Latiff Hadi & Tina Cuffie Starved & Fatally Beat 29lb 6yo Khalil

[Whisper]

Latiff Hadi & Tina Cuffie

PHILADELPHIA -- A former foster mother of a 6-year-old Philadelphia boy allegedly starved and fatally beaten by his parents said they should not have been granted custody of the boy three years ago.

Khalil Wimes weighed less than 30 pounds when he died Monday, according to police. Police were notified after the boy was taken to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the medical examiner determined the death was caused by blunt-force trauma and malnutrition, according to Officer Tanya Little, a spokeswoman for Philadelphia police. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told WCAU-TV the boy's body showed clear signs of abuse.

Authorities arrested Wimes' parents -- Latiff Hadi and Tina Cuffie -- and charged them with murder, aggravated assault and child endangerment. Court documents list Floyd Wimes as an alias for Hadi. Both are in custody, but it wasn't immediately clear if they had attorneys.

Alicia Nixon, the boy's cousin and former foster mother, said he was returned to his parents in March 2009 despite her objections. Nixon, 35, said she never saw signs of physical abuse, but claims his parents had drug problems.

Nixon said she started caring for the boy shortly after he was born in February 2006 and got custody in March 2007, although the parents still had visitation rights.

"We genuinely wanted Khalil to know who his father and mother were," she said. "We just didn't want them to be his caretakers."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services declined comment Thursday.

[...]

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...#ixzz1psLzyq1m

[...]
"Police informed us that the child was 29 pounds," said Alicia Taylor, spokeswoman for the city Department of Human Services. Citing confidentiality laws, she said she could not discuss the case further.

The median weight of a 6-year-old boy in the United States is about 45 pounds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Khalil was taken to the hospital about 10:45 p.m. Monday and was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later, police said. The Medical Examiner's Office determined that the boy died of blunt-force trauma to the head, police said.

When he was evaluated, doctors noticed that the boy appeared to have both old and new injuries, said Officer Christine O'Brien, a police spokeswoman.

Cuffie and Hadi, who police said also go by the names Tina and Floyd Wimes, were awaiting arraignment Wednesday night.

The couple's neighbors on 22d Street said they did not know much about Cuffie or Hadi, and rarely saw Khalil outdoors.

Hadi has had several brushes with the law, but no criminal convictions appear in online court records.

Cuffie was arrested on charges of welfare fraud in 1997. She was sentenced to two years' probation, and her case remains active because she still owes $4,224.38 of the $5,947 she was ordered to pay in restitution and collection fees, according to court records.

It was unclear Wednesday night what role DHS had with the couple and the boy or any other children they had.

Khalil's condition was a reminder of other abuse and starvation cases, most notably that of Danieal Kelly, a 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who weighed 46 pounds when she died in 2006.
That case exposed misconduct by a firm contracted by DHS to provide in-house monitoring of at-risk children. Kelly's emaciated, bedsore-ridden body was found in the filthy West Philadelphia apartment that she shared with her mother and eight siblings. The social worker assigned to Kelly was not making required visits to the apartment - a fact uncovered only after she died.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/lo...of_son__6.html

[Whisper]

Victim: Six-year-old Khalil Wimes was beaten and starved to death by his parents after being returned to their care

The parents of a boy who was beaten and starved to death after being placed back into their care have been charged with his murder.
Six-year-old Khalil Wimes died weighing just 28 pounds - the average weight of a two-year-old - and doctors found scars, bruises and cuts all over his frail body.

[...]
Khalil’s ‘devastated’ family, who looked after Khalil for three years, are blaming the DHS for releasing the boy back into his parents care despite their history of violence and drug abuse.
The young boy was put back into the care of his parents after his foster mother Alicia Nixon lost a custody battle to adopt him, according to sources.

