03:34 PM CST on Saturday, March 25, 2006

By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News

'This little boy went through hell,' Gary Yarbrough says of his grandson, 2-year-old Chase.

Chase Lee Chamberlain died in December. But had the system worked, he might not have.

Grand Prairie police arrested Shane Barnett, saying he killed the 2-year-old.

Seventeen months earlier, police in Denton County and child advocates appointed by the state strongly suspected Mr. Barnett had violently twisted the boy's leg until it snapped.

While Chase lay in a body cast, Lewisville and Denton County sheriff's investigators squabbled over jurisdiction. In the end, no case was ever filed.

Chase was returned to his mother, Jennifer Yarbrough, who within months moved back in with her boyfriend – Mr. Barnett. Child Protective Services said it found no reason to take custody of Chase.

On the afternoon of Dec. 29, Mr. Barnett showed up at a Grand Prairie fire station, carrying Chase's lifeless body.

"This little boy went through hell, and all the safeguards failed," said Gary Yarbrough, Chase's grandfather.

Last week, Dallas County grand jurors indicted Mr. Barnett, a 29-year-old heavy-equipment operator, on a charge of capital murder. He declined to comment. His attorney, Paul Johnson, said his client denies having anything to do with killing the boy.

"I'm not going to point fingers, but it would seem that the system let this boy down," said Grand Prairie police Sgt. Alan Patton, who is leading the homicide investigation.

"It's very emotional. You feel like it could have been prevented if the system had worked."

Broken leg

Chase's leg injury in July 2004 was an early sign of trouble. On the 26th, Ms. Yarbrough took the child to Lewisville Medical Center with what turned out to be a broken femur.

Ms. Yarbrough told authorities she had noticed Chase was cranky and fussy for several days, and that his leg was swollen. But Mr. Barnett, who baby-sat while she was working at her father's Southlake mortgage company, told her Chase was OK.

"He said he would watch him and let me know how he did," she told police. "I was crying when I left for work."

On the 23rd, Ms. Yarbrough said, Mr. Barnett had claimed to have taken him to a medical clinic. Interviews by CPS caseworkers indicate they were told there was no money for an X-ray, and that the doctor recommended ice. But no hospital visit could be confirmed.

Ms. Yarbrough, 24, said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News that when she came home from work that evening, Chase had a bandage on his leg. Satisfied, she said she didn't seek further treatment.

The next day, she said, the couple fought after Mr. Barnett learned she was slipping money to Chase's father. Police and the father say Mr. Barnett had beaten him up two months earlier and threatened to kill him if he didn't stay away.

Mr. Barnett hit Ms. Yarbrough during their fight, giving her a bloody nose, she said. Then he left.

She did not call police.

On Monday the 26th, at the prompting of relatives, Ms. Yarbrough took Chase to the emergency room in Lewisville.

Doctors believe Chase suffered for about a week before getting medical treatment, according to a CPS report. They concluded that he had a spiral fracture, most likely caused by violent twisting of the toddler's leg. Four of his ribs showed signs of having been broken.

Chase was fit with a body cast and the state took custody while CPS investigated.

Police were summoned.

Jurisdictional spat

But authorities didn't know whether the injury occurred in rural Denton County or Lewisville, or exactly what day it happened.

In mid- to late July, Ms. Yarbrough and Mr. Barnett were living in two places: They were moving out of a rural Denton County trailer and using a Budget Suites hotel room in Lewisville as temporary housing while preparing to move into a permanent place.

If Chase was hurt at the trailer park, the case belonged to the Denton County Sheriff's Department; if it occurred at the motel, Lewisville police had jurisdiction.

Almost two years after the incident, both agencies claim the other should have led the investigation.

"Our understanding is that our investigator referred the case" to Denton County sheriff's detectives, said Lewisville Police Chief Steve McFadden. "We do not have any way of forcing an agency to take a case. ... I don't want to be in a position of pointing fingers, but everything pointed to it not occurring here."

Lewisville police declined to release the case file, citing a state statute that protects reports of child abuse from being made public.

