Crystal Keith Killed Christopher
November 18, 2008 by Jaded
Milwaukee, WI–I have a question for you to ponder…why would Milwaukee DCF remove two children from loving, caring foster homes and place them with a selfish, callous, abusive bitch like Crystal Keith? She didn’t just abuse those children, she tortured them…for months. Now one child is dead and the other is being treated for numerous broken bones, scalding burns, medical and nutritional neglect.
11-month-old Christopher Thomas Jr. and his 2-year-old sister were removed from their mother’s home in MarchMarch reviews
. The father of the children was serving time in jail for manufacturing/delivering cocaine and their mother was suffering from a mental illness. At the time, the little girl had been diagnosed with failure to thrive and the mother had admitted to abusing the children. Christopher was temporarily placed with foster parents Darlene and Robert Logan, his sister was placed with a special treatment foster parent, Rosie Ferguson. In June, after the Logan’s tried to adopt Christopher, state officials swooped in, took the kids, and placed them in the care of their aunt Crystal and her husband Reginald, the biological uncle of the children. And that’s when the punching, choking, dragging, and scalding started.
Police were called to the home last Monday on a report of an unresponsive child. Crystal admitted to slapping Christopher in the face because he wouldn’t eat. She said she choked him, hung him upside down, and pressed his little head into the floor. Christopher began to vomit. His eyes rolled back into his head and he stopped breathing. To prove that she is a vicious, brainless beast, she stuck a hairbrush down his throat. She thought maybe that would revive him. Guess not. Christopher died the next day at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. He suffered bruises on his thighs, throat and neck, blunt-force trauma to the head, a broken arm, a lacerated tongue, and had multiple scalp injuries. Crystal stated that she had been beating the child since about OctoberOctober reviews.
Christopher wasn’t the only one to suffer at the hands of his psycho aunt. His 2-year-old sister was admitted to the hospital with burn marks from her head to her feet. Ligature scars on her back, neck, chest, left armpit and legs. Multiple broken bones. She had fractured legs that had never healed correctly. She was severely undernourished, her body weight was found to be below the one percentile rate for children her age. Crystal admitted to scalding the child with hot water to get her to quit crying. Her scalded feet had been bandaged….when the blisters broke, the bandages adhered to her little feet. Medical workers had to soak the bandages in order to remove them. Crystal told authorities that she had been abusing the little girl since June.
These two children had, at one time, people in their lives who loved them…cherished them. Christopher’s foster parents wanted to adopt him. DeniedDenied reviews. They are heart-broken over his death. KatherineKatherine reviews and Frank Shaw, the children’s great-grandparents, met with caseworkers from DCS in September after seeing signs of abuse and begged them to remove the children from the KeithKeith reviews
home. Nope. The Shaw’s offered to take the children home with them to Alabama. Nope. The Shaw’s offered to sell their home in Alabama and move to Milwaukee. Nope. A social worker told them they would have to go the legal route and go to court to fight for custody.
The Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare and the Department of Children and Families failed Christopher and his sister. A caseworker was supposed to have face-to-face contact with the children monthly, the last visit was September 23. From June until September, these children had been beaten, burned, and broken. The little girl had two broken legs that she had never received medical attention for…and no one noticed? Records show that neither child received medical attention for their injuries. There were no red flags. There were no reported incidents of abuse. Nothing. How is that possible?
24-year-old Crystal Keith is being charged with first-degree reckless homicide and physical abuse of a child causing great bodily harm. Her bond is $200,000. Crystal stated to authorities that her husband never witnessed any of the abuse. I don’t know, but unless Reginald is as blind as the DCF caseworkers, I find that a little tough to swallow. Reginald Keith is not being charged as of yet, but is being questioned about his failure to report the abuse.
Randy Guy, owner of the Serenity Funeral Home in Milwaukee, picked up Christopher’s remains from the Medical Examiner’s office on FridayFriday reviews. The funeral home is paying for little Christopher’s funeral. Christopher will be buried at Graceland Cemetery on Friday.
