Abused Girl Has Died, Hospital Says
Abused Girl Has Died, Hospital Says
By TODD S. PURDUM
LEAD: Elizabeth Steinberg, the 6-year-old Manhattan girl whose adoptive parents have been charged with trying to kill her, was declared brain dead yesterday but remained on life support systems last night.
Elizabeth Steinberg, the 6-year-old Manhattan girl whose adoptive parents have been charged with trying to kill her, was declared brain dead yesterday but remained on life support systems last night.
At a news conference yesterday afternoon, William J. Grinker, the head of the City Human Resources Administration, caused a stir by telling reporters the girl was ''legally dead'' at St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village.
A hospital spokeswoman, Barbara Francese, issued a statement at 8:40 P.M. saying Elizabeth had ''expired'' and the spokeswoman refused to provide further details. Later in the evening, patient information at the hospital said that the girl was in critical condition, breathing with a ''ventilator.''
But officials in the Manhattan District Attorney's office said that while Elizabeth had no brain function and was ''brain dead'' under New York State law, she was not ''heart dead,'' and the hospital had refused to disconnect her respirator without notifying a legal guardian. Responsibility in Doubt
Her parents, Joel B. Steinberg and Hedda Nussbaum, have been charged with attempted murder and are in police custody.
For much of the day yesterday, legal responsibility for the girl remained in some doubt. But yesterday evening, a spokesman for the District Attorney's office, Bridget Brennan, said the city's Family Court had ruled that the city was the child's legal guardian.
It was not immediately clear, and hospital spokesmen would not explain, why there was a delay in removing the girl from the respirator after the custody issue had been settled and she had been declared brain dead.
The case began early Monday morning when the police were called to the couple's apartment in response to a report that Elizabeth was having trouble breathing. They found the girl severely beaten. Mr. Steinberg, a 46-year-old lawyer, and Ms. Nussbaum, 45, a former children's book editor who has lived with him for 17 years, were both arrested. The police said Ms. Nussbaum had also been severely beaten, but she and Mr. Steinberg have refused to cooperate in the investigation. The Latest Developments
The authorities also revealed these findings yesterday:
* Tests on a small packet of white powder found in the couple's apartment showed it contained heroin, and the police said both suspects might have been drug users. The police said only a ''few grains'' of the drug were found, along with some marijuana and substances to dilute the heroin.
* While investigators were still trying to determine the legality of the adoption of Elizabeth and the couple's other child, an 18-month old boy, they said there was no indication so far that the children had been obtained on the black market.
* Two separate investigations, in 1983 and 1984, by the city's child welfare agency in response to reports of suspected neglect and abuse of Elizabeth found ''no reason'' to suspect either one, city officials said.
* Police officers who went to the couple's apartment last month in response to an anonymous call from a neighbor about a domestic dispute gave victim's rights literature to Ms. Nussbaum and urged her to call the authorities if she was abused. They said she had a swollen lip, but she refused to press charges or seek medical aid.
Ms. Brennan of the District Attorney's office said a Dr. Scaglione from St. Vincent's had called the prosecutor's office at 4:30 to say tests on Elizabeth showed no brain function.
But, Ms. Brennan said, the hospital had been told by its lawyers that it had to notify either the adoptive parents or an ''official guardian'' before disconnecting the respirator. Son Placed in Foster Care
Police officials said yesterday that they still did not fully understand how Mr. Steinberg and Ms. Nussbaum had managed to live in what they described as a filthy ''cave'' of an apartment in a building at 14 West 10th Street where Mark Twain once lived. The couple's son, Mitchell, was examined and found to be healthy and placed in foster care.
Investigators said that while the amount of drugs found in the apartment was consistent with personal use, the large amounts of cash and drug paraphernalia that were found indicated that drugs might have been sold there as well. There were 128 $100 bills, 43 $50's, 158 $20's and 18 $10's.
Although neighbors of the couple have said they made repeated phone calls to the police about their suspicions that Ms. Nussbaum was being abused, the police said they could not find a record of any calls except the one on Oct. 6. But the department's chief spokeswoman, Deputy Commissioner Alice T. McGillion, said it planned to run a computer check last night of all this year's complaint records.
Ms. McGillion said that two officers responded to the anonymous 911 telephone call on Oct. 6, but that Mr. Steinberg had refused to let them into the apartment, saying he was a lawyer and ''knew his rights.'' The officers called a sergeant to the scene and finally persuaded Mr. Steinberg to open the door.
Ms. Nussbaum was in another room in the apartment and would not come out for some time, Ms. McGillion said. When she did, she had a swollen lip but refused medical aid and would not press charges. The officers referred the couple to Family Court and left. #2 Reports Were Investigated Mr. Grinker said the City Office of Special Services for Children had investigated two separate reports of mistreatment of Elizabeth but could not substantiate them. The first was an anonymous report saying the girl had been neglected in 1983, and the second, in 1984, alleged abuse.