(Milwaukee) Brawl breaks out at babys funeral. Father Injured.
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By Crocker Stephenson of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 19, 2008 11:18 a.m.
A fight broke this morning during the funeral for a 13-month-old boy whose aunt and foster mother has been charged with beating him to death last week.
Christopher L. Thomas Jr.'s biological father was punched in the face during the melee and was carried out, bleeding from the face, and an ambulance was arriving as other mourners began heading to Graceland Cemetery for the boy's burial.
More than 100 people had turned out at Serenity Funeral Home, 4217 W. Fond du Lac Ave. for the 9 a.m. services. Both sides of Christopher's family began exchanging words, and despite the urging of calm from ministers and funeral home staff, a fight broke out among several people.
Some from Christopher's mother's side of the family were blaming his father's side for killing the boy. Crystal Keith, 24, who is charged in his death, is the sister of Christopher L. Thomas, who was injured in the brawl.
She and her husband got custody of Christopher and his 2-year-old sister in June, after they had been staying with other foster families since being taken from their mother in March. One of those families, from West Allis, had tried to adopt Christopher.
Okay.. So I don't know whats more shameful ... The way they baby died or the events that went down during his funeral. There may be a "time & place" for everything , but that def. was NOT the TIME nor the PLACE...
Posted: Nov. 19, 2008 11:18 a.m.
A fight broke this morning during the funeral for a 13-month-old boy whose aunt and foster mother has been charged with beating him to death last week.
Christopher L. Thomas Jr.'s biological father was punched in the face during the melee and was carried out, bleeding from the face, and an ambulance was arriving as other mourners began heading to Graceland Cemetery for the boy's burial.
More than 100 people had turned out at Serenity Funeral Home, 4217 W. Fond du Lac Ave. for the 9 a.m. services. Both sides of Christopher's family began exchanging words, and despite the urging of calm from ministers and funeral home staff, a fight broke out among several people.
Some from Christopher's mother's side of the family were blaming his father's side for killing the boy. Crystal Keith, 24, who is charged in his death, is the sister of Christopher L. Thomas, who was injured in the brawl.
She and her husband got custody of Christopher and his 2-year-old sister in June, after they had been staying with other foster families since being taken from their mother in March. One of those families, from West Allis, had tried to adopt Christopher.
Okay.. So I don't know whats more shameful ... The way they baby died or the events that went down during his funeral. There may be a "time & place" for everything , but that def. was NOT the TIME nor the PLACE...
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Permalink Reply by AmberLynn on -
Two months before police say 13-month-old Christopher L. Thomas Jr. was beaten to death by his foster mother and his 2-year-old-sister was rescued from months of torture, the state approved placing the children in their biological grandmother's home, their grandfather said Monday.
The children, however, were never moved.
Week after week, the grandfather, Kenny McClellan, said repeated calls to the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare asking to have the children moved from their foster home and placed with their grandmother went unanswered.
Even calls warning the bureau that the siblings might be being abused were never returned, he said.
"This is a professional, public organization?" McClellan asked. "C'mon."
McClellan, however, was unable to recall the full name of the person that he and his wife say they called.
Attempts Monday to speak to Denise Revels Robinson, bureau director, were unsuccessful. A receptionist told a reporter to call the media number for the state Department of Children and Families, where questions were left in a message bank.
Altogether, three couples have now said they tried to adopt Christopher or have him and his sister placed in their homes after they were taken from their birth mother in March. Two of the couples have said they alerted the child welfare bureau to possible abuse.
Crystal P. Keith, 24, the children's aunt, is charged with killing Christopher and abusing his sister after state officials placed them in Keith's foster care in June. Christopher died of his injuries Nov. 11. His sister remains hospitalized.
McClellan, 36, worked for Cooper Industries in Wisconsin. Last November, he was transferred to Cooper Wiring Devices in Atlanta, where he is a senior electrical technician. His wife, Shantrice Freeman-McClellan, 38, is a personal care assistant. Her daughter, Candace Glover, 23, is the mother of Christopher and his sister.
Child services removed the children from Glover's home in March.
In April, as soon as she found out, Freeman-McClellan petitioned to have the children placed with her. The children at that time were in temporary foster homes.
The children's case worker, McClellan said, told them the agency would not place the children in a home in another state. So Freeman-McClellan rented an apartment in Milwaukee and moved here.
In September, McClellan said, they were informed the children could be placed with their grandmother.
"We got the paperwork, everything seemed ready to go," McClellan said.
McClellan said the couple thought they would get the children in their care, and then tackle the issue of state residence.
His wife, he said, tried over and over to contact the children's case worker, but her calls were never returned.
Nor, McClellan said, was his wife allowed to visit the children. When Glover reported to them that the children seemed injured, Freeman-McClellan called the children's case worker. Those calls also were not returned, he said.
McClellan said they began to run out of money. His wife lost her job in Atlanta, and they were attempting to support two households on his paycheck.
In October, McClellan was in a motorcycle accident. His wife returned to Atlanta to take care of him.
"She called the case worker just about every other day," he said.
The case worker never returned their calls, he said.
An e-mailed response to questions left with the Department of Children and Families said the agency could not verify if calls placed to the case worker were unreturned without knowing the case worker's full name.
McClellan said, however, that when he and his wife returned to Milwaukee after Christopher's death, they spoke to the case worker, at the hospital where their granddaughter is being treated.
"She said, 'I just want you to know I got your messages,' " McClellan said.
She was apologetic, McClellan said. He wanted to know why she did not call them back.
"It was never clear why she didn't return the messages," he said.
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