Christopher’s sister is still in the hospital, recovering from her injuries. It has been reported that she is unable to walk. She can’t lift her left arm and her face is scarred. Her biological mother, Candace Glover, is hoping to take her home when she is released from the hospital. “She ain’t going back into no system,” she said.
Christopher L. Brown Jr. Rest in peace.
MichaelJCheaney is fuming over this one in our forums.
11:19 am on November 18th, 2008
Oh, Jaded, you broke my heart this morning. Look at that beautiful little boy.
This story has FAIL written all over it — all over the case workers who failed to conduct visits or failed to see the signs of abuse, all over the husband who failed to see that these beautiful children were scarred and maimed, all over the system that denies placements with loving, capable parents in favor of homes of violent family members.
This is not a story of children no one wanted or cared about. This is a story where the system prevented those who cared about the children from protecting them.
Heads should roll, no doubt. And still, it won’t be enough.
Rest in peace, little man. May your sister find some love and peace here on earth.
11:20 am on November 18th, 2008
EXACTLY DITTO to Rubys Comment, YOU are exactly correct and i could not have said it any better
rest in peace little one
very sad story
11:22 am on November 18th, 2008
That is a very good question, why would they take this child out of a loving foster home and give him to this friggin nutbag!!!
I hope this child gets justice. The Dept of Children & Family dropped the ball here bigtime. I hope along with the aunt & uncle that these state workers have some kind of punishment.
Even Grandma and Grandpa tried to step in but NOPE….
Someone needs to be held accountable on the state level.
There is no excuse for this!!!!
11:23 am on November 18th, 2008
Oh I hope she rots in Hell and everyone else,like childrens services feel HORRIBLE and that they cannot sleep at night because of this sometimes you say, SCREW the system and i wish, only wish those children could have been adopted by foster parents and to them I am sorry that you are going through this. My sympathy to you all
11:46 am on November 18th, 2008
Most states prefer to keep children with family members when at all possible in order to maintain some sense of belonging and family tradition, etc. It’s an admirable goal, when it works. Often, though, the goal is clung to far beyond when it’s in the reasonable best interests of the child.
In this case, I believe the aunt and uncle had no criminal background, and wanted the kids, so the choice was made to take them from the foster home and place them with family. I actually think that was a reasonable decision at that time.
BUT…. based on the nature of the abuse these two endured, any follow-up visit should have yielded sure indications of abuse. The girl had multiple breaks in her legs and couldn’t WALK, for pete’s sake! Also, once the great-grandparents stepped in and expressed concern for the welfare of the children and a willingness to take them, something should have happened, since they, too, are direct family.
It sounds as if nothing was done to protect — or even check on — the welfare of these two kids.
11:51 am on November 18th, 2008
100% Agree!!!!
I can’t believe this happened to that sweet little boy. Why, why, why? I will never understand why they need to be with a family member. Athena you probably have the stats, but it seems to me that a lot of time children are abused more often than not. They had a loving home and were treated by kind, caring and non-abusing people. How is family better????
Trish is right, CPS needs to be re-evaluated all over the country, the world. If a child dies and they are in a foster home someone else should be held accountable including the murdering monsters. I feel that is part of their duty to protect these children, they cannot protect themselves from a grown man or women.
I just dont’ understand how these assholes can listen to the crying and screams of pain from these kids and not care. The pain they go through breaks my heart. Broken legs, burns, bruises to a child, you have a special place in hell.
11:52 am on November 18th, 2008
Sorry, Ruby’s comment was not there when I orginally posted
1:31 pm on November 18th, 2008
Nightmare.
1:34 pm on November 18th, 2008
Holy shit! You mean all those times I’ve tried hugging, kissing, feeding, bathing, napping or holding my kids to make them feel better, and all I really needed to do was scald them with hot water to stop the crying? Goddamn, wish I had known that years ago! Those informative baby behavior books have got nothing on Crystal Keith, child expert.
Fucking cunt.
