Sherri Mathis trial shows DCS flaws
The Sherri Mathis murder trial all comes down to cause of death. Did Mathis strangle a 6-year-old, or did the child suddenly go into a seizure that killed her?
While that’s for a jury to decide, an equally disturbing picture has been painted about the Department of Children’s Services. A government organization that’s supposedly aimed at protecting the well-being of our children, appears to have done nothing of the sort for little Cheyenne Delp.
I realize everyone is busy and case workers likely have hundreds of children to monitor, but there is simply no excuse for allowing a small child to have bruises over her entire body. There were warning signs in this case ‘ warning signs so big they could fill a billboard ‘ and nothing was done to help this girl.
It’s maintained by prosecutors that Mathis was the cause of these bruises and constant assortment of injuries that always seemed to find their way to Cheyenne’s tiny body. Cheyenne had been in the Mathis home about three weeks when DCS launched its first investigation to try to find the reason for an injury to the inside of her mouth.
The mouth injury was just the first of what would be a long list of red flags surrounding Cheyenne. Teachers and day care workers would notice and report additional injuries, but Cheyenne was never removed from the Mathis home.
The $25,000 question is why? Why did a government organization devoted to children allow a child to absorb repeated abuse? Why did our legal system allow Cheyenne to stay in this home?
I say all this without judging the guilt or innocent of Sherri Mathis. For the sake of argument, let’s say everything the defense says is completely true. Mathis never laid a hand on Cheyenne Delp and all of the girl’s injuries were entirely self-inflicted.
If that’s the case and a child, beginning at age 3, is already inflicting injuries on herself from head to toe ‘ including injuries to the inside of her mouth ‘ this child needs intense psychiatric attention. Forget about occasional trips to the doctor. Cheyenne should have been admitted to an institution.
Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute in Nashville, and Western Mental Health Institute in Bolivar are two state-run, in-patient psychiatric facilities that specialize in child and youth services. Children can be admitted on an emergency basis, or by a court ruling for inpatient evaluation and treatment.
If Cheyenne’s injuries were entirely self-inflicted and we fully believe the defense’s theory, any normal parent would be absolutely horrified by this girl’s actions. As a father of two small boys, there is no way I could sit back and watch a child batter herself over a three-year period without demanding the state take action.
The DCS workers who evaluated Cheyenne, and the so-called medical professionals who prescribed a wide array of medication, should all bear some of the blame. They either stood back and allowed Mathis to batter, bruise and strangle this child, or they allowed the girl to do it to herself.
Neither explanation is an acceptable excuse.
The bigger picture is not what happens to Sherri Mathis in this case. Whatever the verdict, a 6-year-old girl is dead.
What matters is making meaningful change to a system that allowed this to happen. Even if Mathis is convicted of first-degree murder, justice won’t be served unless we fix the system that allowed a 3-year-old to travel down a three-year path to her death, with warning signs every step of the way.
James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at standard@blomand.net.