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In March of 2002,
Melinda Williams asked her cousin to take care of her three children
while she served a jail sentence. This would be the last time she would
see her son Faheem alive.
A child sized casket
sat at the end of the alter surrounded by flowers. On one side were pictures
of the child and on the other side was a teddy bear. The child was a seven
year old boy named Faheem Williams.
On January 4, 2003,
Sherry Murphey's boyfriend went down to the basement in hopes of finding
his boots. The man broke down a locked door and found two small children
hiding under a filthy bed. Raheem who was also seven and Tyrone who
was four, were both starved and very frightened.
Police were called
in and the children were taken to the hospital. While at the hospital,
Raheem told the police he had a twin brother named Faheem who he had not
seen a long time. On January 5, 2003, police went to the home again, this
time bring a cadaver sniffing dog. In a closet, stuffed in a plastic
storage container, were the remains of Faheem Williams.
Sherry Murphey's
teenage son, Wesley, later admitted that he had been wrestling with
Faheem and had punched him in the stomach. Sherry and her son tried
to revive Faheem but were not successful and then they decided to hide
his body and his two brothers. Faheem was killed in September of 2002 while
Sherry and her son lived in Irvington, New Jersey. Faheems body was
discovered in the home they lived in in Newark, New Jersey. This
means that Faheem's body was carried from house to the next when they moved.
Faheem's autopsy
revealed he had died from blunt trauma to the stomach and of starvation.
Faheem's death was ruled a homicide.
With one child dead
and two others found starving, Sherry Murphy had the nerve to plead innocent
of the charge of child endangerment. Wesley Murphy could not wait to talk
to the police because he felt that his mother was being unfairly charged
with child abuse. He had this to say: "If I knew more stuff to help my
mother, I would,". He added that he felt Faheem's own mother had killed
him to keep him from talking to people about abuse he had suffered
at her hands. Melinda Williams had been in jail for a child endangerment
charge, however, when she was released in August, she could not find Sherry
Murphy or her children.
Sadly, the state
Division Of Youth And Family Services had been investigating this case
of child abuse since 1992 and for whatever reasons, chose not to remove
the boys from this situation. So, this is yet another case of the death
of a child that could and should have been prevented. The case worker and
one supervisor had been on suspension, though with pay. The price Faheem
paid for them not doing their jobs, was his life.
UPDATES
(most recent on
top)
DYFS pays $7.5M to settle negligence
in Faheem case
Payout is second only to that for S. Jersey
siblings
Saturday, November 11, 2006
BY GUY STERLING AND SUSAN K. LIVIO
Star-Ledger
Staff
The state has paid $7.5 million to the
estate of Faheem Williams, the 7-year-old Newark boy whose mummified remains
were found in the basement of a Newark apartment three years ago and whose
death led to a massive overhaul of the state's child welfare system.
The settlement with the estate of Faheem
and two siblings amounts to the second-largest payout by the state Division
of Youth and Family Services to settle a botched case. A settlement in
a similarly scandalous case in South Jersey last year means the DYFS has
paid $20 million to make good on its mistakes.
"I don't think there is any question that
the suffering of these children was enormous," said Kevin Ryan, commissioner
of the state Department of Children and Families, which was formed after
the scandal.
"The pain they endured and the loss they
sustained remind me how high the stakes are for children who are maltreated,
which is why we all have to redouble our efforts to make child welfare
reform real and enduring," he said.
The Williams case shone a spotlight on
major flaws at the DYFS, which closed its files on Faheem despite complaints
that he had been abused. Two of his brothers were overlooked as well, a
subsequent investigation determined.
The brothers -- Raheem Williams and Tyrone
Hill Jr. -- were discovered sick and emaciated in an adjacent room of the
same basement where Faheem's corpse was found Jan. 5, 2003. They survived
and are today living in foster care.
The lawsuit was brought last year by family
of the boys, who argued the agency failed to do its job protecting them.
The case was quietly settled last year,
with the state paying $7.5 million after the turn of the fiscal year in
July, state officials and lawyers for the plaintiffs said. The size of
the settlement was eclipsed only once, last year, when the state agreed
to pay $12.5 million to four brothers from Collingswood whose adoptive
mother pleaded guilty to depriving them of food and medical care.
