Ohio authorities probe parents in son's death

By JOE MILICIA

Associated Press Writer

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A case worker noticed that the swelling in 8-year-old Willie Robinson's neck would come and go.

Medical treatment was urged. His parents were threatened with legal action. The family moved. Then it was too late.

The skinny, blue-eyed, brown-haired boy collapsed at his home on March 22 and was pronounced dead less than an hour later at a hospital.

Now his parents, Monica Hussing and William Robinson Sr., are the subject of a criminal investigation, said Ryan Miday, spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's office. No charges have been filed. They previously admitted in juvenile court that they didn't provide Willie and their five other children with medical treatment for three years.

Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller ruled that Willie was the victim of medical neglect -- he died from pneumonia due to Hodgkin's lymphoma. "HOMICIDE," concludes the coroner's verdict.

Police and the coroner say Willie likely would have survived given the proper cancer treatment.

Children rarely die from medical neglect in the United States -- 22 died from October 2005 to September 2006, according to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System's "Child Maltreatment 2006" report. The figure is based on data from 39 states.

Medical neglect is defined by the Department of Health and Human Services as "failure by the caregiver to provide for the appropriate health care of the child although financially able to do so, or offered financial or other means to do so."

Trumbull County Children Services worked with Willie's family to get him health care when they lived in Warren, north of Youngstown. The agency got involved after receiving a phone call about Willie in July 2007.

The boy wasn't attending school and his health, along with the family's lack of medical benefits, were a concern, said Marcia Tiger, executive director of Trumbull County Children Services.

A case worker visited them at least monthly and pushed the parents to do a medical follow-up on his swollen neck, obtain medical coverage and get him enrolled in school.

Hussing, 33, also known as Monica Boone, wanted to home-school Willie after a bullying incident on a bus. She agreed to get her medical benefits in order, but never followed up, Tiger said.

"They did not complete their case plan goals," Tiger said. "It was like a cat and mouse game with our case worker."

Legal action was threatened. Then the family abruptly moved in mid-February.

"The next call we got was from Cuyahoga that he passed away," said Tiger, who couldn't explain why Willie's parents didn't pursue medical care for him.

"This is not a mother who wasn't bonded to her kids," Tiger said. "I can't believe that any parent would allow their child to suffer and die."

The boy's mother answered the door of her west side Cleveland home and declined comment, noting that case workers were inside. A phone number listed for Hussing and Robinson was not in service.

Hussing's attorney, Margaret Isquick, did not return a phone call seeking comment. Je'Nine Nickerson, who represents Robinson, declined to comment on the juvenile case and said her client likely would request a court-appointed attorney if criminal charges were filed.

Hodgkin's lymphoma is a highly treatable cancer with as many as 95 percent of patients in early stages of the disease surviving for five years or more with treatment. It's also one of the most common forms of cancers to strike children.

Hodgkin's attacks the body's system of lymph nodes, which leaves patients vulnerable to infections. The first symptom is usually swollen lymph glands in the neck.

Willie's parents didn't contest a complaint filed in April in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court that accused them of neglecting him and their five other children, ages 5, 6, 7, 13, and 14.

On May 23, juvenile Magistrate Richard Graham ruled that the parents committed medical neglect for not providing the children with medical treatment or dental care for three years. Graham also ruled that they committed educational neglect for failing to enroll the 6-year-old and 7-year-old in school, and for allowing the two oldest children to fall a year behind in school.

A case plan for the family filed in Juvenile Court noted that the parents have a history of using drugs and must remain drug and alcohol free. The plan also suggests the parents need to "prioritize their children's medical appointments and medical needs above all other things."

Decision making, stable employment, parenting skills, and emotional stability all were cited as areas the parents must improve upon, according to the case plan.

The children remain with their parents, although the court ordered protective services that include regular drop-by visits by officials from the county's Department of Children and Family Services, Miday said.