REMEMBERING ROSALIA

Rosalia Alexia Garcia-Quintana was four years old when she died. She was still at an age when home should have been the safest place in her world. At four, Rosalia depended on adults for nearly everything. She needed them to provide food, medical care, comfort and protection. She was far too young to understand why adults might fail her or to remove herself from an unsafe home. Very little reliable public information remains about Rosalia’s personality, favorite things or the ordinary moments that made her who she was. What remains instead is a record dominated by child welfare reports, medical findings and criminal proceedings. Rosalia deserves to be remembered as more than those records. She was a little girl. She had a life before her name became associated with a child fatality investigation. And she should have been given the opportunity to grow up.

ROSALIA’S STORY

Rosalia lived in La Junta, Colorado, with her father, Salvador Quintana, and his girlfriend, Carmen Guerra Marquez. Concerns about Rosalia’s safety existed before her death. There had been reports involving Rosalia and child protection authorities dating back several years. Two reports were made in 2004. Approximately five months before Rosalia died, another report alleged that she had been abused while living with her biological mother. That allegation was investigated and determined to be unfounded. Then, only weeks before Rosalia’s death, another warning arrived. An anonymous caller contacted the Otero County Department of Social Services and reported that Rosalia was being abused. Social workers attempted to visit the home where Rosalia lived. No one answered the door. They returned a second time. Again, no one answered. Salvador later contacted social workers and told them that Rosalia was with him in Texas, where he was visiting his sick father. Social workers never physically saw Rosalia. The abuse allegation was ultimately closed as unfounded. Approximately two and a half weeks after that report was made, Rosalia was dead. On October 30, 2007, Rosalia died in Otero County. The condition of her body revealed a little girl who had been suffering. Rosalia was malnourished. She had numerous bruises and abrasions. She had infected skin ulcers. She was also suffering from pneumonia. The infection throughout her body had become overwhelming. The coroner determined that Rosalia died from bacterial sepsis caused by chronic abuse and neglect. Her death was ruled a homicide.

SYSTEM FAILURES & WARNING SIGNS

Rosalia’s death came only about two and a half weeks after someone specifically reported that she was being abused. That report was not the first concern involving her. Child protection authorities had received previous reports involving Rosalia in 2004 and another approximately five months before her death. The final report was different in one particularly important way. It concerned the home where Rosalia was living immediately before she died. Social workers attempted to investigate. They went to the home twice. No one answered. Salvador then told them that Rosalia was in Texas with him visiting her ill grandfather. Rosalia herself was never seen. No social worker was able to look at her. No one was able to observe her physical condition. The allegation was nevertheless closed as unfounded. Less than three weeks later, Rosalia died. Her condition at death showed that the neglect and abuse had not begun overnight. She was malnourished. Her body showed multiple injuries. Skin wounds had become infected. She was suffering from pneumonia. The bacterial infection resulting from her chronic abuse and neglect had progressed until her body could no longer survive it. After Rosalia and other Colorado children died from abuse and neglect in 2007, the state examined the handling of child fatality cases and the performance of county child welfare agencies. Rosalia’s case became part of a much larger examination of whether warning signs were being properly investigated and whether children were actually being seen before allegations were closed. Rosalia was four years old. Someone had called for help for her. Adults went looking for her. They did not find her. Instead of continuing until someone physically saw the child at the center of the abuse allegation, the investigation ended. Two and a half weeks later, there was no longer a living child to protect.

JUSTICE FOR ROSALIA

Salvador Quintana and Carmen Guerra Marquez were charged following Rosalia’s death. The criminal cases ultimately ended in guilty pleas. Salvador pleaded guilty to negligent child abuse resulting in death. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison. Carmen pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. She was sentenced to six years in prison.

 

Salvador Quintana

Relationship to Rosalia: Father

Conviction: Negligent child abuse resulting in death

Sentence: 26 years in prison

 

Carmen Guerra Marquez

Relationship to Rosalia: Father’s Girlfriend

Conviction: Child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury

Sentence: 6 years in prison

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Rosalia was four years old. Someone knew enough about what was happening around her to become worried. Someone picked up a telephone and reported that Rosalia might be abused. That call should have been the beginning of her rescue. Instead, adults attempted twice to see her, accepted an explanation for why she was unavailable and closed the allegation without ever laying eyes on the little girl they had been asked to protect. Two and a half weeks later, Rosalia was dead. By then, her body told the story she had never been given the opportunity to tell herself. She had been hungry. She had been injured. She had been sick. She needed medical care. She needed someone to reach her.But Rosalia should not be remembered only for what adults discovered after it was too late. She was a four year old little girl. She should have gone to kindergarten. She should have learned to read. She should have had favorite books and favorite foods and opinions about things adults considered completely unimportant. She should have made friends. She should have celebrated her fifth birthday on December 6, just a few weeks after she died. There should have been another birthday after that. And another. Rosalia deserved to become old enough that four was simply an age she once had been. Instead, four years became her entire lifetime. The failures surrounding Rosalia’s death became part of Colorado’s child welfare record. Her father and his girlfriend went to prison. Reports were reviewed. Systems were examined. But Rosalia cannot be reduced to a lesson learned after her death. She was the child adults were supposed to protect while she was still alive. Her name matters. Her life mattered. And she deserves to remain more than a case remembered because something went terribly wrong. Abuse Angels remembers Rosalia Alexia Garcia-Quintana. Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.