REMEMBERING ANGELA

Angela Lynn Biotti lived for only five weeks. She was born on November 4, 2002, after a difficult delivery that required medical intervention immediately after her birth. From the beginning, Angela was a tiny and completely defenseless baby who depended upon the adults around her to understand her cries, recognize when something was wrong and keep her safe. Instead, much of Angela’s short life was spent moving between medical appointments, hospital visits and visits from an in home nurse. Her family later documented 14 hospital and in home nursing contacts during the five weeks Angela was alive. There were concerns about her health. There were concerns about her weight. There were concerns about a strange popping sound in her chest. And there were injuries no five week old baby could have caused herself.

Angela never had the opportunity to grow beyond infancy. She never learned to sit, crawl, walk or talk. Her entire lifetime fit between November 4 and December 8, 2002.

ANGELA’S STORY

Angela was born to Tasha Jones, who was still a teenager, and Casey Allen Biotti. Casey had begun a relationship with Tasha when she was approximately twelve years old. She became pregnant with Angela when she was fourteen. Angela’s first weeks were medically complicated. Family members later said they repeatedly raised concerns about a popping noise they heard in Angela’s chest when she coughed. On November 22, when Angela was less than three weeks old, chest X rays were taken.

Those images contained evidence that could have changed the course of Angela’s life. They showed previous rib fractures. But the X rays were not interpreted at the time. Angela went home. Casey later admitted that when his infant daughter cried and frustrated him, he abused her. He kicked and shook her bassinet. He dropped her into the bassinet from heights of approximately two feet. He pressed on her chest. He squeezed her in what he described as bear hugs in an attempt to make her stop crying. He bounced the newborn on his knees so violently that her eyes crossed. Then came the fatal assault. On the morning of December 8, Angela was crying.

Casey later admitted that he struck his five week old daughter’s head against a window ledge with such force that he heard a popping sound. He put Angela back into her crib. Angela died from a fractured skull. An autopsy revealed not only the fatal head injury but evidence of multiple previous rib fractures. The injuries confirmed that the violence against Angela had begun before the day she died. She was five weeks old.

SYSTEM FAILURES

Angela’s death came after a remarkable number of opportunities for adults and institutions to recognize that something was wrong. Her family documented approximately 14 hospital and in home nurse visits during Angela’s five weeks of life. Family members said they repeatedly reported hearing a popping sound in Angela’s chest when she coughed. On November 22, chest X rays were taken. Those X rays showed previous rib fractures. But no one read them in time to protect Angela. The images were not interpreted until late December, approximately three weeks after Angela was already dead. Had the fractures been recognized when the X rays were taken, child welfare officials later acknowledged that the discovery could have dramatically changed what happened next. There was another opportunity only days before Angela died. On December 3, a medical professional contacted Child Protective Services with concerns about Angela. The baby was not gaining weight and was unusually fussy. But there was more information in that referral. The referring nurse reportedly told child protection officials that Angela’s teenage mother would not leave the baby alone with Casey and that Casey became angry and punched or hit walls. A later review found that the child welfare worker who handled the referral had omitted significant information and details supplied by the nurse. The case was rated low risk. Tt was not assigned for a full investigation. Five days later, Angela was dead. After her death, Pat Miller, an area administrator with the Division of Children and Family Services, acknowledged that knowledge of broken bones in a defenseless infant would have been taken extremely seriously and could have resulted in Angela being removed from the home. But by the time anyone finally read the X rays showing Angela’s fractured ribs, there was no longer a baby to protect. The warning had been sitting on an X ray. The referral had been made. The concerns had been voiced. Angela died anyway.

JUSTICE FOR ANGELA

Casey Allen Biotti was arrested after Angela’s death and initially faced homicide by abuse as well as a child rape charge related to impregnating Angela’s mother when she was fourteen. The investigation eventually included admissions from Casey that he had repeatedly abused Angela when her crying frustrated him. In October 2004, Casey accepted a plea agreement. The homicide by abuse charge was reduced, and the child rape charge was dismissed as part of the agreement. Casey pleaded guilty to second degree murder for killing his five week old daughter. He was subsequently sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison.

 

Casey Allen Biotti

Relationship to Angela: Father
Conviction: Second degree murder
Outcome: Guilty plea
Sentence: Nearly 13 years in prison

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Five weeks. That was Angela Lynn Biotti’s entire lifetime. In those five weeks, adults had already taken her to hospitals and doctors and brought nurses into her home. Someone photographed the evidence of what had happened to her ribs. Someone reported concerns to Child Protective Services. The pieces needed to recognize Angela’s danger existed while she was still alive. They simply never came together in time. Angela could not tell anyone who hurt her. She could not explain why she cried. She could not point to where she hurt. At five weeks old, crying was one of the only ways she had to communicate. Her father responded to those cries with violence. Angela deserved tenderness instead. She deserved to be picked up when she cried. She deserved to be comforted when she hurt. She deserved for someone to look at those X rays and understand what her tiny body could not say. Angela should have been given more than five weeks. She should have had an entire childhood. Abuse Angels remembers Angela Lynn Biotti. Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.