2:17 pm on November 18th, 2008
what a world we live in when the system put in place to save children ends up being the system that kills them,this system didnt FAIL them this system KILLED that baby and attempted to kill that baby girl,i know they all cry that they havent got enough workers,cant afford to pay more workers, well the take some of that 152 billion given to AIG thats having parties with it anyways,why bail the partiers out and kill the kids i know that would never happen but it piss’s me off when i hear stories like this where they didnt have to die and be tortured
2:18 pm on November 18th, 2008
Uncle Dearest DEFINITELY needs to be charged with something, I think.
I also agree that Childrens Services needs to be overhauled – to the tune of staffing and actually paying these workers. Ya get what you pay for.
And I know Great Grams and Gramps are prolly elderly? But c’mon – what could have possibly happened had they (or if they had rounded up some sane younger relatives) taken these two babies out of that Hell House and to a HOSPITAL?
Kidnapping charges?
I sincerely doubt it once the xrays came back.
EVERYONE failed these two.
2:30 pm on November 18th, 2008
unfucking believable.
the system is rediculous. people are braindead. these poor babies…. sometimes I wish the world would meet head on with an giant, angry meteor. because innocence will continue to be broken till the end of time. rest in piece to that little man.
2:53 pm on November 18th, 2008
Well, according to the government, for 2006, 99.49% of children in foster care did NOT experience abuse. That means that only .51% did. That’s about 5 children for every thousand in foster care. They place the rate of victimization in the general population as 12 in 1000, if you can believe it (I sure know I’d like to).
But, these statistics are not all that reliable, as only 19 states feed into the data pool and even then, some are not able to offer whole data.
3:02 pm on November 18th, 2008
Just makes me sick. This fat bitch just took to abusing these kids as her job in order to collect the money that came with it. And fuck that Uncle too-he knew what was happening! How could you not look at them and see? What a fat, nasty despicable human waste of space. Hope she suffers in the pokey-immensely.
P.S. Fuck that mom too-she should never see that little girl again-she is the reason they suffered and her baby boy died int he first place-because she was too fucking selfish to wrap her head around caring for two babies that she laid down for. Her mental issues were probably derived from the pos daddy being in the pokey…Fuck all these shitty, trashy, low life motherfuckers who have babies like changing underwear, knowing they can’t or won’t take care of them.
I see people like her everyday, and I outwardly hate them- I have watched them live like trash because they are too fucking high or lazy to get up off their ass and get a job. But they always manage to be waiting at the mailbox on the first and fifteenth, to get that free money. I fucking hate people like this. I know of one woman who has 5 kids and was popped for welfare fraud. When sho got out of the pokey-she didn’t get her kids back from all the random homes around the neighborhood they were holed up at-because she wasn’t getting paid for them any more. Hate Her!
Okay, I’m done ranting-God love ya little Christopher. Hope you are in a place where you can eat when you want and not get slapped for it!
3:13 pm on November 18th, 2008
I can’t believe they aren’t required to participate. That’s part of the problem right there. I guess it’s the old if you ignore it long enough it will go away attitude. ((Shaking head))
3:14 pm on November 18th, 2008
This is always an interesting explanation.
3:15 pm on November 18th, 2008
I guess I should say it’s part of the problem that no one is held accountable when these tragedies happen.
4:48 pm on November 18th, 2008
fucken DCS again, heads need to roll at the top
4:49 pm on November 18th, 2008
Yes it is so hard to get the little buggers to stop crying after their LEGS HAVE BEEN BROKEN!! What a fucking low class, fat, miserable, syphillitic cum bubble she is! What a beautiful little boy….he looks so happy in that picture…..must have been with the foster parents then.
4:49 pm on November 18th, 2008
These are the type of stories that make me HATE this mother fucking world. Sorry people but I am truly disgusted,and my heart aches for all these kids. Makes me want to find them and just hold them tight. RIP baby Christopher…You are in God’s hands now.
*Sighs*
4:51 pm on November 18th, 2008
Amen my sister!
