Parents say signs of abuse ignored before Fort Worth child died under CPS supervision
As she packed her two boys’ clothes, Ariana George told a visiting Child Protective Services worker that she was being evicted.
That was almost two years ago, near the beginning of 3-year-old Amari Boone’s journey from his parents’ troubled home to another where his parents allege he was abused.
Amari — the older of George’s two sons who had been living with friends of the family for more than two months with approval from CPS — was disconnected from life support and pronounced dead on Easter Sunday, two days after he was rushed to the ER. He died from blunt-force trauma to his head, and his death has been ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office. Fort Worth police and CPS are investigating, but no charges have been filed.
Interviews and court records obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tell the story of why Amari was removed from his parents’ care and point to signs of abuse that his parents say were ignored after he moved into his new home.
CPS workers entered Amari’s life in 2018, when his mother tested positive for marijuana use while she was pregnant with his younger brother, according to court documents. CPS reports in the case file also noted an unstable home life and domestic violence allegations between the parents.
Amari and his brother were placed with a succession of caregivers while being supervised by CPS, and while his parents struggled to lift the family from homelessness. In the past couple of months, the parents say, they began to notice Amari frequently had unexplained cuts and bruises, but CPS wouldn’t allow them to take back custody of their children.
Now authorities are working to determine how Amari was injured, and who is responsible for his death.
Amari is one of nine children admitted to Cook Children’s Medical Center for injuries related to child abuse since March 17, and one of three who have died, according to hospital officials.
“The doctors, when they explained to us the injuries, they explained that he had two broken arms, three broken fingers, a fractured pelvis, and severe trauma to the head, which caused the brain to over bleed and caused him to slip into a coma,” Amari’s father, Rodney Boone, 25, told the Star-Telegram in a telephone interview. “A couple of days after the coma, they pronounced him brain dead.”
George, 22, said during a phone interview that all of Amari’s fingers were broken.
On April 10, the Friday the 3-year-old was admitted in the hospital, Amari’s lawyer got a call from his CPS caseworker saying Amari had been taken to the emergency room, according to the lawyer’s statement filed with the court. The lawyer was also told that Amari was not feeling well the night before and may have been running a fever.
Rodney Boone said he had last seen Amari with a swollen face and a black eye during a video-chat session on April 8. Two days later, Boone said, he got a call from Cook Children’s Medical Center, saying his son had suffered a seizure.
Boone said Amari’s caretakers told the doctors that the boy’s injuries came from a fall. But the doctors said Amari’s injuries were too severe to have been caused by a fall, Boone said.
Amari’s younger brother, Levi, 19 months, was removed from the caregivers’ home that same night, after it was reported that Amari had a brain bleed and would likely not survive his injuries, the lawyer’s report said. Levi is in state care and was said to be uninjured following an evaluation at Cook Children’s.
Death investigation
Police and CPS officials continue to investigate Amari’s death. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday. Police have asked that anyone with information contact them.
A search warrant for the apartment where Amari and his caregivers lived was served early in the case, followed by a second search warrant executed on April 16, according to Sgt. Rachel DeHoyos, Fort Worth Police Department Crimes Against Children Unit.
There is an incredible amount of evidence to sort through coming from the scene, medical records, social history, CPS reports, as well as interviews that have to be reviewed and transcribed, DeHoyos said. Detectives also need the medical examiner’s final autopsy report before they can make a solid case, DeHoyos said. There is no “smoking gun,” so it involves extensive work to put together a child homicide case, she said.
And unfortunately, it’s been a busy month. Fort Worth police opened four child fatality investigations, cleared one with no finding of foul play, and continue investigating three, all since March 21.
That’s just the fatalities.
“We have actually received additional leads in our public email as a result of the news coverage,” DeHoyos said. “My detectives are working many long hours without days off to prepare these cases. Although each case has a lead detective, every detective in CACU has helped out and is still helping out in putting these cases together in hopes of a successful prosecution. ... It is our mission, and we are committed to advocating for these children and to hold accountable those that would hurt these blessed souls.”
CPS officials are working with police and conducting their own internal investigation, according to Marissa Gonzales, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokeswoman.
“Any time there is a death of a child in the state’s care, an internal review of the case is automatically triggered,” Gonzales said. “The independent Office of Child Safety will carefully review every contact with Amari and his family to determine whether policy was followed and if anything could have been handled differently.”
That review will be made public when it’s complete, pending approval of Fort Worth Police Department and Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office officials. Many of the specific details of the investigation will remain confidential due to the subject matter, according to Gonzales.
Amari ‘had been beaten over time,’ father says
Two men, who occupied the apartment police have now searched twice, were the last caregivers Amari knew. A family friend and his male companion were granted temporary custody of Amari and Levi on Jan. 27.
Rodney Boone, the children’s father, said he and their mother, George, agreed with the arrangement. One of the men had been his friend for more than 12 years, Boone said.
The caretakers failed to comply with a provision of the agreement, and allowed the parents to take Amari for an unsupervised visit in March, according to court documents. For several hours Amari’s CPS caseworker did not know where he was or who he was with, the caseworker wrote in her report.
