Remembering Danzel

Danzel Bailey was only 11 months old when he died. He never reached his first birthday. When Danzel was born on May 9, 2000, he weighed just over seven pounds. Although authorities believed he had been exposed to drugs before birth, there were no drugs detected in his system when he was born. He entered the world at a healthy weight and with an entire childhood still ahead of him. One of Danzel's early foster caregivers remembered a baby with full cheeks and bright eyes. Before he left her care, she photographed him sitting in a red velvet chair dressed in white. That photograph captured Danzel before months of neglect changed his tiny body. He was still a baby. He needed someone to feed him when he was hungry, take him to the doctor when he was sick, change him, bathe him, hold him and notice when something was wrong. Most importantly, he needed the adults and the child-welfare system surrounding him to keep him safe. Danzel Bailey was placed into foster care for protection. Less than a year later, he died from starvation.

Danzel's Story

Danzel's mother, Felicia Bailey, had previously lost custody of three children amid allegations of severe neglect associated with drug abuse. When Danzel was born, Los Angeles County's Department of Children and Family Services determined that he should be placed in foster care. Initially, Danzel lived with a foster caregiver. He appeared healthy and was gaining weight. Then the county began considering placement with his maternal grandmother, Sarah Jones. There were concerns from the beginning. A social worker initially reported that Jones's small one-bedroom apartment was not appropriate for Danzel. Several family members were already sharing the home, and there was not even an appropriate bed for the baby. Nevertheless, after arrangements were made for baby equipment, six week old Danzel was placed with his grandmother. Shortly afterward, another warning came. The child abuse hotline received allegations that Jones abused crack cocaine and alcohol and that the apartment had been without gas or heat for years. A social worker visited. Jones denied using drugs and claimed the gas problem was being repaired. The worker left Danzel there. Police later determined that the gas company had actually removed the meter years earlier after disputes over unpaid bills and unauthorized reconnections. Records did not show the necessary follow up. As the months passed, Danzel began wasting away. At an earlier foster-care checkup, he had weighed approximately 13½ pounds. When he was seen by another physician months later, his weight had dropped dramatically and was far below what would be expected for a baby his age. Yet Danzel remained in the home. There were more opportunities to notice. People saw that he was thin. Neighbors later remembered that Danzel looked sick. His mother noticed that she could see his ribs and said that he sometimes appeared dirty and smelled unclean. Still, Danzel remained with his grandmother. His condition continued deteriorating. By the time Danzel was 11 months old, he weighed only 12 pounds  approximately the average weight of a two month old baby. His once-full cheeks were hollow. His ribs protruded. The bones in his face and spine were visible. The skin around his thighs and buttocks hung in folds. He had bald spots. He had no teeth. His body had been deprived of nutrition for so long that virtually no body fat remained. When Danzel finally arrived at the emergency room, his condition was devastating. His right eye was severely bruised and swollen. His diaper was heavily soiled. There was dirt between his fingers and toes. Scars and scrapes were found across numerous areas of his body, and sores had developed on his skin. Doctors could not save him. Danzel Bailey died at 11 months old. The medical examiner determined that his death was caused by starvation and pneumonia, which developed during the final hours of his life. He died before he ever had the chance to celebrate his first birthday.

Warning Signs & System Failures

Danzel's death was not something that happened suddenly behind closed doors without anyone having an opportunity to intervene. Danzel was already a foster child. A government agency was legally responsible for monitoring his safety. He had a social worker. He had a doctor. There had been a hotline report. There had been allegations concerning drug use in his caregiver's home.

There were problems with the condition of the home. His weight had fallen dramatically. His mother and neighbors noticed his deteriorating appearance. And Danzel was slowly starving. The tragedy unfolded over months, not minutes. Los Angeles County's own child-welfare director later acknowledged that there were no excuses for the failures in Danzel's case. His assigned social worker, Sheila Armstrong, was eventually fired.Danzel's physician also faced scrutiny. The California Medical Board accused the doctor of gross negligence, alleging that he failed to recognize Danzel's severe underweight condition, investigate why he was failing to grow, or properly treat his malnutrition. The board sought to revoke his medical license, and investigators referred the matter to prosecutors for consideration of criminal charges. Danzel's case became a stark example of what can happen when responsibility for a vulnerable child becomes divided among numerous adults and agencies, yet no one succeeds in protecting the child. The system had removed Danzel from his mother because officials believed he needed protection. Then the system failed to protect him from starving to death.

Justice for Danzel

After Danzel's death, police investigated Sarah Jones. Inside her home, detectives reportedly found numerous empty beer cans. Danzel's foam sleeping pad and blankets had been thrown into the trash, and there was very little food inside the residence. Jones was arrested and initially charged with murder. The case ultimately ended in a plea agreement. In September 2001, Sarah Jones pleaded no contest to child abuse causing death. She was sentenced to: 8 years in prison. Prosecutors explained that proving murder would have been difficult because Jones had taken Danzel to a physician and had allowed contact with his social worker. The plea resulted in a sentence two years below the maximum available for the reduced charge.

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Sarah Jones
Relationship to Danzel: Maternal grandmother and relative caregiver
Originally charged: Murder
Final conviction: Child abuse causing death
Sentence: 8 years in prison

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But responsibility for what happened to Danzel extended beyond the criminal case against his grandmother. His social worker lost her job. His physician faced professional disciplinary proceedings. And Danzel's death intensified scrutiny of the very foster care system that had been entrusted with keeping him alive.

Forever Remembered

Danzel Bailey was 11 months old. He did not die from one sudden act of violence. He disappeared slowly. The healthy weight he once carried disappeared. His full cheeks disappeared. The fat protecting his tiny body disappeared. His ribs and spine became visible. And while this was happening, adults continued moving through his life. A caregiver. A social worker. A physician. Family members. Neighbors. A child welfare agency. There were opportunities to see him. There were opportunities to ask questions. There were opportunities to intervene. And still, an 11 month old baby starved to death. That truth deserves to be preserved. But starvation is not Danzel's identity. Before his body wasted away, there was a photograph of a little baby sitting on a red velvet chair. He was dressed in white. He had full cheeks. He had bright eyes. And when he left his first foster caregiver, she remembered him smiling. That baby was Danzel Bailey. There should have been a first birthday. There should have been first steps. There should have been first words. There should have been school pictures, friendships, scraped knees, favorite foods and an entire childhood. Danzel was placed into a system designed to protect vulnerable children. He should have been safe. He wasn't. Abuse Angels remembers Danzel Bailey, tells the truth about the failures that surrounded his death, and preserves the name of the little boy who deserved to be protected. Danzel was here. Danzel mattered. And he should have lived.