4:58 pm on November 18th, 2008
no I don’t believe, those are just the a head or in hospital, they have to admit to
5:03 pm on November 18th, 2008
dead not head
5:15 pm on November 18th, 2008
Thanks for clarifying biteme…..it’s been a really long day and I was trying to think – maybe head count. So thanks
5:19 pm on November 18th, 2008
I wonder if there were anymore kids and the fat ass ate them, what a waste of flesh she is !!!! God don’t like ugly and she got it double time, inside and out. yuck !
5:20 pm on November 18th, 2008
The Great-Grandparents are ANYTHING but elderly…here is a pic of them and their story from yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel…
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/34626544.html
They should have been given these children, and I hope Crystal rots in HELL!!
5:25 pm on November 18th, 2008
I’m not a mind reader and can’t normally see the future, but this is clear momma and pops are going to sue the shit out of children’s services and will be livin’ large… cha ching !!!
5:38 pm on November 18th, 2008
anti-oral bumper sticker
R.I.P. angel Christopher
6:04 pm on November 18th, 2008
No, I think the grandparents should though. 56 and great-grandparents. I wonder how old the birth mother is. Just sad.
6:07 pm on November 18th, 2008
Thank you for that link, Nwoodsgal. Quite telling. That pair (while painfully young for great-grandparents!) are articulate and brokenhearted.
More importantly, they did everything in their power WHILE Christopher was alive to try to fix this situation. They camped out for a week to see those kids. They offered to sell their home in Al. and move to Milwaukee if that would satisfy the state. Damn it, there is not a reason in hell that this boy should have died. This story has ruined my day. My week.
I hope they are able to stay involved. To see that little girl gets the care she needs, and to see the the system is held accountable for the death of that little boy. Crystal killed him, but she surely didn’t accomplish that deed without considerable aid from the caseworkers.
6:07 pm on November 18th, 2008
The birth mother is 23.
6:30 pm on November 18th, 2008
Reginald needs to be bitchslapped with some charges, pronto. There’s no way you could live in the same house as these children and have no inkling what was up.
6:31 pm on November 18th, 2008
I’m so sick with all the could haves and would haves. It’s not like we live in the Middle Ages for heaven’s sake, the abuse isn’t done in secrecy. There are social workers involved! How come they seem to suffer so much from the total blindness? Worldwide too. Professional disease maybe?
Don’t hear, don’t see, can’t help. Actually can’t be bothered. These cases are popping up too this week. Perfectly avoidable, argh.
I really feel for the grandparents. RIP beautiful baby.
4:47 am on November 19th, 2008
Okay.. I might be dense.. but how is that possible? the great grandma is 56, and the grandfather is 44?? Their granddaughter is 23… so HER parents.. I’m getting confused. The great grandfather CAN’T be the mom’s biological kin, can he? Is that even possible? unless two generations had kids when they were like 11?
well, maybe that’s why THEY raised the mom… her mom must have been ridiculously young.. even if he isn’t the bio great-grandfather, everyone had to have been reproducing at like 15, 16
babies need to stop having babies
and people need to stop killing those babies
that’s my advice for the day…….
and why would they trust some 24 year-old relative as opposed to ones in their 40s and 50s? I am 25, and I don’t think anyone would give me their baby.
8:58 am on November 19th, 2008
Nah, it can work. The great-grandma is 56. She is married to a man who is 44, but I’m sure he’s not the biological great-grandpa. So if she had a child at 17, her daughter would be 39. And if she had a child at 16, that child would be 23 – the exact age of the mother.
So, yeah, they all had kids young, but I don’t think anyone had to have a baby at 11 to make it work or anything.
2:35 pm on November 19th, 2008
I probably shouldn’t be reading this site today. The lacerated tongue part got me! My son bit THROUGH his tongue yesterday playing at school. 4 stitches. I can do nothing but lie in bed with him today, stroking his hair, feeding him Jello and wondering how this creepy accident could have been avoided.
Why do people bully these children so?? Did it make this pig featured bitch feel good to abuse a defenseless child? I hope she fucking rots in Hell.
RIP little angel. No one can hurt you now.