George said this occurred on March 7.
After several hours, Amari was returned to his caregivers with bruises on his body and neck that the caregivers could not explain, court documents say. Records don’t indicate who had caused the injuries; however, Boone and George said they didn’t do it and that they asked for an investigation. After Amari was evaluated at Cook Children’s, no removal order was issued, “only notes that the bruises were concerning,” the report said.
Boone says Amari’s injuries were there when he and George picked their son up from the caregivers’ home. And the parents had noticed other unexplained injuries before, he said.
That night, the parents initially refused to return Amari to his caregivers because of the consistent array of bruises and minor injuries they found, the father said. He and George warned CPS workers that Amari had new cuts and bruises every time they saw him and that they had pictures of the injuries, Boone said.
“I had supervisors and caseworkers call and say that if I did not take him back they were going to take legal action,” Boone said. “He (Amari) died about a month after I took him back to the home.“
The caregivers were then instructed not to allow the parents any unsupervised visits and that all injuries had to be reported, according to court records. The caseworker was instructed to make several unannounced visits in March and April to monitor the children.
At the time of Amari’s fatal injury, “they (Cook Children’s doctors) also said the injuries had been going on for some time, for at least a month,” Boone said. “Each injury had a different healing process. He (Amari) had been beaten over time.”
Amari had old bruises and new bruises, George said. George said she asked for documentation of Amari’s hospital evaluation after the March 7 incident, but received nothing. Doctors did confirm that neither child was sexually assaulted, George said.
“Cook Children’s said nothing is wrong with my children, but I don’t believe that. Where’s the paperwork to prove that?” George asked. “Nobody ever showed us any paperwork. Everybody just saying, yeah we took him (to the hospital) and he’s OK.”
Officials with Cook Children’s Medical Center and CPS both declined to comment specifically about Amari’s case, citing confidentiality laws.
One caregiver, the one who had known the family the longest, asked if Amari had allergies in an attempt to explain some of the child’s injuries, and that confused her, George said.
“Even at that, allergies would make your eyes water and might make them puff up but not turn them black and swollen until they are almost shut,” George said.
George said she wanted her children removed from the caregivers’ home, but was told an investigation would be conducted.
“Really, we thought our hands were tied at this point,” George said. “We were told they were going to investigate, but what was there to investigate? I don’t understand. The pictures tell it all.”
George said Amari’s caregivers told her one injury was caused when Levi hit Amari in the face with a television remote, which split his lip, and another happened when Amari ran into a fence, which caused a black eye. But George said she did not believe those explanations, because of the extent of the injuries.
“No, he had a cut on his lip, two black eyes and bruises on his chest and a red area,” George said.
“We have to do something better than this,” George said. “They are Child Protective Services and they are failing to protect children.”
Boone said he spoke to his friend after Amari’s death.
“He tried to explain to me that he didn’t know about this,” Boone said. “That he had nothing to do with this. ... I wasn’t buying the story. I just think he knew more about it than he said he did.”
The Star-Telegram’s attempts to contact the caregivers have not been successful.
CPS said caregivers seemed to ‘genuinely love children’
The department conducted a favorable home visit with Amari’s caregivers in December 2019, the CPS caseworker wrote in her report included in court records. During supervised visits, the children adjusted to them well. The caretakers seemed to genuinely love children, and the residence was judged as a safe environment, the caseworker wrote after a home visit in January.
The new caregivers engaged with the caseworker well, wanted to comply with department rules and said they could get family support if needed, the caseworker wrote. The caseworker believed the new caregivers would be wonderful, and the department subsequently recommended them for temporary conservatorship, her report said.
Boone said he and George believed their boys would be better off without them while they crawled out from homelessness. Boone also said he does not want to believe his old friend caused his son’s injuries. But whoever is responsible, Boone wants them brought to justice.
No place to lay their heads
Neither George nor Boone were impressed with their CPS caseworkers.
“She was just always so shystie and nonchalant on how she came and approached me with different situations, it got to the point where I didn’t even want to talk to her,” George said. “It got to the point where I just stopped talking to her every month because it’d be like well, that’s good, but not good enough, you know.”
“I’m like man, I’m only 22 and I’m going through all these things and you’re my caseworker,” George said. “Aren’t you supposed to be rooting for me instead of putting me down?”
But as problematic as the CPS involvement with Amari and Levi seemed to be for the parents, CPS staff described the boys’ parents in their reports as financially and emotionally fragile and noted there had been allegations of domestic violence between the couple.
In 2018, George was packing prior to being evicted when the CPS worker tried to call the boys’ father. The worker called four times, but each time the call went straight to voicemail, the worker wrote in the case file reviewed by the Star-Telegram.
The worker asked George if she had any family who would be willing to take the boys and she said she did not. Her mother had blocked her phone number and would not take the boys, George told the worker, according to the report.
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George said: “Everyone in her family is going through some stuff right now and would not be appropriate for the children,” the CPS worker wrote in her report. George said she wanted to be responsible and that it was not right for her to have the boys while she tried to figure things out, the report said.
