Maribel Gomez Kills Son, Social Workers Ignored Signs that Child Was in Danger
Maribel Gomez, 32 of Spokane, Wash. is charged in the death of her 2-year-old son, Rafael “Raffy” Gomez. While in his mom’s care, the boy suffered concussions, bruises, burns, and two broken legs. Yet state caseworkers continued to return him to his birth parents after the child was placed in foster care four times. The last time Raffy was reunited with his family, he died of of blunt-force trauma to his head. Maribel told police her son died after throwing himself out of a high chair.
Raffy was born in the back seat of a car and was placed with foster parents after tests showed he and his mother had cocaine and methamphetamine in their systems. Denise Griffith, Raffy’s foster mother and court-appointed representative of his estate has filed a civil-rights lawsuit. She claims his death was caused by breaches of duty and negligence by the birth parents and by social worker Murray Twelves. Twelves no longer works child custody cases, and works as an intake worker for social services.
Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services concluded that social workers were biased toward the birth parents, ignored obvious signs that Raffy was in danger, and failed to follow the agency’s own rules. Social workers pushed for reunification because they thought Maribel Gomez was loving and attentive. Yeah, right.
Unfortunately, only the birth mother is at trial for homicide by abuse and first-degree manslaughter. Sounds like Mr. Twelves and social services are as much to blame as she is.
Tags: biase-towards-birth-parents, blunt-force-trauma, broken-legs, bruises, burns, concussions, maribel-gomez, murray-twelves, rafael-gomez, raffy-gomez, social-workersRelated Stories
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15 opinions for Maribel Gomez Kills Son, Social Workers Ignored Signs that Child Was in Danger
EchoedMemory
Feb 16, 2007 at 4:37 am
Is there a way to get these social workers’ email addresses so that we can write them and try and make them feel as worthless as they are?
Lauren
Feb 16, 2007 at 6:08 am
this one really hit home….look at his sweet little face i cry thinking of the horrible life this little guy had. imagine how scared his was of his mommy and how horrible he thought life was. i want to let all the abused babies come to my house, i would never beat them or yell in their face. i cant wait to finish my degree in psychology so i can help as many as i can
Donna of Georgia
Feb 16, 2007 at 7:44 am
Dear Lauren,
I hope you do a better job in psychology than the one I seen down here. In my case, my childs arm was twisted and broke behind his back and the stepmother that done it got away with it. They said, “It was possible child abuse, mabe he got his arm caught under the washing machine.” Yea, what ever! I have had to deal with this for 12 years now, thinking no one did my child right in this case. Now I see on this blog no one in his system helped him. I feel very sorry for that poor baby. Well he does not have to feel any more pain, GOD is with him now.
Bridget
Feb 16, 2007 at 9:35 am
Oh Lord,that little angel.Sitting on someones lap with casts on both legs. How much force and evil intent can one person have to do that to a beautiful boy like Rafael. His smile reminds me of my little guy, who turns one tomorrow. We’re having a party with 2 other babies and are going to sing songs and I plan to give him a box of popup Kleenex so he can do what he loves to do, demolish it one by one.I love him so much. What is in the hearts of these monsters? I cry over these babies and this morning almost lost my breakfast.I go from angry to sad and back, when will these demons stop?I’m sure no body ever got nervous and excited (like I am)over any of Raffy’s 2 measly birthdays. God help the human race.And Maribel needs to have her tubes tied, preferably around her neck, very tightly.
amylulu
Feb 16, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Why can’t the social workers be charged with a crime? I would think that they are guilty of child endangerment for placing the child back with the mother again. I know a court orders the kids back, but the court also takes the social worker’s suggestions very seriously
Lauren
Feb 16, 2007 at 1:54 pm
exactly, they do (well are supposed to) the courts are supposed to take the social worker’s suggestions seriously. i am dealing with this now with social workers suggesting the wrong thing (not me, a family member, no abuse on my family’s behalf either) anyways. I want to be that social worker everyone hates becuase once i take them they will never get there kids back.