‘I'm devastated; my whole family is devastated. Anybody who knew us and knew him are devastated,’ Alicia Nixon told Action News.
According to police, Tina and Floyd Wimes drove Khalil to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at 10.45pm Monday but he was pronounced dead at 11.16pm.

His parents claimed that Khalil had fallen out of a tub and had seemed fine but then passed out.
Doctors reported that they found both new and old injuries all over Khalil's body and the cause of his death was determined to be multiple blunt force trauma and malnutrition.
It appeared that the boy had been starved by his parents, he weighed 28 pounds and a boy his age should typically weigh at least double that amount.

'He suffered from malnutrition because nobody's feeding him,' said Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. 'I mean like any six-year-old child, you're depending upon your parents to take care of you. Or some other adult.'
Police are now searching the second floor apartment to find a weapon which they suspect Tina and Floyd Wimes beat their son to death with.

Neighbours were shocked to discover that the couple, who both have drug problems, had a son living with them as they never saw the six-year-old.
His parents had a history of violence dating back to before Khalil was born and Khalil was put into the care of his cousin Alicia Nixon.
Six of their eight children had previously been taken away from them and placed in foster care. The couple just had one other child living with them, a three-year-old daughter who is now being looked after by relatives.
Khalil’s former foster mother said that she raised Khalil for three years ‘constantly loving him and making sure he was ok’ and that ‘his parents fought us tooth and nail until they got him back and then they killed him.’

The family argue that they pleaded with the DHS and the court system to protect the young boy and his sister from their parents who, they say, lived in squalor, were heavy drug useers and abused their children.
‘DHS is supposed to protect the children. He was in a very safe home; he was ripped from a safe home and taken back to squalor. I'm very saddened but I'll be honest with you, I'm extremely angry, I'm angry right now,’ uncle Sulaiman Hadi said.

It's unclear why Khalil and his 3-year-old sister were still living at the home and DHS have not made comment on the case. It is believed that the DHS had no open cases on Khalil and his sister.

On Tina Wimes Facebook she lists the births of all her children and beneath a picture taken of Khalil she writes: 'My angel sent on Valentine's Day' - referencing his February 14 birthday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1psOLlWMC

Different story: This photo shows a seemingly happy family but Khalil was previously taken out of his parents' care because of their violent history

Murdered: Khalil's former foster mother is blaming the DHS for allowing Khalil to be returned to his abusive parents

[AngelFire]

Why?? Why the fuck did they just no say they didn't want him?? I want him and he is not my flesh. How can you look at that little man and feel nothing but hatred towards him?

Whisper that picture of him standing and smiling just did me in.

I can't believe that between those two UGLY FUCKERS, they birthed a precious and perfect human being just to torture him.

FUCKING KILL THESE TWO IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY STREET.

[CbabyRKO]

In cases like this where there is a preponderance of evidence pointing to the fact that only one (well in this case TWO EVIL FUCKTARDS) caused neglected abused tortured raped murdered a child, then there should be an immediate death sentence. And I'm not talking like the cops actually had to search for the killer and shit. I'm talking the person is there with the child when the child died of the abuse. There should be an immediate death sentence broadcast live on all major networks so anyone else who gets the idea that they should snuff out our future will think twice. Maybe then we will quit hearing about this shit happening.

Or they can start charging these shit for brains caseworkers with negligent homicide for not properly doing their job which is to PROTECT CHILDREN. Do what you are paid to do for God's sake! Why do people become involved in Social Services if it isn't to do their job coz it sure as fuck ain't for the pay! I'm so tired of this shit. The excuses the ass covering the finger pointing and worthless internal investigations only to hear them say we we didn't do anything wrong but we will review the way in which we handle our cases. Which makes no sense honestly coz if it ain't broke then don't fucking fix it but this shit is beyond broken and it seems everyone gets this but CPS.

