Judge Dismisses Manslaughter Charges Against State Social Workers

DETROIT, MI — A Detroit judge has dismissed involuntary manslaughter and other felony charges against a state of Michigan social worker and her supervisor in the death of 3-year-old Aaron Minor, whose decomposed body was found in his mother’s Detroit apartment in May 2016. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s office is reviewing 36th District Court Judge Kenneth King’s dismissal of the charges for a possible appeal, according to a statement.

The two Child Protective Services social workers, Elaina L. Brown, 24, and her supervisor, Kelly M. Williams, 47, both Wayne County residents, also had been charged with count each of second-degree child abuse, a 10-year felony, and willful neglect of duty by a public office, a five-year felony.

A misdemeanor charge of neglect of duty against the two workers is pending.

Aaron’s death was ruled a homicide, and his mother Deanna S. Minor, 28, was charged with felony murder, second-degree murder, first- and second-degree child abuse, and failure to report a dead body in early August. She had reportedly checked herself into a mental institution at the time her son’s body was discovered.

If Brown and Williams had done their jobs correctly, Aaron would be alive, Worthy maintained when the charges were filed in November.

“We charged this case after much thought and deliberation,” Worthy said in a statement at th time. “We did not make this decision lightly. We must seek to hold these ‎defendants responsible for their alleged inaction. The ultimate result in this case was the death of a child that never should have happened.”

Worthy said Brown visited Minor twice on April 21 and April 22 on a referral to from her mental health caseworker, who said that due to Minor’s deteriorating mental health, she was becoming increasingly incapable to caring for Aaron.

Brown’s April 22 report to Williams noted the lack of adequate food in the home, Worthy said, but it wasn’t until May 9 that Brown sent minor a letter asking her to contact CPS. When Minor was a no-show, that should have triggered both a call to police for a safety check and an emergency juvenile court petition to remove a child who was at imminent risk from the home.

Neither happened, Worthy said.

In the November statement, Worthy said Brown and Williams were “grossly negligent and reckless” in their failure to:

• Provide a “safety plan” for Aaron,
• Follow through on reports by mental health workers,
• Failure to ask for a police welfare check at Minor’s apartment,
• Failure to file a petition with juvenile court authorities, and
• Failure to follow CPS policy and procedures.

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