View Full Version : Tragic death of 2 Year Old



Keith
01-08-2006, 02:49 PM
This story is about a beautiful little girl that lost her life, due to the mistakes made by a judge and DHS.

http://www.newsok.com/tempimages/j8kelsey.jpg
A broken life: The brief and tragic story of Kelsey Smith-Briggs

By Nolan Clay, Ann Weaver and Randy Ellis
The Oklahoman

MEEKER - Kelsey Smith-Briggs was born into a broken home.


Her parents already were divorced and bitter. Each struggled with money problems.

In death, the 2-year-old Meeker girl with the pretty smile has become a symbol to many that something is wrong with how the state protects abused children.

Her care was being supervised by a judge and the Department of Human Services when she died Oct. 11, allegedly from a stomach blow.

Her stepfather, Michael Lee Porter, 25, is charged with first-degree murder. Her mother, Raye Dawn Porter, 26, is under investigation.

Televised home-video images of her trying to walk and play with casts on two broken legs haunt Oklahomans. Her death came four months after the judge returned her to her mother, against a DHS recommendation. The judge ruled her abuser was unknown.

But before the legal wrangling, the broken bones and bruises, Kelsey was just another child torn between mom and dad.

This is her story.

Tumultuous marriage
Lance Briggs and his future wife, then Raye Dawn Smith, went to Meeker High School together.

He played football. She was on the

pompom squad. She was a homecoming queen candidate. Lance was her escort.

They began dating after high school. She became pregnant but had a miscarriage days before their wedding, former relatives and attorneys say.

A judge married them on the porch of her parents' house near Meeker on July 15, 2000 -- a day too hot to be outdoors. Raye Dawn wore a white satin dress, and everyone just kind of melted in the heat, one guest recalled.

It was a sign of things to come.

"They battled all the time," Lance Briggs' mother told The Oklahoman.

"They had a terrible marriage for two years," Kathie Briggs said. "They both drank. They partied too much. They did all the wrong things."

They hadn't been married a year when things got worse.

In May 2001, Raye Dawn Briggs told Meeker police her husband slammed her against a wall, his forearm to her throat. She said they began arguing because she had not super-sized his value meal from McDonald's, according to a police report. A police officer wrote that he saw injuries on her neck and collarbone.

Lance was arrested, charged with a misdemeanor and eventually pleaded no contest. He was put on probation and took anger-management classes.

Kathie Briggs claims Raye Dawn later said she lied.

"He had taken the keys away from her because she wanted to go out. She got upset. She filed a police report and said that he had tried to choke her," Kathie Briggs said.

Raye Dawn tried to get the charge dropped but was told "she would be in trouble for falsifying a police report," so she let it stand, Kathie Briggs said.

There were other conflicts and calls to the police before and after Raye Dawn filed for divorce May 30, 2002.

She alleged Lance broke into her home and destroyed a porcelain doll and other things when she refused to reconcile.

On July 31, 2002, the divorce was official.

The divorce decree stated Raye Dawn Briggs "is not now pregnant."

But she was.

Birth and remarriage
Kelsey was born five months later -- on Dec. 28, 2002.

Shortly afterward, Lance Briggs asked for a DNA test to determine whether the girl was his. The results came in April 2003 -- 99.99 percent probability, according to court records.

For a while, Kelsey had a childhood typical of children split between divorced parents who don't get along.

"The hatred between them became unbelievable," said Debbie Hammons, a relative. "It was just unreasonable at times."

Kelsey's mother had custody. Her father had visits. She spent time with grandparents on both sides.

Raye Dawn Smith moved in with her mom and ailing dad. She received state welfare assistance for a time, records show. She worked with the elderly and at a manufacturing business and other places. She took classes at Seminole State College.

Kelsey's dad fell for his best friend's sister, Ashley Lytle. They married June 14, 2003. He was 26. She was 19.

"They moved their wedding date up just so Kelsey could spend the night with them," Kathie Briggs said.

The ceremony was at First Christian Church in Meeker. Kelsey was a star, dressed like the bride in a white dress and tiara.

Lance and his new bride lived in Shawnee. Ashley bonded quickly with Kelsey.

Lance Briggs worked at a Shawnee manufacturing plant, Indaco Metals. He filed for bankruptcy in November 2003.

He got into the U.S. Army Reserve and was called to active duty in September 2004. He was bound for Iraq, after more training.

