Editor’s note– MetroNews originally erroneously reported in this story that Walter Richardson was the child’s father. He is not. We regret the error.
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Court documents related to the arrest of two Child Protective Services workers show the employees received a case involving child abuse allegations against a Fairmont man before a four-year-old’s death last month.
Tabetha Phillips-Friend, 44, and 25-year-old Breeana Bizub face charges of involuntary manslaughter and failure to report child abuse to law enforcement following the child’s death.
Walter Richardson, a guardian, who was not the child’s father, have been charged with first-degree murder. The mother, 28-year-old Ashlee Allen has been charged with death of a child by a parent or guardian.
Authorities found the child unresponsive and showing visible blood on his clothing when they arrived at a Green Street residence on March 4. The child was transported to Fairmont Medical Center and then J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, where he died on March 8.
According to court documents, one worker met with the family on Jan. 25, when the person learned Richardson attacked the child. The worker drafted a temporary protection plan allowing Marion County Child Protective Services to conduct an additional assessment.
Phillips-Friend and Bizub received the case on Jan. 26. Court documents indicate a follow-up assessment was not completed before March 4, and the two workers did not provide law enforcement with a copy of the child abuse report.
The state Department of Health and Human Resources told MetroNews affiliate WAJR-AM on Monday that Phillips-Friend and Bizub have been fired.