Family: If DCF Hadn't Taken Boy, He Might Still Be Alive
A Polk County deputy and her husband are questioning why the Florida Department of Children and Families took 17-month-old Zachary Johnson and his 2-year-old brother from their custody and placed them with an aunt and uncle.
That decision may have proved fatal.
The children's uncle, Matthew Wyrosdick, 32, is charged with aggravated manslaughter after Zachary died Friday from injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome, according to Lakeland police.
He is being held without bail at the Polk County Jail.
Linda Page and her husband, Tom, who are the children's great-aunt and great-uncle, had custody of the boys briefly last summer when their parents, Eugene and Clarissa Johnson, were arrested on multiple charges ranging from grand theft to credit card fraud.
The state agency placed the boys at the Pages' four-bedroom home in Winter Haven, and later moved them to the one-bedroom home of Wyrosdick and his wife, Mysti,in Lakeland, Linda Page said.
"We were shocked," Page said, adding that she and her husband provided for the boys even after DCF moved them.
"For the past year, we provided diapers, food and formula for the kids. We saw the kids regularly," Page said.
When asked if she believed Zachary would still be alive had the children remained in her home, Linda Page said, "I can tell you there wouldn't be a shaken baby situation."
Elizabeth Arenas, a DCF spokeswoman in Orlando, said the agency is conducting an internal review of the matter.
"There are still a lot of unanswered questions," Arenas said.
In general, anyone taking custody of the children would have had to pass a screening process, including a home inspection, a criminal background check and reference checks, Arenas said.
Wyrosdick is accused of shaking the child so hard his head snapped back and forth after the boy wouldn't sit at a child-size picnic table.
Police said after the shaking, Wyrosdick put Zachary back on the seat, but the boy fell and hit his head on the corner of a coffee table. He shook the boy again and marched him to a door, where the boy's head struck a stair railing twice. Police said he also dropped Zachary on the floor three times.
The Johnsons, Zachary's parents, told a reporter Sunday that the children were placed with the Wyrosdicks because they were the only relatives who passed a DCF background check.
Carrie Hoeppner, another DCF spokeswoman, said today that she could not confirm that because of the ongoing review.
The Johnsons had been working with the state agency to regain custody of the boys. Zachary's 2-year-old brother, Austin, is back with his parents, Hoeppner has said.
That decision may have proved fatal.
The children's uncle, Matthew Wyrosdick, 32, is charged with aggravated manslaughter after Zachary died Friday from injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome, according to Lakeland police. He is being held without bail at the Polk County Jail.
Linda Page and her husband, Tom, who are the children's great-aunt and great-uncle, had custody of the boys briefly last summer when their parents, Eugene and Clarissa Johnson, were arrested on multiple charges ranging from grand theft to credit card fraud.
The state agency placed the boys at the Pages' four-bedroom home in Winter Haven, and later moved them to the one-bedroom home of Wyrosdick and his wife, Mysti,in Lakeland, Linda Page said.
"We were shocked," Page said, adding that she and her husband provided for the boys even after DCF moved them.
"For the past year, we provided diapers, food and formula for the kids. We saw the kids regularly," Page said.
When asked if she believed Zachary would still be alive had the children remained in her home, Linda Page said, "I can tell you there wouldn't be a shaken baby situation."
Elizabeth Arenas, a DCF spokeswoman in Orlando, said the agency is conducting an internal review of the matter.
"There are still a lot of unanswered questions," Arenas said.
In general, anyone taking custody of the children would have had to pass a screening process, including a home inspection, a criminal background check and reference checks, Arenas said.
Wyrosdick is accused of shaking the child so hard his head snapped back and forth after the boy wouldn't sit at a child-size picnic table.
Police said after the shaking, Wyrosdick put Zachary back on the seat, but the boy fell and hit his head on the corner of a coffee table. He shook the boy again and marched him to a door, where the boy's head struck a stair railing twice. Police said he also dropped Zachary on the floor three times.
The Johnsons, Zachary's parents, told a reporter Sunday that the children were placed with the Wyrosdicks because they were the only relatives who passed a DCF background check.
Carrie Hoeppner, another DCF spokeswoman, said today that she could not confirm that because of the ongoing review.
The Johnsons had been working with the state agency to regain custody of the boys. Zachary's 2-year-old brother, Austin, is back with his parents, Hoeppner has said.
- +0-0CLEAR DCF is the biggest waste. I called them about 15 years ago on a neighbor who used his one year old as a punching bag routinely. They came out, checked out everything and told me I was a liar and said I must have a problem with the people. I told the woman that came out "yeah, I have a problem with a grown man that beats a 1 year old girl all night long". I ended up calling the Sheriff's office the next time and they told me DCF is a waste of tax payers money, that they do nothing and to never call them, call the law enforcement. One week after the sheriffs were called, the family moved out and I still to this day wonder what ever happened to that little girl.Report Inappropriate Content
- +0-0CLEAR Florida's DCF child welfare system is widely known as the worst in the country. They can't even tell you where some of the children in foster care ARE right now let alone keep them alive. Its pathetic.Report Inappropriate Content
- +0-0CLEAR The people complaining aren't the parents, they are the people who cared for the two brothers and had them taken from them and given to the white trash uncle for no reason.Report Inappropriate Content
- +0-0CLEAR The child was placed with an uncle & aunt and they were the ONLY family members that passed a background check? Doesn't the article say that the sheriff's deputy and her husband are family? So did the sheriff's deputy not pass the background check...and if not, WTF?Report Inappropriate Content
- +0-0CLEAR the kids are always left to "defend" themselfs when DCF is involved. Trust me I know. As a mother myself I hope this SOB gets what is coming to him.Report Inappropriate Content
- +0-0CLEAR White trash, what else can you say. They need to have their plumbing fixed.Report Inappropriate Content
- +0-0CLEAR I dont comment much but DCF is a joke. Maybe in this circumstance they should have questioned the parenting skills of the biological parents...They DO NOT do background checks!!! If that was the case I would have gotten my niece and nephew instead of them being put in foster care for 2 weeks and now they are in another state. DCF, HKI all of them are a joke. I am sure this uncle had a past history?????? Are you seriously telling me that this piece of redneck trash never did anything violent and then all of sudden starts slapping kids around? DCF wake up!!!!! This is not the first time this has happened.Report Inappropriate Content
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