Lance Briggs' parents went to court, getting a judge to assure they still could visit Kelsey while he was away. Meeker police later said they were told Kelsey's mom and Kathie Briggs would meet at a gas station to make the exchange.

Kathie Briggs said she would read Kelsey the book, "Daddy, You're My Hero!" Kelsey would sometimes say, "Daddy, soldier."

'She was just a go-getter'
Raye Dawn Smith moved into an apartment in Meeker after her father died in 2004.

Then she met Mike Porter, president of his family's magnet plant in Meeker. It was Oct. 15, 2004, at a Shawnee bar, Hot Rods. They danced that night and began dating.

Despite all the turmoil in her first two years, Kelsey was good-natured.

She won Miss Personality at a Shawnee baby pageant.

She loved the movies "Brother Bear," "Shrek" and "Monsters Inc." She was fond of her Cabbage Patch Kids doll. Twirling her fingers in the doll's hair seemed to help her fall asleep.

She and her mom liked to dance and do the cha-cha. They often napped together.

One of her dad's favorite memories is pushing her in her swing. "She loved her swing," Lance Briggs said.

"She was just a go-getter," said Julie Sebastian, the owner of a now-closed day care, Miss Julie's Giggles-N-Grins. "Whenever she first started, she was a little bitty thing, little tiny, she was so cute.

"She was a happy child," said Sebastian, who ran the business out of her Meeker home. "She would play. ... She would hang in there with the older kids. She would do everything they did. Outgoing, smart. She said what she wanted." Then came January 2005. "Everything was fine. Kelsey was happy. It was like everyone was happy," Sebastian said. "And that's when everything started."

(To be continued)

Karried
01-08-2006, 04:49 PM
Keith, that breaks my heart.. that poor little baby. I've been following the story since it happened.. this just shows the failure of two young irresponsible kids playing grown up too soon and trying to raise a baby - what a horrible mess.

Keith
01-09-2006, 05:10 AM
Part II of the story: The Abuse begins

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The Hurting: The brief and tragic story of Kelsey Smith-Briggs

By Nolan Clay, Ann Weaver and Randy Ellis
The Oklahoman

MEEKER — “Mommy loves me.”


The words were written in big letters on Kelsey Smith-Briggs’ casts, the ones protecting her broken legs.

Kelsey, 2, started getting hurt a year ago, and there were allegations of abuse.

In January, there was a broken collarbone. In April, there were the broken legs. And there were bumps and bruises throughout the year.

Kelsey died in October. Her new stepfather is alleged to have struck her at their home near Meeker, a town of 984, so small it doesn’t even have a stoplight.

The stepfather, Michael Lee Porter, 25, is charged with first-degree murder. Her mom, Raye Dawn Porter, 26, is under investigation. The judge who returned Kelsey to their home is being widely criticized. This is the story of Kelsey’s injuries, how police and doctors differed on their causes, and the judge’s fateful ruling.

Accidental, or abuse?
The abuse allegations started a year ago, after Kelsey broke her collarbone. Her mother, then Raye Dawn Smith, told Meeker police Kelsey fell from her toddler bed about 3 a.m. Jan. 9, 2005. Raye Dawn Smith was living in a Meeker apartment, having moved out of her mother’s house a few months before. She took Kelsey to a Shawnee emergency room for treatment.

The police got involved Jan. 15.

Kelsey was visiting her dad, Lance Briggs, who was home from the U.S. Army, and her stepmom, Ashley Briggs, in Shawnee. They were about to give Kelsey a bath late Jan. 14 when they saw the bruises.

They suspected abuse and returned her to the same emergency room. Police were called.

Meeker Assistant Police Chief Matt Byers took nine photos and listed the bruises in his report. There was bruising to the face, buttocks, lower back, left rear thigh and right ear.

A nurse told Byers “in her opinion, the bruising was consistent with abuse,” according to his report.

The assistant police chief asked Lance Briggs: Was his former wife capable of striking a child violently?

Lance Briggs responded that if she is drinking and gets mad “she can go overboard,” according to the police report. And Lance Briggs added something else — his former wife had a new boyfriend, Michael Porter.

Police kept investigating. The doctor who first saw Kelsey at the emergency room agreed it could be abuse.

Then, the assistant chief and Sgt. Carl Leabo interviewed Kelsey’s mom.

Raye Dawn Smith told police Kelsey’s facial bruises came from the fall from bed. She said she did not know about the other bruises.

The assistant chief wrote Raye Dawn Smith seemed truthful and genuinely concerned about Kelsey.

