Nassau County officials Monday began investigating the actions of several government agencies that had contact with Leatrice Brewer over the past six years -- including two visits by caseworkers last Friday -- but who could not prevent the 27-year-old New Cassel woman from allegedly drowning her three children.
News of the county probe came as Nassau police released disturbing new details of the deaths last weekend of Jewell Ward, 6, Michael Demesyeux, 5, and Innocent Demesyeux, 1. After being drowned in the bathtub, police said each child was laid on Brewer's bed in their pajamas.
"Almost looked like they were cuddled up together for the night," Det. Lt. Mike Flemming said.
Shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday, Brewer called 911 and confessed to the killings, taking care that the operator had the correct spellings of their names, Flemming said. At some point, Brewer -- whom family members described as emotionally unstable -- jumped out the second-story window, cracking a vertebra, police said. Brewer is charged with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder.
Meanwhile, County Executive Thomas Suozzi cut short a vacation in Florida to fly home and address the unfolding crisis over the government's handling of the case. Suozzi ordered an investigation "to determine whether anything was wrong with the system and how it went wrong."
Tuesday night, county officials from more than a dozen government agencies were poring over Brewer's numerous contacts with law enforcement, social services and other departments summoned to help her or investigate her over the past six years.
"I wish we could have done something, whether it was police or social services or family court," Suozzi said. "I wish somebody could have done something."
Child Protective Services caseworkers had visited Brewer's home at least six times since 2003, including two visits last Friday. A family member had complained that Brewer threatened to harm the children and was using drugs, said county officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
A caseworker went to the house Friday afternoon but found no one was home and left a card, the officials said. That caseworker reported back to her supervisor, who then dispatched a second caseworker later in the evening. That worker also found no one home at the Brewer place, left and reported to the night supervisor. It's not clear what happened next.
Mary Curtis, the deputy county executive for health and human services, said she wants to know "everything from top to bottom. Were policies followed and where did they deviate?"
Among those being questioned are the multiple caseworkers assigned to Brewer over the years, officials said.
County officials also want to speak with judges from the Integrated Domestic Violence Court, which had been mediating a custody dispute between Brewer and the father of her two sons, Innocent Demesyeux, for more than a year. A hearing to assign visitation rights to Demesyeux was scheduled Monday.
Officials said county caseworkers were unaware of the Integrated Domestic Violence Court proceedings, which is not required to communicate its findings with local social services agencies. "That's going to be part of what we look into," Curtis said.
Suozzi said the police department's Juvenile Aid Bureau, which handles complaints regarding children under 16, visited the home. Its handling of the case will be scrutinized, he said.
Brewer has a criminal record dating back to 2000 that includes 2003 charges of third-degree assault and possession of a weapon that resulted in a guilty plea to a harassment violation.
Brewer's family said their repeated warnings to county caseworkers about Brewer's erratic behavior went unheeded.
The children's great-grandmother, Maebell Mickens, said she made several complaints to Child Protective Services about Brewer and implored the principal of Dryden Street School to make similar calls last year because Jewell was not attending school regularly.
She said she soon got a call at work from a county caseworker who told her "that I should be ashamed of myself trying to make trouble for my granddaughter."
"And I told her, if something ever happened to these children, I am going to hold her responsible," Mickens said.
Often, family members said, caseworkers would investigate a complaint, only to find that the children were fed and cared for properly.
Brewer will be arraigned in her hospital bed at 2 p.m. today, officials said. Her arraignment Monday was postponed after doctors said she was medically unfit, officials said.
Police said more details would be released after the completion of an autopsy. Each child had foam around their mouths, indicating they may have been poisoned, police said, while Jewell had a laceration on her neck. Autopsy results are pending.
The children's fathers helped identify the bodies Monday afternoon at the Nassau medical examiner's office. The elder Innocent Demesyeux, father of young Innocent and Michael, would only say "I'm grieving."
Nassau County officials zeroed in on about 200 especially troubling Child Protective Services cases Wednesday and prepared to subpoena a nonprofit social services agency that had contact with Leatrice Brewer before the drowning deaths of her three children.
Coming three days after Brewer was charged with murder, the county's investigators are flagging active cases similar to hers, those that have a history of more than one neglect allegation.
At the same time, they are piecing together Brewer's hundreds of contacts with government and charity agencies over the last five years. They included nine CPS cases and seven criminal arrests, but nothing that required the removal of her children -- Jewell Ward, 6, Michael Demesyeux, 5, and Innocent Demesyeux, 18 months.
The county is looking at 1,000 open cases overall, checking for similar mental health issues Brewer's family said she faced. Working together are county CPS supervisors, psychiatrists, substance abuse advisers and mental health experts.
Officials have initially identified 200 cases for immediate attention, and CPS teams will be visiting the homes of many of these families identified as especially troubled. With the remaining 800 open cases, employees have been asked to review the files of other caseworkers.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
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