“I transported the boys back to the CPS office to await placement,” the worker wrote. “Both children had a strong odor that filled the large conference room. Levi Boone had soaked through his outfit with urine and sweat, and he had dirt under his finger nails. When I changed Levi, a diaper rash was observed on his genitals. Levi’s car seat had urine soaked stains and smells.
“I attempted to hold Levi, but he would curl his hands in and appear to not know how to be held, and would not grasp onto (me),” the report said. “Amari clothes (sic) had dried snot on his face that had begun to get crusty. Amari appeared to be hungry and was asking for food.”
George told the Star-Telegram that she was an excellent mother, but said it is difficult to clean up and keep children clean when you are homeless and hopping from place to place.
“My clothes were dirty,” George said. “We didn’t have any money and no place to stay. I didn’t have clean clothes on.”
Rodney Boone contacted the CPS worker about the children on Oct. 4, 2018, and said he was at his cousin’s house, and there were a lot of people and things going on at the house, according to the worker’s report. Boone said he was living from place to place, but was not homeless, the report said.
There were several placements that were considered for the children, and at least two that were discontinued before Amari died, court records show.
When asked about a domestic violence allegation involving George, Boone described it as accidental, and said that George was trying to fight a lady in a car while he was backing up and George grabbed a mirror while standing outside the vehicle, and then fell, the worker’s report said. Boone said during a phone interview that he stopped the car as soon as he saw George fall.
Boone said “there was no domestic violence between him and George,” the worker’s report said.
George described the domestic violence between her and Boone as “frequent and physical,” according to the worker’s report. “... because he would hit her and she would hit him to defend herself.”
Marijuana positive while pregnant
Child Protective Services workers were told on Aug. 15, 2018, that George was regularly using marijuana, sometimes in front of her then 2-year-old child Amari, while she was nine months pregnant, according to CPS reports contained in the court’s record. George tested positive for marijuana while delivering Levi and during prenatal visits in May and July 2018, the report said.
Later in August 2018, a leasing agent said that George and some other tenants were evicted because of their aggressive behavior, according to a CPS caseworker’s report. George met the worker at a Subway restaurant but refused to allow the worker to see where she was living, the report said. The worker wrote that Amari was clean and dressed appropriately for the weather during this visit.
By late August 2018, George had been kicked out of the family member’s house where she was staying, the worker’s report said. Her mother was helping at the time but George said she did not know how long that would last, the report said. It appears that Amari was staying with his father at the time this report was written.
In early October 2018, George missed two appointments to have urine tests conducted and moved out of a women’s shelter that had been arranged for her by CPS workers, according to a worker’s report. George told the worker that the children were getting sick at the shelter and that it was not a good place to raise a child who was only a month old.
Boone was in jail from January until March 2019 on an arson warrant related to George in some way, according to court documents. CPS workers wrote that they believed Boone often acted impulsively and angrily. Boone seems to care for the children, but often has to be reminded of basic baby care, one worker wrote in a report.
Boone refused to submit to random drug tests, has not engaged in counseling, and was removed from a class called Focus on Fathers for non-attendance, a worker reported. Boone attended a family group conference on Aug. 1, 2019, but did not speak other than to say he wanted his children out of foster care, a worker’s report said. Boone was working two jobs and was in a new relationship and no longer romantically involved with George, the report said.
Boone said his car broke and he could not get to the Focus on Fathers class.
“I acted angrily because I didn’t like the caseworker,” Boone said. “I wanted my children away from them.”
In addition to the arson case, which occurred in December 2018, a case the grand jury declined to indict, Boone was also arrested on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge in January 2017, which again resulted in no indictment, according to records filed with the Tarrant County District Clerk’s Office.
Boone was convicted on two misdemeanor charges, an assault in 2012 and a reckless discharge of a firearm in 2017, Tarrant County District Clerk records show. Boone received a 35-day jail sentence and a $212 fine on the assault charge and a sentence of 200 days in jail and a $217 fine on the firearms charge, according to Tarrant County District Clerk’s records.
“They can bring up all the negative stuff they want, but none of that is an excuse for my son getting killed,” Boone said.
‘Walk with God’
Boone described his son as a “beautiful, bright child who did not deserve this.”
He said his heart goes out to other families who are feeling the same type of pain that his family is living through.
“My prayers go out to all the families who are out there who have to deal with this,” he said.
George said she did not ask for help and she encouraged others who need help to ask for it.
“The system is not for the people,” George said. “We’re nothing but paperwork for them. They are not molding this system to different people’s personalities. They have a blueprint where they treat everyone the same. Stay woke, because there’s always someone watching you. Have faith and walk with God.”
Funeral services for Amari were held Friday, with close family and friends attending.
Those with information about a child who is being abused can call the Fort Worth police Crimes Against Children Unit at 817-332-5036 or email FortWorthPDCACU@fortworthtexas.gov, a statement from police said. Those who suspect child abuse can also call the state’s child abuse hotline at 1-800-252-5400.
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