He wrote that he and the police sergeant concluded Kelsey broke her collarbone falling from the crib and landing on a toy slide. They concluded the marks on Kelsey’s buttocks “came from falling on the hairbrush in her bedroom while running around without clothes on.”

The assistant chief wrote he and the sergeant felt the mother “has not placed her child in any danger and is not abusing Kelsey, physically or otherwise.”

“I don’t know what happened, but that report was crazy,” said Kathie Briggs, Kelsey’s paternal grandmother.

She also couldn’t understand Raye Dawn Smith’s statements.

“Raye Dawn just kept saying she never saw any of those marks on her. But it was very evident that you could not be a mother and not see 29 bruises on your child,” Kathie Briggs said. “They weren’t all fresh. ... Some of them had already turned brown.”

Kelsey went back to her mother. Raye Dawn Smith took Kelsey to a different doctor Jan. 21 in Shawnee. That doctor wrote Kelsey’s bruises were not abnormal.

“Child is extremely fair and bruises may show through more than on the average child and may be visible for a longer period of time,” Dr. Debra Katcher wrote.

Investigation expands


It wasn’t over. The courts and the Department of Human Services got involved.

At an emergency hearing Jan. 24 in Chandler, Associate District Judge Craig Key sent Kelsey home with Kathie Briggs.

A DHS child-welfare worker investigated and concluded Kelsey had been abused while in the mom’s care. A report noted the mother’s stories were conflicting.

Mike Porter defended his girlfriend. He wrote in a Jan. 29 letter — addressed to whom it may concern — that she would never abuse Kelsey.

“In fact, there is a long running joke between Raye Dawn and myself that Kelsey is the most spoiled child ever,” he wrote. “Raye Dawn puts Kelsey first in her every thought and action.”

Raye Dawn Smith did admit to a DHS worker Feb. 3 that she had spanked Kelsey — on the diaper with her hand, records show.

At a hearing Feb. 11, Key allowed Raye Dawn Smith supervised visits. At another hearing March 11, the mom got unsupervised overnight visits, as long as Mike Porter was not in the home. She agreed to get parenting services.

Kelsey was now splitting time between her paternal grandparents and her mother.

“She (Raye Dawn) actually had her more than we did,” Kathie Briggs said. “She had unsupervised visitation every Wednesday at noon until Thursday at noon, got her again on Friday at 6, and brought her back to me Monday at noon.”

Kelsey ended up with more bruises in March and April, and the Department of Human Services investigated again. Raye Dawn said Kelsey fell, records show. Kelsey couldn’t talk well enough to say how she got hurt but did not blame her mom

Kelsey’s stepmom, Ashley Briggs, said, “It was almost constantly. Every time she brought her back, there was something wrong, or something had happened or something.”

The previous year, they had not noticed anything. But then, Ashley Briggs said, Mike Porter “came into the picture.” More severe injuries


April was an eventful month for Kelsey.

She saw her dad, for what turned out to be the last time. He was home for a week from the Army.

Kelsey went along when her mother married Mike Porter on April 18 at the courthouse in Shawnee. Her new stepdad had a good reputation. He was president of his family magnet plant in Meeker and had two children of his own, a boy and a girl.

Dressed in a sleeveless blue jumper, Kelsey clung to her mom’s finger for a wedding photo on the courthouse steps.

And that month she broke her legs.

The injuries were spiral fractures, not clean breaks, as in an adult.

Her mother told doctors Kelsey’s aunt took her to the zoo April 14 and “she tripped and twisted her ankle while wearing some platform flip-flops.”

A Shawnee doctor decided Kelsey could have broken both shins in the fall.

“I don’t think anyone can say with absolute surety one way or the other whether it’s abuse or not,” Dr. Andrea Barrett testified later. “There were no other external signs at that time, such as hand marks where a twisting motion might have occurred.

“I myself have sometimes twisted my ankle, and then in the process of catching myself on the other one, stumbled there, as well,” Barrett testified. “That is how I imagined that ... it would happen at the same time.”

Barrett said she spoke to a DHS child-welfare worker about the injuries. “We chatted some about the overall situation, that it was unfortunate when children get involved in custody battles, and ... the difficulty in these situations of knowing exactly what happened.”

The grandmother, Kathie Briggs, took Kelsey to a different doctor, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at the University of Oklahoma with more than 30 years of experience.

The doctor was Andy Sullivan, a hero on April 19, 1995. He amputated a trapped bombing survivor’s leg — finishing with his pocket knife — so she could be removed from the rubble of the ruined Oklahoma City federal building.