[carolinablue]

I can't quote it because I couldn't read it, I tried to, but this was as far as I could go:

How many (scars) did you count on his right hand?" asked Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Naylor. " "Give me a moment," Rosen said. At least 14," he said, finally.

http://articles.philly.com/2012-04-2...arenting-class

[Marv]

When are they going to admit that their ideals are wrong and that it's NOT always in the childs best interest to be kept with the family?

If the CPS staff are going to experiment like that - taking a child away from a happy, nurturing home and placing him back with neglectful/abusive asshole parents who have already HAD their other children removed, then they ought to sign a legally binding document that they will take full responsibility for that childs life and wellbeing.

I bet there would be a drop in the number of kids who were dealt with in that way if that were to happen. And the staff who did still try it would be far more vigilant in their checks on the child, and spotting signs of abuse or neglect.

I feel really angry that Khalil was taken away from the caring family he had enjoyed since birth and served up to those bastards to starve and beat, so I can only try and imagine how his cousin, who loved him so dearly, must feel.


ETA: I meant to say a legally binding document which will hold them accountable and open to prosecution if anything were to happen to the child.

[Zazen]

his parents fought us tooth and nail until they got him back and then they killed him

They fought tooth and nail for the state check he represented--not for him. He was just a way to get more drug money. I feel so awful for that poor foster mom.

This reminds me of the two year battle my friends fought with their son's birth mother. They won, but only because she could not produce reasonably suitable guardians for him from her family. Last ones were some 70-something year old great aunt and uncle and CPS was like, 'Seriously? No.'

[Tundratot]

I'm surprised that this story is not already here. If it is, I apologize because I could not find it.

The case is now in court for a preliminary hearing. The facts are maddening.

Khalil Wimes, 6, died last month due to blunt force trauma and malnutrition, which prosecutors say was the culmination of months of starvation and abuse. Khalil’s parents Tina Wimes, 44, and Floyd Wimes, 48, were both arrested and charged with murder.

A preliminary hearing took place on Wednesday. During the hearing, an assistant medical examiner took the stand and described the boy’s body at the time of his death. He claimed it was covered with scars, both old and new.

Floyd Wimes wiped tears from his eyes while Tina Wimes appeared to cover up a smile as a detective read her alleged confession to the court. Police say she told them on March 19 that Khalil fell when getting out of a tub. She allegedly hit him on the back of the head, causing him to become disoriented. She also allegedly told police that she often hit him because he was misbehaving or messing up. Finally, police say she confessed to not letting him out of the house for a month and that he was underweight because he wouldn’t drink water. Khalil only weighed 29 pounds at the time of his death, according to the medical examiner.

Floyd Wimes allegedly told police they never took Khalil to the doctor because they were afraid they would call the Department of Health Services. Their five other children had already been removed from their care because of an alleged history of drug abuse, neglect and child abuse. Khalil himself was removed from the couple and lived with a foster family for three years. They claim a family court judge forced them to return Khalil to the Wimes after he turned 3 however.

“I’m horrified,” said Alicia Nixon, Khalil’s foster mother. “I couldn’t believe they could be those kinds of people.”

“He was defiant, they tried to break him and they couldn’t,” said La Reine Nixon, Khalil’s foster grandmother. “That’s why they did this to him.”

Investigators say a DHS worker had been in the Wimes home before Khalil died to check on another visiting child. On Tuesday, Mayor Nutter announced that worker had been relieved of duty pending an investigation.

“I find it extremely troubling that someone from the outside would have seen this child within a few weeks of his death and not made any reports,” said Assistant District Attorney Ed McCann.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/...148970195.html

Records indicate that although Khalil Wimes was not officially under the supervision of the city Department of Human Services when his death occurred on March 19, a DHS social worker did see Khalil several times when she monitored two older siblings during their supervised visits with the boy. . . .

That a Family Court judge ordered Khalil removed from the home of loving foster parents shows what can happen when reason falls victim to an understandable preference to reunite broken families. . . .

