This NJ child murder/abuse/neglect case makes me livid!

[redman]

From CNN.com:

Official defends caseworker for abandoned boys

Union leader says worker had 107 cases to handle

NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) --The caseworker looking into abuse allegations against a woman whose 7-year-old son was found dead in a plastic storage bin was handling 107 investigations when she closed the woman's case, according to an official from the caseworkers' union.

Union officials said they hoped the caseworker and her supervisors would not be made scapegoats in the death of Faheem Williams, whose body was discovered in the bin, locked in a basement room, a day after two of his brothers were found starving in a nearby locked room.

"You're talking about a really besieged work force. You can't say much more than that," said Hetty Rosenstein, president of Communication Workers of America Local 1037. "When you have 107 children on your caseload, you might not do all the collateral calls. Nobody can do this job."

An autopsy concluded that Faheem, who was found Sunday in the home of his mother's cousin, Sherry L. Murphy, died from starvation and blunt force to the stomach. The death has been ruled a homicide but no one has been charged with the killing.

Authorities widened the dragnet Tuesday for Murphy, 41, who has been charged with child endangerment. The children had been in Murphy's care since their mother, Melinda Williams, was jailed on assault charges in March.

The FBI was preparing a warrant charging Murphy, a go-go dancer, with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Newark police have been flooded with tips that Murphy left New Jersey, Lt. Derek Glenn said Tuesday. Relatives of the boys said Murphy may have gone to Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Faheem's twin, Raheem Williams, 7, and another brother, Tyrone Hill, 4, remained hospitalized in fair condition Tuesday. They were placed Tuesday in the custody of the Division of Youth and Family Services, which was trying to find them a foster home, agency officials said.

Williams was accused in 1996 of mistreating a child, although it was not immediately clear whether the child in question was one of hers, Newark Police Lt. David Wood said.

Gov. James E. McGreevey has demanded a report on the case from the Division of Youth and Family Services, which closed its case on the family in March without an onsite investigation.

Officials with the agency said they were investigating what happened.

The boys' mother remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition Tuesday after being struck by a car. She had been released from jail in August, but told police she could not find Murphy or the children.

And quit making excuses! There's a child dead for crying out loud!

[Brave]

It boggles the mind how people can be so cruel to each other ... especially to children.

They truly deserve the cruelty they get in prison if the rest of the world is lucky enough for them to end up there.

[Brave]

They should throw this woman in a men's prison!

Woman in N.J. Child Abuse Case Caught

By STEVE STRUNSKY, Associated Press Writer

NEWARK, N.J. - A go-go dancer who was supposed to be caring for three young brothers found dead or starving in a locked basement was captured after a four-day manhunt Thursday when a stranger turned her in.

Authorities had been looking as far as North Carolina for Sherry Murphy since Saturday, when two of the brothers were found emaciated and starving in her home. The next day, authorities discovered the body of the third brother stuffed into a purple plastic storage bin.

The case has touched off a furor over New Jersey's child welfare system, which had investigated complaints about the family but closed the case last year.

Murphy, 41, was arrested on child endangerment charges.

The man who turned her in had seen her crying at a phone booth near a go-go bar and offered her a place to stay after she told him she had just arrived from the South with no where to go, Mayor Sharpe James said. Jean Claude Dessources later recognized Murphy from news reports. On Wednesday, he sent her to his cousin's apartment next door and called police, James said.

Officials had offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to her arrest but had not decided Thursday whether Dessources would get the money.

Murphy was supposed to be arraigned Thursday, but after being questioned for several hours, she was taken to the hospital after complaining of lightheadedness, James said.