The media is rife this week with the story of the death of Roman Quiroz, age 3 months. The accused is his father, Lance Corporal Robert Quiroz. Only 20 years old, he was the father of two children. His wife died shortly after the birth of Roman and Quiroz was recalled from Iraq. According to his sister-in-law, he seemed totally incapable of taking care of his children. He was also grieving for the loss of his wife.
I won’t give you the entire scenario because that is readily available elsewhere. However, this is a situation where Child Protective Services already had this baby in their care a month ago with the possibility of abuse. He was returned to the father due to lack of evidence.
It sounds like Fresno County will be bringing in state investigators to determine fault. I saw an interview with Henry Perea this evening and it is his hope to get to the bottom of this sad event.
For my money, I don’t know if there is a bottom to get to. Yes, CPS definitely takes children out of the home that should have stayed. However, my guess is that they are following the state’s guidelines as well as a little push from the officer on the scene.
How could this have been handled differently? Better communication between the police and social services would be a good place to start. Not likely, though, because they run competing investigations and can have simultaneous court cases. Yep, just plain silly.
And you have to wonder if there will be any justice for Roman.
