Report due: Why did Marcus die?
Brooks, Candace. Hamilton Journal News, Nov. 27, 2006.
The results of a state investigation sparked by the death of 3-year-old foster child Marcus Fiesel are slated for release today after more than a month's delay.
The state began the investigation into Butler and Clermont counties' children services, as well as the private foster care agency Lifeway for Youth, after the developmentally disabled Middletown boy died allegedly at the hands of foster parents Liz and David Carroll Jr.
The Carrolls are both charged with murder. They are each being held in the Hamilton County Justice Center on $10.1 million bonds.
Prosecutors say Marcus had been dead for nearly two weeks when the Carrolls reported the child missing Aug. 15 from Juilfs Park in Anderson Township, sparking a massive four-day search.
Prosecutors claim Marcus died in a closet in the Carrolls' home in Clermont County's Union Township after he was left rolled up in a blanket and bound with tape Aug. 4 while they left for two days to attend a family reunion in Kentucky. David Carroll later took the boy's body to Brown County and burned it, prosecutors charge.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services was expected to release a report in late October that detailed an investigation into Marcus' death and made recommendations to strengthen foster care regulations.
However, Barbara Riley, the agency's director, said additional time was needed to ensure the accuracy of information and analyze issues pertinent to the Carrolls' ongoing criminal prosecution.
The investigation is a special review because it will not only consider the circumstances of Marcus' case, but "on a bigger scale" evaluate the state's child protection system to identify necessary changes in law, ODJFS spokesman Dennis Evans said.
As a child removed from a Butler County home, Marcus' safety and case management was the primary responsibility of the Butler County Children Services Board.
Lifeway for Youth helped the Carrolls become licensed as foster parents with its agency, selected the couple for Marcus' placement, and visited the home weekly.Clermont County Job and Family Services licensed the Carrolls as day-care providers and would have been responsible to investigate allegations of abuse at the home.
The report, state officials said, is scheduled to be available after 11 a.m., and can be viewed online at http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/Fiesel_review_report_20061127.pdf
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