The couple waited 13 hours before taking the lifeless boy to the hospital. No doubt they feared what the medical staff would say about the scars and bruises that covered almost every inch of his body. Their fears came true when the hospital called the police.

There was so much promise for Khalil after his birth, when a distant cousin of Wimes, Alicia Nixon, agreed to take the baby because his parents were struggling financially and couldn’t provide a proper home. DHS had already removed Khalil’s five older siblings from his parents, who had a history of substance abuse.

Khalil thrived while living with his doting foster parents. But in 2008, Wimes and Cuffie petitioned Family Court to get the boy back, and did so after meeting DHS’s stipulations that they do six months of drug treatment, find an apartment, become employed, and take a parenting class.

It didn’t matter that Khalil was perfectly acclimated in the home he had lived in since birth. It didn’t matter that the case’s social worker and Khalil’s court-appointed child advocate argued against moving him.

DHS monitored the boy for a year. Two adult sisters say the abuse started once the monitoring stopped. They said the boy was beaten with fists, extension cords, shoes, books, and belts. But they never reported it. Sometimes Khalil was sent to bed without dinner. He weighed just 29 pounds at death. It’s not known why a doctor said to have given the child a checkup last year didn’t report signs of abuse. . . .

http://articles.philly.com/2012-04-2...ld-abuse-death

This brings me back to a question I have often asked, if a parent or parents don't want a child and will only abuse that child, why do they work so hard or even ask to get that child back?

Why would no one observing this boy report his condition? Did the Wimes have him so well covered up that no one could see he was thin, frail, and injured? Isn't that suspicious in itself? Did the children the DHS person was supervising not see his condition and voice their confusion?

DHS had monitored Kalil for a year, so I believe they did due diligence in seeing him settled and supposedly safe. They have to cut off monitoring at some point, unfortunately, but the fact that a DHS worker did see him, even though he was not her direct responsibility is pretty damning. Anyone who works in social services and sees evidence of abuse has a responsibility to do something. And that in no way lets off the older adult siblings who knew full well what was going on. What the hell is wrong with them?

[Tundratot]

Khalil lived with the Nixon family for the first three years of his life. The Nixons are relatives of the Wimes and were asked by the couple’s family to help care for Khalil when he was born. . . .

When Khalil was nearly a year old however, a court judge ordered the Nixon family to return Khalil to his birth parents. Four days later the Nixons say Khalil was hospitalized, dehydrated and dirty. They claim DHS then returned Khalil to them, urging them to become the permanent caregivers for the child.

“DHS said, ‘Miss Nixon, in order to prevent this from happening again, we need you to become a foster parent so that we can move forward the process of adoption,” said Alicia Nixon. . . .

After Khalil’s death, the Nixons, who were not allowed to see Khalil for three years, were given the right to bury the boy. . . .

The Nixon family says Khalil’s DHS case worker, Jessica Campbell, sent them an email after the boy returned to the Wimes.

“I told him in no uncertain terms that we don’t believe it is in Khalil’s best interest to be reunified with his birth parents for many reasons,” wrote Campbell.

The Nixon family says Campbell also encouraged them to write letters to the mayor or anyone else who could help.

“Irreparable damage is done to our families and our children,” wrote Campbell. “It’s really unfair.” . . . .

“It doesn’t look like the case worker spoke against the parents,” said Cervone. “The case worker appears to have spoken in favor of the bond with the new family.”[??? Why, then, did she write that letter to the foster parents?]

Cervone says the biggest failure was that the system found no way to keep the child connected to blood relatives who could have kept an eye on him. Neighbors of the Wimes told police they never saw Khalil while he was in the care of his birth parents.

“I think the neglect caused the death, that’s clear,” said Cervone. “But the isolation allowed him to die.” [The isolation from caring adults. His siblings didn't care. The DHS worker was blind. The neighbors never saw him. He should have been in school. . . . ]

. . .

