REMEMBERING ELIJAH

Elijah Exilasse was four years old and just days away from his fifth birthday when he died on September 1, 2012. Elijah lived with his mother, Felicia Lubin, in Colorado Springs. He should have been getting ready for one of childhood’s biggest milestones: his first day of kindergarten. Instead, his mother spent the summer beside her critically injured little boy, hoping he would recover from devastating brain injuries suffered while visiting his father in Florida. For months, Elijah fought to survive. There were moments that gave his family hope. After being transferred back to Colorado, he eventually opened his eyes. Although he remained unable to speak and required extensive medical care, he became physically responsive and was eventually stable enough to return home. During his final days, his mother saw signs that made her believe her little boy was getting stronger. The night before Elijah died, Felicia leaned down to hug him before bed. Elijah kissed his mother. It was the first time he had kissed her since returning home. That final kiss became one of the last memories his mother would have of her little boy.

ELIJAH’S STORY

Elijah’s parents, Felicia Lubin and Wilfride Exilasse, separated before Elijah was born. After his birth, they initially had an informal arrangement allowing both parents time with him. But concerns about Elijah’s safety while with his father emerged years before the injuries that ultimately killed him. In 2010, while Elijah was staying with Wilfride, a family member reportedly discovered the little boy alone and crying. Felicia contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families. An investigation determined that Elijah was mildly malnourished, and officials recommended that he live with his mother. Felicia and Elijah later moved to Colorado. When Elijah was four, Wilfride sought extended visitation with his son in Florida. Felicia received legal paperwork seeking summer visits and alternating holidays. Without an attorney to explain the document to her, Felicia believed she was legally required to send Elijah to his father. In May 2012, she sent her four year old son approximately 2,000 miles away from his Colorado home for the visit. About three weeks later, everything changed. On May 30, emergency responders were called to Wilfride’s home. Elijah had suffered catastrophic head injuries. Wilfride initially told emergency personnel that he had been disciplining Elijah for refusing to eat when the child slipped from his hands and fell between a bathtub and sink. When investigators questioned him the following day, his explanation changed. This time, Wilfride said Elijah had been playing alone when he slipped from a toilet and fell to the floor. He claimed Elijah appeared fine afterward and that the two took a nap together. He said he sought help when he later could not wake his son. Elijah’s injuries did not match those explanations. The neurosurgeon who treated Elijah described the accounts as suspicious and improbable because the force necessary to cause Elijah’s injuries was far greater than an ordinary household fall. Elijah had suffered severe blunt force trauma to his head. His condition was critical. Doctors initially feared that even if Elijah survived, the damage to his brain could be permanent. Wilfride was arrested on child abuse charges.mFelicia was told that her son was near death. She flew to Florida within 24 hours and remained beside Elijah for nearly two months. On July 19, Elijah was transported back to Colorado and admitted to Memorial Hospital for Children in Colorado Springs. Several days later, something happened that gave his mother hope.

Elijah opened his eyes. He remained unable to speak and was confined to bed, but he became physically responsive. On August 13, Elijah was stable enough to go home with his mother. He required medical equipment to survive, but Felicia believed she was watching her son slowly improve. On August 31, Elijah seemed unusually tired.

Felicia bought him a teddy bear. She watched as Elijah held the bear against his body while she read to him. That night, when she leaned down to hug him before bed, Elijah kissed her. The following morning, a friend helping Felicia care for Elijah went into his room to check on him. Elijah was not breathing.mThe four year old who had fought for his life for more than three months was gone. An autopsy determined that Elijah died from complications of the blunt force head trauma he suffered in May. His death was ruled a homicide. Elijah died twelve days before his fifth birthday.

SYSTEM FAILURES

The danger surrounding Elijah did not first become visible on May 30, 2012. There had been concerns years earlier. In 2010, Elijah was reportedly discovered alone and crying while in his father’s care. His mother contacted Florida’s Department of Children and Families. Authorities investigated and determined that Elijah was mildly malnourished. They recommended that he live with his mother. Felicia subsequently moved with Elijah to Colorado. Despite that history, Wilfride later pursued extended visitation with his son. Felicia received a legal petition requesting that Elijah spend summers and alternating holidays with his father. She did not have an attorney. Believing the paperwork was a court order, Felicia thought she could face consequences if she refused to send Elijah. Only after her son’s death did she learn that the petition itself had not required her to send him. The document seeking visitation argued that maintaining a relationship with his father was in Elijah’s best interest. Approximately three weeks after Elijah arrived in Florida for that visit, he suffered the devastating injuries that ultimately killed him. Elijah had previously been found alone. He had previously been found mildly malnourished. Child welfare authorities had previously recommended that he live with his mother. Yet at four years old, Elijah was sent hundreds of miles from his primary home for an extended visit with the same father whose earlier care had raised concerns. He never recovered from what happened during that visit.

JUSTICE FOR ELIJAH

Wilfride Exilasse was initially arrested on aggravated child abuse charges after Elijah suffered his catastrophic injuries. After Elijah died and his death was ruled a homicide, the criminal case against his father became a murder prosecution. Wilfride was ultimately charged with first degree murder. In April 2014, rather than proceeding to trial on the first degree murder charge, Wilfride pleaded guilty to second degree murder for the death of his four year old son.

Wilfride Exilasse

Relationship to Elijah: Father
Conviction: Second degree murder
Outcome: Guilty plea

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Elijah’s story contains a summer that no four year old should ever have experienced. But it also contains a little boy who fought incredibly hard to stay with the mother who loved him. For nearly three months after suffering catastrophic brain injuries, Elijah held on. He survived the initial trauma. He survived weeks in a Florida hospital. He made it back home to Colorado. He opened his eyes. He became responsive. He held a new teddy bear while his mother read to him. And on his final night, although he still could not speak, Elijah found another way to tell his mother what she meant to him. He kissed her. The next morning, Elijah was gone. Twelve days later should have been his fifth birthday. Instead, September 13 became another reminder of everything Elijah was denied: kindergarten, birthdays, friendships, school pictures, growing taller, finding the things he loved and becoming whoever he wanted to be. Elijah’s life was far more than the violence inflicted upon him. He was a son who made it home. He was a little boy who fought for months. And he was loved until his very last day. Abuse Angels remembers Elijah Exilasse. Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.