REMEMBERING TAVYUS

 

Tavyus Zanye-Mhikeal Workman lived for only 59 days.

 

He was born on September 3, 2009, a tiny baby entering a family whose struggles had already drawn the attention of child protection agencies in multiple Colorado counties.

 

None of that history belonged to Tavyus.

 

He entered the world innocent and completely dependent upon the adults around him.

 

At seven weeks old, Tavyus needed someone to hold him safely when he cried, feed him when he was hungry and protect him from every danger he was far too young to understand.

 

He had two older half brothers and an extended family surrounding him.

 

Tavyus should have grown up knowing all of them.

 

Instead, before he was even two months old, he suffered a devastating head injury while alone in his father’s care.

 

He never recovered.

 

TAVYUS’S STORY

 

Long before Tavyus was born, Colorado child welfare agencies had received repeated reports concerning his family.

 

Those reports involved his mother, his older brothers and eventually his father, Michael Workman.

 

In July 2009, approximately two months before Tavyus was born, Denver Human Services received an allegation that Michael had physically abused Tavyus’s four year old half brother.

 

The little boy told a caseworker that Michael was “mean.”

 

His grandmother also reported that she had previously seen Michael trip the child.

 

The caseworker attempted to contact Michael multiple times but never successfully interviewed him.

 

The allegation was ultimately classified as inconclusive.

 

No case was opened and no services were provided.

 

Two weeks later, another report alleged that Michael had hit Tavyus’s one year old half brother.

 

Tavyus’s mother, Brandi Hernandez, told the caseworker that she had never seen Michael hit or act mean toward her son. She also said that because of the allegation, she was no longer allowing her children around him.

 

That assessment was eventually closed as unfounded.

 

Again, no case was opened and no services were provided.

 

Tavyus was born only weeks later.

 

In the early morning hours of October 26, 2009, Brandi and Michael became involved in an argument.

 

According to Colorado’s official child fatality review, the argument became physical when Michael grabbed Brandi’s wrist hard enough to leave scratches.

 

Brandi reported that Michael appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and was slurring his words.

 

She decided to leave.

 

Brandi took her two older children with her.

 

She did not take Tavyus.

 

According to the state review, Michael would not allow her to take him.

 

The seven week old baby remained with his father.

 

Two days later, on October 28, Michael’s stepfather woke him because Tavyus was crying.

 

Michael said he fed his son a bottle and then held Tavyus on his knee, bouncing him while trying to burp him.

 

Michael later reported hearing Tavyus cough.

 

Fluid began coming from the baby’s nose.

 

Tavyus stopped breathing.

 

A family member performed CPR while 911 was called.

 

Tavyus was rushed to Saint Anthony North Hospital and then transferred to Presbyterian Saint Luke’s Hospital because of the severity of his condition.

 

A CT scan revealed bleeding around his brain.

 

Doctors and hospital personnel became suspicious that Tavyus had been injured, and Adams County Human Services received a child protection referral.

 

As investigators began speaking with family members, additional disturbing information emerged.

 

Brandi told a caseworker that she had seen Michael become aggressive toward her and the children.

 

She said she had seen him become frustrated with Tavyus and his siblings and grab and squeeze them hard around the ribs.

 

Tavyus’s maternal grandmother reported something even more frightening.

 

She told the caseworker that she had previously seen Michael place his hand over Tavyus’s mouth while the baby was lying on a couch.

 

She believed Michael was suffocating him.

 

Tavyus remained hospitalized.

 

He never recovered from his injuries.

 

On November 1, 2009, at only 59 days old, Tavyus died.

 

The coroner determined that his death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head.

 

SYSTEM FAILURES

 

Tavyus’s death was reviewed by the Colorado Department of Human Services Child Fatality Review Team.

 

What investigators found went far beyond a single missed warning.

 

Multiple county human services departments had been involved with members of Tavyus’s family.

 

Years of referrals preceded his birth.

 

Some involved concerns about neglect.

 

Others involved injuries.

 

And in the months immediately before Tavyus was born, two separate allegations accused Michael Workman of physically abusing Tavyus’s older half brothers.

 

The state review identified problems with the way those cases had been handled.