*sigh*
2:42 pm on November 19th, 2008
This is no big shock! We always say that there are no “Big Mommas” left in this world cause they are up in the club with their grandchildren. ( my husband is african american-that’s why we talk about it)
2:55 pm on November 19th, 2008
OK, I’ve been lurking- this one made me log in.
This obese-pig-faced-evil-cruel-fucking-CUNT.
I want to kill her.
Slowly and painfully break every bone in her corpulent, fetid, clammy, greasy body.
Leave her in a cell with no food and then burn her, inch by inch using an iron, hair straightener, lye and boiling water and then oil.
I will then apply copious amounts of salt and lemon to the burns and then wrap the wounds in feces covered bandages hog tie her and leave her.
Leave her until she dies of starvation or infection.
Whichever comes first. Cunt.
That beautiful little boy. *sob*
2:59 pm on November 19th, 2008
Uh-huh, ya… (nervously smiling)
3:00 pm on November 19th, 2008
ditto. Damn…
3:18 pm on November 19th, 2008
April – I hope your son gets better soon! Sorry he had that accident, but I wouldn’t worry about it to much; boys will be boys right. Things happen and you can’t beat yourself up
Also regarding my other post, sorry I meant APS, I knew you said that your Granny was having issues with them. Hang in there!!! Keep giving that little boy hugs!!!
4:03 pm on November 19th, 2008
Yeah, I’ve posted about this before, too. My younger daughter fell off a chair when she was about 20 months old and bit all the way through her tongue. Damn, did that thing bleed. The doctors at the ER here said that they don’t stitch tongues, because people just work out the stitches anyway. So they just let it heal on its own. And it did. But she was an unhappy camper on soft, non-acidic food for a good week!
It was very hard to watch her try to eat and not be able to make her more comfortable. And my daughter’s living proof that it’s not “boys being boys,” but rather KIDS being KIDS. LOL
4:10 pm on November 19th, 2008
Ohhh that sounds rough….but you do make a good point Ruby! I should of worded it that way. I have a three year old little girl and she is very brave and…. accident prone. I think the doctor finally stopped calling her by her nickname “magnet head”
4:40 pm on November 19th, 2008
Oooh! I love that nickname! I may adopt it! Everything does seem attracted to my 4-year-old’s head…
5:00 pm on November 19th, 2008
You may and please use it proudly, hee hee
5:06 pm on November 19th, 2008
Thank you for the well wishes. *HUGS*
Ruby – they told that they normally don’t stitch them. His needed to be because it was cut in such a way that it would keep opening and bleeding and wouldn’t heal right if they didn’t. He is home today and I have no thoughts of nutritious food. Milkshakes, Jello, icecream, pudding, hugs and kisses. We have been snuggling in my bed watching cartoons.
BTW – Magnet Head?? Can I borrow that on for my hubby. He is always whacking his head on something. DORK!!! (but I love him)
8:22 pm on November 19th, 2008
The family could of at least waited to kick bio-dads ass till after the funeral. Poor little Christopher Brown, your bio mom and dad fucked up your life, then fucked up your funeral.
R.I.P. little one.
9:14 pm on November 19th, 2008
The level of incompetence from Social Services agencies that are primarily responsible for protecting children at high risk is staggering beyond believe
I really hope at some point the case workers and/or supervisors who repeatedly drop the ball in cases that result in tragic deaths start being prosecuted
Once a parent or family is identified as being abusive and posing a real and serious threat to a child. we count on DCFS and other government agencies to provide a safety net……..WHY take already abused kids out of a foster home where they are thriving to place them with an aunt by marriage who abuses them this terribly? And a an uncle who even if he is a blood relative either failed to report broken bones on a 2 year old or -is possibly so entirely disinterested he never noticed??
Not even trying to reunite them with their actual parents but placing them in another temporary home then failing to follow up even once a month??? what possible benefit did they even think was possible for these kids????
Somebody in addition to the hideous aunt needs to have some culpability in this, please! enough is enough
9:34 pm on November 19th, 2008
Can never post pics – Grrrrrr
9:51 pm on November 19th, 2008
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