The mother of a toddler who authorities say was beaten to death last week had an older child taken away from her because of neglect, a Child Protective Services official said Monday.
The boy who is now 4-years-old was removed from the home and was eventually adopted by relatives, said CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales on Monday.At that time, Rodney Pettigrew, 24, of Springtown, who is accused in the death of Kamden Lee Bailey, 14-months-old, was not in the picture, CPS records show. Pettigrew is the boyfriend of Kamden’s mother. Authorities have not identified the mother. Jorge Villarreal, uncle of Kamden's mother, said in a e-mail Monday that the mother was married back in 2008 and lived in Fort Hood. Her husband was serving in Iraq at the time, Villarreal said.But her son was taken away from her when she went to party in Austin and left the child, he said.She was investigated again by CPS when Kamden was born in 2010 because she had her previous child taken away, Gonzales said Monday.“The case was investigated and, at that time, no concerns were noted about Kamden’s care,” Gonzales said. “All allegations were ruled out.” At that time, Pettigrew also was not around Kamden's mother, according to CPS records.Pettigrew was babysitting Kamden at a Springtown home when he made a 911 call on Thursday about the child not breathing. Pettigrew was the only one in the house in the 500 block of Jay Bird Road with Kamden.Pettigrew told the dispatcher that he had had Kamden on the counter when he turned around to grab the boy’s chicken nuggets and the child took a dive off the counter, falling about 4 feet, according to a Parker County affidavit.The Springtown man told investigators that he had trouble getting Kamden to eat the chicken fingers because he had served it with ketchup and the boy didn’t like ketchup.At first, Pettigrew told the dispatcher that he hadn’t seen Kamden fall, but when Parker County sheriff investigators arrived, he told them that he saw the toddler falling headfirst.Pettigrew told authorities that he tried to revive the boy for two minutes before he called 911, according to the affidavit.Kamden was initially taken to a hospital in Azle then he moved to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth. At the Fort Worth hospital, a doctor reported to authorities that Kamden’s injuries were not consistent with a short fall, but are consistent with "severe abusive trauma” to the head, the affidavit stated.Kamden’s injuries consisted of a “complex skull fracture,” according to the affidavit.Kamden died on Friday afternoon at the Fort Worth hospital.Pettigrew was arrested that day and remained in the Parker County Jail on Monday without bail.The Springtown man faces a charge of capital murder.Domingo Ramirez Jr., 817-390-7763