 

Risk assessments contained inaccurate information about the family’s previous child welfare history.

 

Previous investigations were not always properly reflected when workers calculated the children’s risk of future abuse or neglect.

 

During the July 2009 investigation involving Michael, workers attempted to contact him repeatedly by telephone but never interviewed him.

 

The fatality review noted that no attempt was made to contact Michael at his residence and no letter was sent.

 

That case was closed as inconclusive.

 

When another allegation involving Michael arrived approximately two weeks later, workers again failed to speak with him.

 

That allegation was eventually closed as unfounded.

 

No case was opened.

 

No services were provided.

 

The state review also found that several assessments remained open beyond required timeframes without appropriate extensions.

 

There were problems with interview documentation.

 

After Tavyus was critically injured, an assessment involving one of his siblings incorrectly classified rib fractures as minor abuse when the injuries should have been classified as severe abuse.

 

These were not merely criticisms made years later by grieving relatives.

 

They were findings made by Colorado’s own Child Fatality Review Team.

 

Corrective action was required.

 

Tavyus had been alive for only seven weeks when the final chain of events began.

 

But warning signs surrounding the adults responsible for his safety had existed before he was even born.

 

WARNING SIGNS

 

Tavyus could not speak for himself.

 

He was seven weeks old when he was critically injured.

 

But other people had already spoken.

 

There had been reports involving his older siblings.

 

One brother had said Michael was mean.

 

A grandmother had reported seeing Michael trip him.

 

Another report alleged that Michael hit Tavyus’s one year old brother.

 

Then, after Tavyus was hospitalized, his mother described Michael becoming frustrated with the children and squeezing them hard around their ribs.

 

His grandmother reported having previously seen Michael cover the infant’s mouth in a way that made her fear he was suffocating him.

 

Only two days before Tavyus stopped breathing, his parents had also been involved in a physical domestic dispute.

 

Infants are among the most vulnerable victims of abuse.

 

They cannot run.

 

They cannot tell someone what happened.

 

They cannot describe who hurt them.

 

Their protection depends entirely upon adults recognizing danger before the child suffers an injury that cannot be undone.

 

JUSTICE FOR TAVYUS

 

Michael Workman was charged in connection with the death of his infant son.

 

His first trial, held in May 2010, ended without a verdict when the jury could not reach a unanimous decision.

 

The case did not end there.

 

In July 2010, Michael pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death.

 

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

 

Michael C. Workman

 

Relationship to Tavyus: Father

 

Conviction: Child abuse resulting in death

 

Outcome: Guilty plea

 

Sentence: 12 years in prison

 

FOREVER REMEMBERED

 

Tavyus Workman had barely begun living.

 

Fifty nine days should have been nothing more than the opening pages of his life.

 

Instead, they became his entire story.

 

But the records left behind tell us something important.

 

Tavyus did not die in a family completely unknown to the systems created to protect children.

 

There had been years of reports.

 

There had been allegations involving his brothers.

 

There had been allegations involving his father.

 

There had been opportunities to look deeper.

 

After Tavyus died, Colorado looked back.

 

The state found inaccurate risk assessments.

 

It found incomplete efforts to contact the person accused of abuse.

 

It found assessments that were not completed within required timeframes.

 

It found documentation problems.

 

And it required corrective action.

 

Those findings came too late for Tavyus.

 

He never got to learn to crawl.

 

He never took his first steps.

 

He never spoke his first word.

 

He never celebrated his first birthday.

 

The little baby whose life lasted only from September to November deserved the same protection, urgency and attention as any child old enough to tell someone that he was afraid.

 

Tavyus could not tell anyone.

 

The adults and systems around him had to recognize the danger for him.

 

His story is a reminder of what is at stake when warning signs surrounding the smallest and most defenseless children are allowed to remain disconnected.

 

But Tavyus should be remembered for more than the failures that preceded his death.

 

He was a baby brother.

 

He was a son.

 

He was a little boy with an entire life that should have been ahead of him.

 

His life lasted 59 days.

 

His name deserves to last much longer.

 

Abuse Angels remembers Tavyus Zanye-Mhikeal Workman.

 

Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.