The lies that BIND

At Richard's school, Elliott Elementary in Irving, pre-kindergarten teacher Carol Grimes recorded five suspicious injuries to the boy from October 26, 1995 to March 1, 1996. She reported a bruise on his cheek on October 26, a bruise on his ear on November 2, and two black eyes on November 15. In addition, Grimes reported Richard "had small patches of hair loss and scaly patches on his face."

With each injury she noticed, Grimes wrote in an affidavit to the court, she followed school policy and sent Richard to the school nurse. In early December, Grimes wrote, she received a note from Children's Medical Center telling her that Richard had been found unconscious at his foster home with blood coming from his nose and mouth. He was diagnosed with a severe seizure disorder and had a small line of blood between his brain and skull. He recovered and returned to school.

On February 1, 1996, Grimes noticed more hair loss and a bruise above Richard's right eye. One week later, according to her affidavit, Grimes met for 30 minutes with caseworker Farmer to discuss her concerns about Richard. Farmer, Grimes said, assured her that Richard was safe in his foster home and that the bruises were caused by falls.

"He never had one seizure or fall at school," Grimes said during a break in the termination trial last month. "This always happened at home or at the day care. I was just very concerned for him."

Jim Bushman, Richard's foster father, attended the trial every day, sitting quietly on a bench in the back of the courtroom. He listened intently as Sanchez family members testified of their fears for Richard's safety, all but pointing to Bushman as the source of Richard's injuries. During a court recess, Bushman, a dispatcher for a local trucking firm and a longtime CPS foster parent, produced a photo album crammed with photos of Richard, Monica, and Sonya. In the pictures the children are playing on a swing set and paddling in a wading pool. They are laughing.

"They were happy with us," Bushman said, standing in the courthouse hallway, leafing through the album. "Do these look like neglected kids? Richard fell a couple of times, and we always reported it. We love kids. We take good care of them."

CPS does not suspect or accuse Bushman of any abuse or neglect. Indeed, he and his wife still care for foster children, and have adopted children through the agency.

On April 18, 1996, while watching television with his foster parents, Richard complained of not feeling well. Moments later, according to the medical examiner's report, he suffered a massive seizure. He was taken by ambulance to Children's Medical Center. After two days in a coma, his relatives holding vigil at his bedside, Little Richard died on April 20 at 12:55 a.m. The autopsy lists the cause of death as a seizure disorder. Signed by Dallas County Chief Medical Examiner Jeffrey Barnard, the autopsy states "It is unclear whether this seizure disorder developed as the result of trauma, and if so, at what time the trauma occurred which initiated the seizure disorder or whether seizures led to the head injuries identified at autopsy."

Teacher Carol Grimes wonders if what finally beat Little Richard was abject despair. "In my eight years of teaching, I have never observed a child with such an intensity of mental pain," she wrote in her court affidavit. "After winter break it appeared his sadness escalated into utter hopelessness. He cried constantly and begged to be reunited with his sisters, especially Kelly," Grimes wrote. "One day I suggested he write a letter to Kelly. I wrote it verbatim, as he dictated:"

Dear Kelly,
How many days are we going to get back together again? Tell the cops to let my dad get out of jail. His name is Richard like my name is. Let Delia get out from somewhere. Let my sister get back together again.

Richard
To a person, CPS officials agree that Richard's death is a tragedy. But all have denied that negligence or a breakdown in the system contributed to his death. They discuss the Sanchez family's concerns and the details of Little Richard's death in the coolest and most detached of manners.

"A great deal of the time, parents will complain of the appearance of their children in foster care," said CPS supervisor Katie Gerber, in her trial testimony. "It is very often an attempt to distract attention from the real issues."

What happened to Richard, Gerber said after the trial, will never be fully explained. But the responsibility for his death does not rest on CPS.

"You can't explain it," she said. "But I know the Lord has a plan, and I have to rest on that."

But Lyle Medlock, the court-appointed lawyer representing Delia Cantu during the trial, was not content to rest on such faith. After peppering CPS officials throughout the trial with questions about Richard's deteriorating condition, he blasted the agency during his closing argument to the jury.

"There is a sad, sad irony here," he said. The Sanchez family had tried for months to bring Richard and his siblings home. "Richard finally made it home to his family all right, but he made it home in a coffin."