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By Charles Montaldo, About.com Guide to Crime / Punishment since 2004

9 Charged in Disabled Teen's Death

Friday August 1, 2008
Arrest warrants have been issued for nine people, including four social workers, in connection with the death of a 14-year-old disabled girl whose body was found with bone-deep, maggot-infested bedsores in her mother's home. Danieal Kelly's mother has been charged with murder in the case.

The others have been charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to perjury by District Attorney Lynne Abraham.

In announcing the charges, Abraham blasted the Philadelphia Department of Human Services for its "callous, indifferent, unconscionable" handling of the Kelly case.

"Danieal did not fall through the cracks," she said. "It was a failure of institutional inclination. Saving Danieal was just too much trouble."

The mother of Danieal, Andrea Kelly, was charged with murder. Her father Daniel Kelly, who did not live with the family, was charged with child endangerment.

Social Workers Charged

Julius Murray and Mickal Kamuvaka, employees of the now-defunct MultiEthnic Behavioral Health agency, were charged with involuntary manslaughter and tampering with public records. Abraham said they falsified documents to cover up the fact they rarely, if ever, checked on the condition of Danieal.

City social worker Dana Poindexter was charged with child endangerment. The grand jury said that Poindexter did "not complete a single investigation or risk assessment" in Danieal's case.

Also indicted by the grand jury were three friends of Danieal's mother -- Andrea Miles, Marie Moses and Diamond Brantley -- on charges of perjury. The three testified before the grand jury that Danieal appeared fine the day before she was found dead Aug. 4, 2006.

See Also:
9 Charged in Death of Disabled Philly Teen

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Comments

August 2, 2008 at 2:53 pm
(1) TeresaE says:

Michigan has just gone through a long and painful stretch where multiple children died under the hands of their “parents” and the *sarcasm* watchful eye of the Department of Social Services.

Seems to me that nearly ALL government departments choose to do the least work possible in exchange for my hard earned tax dollars.

We the non-union, non-government taxpayers need to wake up. We continue to pour trillions into our government and we get shoddy service for our money.

This will continue until the rest of us wake up and demand that our government returns to “for the people” not for the employees unions.

This story is disgusting and a poor little girl was tortured before being murdered all UNDER THE EYE OF THE GOVERNMENT.

May Danieal find peace and love in her next journey.

August 14, 2008 at 12:17 am
(2) Robert P Kelleher says:

Fundamentaly is is the duty of the family for a child’s welfare. Social service workers must evaluate 90 to 120 individuals and/or family’s a month. They are for the most part dedicated to the “customer”. The workload is constant and all the time people complain there are too many employees at social services “a waste of taxpayers money” Well, you can’t have it both ways, more workers more money, more training. That’s what’s neede. We all share in that little girls death

March 3, 2009 at 3:18 pm
(3) Jennifer Mitchell says:

This makes me sick!! The mother of this beautiful child..needs to pay SERIOUSLY.!!!! Let me be her caretaker..Why is our justice system so screwed up…There should be no discussion of this mother’s punishment..She doesn’t deserve the right to take a breath everyday..It’s unreal!!!!!

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