerns. A report stated that the couple appeared “to significantly lack the parenting skills to safely and appropriately care” for the girl. The Garretts have unrealistic expectations, given their daughter’s age and developmental level, the report states.

Explanations doubted

It also said the couple’s explanations for the twins’ various injuries “are implausible given the extent and seriousness of the injuries.”

In mid-December, a week before Scott Garrett’s arrest, the couple voluntarily terminated their parental rights. The little girl, who recently celebrated her second birthday, is now with a foster family. Gonzales said she could some day be adopted by another family.

The CPS investigation remains open, she said.

Haynes represented Scott Garrett in terminating his parental rights with his daughter. Haynes said it became obvious that his client would be arrested. Regaining custody “was going to be difficult, expensive and time-consuming,” Haynes said. “You have to make choices about what you can do with your resources.”