Sullivan was more certain about Kelsey. She had been abused, particularly since the legs appeared to be broken at different times. “This is not a diagnosis I take lightly,” he testified later. “It has serious implications.” Sullivan said three other doctors reviewed Kelsey’s X-rays.

They agreed the fractures came from abuse. “Usually, these are twisting injuries,” he said. “Someone grabs a child’s arm or leg and then yanks on it or gives them a twist or slings them or some way.”

On April 27, Kelsey was hurt again, suffering a knot the size of a quarter near her right eye. The explanation this time was that her new stepsister, Whitney Porter, then 7, elbowed her while they were sleeping.

The Department of Human Services stepped in May 3, saying Kelsey should be put into its emergency protective custody. Judge Key agreed.

Kathie Briggs worried Kelsey was headed for a foster home. Instead, child-welfare workers moved Kelsey to her maternal grandmother, Gayla Smith.

Raye Dawn Porter and Kathie Briggs got visits — supervised at DHS offices.

The district attorney said the mother and Briggs “either perpetrated the acts of abuse or failed to protect the ... juvenile from the abuse.” Kathie Briggs said she never hurt Kelsey or any of her other grandchildren.

Raye Dawn Porter also denies ever abusing Kelsey. “She wouldn’t hurt Kelsey,” Gayla Smith said. “Kelsey and Raye Dawn lived in my house for two years before all this started. She loved Kelsey. They were a team. She got the biggest kick out of Kelsey. Kelsey was like her best friend.”

Criticism and complaints
Kathie Briggs, Ashley Briggs’ parents Jay and Teri Sigman, and other relatives began sending letters and e-mails to politicians, the Department of Human Services and the media.

They criticized how the Department of Human Services was handling the case.

Teri Sigman wrote that one DHS worker got tired of Kathie Briggs’ calls about bruises and said to her, “This was getting ridiculous.”

Among those contacted was Oklahoma first lady Kim Henry — a distant relative to Kelsey through Kelsey’s stepmom. The first lady would pass on the concerns to Howard Hendrick, the head of the Department of Human Services.

“I told him this is a personal favor to me and Brad and would appreciate any assistance he could offer,” Kim Henry responded May 5, according to e-mails Teri Sigman provided.

In one e-mail, Hendrick himself urged Kathie Briggs to bring her concerns to the court’s attention. He also promised to have an assistant look into them.

Personality changes
All the turmoil was too much for Kelsey. She wasn’t the same — gone was the sparkle. “Kelsey started showing signs of temperament,” said Julie Sebastian, a day-care operator. “She started biting. She started pinching. She just, like, changed. She didn’t know what was going on.”

Kelsey stayed at Miss Julie’s Giggles-N-Grins in 2004 and January 2005, until she was placed with Kathie Briggs.

Kelsey came back in May and June, while in the care of her other grandmother.

“You could tell she was stressed,” Sebastian said. “Bless her heart, her hair would fall out. Half the time she wouldn’t eat. She wouldn’t take her naps. She just changed completely.”

The hearing on Kelsey lasted two days in June. Judge Key heard from a dozen witnesses and reviewed doctors’ statements. Those testifying included four Department of Human Services child-welfare workers, a court-appointed special advocate, Kelsey’s mom, stepfather and both grandmothers.

The special advocate — a trained volunteer — recommended Kelsey go back to her mom.

Critics would later say the special advocate had only weeks on the job and was too inexperienced.

A DHS child-welfare treatment worker testified Kelsey should stay with Gayla Smith for the time being. The return to her mother should be phased in after in-home services from a private group, the worker testified.

Mike Porter was asked his thoughts: Should Kelsey come live “with you” and her mom? “I believe she should, yes, and I would like her to,” Mike Porter answered.

The judge didn’t explain his decision much in court. He let Kelsey go home with her mom, saying who abused the girl was unknown.

He required the private in-home services group to check on the girl. He later told The Oklahoman he had no choice under the law, since the mother was completing a DHS treatment plan and “there is no evidence to show the child is in imminent danger.”

Kathie Briggs couldn’t believe it. She and relatives again contacted everyone she could think of — including the first lady.

“I really couldn’t do much because I don’t have access to the records or any information etc.,” Kim Henry responded Aug. 22. “All I could do was talk to Howard Hendrick and make him aware of the situation. I hope all goes well. God bless.”