Tom Reedy, a Denton County sheriff's department spokesman, said they determined that the boy was injured in Lewisville.

"It was the policy of the sheriff's office at that time to take a case from another agency in their jurisdiction only if that agency formally requested that we do so," Mr. Reedy said. "A search of our records cannot find such a request."

Mom turned around

Two attorneys working for the state in the boy's interests and a CPS caseworker interviewed by police said in court documents that they strongly suspected Mr. Barnett hurt the boy. They warned Ms. Yarbrough to stay away from him while the courts considered whether Chase would be returned to her.

She says she did. She also passed drug tests after having admitted some drug use in the past, and attended parenting classes and counseling sessions.

"She did everything," said Vicki Foster, a Denton County prosecutor who represented CPS in the custody case. "At some point, you have to accept on blind faith that a parent will do what they say and be a parent."

In March 2005, Denton County District Judge Lee Gabriel returned custody of Chase to his mother. Through an assistant, the judge declined to discuss the case.

Tricia Perry, who was appointed by the court to represent Chase's interests, said Ms. Yarbrough appeared serious about turning her life around – and avoiding Mr. Barnett.

"She had done everything she was supposed to – not just going through the motions, but had made life changes and seemed to have an understanding how Chase got hurt in the first place," she said.

"Or so we thought."

Taking him back

In the absence of criminal charges, Ms. Yarbrough said she eventually felt comfortable taking Mr. Barnett back at the beginning of July.

"I thought that Shane really didn't do it, that they were giving me a hard time," she said.

"If they would have filed a charge on him, no matter how much I love him," she said, there was "not a chance in hell" she would have trusted him with her child.

Mr. Barnett – the father of at least five children by other women – had a troubled past. Friends and police point to a short temper, a history of violence, and previous convictions on drug and hot check charges.

Ms. Yarbrough said they frequently argued and he sometimes hit her. But she said Mr. Barnett had been like a father to Chase since he was a month old. She said she thought he'd never hurt Chase.

"No one saw them the way I did and the way they were together," she said. "Chase would go check the mail with him and would go anywhere with him. I don't know why he would if Shane was abusing him."

Jean Roach, a former baby sitter from the Denton County trailer park, said in an interview with The News that she'd seen things during her four months watching Chase that should have prompted her to contact the authorities.

The boy's chronic diaper rash and bruises on his abdomen were disturbing enough that she began keeping notes. But she only talked to CPS caseworkers after Chase's leg was broken.

"I should have my ass kicked for not calling them," she said. "I have cried many a tear over this. I didn't want to believe that they would hurt him. I just didn't call."

Three months after Ms. Yarbrough regained custody and about the time that she re-established contact with Mr. Barnett, phones began ringing at CPS. Tarrant County investigators handled the case because Ms. Yarbrough was then living in North Richland Hills.

"The minute that I found out that Jennifer was moving back with Shane, I made a complaint," said Ramona Chamberlain, Chase's paternal grandmother. "I never heard anything. So I called back, but I still heard nothing."

The agency did contact Ms. Yarbrough's father, Gary Yarbrough. Mr. Yarbrough provided foster care for Chase for several months when he was in CPS custody in 2004.

He told CPS that he had lost contact with his daughter and that if Mr. Barnett was back in her life, he feared for his grandson.

In September, CPS closed the case, finding no abuse or neglect.

"It was ruled out," said Marissa Gonzales, a CPS spokeswoman. "I can't get into the specific allegations, but that's what it was."

Boyfriend's story

At 3:50 p.m. on Dec. 29, Mr. Barnett showed up at the fire station in downtown Grand Prairie with Chase in his arms. The city doesn't have a hospital, and the station is about 2 ½ miles from the family's rent house.

Chase was pronounced dead at Methodist Dallas Medical Center at 4:12 p.m.

Mr. Barnett told investigators that he went into Chase's room to wake him from a nap, but the boy was already up and climbing on a desk. He said he startled the boy, who fell onto a toy Humvee.

Within minutes, the boy's "lips were white ... he was moaning/crying," according to a police report.

