mother is charged in baby death known to child agency

Maryland Department of Human Resources Secretary Brenda Donald has ordered a probe of the agency's handling of a child neglect investigation  after a Baltimore mother is charged with murder and child abuse. 

Police say the woman gave her two-year-old daughter an overdose of methadone. 

Suzanne Collins reports earlier Social Services had taken two other children from that home due to abuse and neglect.

Donald says the case is "very disturbing" and it led to the demotion of a supervisor last year.

The two-year-old was raced to the Hopkins Pediatric Trauma Unit, but there was no saving her.  A doctor says Bryanna Harris was already rigid and cold to the touch.  That was in June and at the time police didn't realize it was murder.

"It didn't appear foul play was involved.  The mother appeared to be genuinely concerned.  We later learned through toxicology reports the baby died of an overdose of methadone," said Detective Donny Moses, Baltimore City Police spokesperson.

A second cause of death is blunt force trauma to the abdomen.  It was so fierce it caused liver damage to the child.

Now Vernice Harris, the child's 29-year-old mother, is charged with murder and child abuse.  Her boyfriend says she had a problem tolerating the antics of a troublesome two-year-old.

"When Bryanna cries too much, it's like it frustrates her and gets her upset.  Sometimes she might not know how to take care or how to do it or how to calm her down and she'll get frustrated and start...going crazy," Leonard Rhodes said.

Rhodes doesn't know who the child's father is but he says he loved little Bryanna and looks at her funeral card every day.

"The sweetest thing in the world.  I nicknamed her Baby Bear and she called me Papa Bear.  She was my heart and for her to be gone like that, it hurts," he said.

Rhodes says he came running up from his grandmother's house as the child was loaded in the ambulance.

The mother tells police she fed Bryanna Fruit Loops and Kool-Aid for dinner at 5 p.m. At 7, the child was still awake and fine.  She says at 3 a.m., she found her not breathing with blue lips and lifeless.

Eyewitness News has learned that Harris had a history of contacts with Social Services for child abuse and neglect.

"The mother had two babies taken away from her by the state and at the time of this incident, she also had charges pending," Moses said.

Charging documents show city Social Services found evidence of child abuse involving Harris in 2000, neglect in 2002, neglect again in 2005 and just two months before Bryanna was murdered, they opened a new case of neglect.

The police report also says the child slept not in a crib but in bed with two adults and the home was filthy and filled with roaches.

This is the statement from Brenda Donald, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Human Resources, on the Bryanna Harris' death. 

"We are saddened whenever a child is seriously injured or killed when state services are being provided to that child's family, and the death of Bryanna Harris is very disturbing. We need to learn from tragic incidents like this how to improve systems in our local departments of social services to protect children in our care.

Bryanna's death triggered the demotion of a child protective services supervisor in July, and we are continuing to look into this case to determine what further actions may be warranted.

Today, I have ordered a joint investigation by the Office of Inspector General of DHR and the new Deputy Director of Baltimore City DSS into the case review involving Bryanna Harris and her mother Vernice Harris. The deputy director brings expertise to the child fatality review process.

The Baltimore City DSS provided services to Bryanna and her mother immediately after her birth. After receiving an initial report of child neglect, workers responded immediately with intensive family services, spending 35 hours in face-to-face engagement with Vernice Harris over four weeks. During this time, she was connected to specialized services to assure that the baby was doing well. Meanwhile, the caseworker for Bryanna's siblings continued to engage Vernice Harris in reunification efforts over the next year.

In April '07, Baltimore City DSS responded to a neglect report on Bryanna. The CPS worker went out immediately and determined that Bryanna was safe. The worker also contacted Bryanna's primary doctor, who expressed no concerns and confirmed that her immunization records were current. The worker conducted a satisfactory follow-up visit the next week in which he observed the child and interviewed Ms. Harris and her mother.