Markese T. Hamilton
10 months old
Burnt to death
Markese died in a fire deliberately
set by his mother, Barbara Hamilton while his father had walked to a pay
phone to call police because she was drunk and threatening to harm him.
Two firefighters were injured clawing through fire and smoke to try to
save the baby. It was only later that rescuers discovered Markese's charred
remains embedded in metal springs that had once been his crib.
Markese's death has called
into question a system designed to protect children. Police and other officials
want to find out if a breakdown occurred in a family services program that
took three children from Markese's mother but allowed her to keep Markese.
So far, few answers have been offered about Markese's death. But interviews
with police, social workers and family members offer a portrait of a child
neglected and abused by his
mother but also desperately
loved by his father, who tried to protect him.
"He had a rotten life, I
suspect," said a member of a panel that reviewed Markese's death. "Anytime
a child dies like this, we just cringe."
Markese was born into poverty
and was the fifth child born to Barbara Hamilton, who gave one newborn
daughter to a sister three years ago and lost custody of three other children.
Hamilton was unemployed and had never finished high school. The Missouri
Division of Family Services wouldn't say why Hamilton's first three children
- ages 5 to 13 - were not living with her. Markese's father stated case
workers told him that Hamilton had abused the children. He wouldn't elaborate.
Relatives said that last
winter Hamilton tossed Markese out the window of a moving car. Markese,
wrapped in a snowsuit, looked uninjured, so the relative didn't call police.
"She didn't want that baby, but she knew that was a chain to hold on to
the baby's father," said an aunt.
In another incident, relatives
say Hamilton set fire to a sofa in March and walked out of the house, leaving
Markese behind. A relative quickly put out the fire. Again, authorities
were never told.
Someone called the state
Division of Family Service's child-abuse hot line, said a source close
to the case. The family was fighting, the caller said, adding that Markese
might be in danger. A social worker investigated but didn't have enough
proof that Markese was abused or neglected. So the hot- line call was filed
as "unsubstantiated," the source said. Hamilton's history with her other
children wasn't enough to remove Markese. No one ever called the hot line
again.
"When a child's not old
enough to speak, we only see what the family wants us to see, the condition
of the home on a given day," said a Family Services director. "So we really
rely on repeat calls to the hot line. That's why it's so important for
neighbors and relatives to call - not maybe once, but twice."
A Family Services' care
worker visited the home six days before the fire was ignited, but
Hamilton and Markese were gone. The case worker didn't return. (No further
information available.)
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Raquel Hamilton
23 months old
Died from burn complications
Raquel died five days after
being burnt on her back and buttocks with a hot liquid. Charged with her
death are her mother, Tracy Burnett, 23, and her boyfriend, Van Keith Hayden,
35. They have both been charged with murder and felony child abuse.
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