Periodic visits in the home
The Department of Human Services would stay involved — a worker would visit Kelsey’s mom’s home five times from June to Oct. 7.

A worker with the private in-home services group would do more.

That social worker, Jean Bonner, visited 18 times — the last time just hours before Kelsey died.

On one visit, the social worker reported finding Kelsey outside unsupervised. She also reported seeing a blister on Kelsey’s eyelid.

Kelsey said to her: “Got shampoo in it.” Most of the visits, though, resulted in favorable reports, said Steve Huddleston, Raye Dawn Porter’s attorney.

The judge also stayed involved, getting reports and making rulings on visitation.

Kathie Briggs didn’t get to see Kelsey again until Aug. 27. She was horrified.

“We were expecting to walk in there and see this happy, healthy little child, and, my gosh, that’s not what we saw,” she said.

She said she complained to the Department of Human Services. A supervisor blamed Kelsey’s appearance on a recent car accident, records show.

Kathie Briggs and Teri Sigman now wonder if DHS workers were biased against them, in part because they complained to DHS officials and politicians so much.

The concerns, the judge’s oversight, the visits from DHS and private workers — they would not be enough. Kelsey died Oct. 11. “With all these people watching and this is still what happened, I don’t get it,” Kathie Briggs said.

imafish
06-21-2007, 12:03 PM
I wasnt sure if anyone caught this on the news but the judge in this case is now writing a book. What do you think about him capitalizing on her death? I somewhat understand his need to air his side of the story but I dont know if that justifies a book.

"Thu June 21, 2007
Judge writes book on Kelsey Smith Briggs

Kelsey Smith-Briggs
Many are pointing to Kelsey's death as as an example of how the judicial system and DHS fail to protect children. Kelsey died four months after a judge returned her to her mother, despite suspicions the mother had abused her.

CHANDLER — Former Lincoln County Associate District Judge Craig Key wrote a book blaming the death of Kelsey Smith-Briggs on her feuding family and defending authorities who handled her child welfare case.

Key announced the release of his book at a news conference today on the east lawn of the Lincoln County Courthouse.

"A Deadly Game of Tug of War: The Kelsey Smith-Briggs Story” is Key's account as the judge presiding over Kelsey's case before she died Oct. 11, 2005.

Key said his book tells the truth about the case and tries to clear up misconceptions about the case."

Key was a central figure in the high-profile child abuse case and was criticized for returning the child to her mother, Raye Dawn Smith, four months before the 2-year-old died.

Midtowner
06-21-2007, 12:08 PM
I have no problem with what the judge is doing. It's important to raise public awareness as to the ineptitude of our DHS system.

cindyl57
06-23-2007, 09:41 AM
I think that this Judge has a right to tell in his words why he did what he did.
He has been under so much criticism for his role in the death of Kelsy.
We only see what the media let's us see and hear...
In hindsight of course it is easier to make the right decisions.
I hope that the real reasons that this happened comes out...Not a washed out finger pointing version.
Where real changes that make a difference can be made.
Every person should be held accountable. And I don't mean accountable where people are afraid for their jobs...or taking blame...
Just tell us the procedure how it was, what happened, why the decision was made...and find out where the break down occured...I don't believe it was any one persons fault, but the fault lies in the system as it put together...
Maybe..but how will we know if everyone is too afraid to stand up and say...This is the way we do what we do and why we do it...
With out trying to cover or sugar coat so that we can figure out where the "Hole"in the system is...
Okay I probably don't make a bit of sense...Heck my husband can't understand me half the time....

Cindy

Okiekatt
06-23-2007, 11:09 PM
I want people to know there are some groups hoping to stop such things as this. It's called PARB, Post Adjudication Review Board. It is a board of volunteers in each county, appointed by the judge, to be another set of eyes (and hearts) to review cases such as Kelsey's and give their recommendations to the Judge before each court date. An independent group of impartial persons who can look at a case, ask some tough questions, find mistakes, and help that Judge make a better informed decision.

I believe not all counties have active PARB Boards, so I would encourage you each to look and see if you county has one and if not, contact the state PARB organizer, Mark James, and let him know you're interested in starting one. Most PARB Boards meet once a month for a few hours. I am on one and I feel honored to be a part of it.

Here is Mark's contact information......hope he doesn't mind me posting it. LOL
Mark James, PARB Coordinator 500 N. Broadway Ave., Suite. #300 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102 Tel: 405-606-4914 Fax: 405-524-0417 E-mail mjames@okkids.org