Remembering Enna

Enna Isabel Barreto was only two years old. She had been born in Guatemala and brought to the United States after being adopted by Janet and Ramon Barreto. She became one of several children from Guatemala adopted into the Barreto household. Contemporary reporting confirms that Enna was two when she died and that her family included numerous brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, very little was preserved publicly about Enna herself. We do not know her favorite toy. We don't know what made her laugh hardest, what foods she reached for first, whether she was quiet or outgoing, or what little things made her uniquely Enna. The records tell us far more about the adults surrounding her than they tell us about the little girl at the center of everything. And that is exactly why her name deserves to be remembered. Enna was not born into this world as a child abuse case. She was a toddler. She should have been learning new words. She should have been playing, exploring, getting into things she wasn't supposed to, crying when she was tired and reaching for someone she trusted when she needed comfort. She should have had an entire childhood ahead of her. Her name was Enna Isabel Barreto. And she was so much more than the terrible circumstances that eventually surrounded her name.

Enna's Story

Enna lived with Janet and Ramon Barreto on rural property outside New Albany in Union County, Mississippi. The couple had adopted multiple young children from Guatemala. Records compiled about the case indicate that U.S. immigration authorities approved applications for seven adopted children during 2005 and 2006. Also living in the household was Janet's teenage daughter, Marainna Torres. According to later testimony and statements attributed to Marainna, she had been pulled out of school and given enormous responsibility for caring for the younger children. Marainna later said she was essentially responsible for them around the clock, despite being a teenager herself. On May 17, 2008, something happened to Enna. The initial explanation given by the family was that the two year old had fallen from a shopping cart during a trip to Memphis. But Enna's injuries immediately raised concerns. She had suffered severe trauma to her head and bodyi njuries doctors did not believe were adequately explained by an ordinary fall from a shopping cart. Medical personnel contacted authorities because they suspected abuse. Enna was transferred to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis. Doctors tried to save her. They couldn't. On May 19, 2008, Enna Isabel Barreto died. An autopsy found severe trauma to Enna's head and lower torso. Her death was no longer being treated as the tragic shopping-cart accident originally described by her family. As investigators began unraveling what had actually happened, the story changed dramatically. Eventually, Marainna Torres admitted responsibility for the injuries that killed Enna.

According to the criminal charge to which she later pleaded guilty, Marainna hit Enna and threw her into a baby bed on May 17. Enna died from those injuries two days later. Later accounts provided more context. Marainna said the family had returned from shopping and Enna was crying and fussy.mShe described being overwhelmed after having been made responsible for the younger children. According to Marainna, her mother told her to deal with the crying child. Marainna said she lost control and threw Enna into her crib. But Enna's death was about to expose far more than the fatal act committed against her.

What Authorities Found

After Enna arrived at the hospital with suspicious injuries, law enforcement and child-protection authorities went to the Barreto property. What they discovered raised serious questions about the lives of all of the children living there. Investigators described filthy and unsanitary conditions inside the home. There was spoiled food.

There were insects. There was feces. Officers reportedly needed masks because of the overwhelming odor. Authorities also discovered another trailer attached to the home.Inside were young children. They appeared severely undernourished. According to a later account of the investigation, when authorities gave the children food, some initially packed food into their mouths without swallowing it, apparently trying to preserve it for later. The surviving children were taken into protective custody.

Then investigators began learning more about what was alleged to have happened inside the home. A grand jury later accused Janet and Ramon Barreto of serious abuse involving other children. The indictment alleged that two children had been tied inside baby cribs for prolonged periods. Another child was alleged to have been confined in a closet for extended periods and forced to eat, sleep and relieve herself there. Janet and Ramon denied those allegations. But the grand jury ultimately charged them with multiple counts involving child neglect or endangerment and felony child abuse. And one charge directly addressed Enna. Prosecutors alleged that Janet and Ramon had adopted numerous young children and then placed their care largely in the hands of an overwhelmed teenager who lacked the training and support necessary to care for them. The grand jury alleged that this negligence contributed to the circumstances that resulted in Enna's death. Enna's death had opened the door to a home where numerous children were allegedly suffering. For Enna, that discovery came too late.

Why Enna Is an Abuse Angel

Enna's death cannot be separated from the environment in which she was living. She was a twoy year old child entirely dependent upon adults for food, safety, supervision and protection. Instead, according to the evidence and allegations that emerged afterward, responsibility for Enna and numerous other young children had largely been placed upon a teenager who said she herself had been abused and forced to leave school to care for them. That does not excuse what Marainna did to Enna.

Enna was struck and thrown with enough force to sustain fatal injuries. Marainna ultimately admitted that in court. But understanding the environment matters. This was not simply a household in which one teenager suddenly committed an inexplicable act of violence. After Enna died, authorities found other children living in conditions serious enough to trigger removal, criminal charges and allegations of prolonged abuse. Enna was the child who did not survive long enough to be removed with them.

Justice for Enna

The legal case surrounding Enna involved several members of the household. Marainna Torres Marainna was initially charged with capital murder in Enna's death.

She was seventeen years old. On July 2, 2008, Marainna pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of: Manslaughter by culpable negligence. In court, she acknowledged that she was responsible for Enna's death. The charging document stated that Marainna caused Enna's fatal injuries by hitting her and throwing her into a baby bed.

Her sentencing did not occur immediately. Eventually, in May 2010, Marainna received: 20 years in prison, with 15 years suspended. That meant five years to serve, with credit for time she had already spent incarcerated. She was released from prison in November 2011 after serving her sentence and remained subject to supervision afterward. Janet and Ramon Barreto Enna's adoptive parents faced their own criminal prosecution. A grand jury charged them with ten counts, including allegations of child neglect or endangerment, felony child abuse and manslaughter by culpable negligence in Enna's death. The prosecution's theory concerning Enna was different from Marainna's direct responsibility for the fatal injuries. Prosecutors alleged that Janet and Ramon had taken responsibility for numerous vulnerable children and then left much of their care to an overwhelmed teenager, contributing to the circumstances that led to Enna's death. Before their case could go to trial, however, Janet and Ramon fled. They disappeared while facing prosecution, beginning a years long search for the couple. So when we tell Enna's story, the legal distinctions matter: Marainna Torres admitted causing Enna's fatal injuries and was convicted of manslaughter. Janet and Ramon Barreto were accused of culpable negligence in Enna's death and of serious abuse and neglect involving children in their home. Enna deserved accountability for every adult failure that contributed to the circumstances in which she died.

Forever Remembered

Enna Isabel Barreto was two years old. There is so much that history recorded about the day she was hurt. The hospital. The autopsy. The arrests. The filthy home.

The criminal charges. The other children. The confession. The courtroom. And yet there is so little preserved about Enna. That's one of the cruelest things about cases like hers. The world learned intimate details about how a little girl died without ever getting the opportunity to learn enough about how she lived. Enna should have had time to change that. There should have been a third birthday. There should have been preschool and kindergarten. There should have been favorite toys scattered across a bedroom floor. There should have been school pictures. Best friends. Teenage years. Dreams. There should have been enough years for Enna to tell the world exactly who she was. Instead, she lived only two. She was born in Guatemala and brought thousands of miles to the United States for what should have been the beginning of a safe and permanent childhood. That childhood never came. But what happened to Enna does not get to erase the fact that Enna existed before she became a victim. Her name was Enna Isabel Barreto. She was a little girl. She was here. Her life mattered. Abuse Angels remembers Enna Isabel Barreto — not simply for the violence that ended her life, but for the little girl whose entire future was taken before she ever had the chance to show the world who she would become. We remember Enna. We speak her name.And Enna will not be forgotten.