An autopsy showed Chase died from blunt force injuries. Nearly two-dozen bruises covered his body. Police said he was struck in the abdomen and suffered a massive head injury.

The boy was cold when he arrived at the ER, and blood had already begun pooling on one side of his body – indications he had been dead for hours. Investigators feared he was injured days before.

"We felt like the child had been beat to death," Sgt. Patton said. "Not just over the course of just a moment or two; this looks like a history of abuse."

Police say Mr. Barnett's version of events changed often. "There's nothing in the house that matches up to the story that he told," said Sgt. Patton.

Mr. Barnett's attorney said the case is in its early stages and declined to go into detail. "He's awfully upset about this," Mr. Johnson said. "It's a tragedy. He feels like he's been falsely accused."

'Maybe I'm blind'

Investigators this week forwarded a case accusing Ms. Yarbrough of endangerment of a child to the Dallas County district attorney's office.

"If Shane killed him, then I probably deserve to be charged because I would never in a million years have thought it," she said. "Maybe I'm blind."

She said the tears are never far away, nor the nightmares.

"I have dreams about Chase gasping for air and me wrapping my arms around him and him all of a sudden breathing OK again," she said. "That's my way of blaming myself for not being there to save him."

Ms. Yarbrough returned to work at her father's Southlake office several weeks ago. Their relationship is strained.

"She's my daughter and I care about her," he said. "I cared deeply about my grandson. ... Jennifer appeared blind to it."

In the past four months, at least seven toddlers other than Chase Chamberlain have been killed while staying with relatives, baby sitters or boyfriends in North Texas. In several cases, CPS was previously involved with the family.

March 7 –Two-year-old Marylou Leija of Lewisville died after relatives called 911 and said she was choking. Her father, Jorge Leija, was arrested in connection with his daughter's death. Child Protective Services took custody of Marylou at birth after she tested positive for drugs. A judge awarded custody to the girl's father in November 2004.

March 6 – Eight-month-old Brooke Martinez of Fort Worth died two days after she was hospitalized with a head injury. Police arrested Germaine Martinez, who is married to Brooke's half sister. A judge allowed CPS to place Brooke with the couple in December. Mr. Martinez told police the child fell.

Feb. 24 – Twenty-one- month-old Rowyn Clark died a day after she was injured while in the care of her Mesquite baby sitter. She had blunt force head injuries. Tiffany Harper was arrested on suspicion of capital murder. She told police that a piece of furniture fell on the toddler.

Feb. 24 – Seven-month-old Jaidyn Silva died while in the care of Isaiah Nunez of Irving. Jaidyn's mother had left him with a baby sitter – Mr. Nunez's girlfriend – who, in turn, turned him over to Mr. Nunez. The girlfriend told police she needed her boyfriend to watch Jaidyn while she looked for a job. Jaidyn died from blunt force head injuries. Mr. Nunez told investigators the baby fell.

Feb. 23 – Nineteen-month-old Brian Alberto Tovar - Hernandez died from blunt force head injuries in Dallas. The boy's uncle Roberto Murillo Avila was being held on a capital murder charge, and Mr. Avila's wife, Norma Hernandez, was charged with injury to a child. The boy's parents left him with the couple a month before. Apartment complex employees said they witnessed neglect but did not call CPS.

Feb. 9 – Three-month-old Nicholas Rhea Hoffert in Cleburne died shortly after he was struck, authorities say, by the man who was adopting him and his twin brother. David Michael Giddens was arrested, accused of injuring the child. The Johnson County medical examiner's office has not yet ruled on the case. In the meantime, CPS took custody of Nicholas' brother. CPS had investigated and cleared the family in 2002.

Dec. 28 – Eighteen-month- old Gabrielle Newsome died in Oak Cliff. Police said she had bruises, and the medical examiner ruled she died from homicidal violence. Her father, Andre Dion Harris, was being held at the Dallas County Jail on suspicion of capital murder.

E-mail jtrahan@dallasnews.com

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Emphasis added by H4K Editor