F%k$ that, i am SOOOO sick of this, how can people be so cruel, they need to die, no life sentences allowed, what did a poor innocent little person do that was so bad they deserved to die, i would love to have his mother wacked.
Lauren
Feb 16, 2007 at 1:58 pm
im sorry, yes back again, look at his sweet face. WHY?!?!?! and where is the justice system, she has 4 or 5 other kids in foster care now and i read if she is acquited she might get them back to. HELLO….she brutally abused and KILLED her kid, sure give the other little ones back and while you at it maybe she’ll get prego and have another little one to kill. this baby was a angel even with his little cast he is still kinda smiling….bless his heart
julie
Feb 16, 2007 at 8:05 pm
I’m not ordinarily a huge fan of the death penalty, but seeing that picture of that sweetheart with those casts, I could kill the bitch with my bare hands. My son is 2, and he looks kind of like Raffy, and I just cannot imagine.
This kid’s life was pure hell from what it sounds–back and forth from foster care to abusive mommy. He had no idea what it feels like to be consistently secure and cared for. It’s just…it’s unspeakably cruel.
Amraann
Feb 16, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Why do these people ever get a second chance??
Shannon Munford
Feb 20, 2007 at 10:45 am
I’ve worked as a social worker in Los Angeles for several years. Los Angeles is the 2nd largerst children social service agency next to New York. I can not speak on the errors made in this case but I do know many social workers possess caseloads between 30 and 50. They are swamped with paper work, meetings with school officals, courts, parents, hospitals, foster parents and if they are lucky they may find a few minutes to speak with the child. To top it all off…the pay is not that great. All I am saying is I think the system has failed these kids…not just one individual.
Shannon Munford-Los Angeles
http://www.daybreakservices.com
alalee
Feb 22, 2007 at 3:35 am
Kids slip through the cracks everywhere–I’ve seen it with my own eyes with my two beautiful stepdaughters who we finally gained primary placement of after years of referrals to DFS from multiple mandatory reporters against the bio mother and a protracted court battle (but the problems have not stopped with the bio mother, rather escalated). Since we’ve gotten custody, bio mother has falsely filed multiple complaints with DFS against us out of spite, causing these already overworked social workers to add yet another case to their workload, additional time to investigate a non-case, and taking their time and efforts (and taxpayer money) away from the kids who really need help. And what does she get out of it? Nothing, of course, because the DA is too busy to prosecute a “junk” case like filing false abuse charges with DFS.
There are cases of gross negligence on the part of the social worker, and they far too often end in the death of the one person they were supposed to be protecting. It’s sad, but until we as a society start pushing on our lawmakers and judiciary about the flaws in the system, it will most likely continue and probably get worse.
In the world *I* would create, there’d be no children suffering and no parents like this, no need for a foster care system or a protective services system, no need for a judiciary and attorneys and lawmakers revolving around laws to protect children, and no need for a blog like this because all the children would be safe and happy and healthy and all the parents would be loving and nurturing and would never cause harm to another human being, least of all their own flesh and blood.
I’ll wake up now, but a girl can dream, can’t she?
alalee
Mar 10, 2007 at 5:08 am
http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/sub/story.php?id=1172690805-503-994
Feeling all “warm and fuzzy” inside what with all the family reunification efforts DHS makes on behalf of all the kids out there…
alalee
Mar 10, 2007 at 5:16 am
And some more info:
http://www.komotv.com/news/6291632.html
larissa
Aug 8, 2007 at 3:27 am
Another sad story of a flawed system.
Kelly
Aug 11, 2007 at 11:26 pm
the same people who are ultimately responsible for putting Raffy back with his mother are still employed at DSHS and continue to neglect their fiduciary duty to protect the children in their jurisdiction. Just today they returned two children ages 2 & 3 to a filthy dirty home, to sleep in piles of dirty laundry with the dogs, amongst numerous drug addicts. I know because these are my grandchildren. They may not have broken bones but they aren’t being fed regularly or properly, they aren’t being appropriately socialized, they don’t get medical treatment when needed, if CPS doesn’t do what they are supposed to do what can be done?
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