“I was hoping when he was old enough he would find us,” said a tearful Alicia. “I didn’t want the last time I saw him to be when I buried him.” . . .

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/...145185715.html

[Tundratot]

Floyd and Tina Wimes
POSes

[Tundratot]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/14...cmpid=15585797

This article is really a series of links to PDF correspondence regarding Kalil and his reunification with his parents. The aunt, Alicia Nixon, writes about his demeanor after visits to his parents, etc.

[Tundratot]

"There was no surface of his body that didn't have an injury," says prosecutor Ed McCann. Khalil's parents, Tina Cuffie and Floyd Wimes, will face their preliminary hearing Wednesday for Khalil's murder.

Alicia Nixon, Khalil's foster mother until almost age 3, studied a photo of the child, emaciated, covered with welts. "I gave that red sweater to him when he was 3. He's wearing it age 6. He does not look 6." . . .
But as The Inquirer's Mike Newall documented in his heartbreaking investigation, DHS social workers saw Khalil eight times in the last eight months of his tragically brief life, four times in the couple's South Philadelphia apartment while monitoring two of his siblings. DHS had previously removed seven of Khalil's older brothers and sisters from the couple's care.

Seven. . . .[Ooops, I got the number in the title wrong or a different reporter did. Shit.]http://articles.philly.com/2012-04-25/news/31399387_1_dhs-biological-parents-abuse

. . . Khalil, a bright child who knew his letters at age 2, was never enrolled at any school. Cuffie and Wimes claimed to be home-schooling Khalil, but DHS failed to investigate. He slept in a bare bedroom devoid of toys with a soiled plastic mattress, an exterior latch affixed to the door to lock him in, a prisoner. [Huge. No one looked at his room? No one followed up on his education? A couple who couldn't raise their previous seven children are now trusted to educate a child?]

The social worker who questioned Cuffie about Khalil's bruises and scars but sought no action [This is news. She did at least question it? Why didn't she do more?] was placed on desk duty Tuesday after The Inquirer's investigation. Her cases are being audited, as are those of her supervisor.

Khalil, La Reine Nixon says, "suffered one way or another for 1,000 days." Alicia and her mother never held him again after November 2008. La Reine notes, "The next time we would see our beloved Khalil was Friday, March 23, 2012, in his tiny little coffin."

http://articles.philly.com/2012-04-2...arents-abuse/2


More pictures at this site.

[Silvahalo]

Did the judge see this child as just another case number? with this history, these people have no fucking business being parents. 5, count 5 children were removed yet still Khalil is returned to the shit hole to die.

Their five other children had already been removed from their care because of an alleged history of drug abuse, neglect and child abuse. Khalil himself was removed from the couple and lived with a foster family for three years. They claim a family court judge forced them to return Khalil to the Wimes after he turned 3 however.

The baby killing bastards.

Lattif Hadi? or Floyd Wimes? /Tina Cuffie Wimes
I've seen his name 2 different ways?

A medical examiner needed 61 minutes Wednesday to fully list and describe the sea of scars that covered 6-year-old Khalil Wimes' emaciated body.
"They are too numerous to put a number on," Assistant Medical Examiner Aaron Rosen said, trying to count all of Khalil's healed and recent wounds from autopsy photos.

"This is a child who had been severely beaten over a long period of time," Rosen said, adding that Khalil had 15 visible scars across his face alone.
"How many did you count on his right hand?" asked Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Naylor.
"Give me a moment," Rosen said.

Emaciated and with "too many scars to count," a 6-year-old boy is dead and his biological parents are being charged. Brooke is joined by Mike Newall of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who has covered the tragic story of Khalil Wimes extensively. Newall describes in detail the abuse that young Khalil endured, including being beaten with books and extension cords.
[...]

another GoodVideo.

Makes me so very sick. So much failure, opportunities to save Khalil, yet he dies a most terrible death.
So sorry little one. Rest in peace Khalil Wimes.