Settlements in both cases allowed the state
to avoid what could have been potentially embarrassing trials, experts
said. The payouts came from a tort claims fund that is at least partially
self-insured by the state, DYFS and Treasury officials said.
Representatives of the DYFS and the state
Attorney General's Office said Faheem's estate received $1 million under
terms of the settlement approved by a Superior Court judge in Newark. Raheem,
Faheem's twin, received $2.75 million, while Tyrone was awarded $3.75 million.
Despite the settlement, the case has not
been fully resolved, lawyers said. There is a dispute over legal fees and
a key question of whether Melinda Williams, the boys' mother, will share
in the money.
To prevent her from doing so, the state
moved to have her parental rights terminated retroactive to the time of
Faheem's death. Family Court Judge Glenn Grant in Newark ended those rights
in a decision issued over the summer, but Williams has appealed.
When the family filed its suit last year,
state officials were critical of Williams, saying she was equally to blame
for what happened to the boys.
Williams was known to party heavily, sometimes
leaving her children with an older cousin, Sherry Murphy, while she frequented
local clubs and bars. Police believe Faheem was killed by Murphy's teenage
son, Wesley, sometime during the fall of 2002 while he was demonstrating
a wrestling hold on the younger boy in an Irvington apartment.
Murphy claims to have panicked after the
incident and left Faheem on the floor to die, later concealing his body
and carrying it to her new apartment in Newark. The surviving siblings
also were hidden from view because of what they knew, police said.
Sherry Murphy is serving a 25-year prison
term on aggravated assault, criminal restraint and child endangerment convictions
in the case; Wesley has served his time for reckless manslaughter in the
death of Faheem.
Raymond R. Connell, the attorney who is
serving as administrator of Faheem's estate, said the money due the estate
has been deposited in Probate Court and will be held there until a resolution
of the mother's case.
But he predicted a final decision could
take years and may eventually reach the state Supreme Court. It's possible
a fourth brother, Fuquan, who also was neglected, could share in Faheem's
estate if the mother's parental rights are ultimately voided, Connell said.
Some of the money from the settlement has
been distributed to trusts that were established on behalf of Raheem and
Tyrone, said Judith Rodner, the lawyer for Tyrone. She called them "protective
trusts" and said they have restrictions on how and when the money can be
spent.
Clarence Jackson, another cousin of the
boys, said he visits Raheem, 11, and Tyrone, 8, every week and that they're
doing fine. They're living with a foster family in New Jersey that has
one other child, he said.
Jackson said he hopes to adopt the boys
someday, although their foster family has expressed a similar desire.
"I believe they'll be fine," Jackson said
of the pair. "They're getting all the love and attention they need."
Jackson, who works for a utility company
in New York, said he sees Fuquan every other week. Now 15, Fuquan is living
in a residential treatment facility in New York, having recovered enough
to leave a hospital.
"He's doing a lot better," said Jackson,
who has been serving as the boy's legal guardian.
Back
to most recent update
From
The News
Honor Thy Children
She hears his heavy
breathing in the dark
His footsteps coming
closer down the hall
She's so ashamed,
she's daddy's secret love
She wants to cry,
she wants to die,
but he can't get
enough
The bruises on his
face will go away
Mom keeps him home
from school till they fade
She's sorry he was
born and tells him so
He takes it in,
he hangs his chin, he ducks another blow
Did God overlook
it?
What ought have
been written
The eleventh commandment
Honor thy children
He cries for hours,
cries and never stops
He shakes so hard
his little cradle rocks
He'll never have
the chance to be brand new
He'll never walk,
he'll
never talk, he's addicted too
Did God overlook
it?
What ought have
been written
The eleventh commandment
Honor thy children
Thou shalt not kill
Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not take
the Lord's name in vain
Thou shalt not cause
children pain
God does not overlook
it
What ought have
been written
The eleventh commandment
Honor thy children
Honor thy children
Honor thy children
Honor thy children
Sung By: Colin
Raye
   
Please
don't let them become Angels to soon.
 
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