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staysblazed_xo

♥ ⁴²⁰ queen ♥
"The girl’s aunt and her partner, who had been her caretakers for the past two years, confined the child to a small area of the house and deprived her of food and water “for an extended period of time,” Brookings County State’s Attorney Dan Nelson told reporters in a news conference Friday.

Police said they found human and animal feces throughout the home and within the area where the girl was confined — a scene Nelson described as “disturbing.”

A grand jury on Friday determined that Renae Fayant, 25, and Robert Price Jr., 27, “knowingly caused the child to become malnourished” while their “lack of care directly caused the death of the child,” the prosecutor said.

They were indicted on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and abuse or cruelty to a minor under 7 years old."

Link!

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How could they?

So horrible. I couldn't imagine not feeding a goldfish. How could they treat a baby this way. What about other relatives? Wasn't there anyone loving on this baby? In cases like this, why can't they just let the baby get adopted.
So many empty arms just waiting.
There aren't as many open arms as you'd hope. Plus, dfs usually prefers the kid go to a relative vs foster care. I was that kid growing up. No one wants a broken kid.
 
There aren't as many open arms as you'd hope. Plus, dfs usually prefers the kid go to a relative vs foster care. I was that kid growing up. No one wants a broken kid.
I'm sorry there wasn't open arms waiting for you.

Sad truth, there is for babies. Not so much for older kids. I know a lot about foster care, and adoption have been a foster mom and also adopting my niece. And yes, social services does try for family first. In this case, the baby was placed with them when she was just a year old. A 1 year old is very adoptable.
 
Renae Fayant, 27, pleaded guilty in July to first-degree manslaughter, and she was sentenced to 75 years in prison for the July 2019 malnourishment and dehydration death of a 2-year-old girl.

Fayant and Robert Price, Jr., 29, were indicted by a Brookings County grand jury in 2019 in the death of Fayant’s niece, Esperanza Maria Fayant.

Price’s case is still pending.

Brookings Police received a 911 call from Renae Fayant that her niece was unresponsive and not breathing July 31, 2019. The call came in at 3:55 p.m., from a home in the 900 block of Seventh Street, according to a report from Brookings Police. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene.

Brookings County State’s Attorney Dan Nelson said at a 2019 press conference that the girl was living in disturbing conditions, confined to a small area of the home and being deprived of food and water for an extended period of time. Human and animal feces were found throughout the home, he added. Dirty diapers were in the dining room, and rotting food was in the kitchen.

Renae Fayant admitted that she had custody of and was the primary caregiver for the toddler, and she did not deny that the toddler died from “malnourishment and failure to thrive” because of abuse.

In exchange for the July plea, remaining charges of second-degree murder and abuse or cruelty to a minor under age 7 were dismissed, and no other charges will be brought in the case.

The State recommended a sentence of 75 years in prison with no time suspended. The defense was allowed to present evidence at sentencing and argue for less time.

Testifying at the Wednesday sentencing hearing was psychiatrist Dr. Sarah Flynn of Sioux Falls. Flynn evaluated Renae Fayant and detailed her long history of childhood physical and sexual abuse, neglect, being in and out of various households and the foster care system, a lack of food, water and care, and severe mental health issues and treatment. Renae Fayant had an “unhealthy, adverse and dangerous upbringing,” Flynn said, but she had no history of defiance, anti-social behavior, criminal activity, drug abuse or abuse to others.

Flynn said Renae Fayant’s niece was placed in her custody because many of her family members had legal and substance abuse issues, and Renae Fayant did not. They were not monitored after the child’s placement with Renae Fayant.

Flynn said that at the time of her niece’s death, Renae Fayant was experiencing major depressive disorder-recurrent severe with peripartum onset, and she had lost 30 pounds during her first trimester of pregnancy. Renae Fayant’s childhood was chaotic, unhealthy and dysfunctional and left her without an understanding of what it is to parent and to take care of children, Flynn said.

The child’s mother, Courtney Fayant, said Renae Fayant told her she could handle caring for Esperanza while Courtney was incarcerated.

“I’m disappointed and hurt because I trusted her with my daughter,” Courtney Fayant said via telephone at Wednesday’s hearing. “It’s very hurtful and hard not being able to hold my girl. … I want my daughter to get justice for her death. She didn’t deserve to die like that.”

Defense attorney Don McCarty asked Circuit Judge Greg Stoltenburg for leniency and to consider his client’s age, lack of criminal history, significant history of abuse as a child, mental health history, lack of addiction, background, and circumstances in which she was raised.

McCarty said, tragically, Renae Fayant was considered a success because she had graduated from high school and moved away from where she grew up, but she took her flaws from childhood with her. “It’s a tragedy that Esperanza came to Renae and that Renae was seen as the best place to go,” McCarty said.

McCarty said he didn’t dispute the results of Esperanza’s autopsy. Renae Fayant was suffering from a severe mental health episode affecting her ability to care for herself and others, and the level of care for Esperanza went down dramatically in July 2019.

“I don’t know how you could have a more documented history of why she wasn’t capable of being responsible for a child,” McCarty said, noting that there was no intent to harm.

The attorney said he recognized that there had to be some punishment but questioned whether a harsh sentence would serve as a deterrent to others.

“This is a tragedy all the way around, but imposing the high end (of prison time) won’t serve anyone or bring Esperanza back,” McCarty said.

Stoltenburg called this case one of the more difficult sentencings he’s had to handle in his time on the bench, and he considered Renae Fayant’s mental health, rehabilitation and punishment.

Stoltenburg disagreed that a sentence wouldn’t have a deterrent effect, saying he needed to send a message to caregivers that there will be serious consequences for neglect. “No child should have to suffer and die as this child did,” the judge said.

No single act caused Esperanza’s death, he added. “This was a pattern course of conduct … that caused Esperanza to not be here with us today.”

But Stoltenburg said emails from Renae Fayant to Courtney Fayant showed a pattern of deceit on Renae Fayant’s part, including claims that Esperanza was getting ready to go to school and that the girl couldn’t visit her mother because she was seeing a doctor and was in the hospital.

Stoltenburg said there’s no record of Renae Fayant ever taking Esperanza to a doctor or the hospital, despite the fact that the defendant took herself and her son to the doctor on numerous occasions and knew that Esperanza was delayed in development.

The judge said the extreme dehydration, malnutrition and failure to thrive that killed Esperanza were the “direct results of this defendant’s neglect and care of this child. … Children are treasures and should be treated as such.”

Stoltenburg said Renae Fayant failed in her duty and obligation to the child, and the tragedy demands justice.

He then sentenced her to 75 years in the state women’s prison, with credit for 781 days of pretrial detention.
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Robert Price Jr. has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for his role in the 2019 starvation death of a toddler.

The state agreed to dismissal of the remaining charges against Price and is recommending 40 years in the South Dakota State Penitentiary, KSFY-TV reported.

Renae Fayant was earlier sentenced to 75 years in prison for her role in the case.

Fayant admitted being the primary caregiver for the girl and did not dispute that the child had died because of malnourishment and dehydration, according to court documents.
 
I have always hated kinship placements the most.

Often the family is given exceptions that regular foster parents are not.

As well, they often do not follow the rules and are given many chances that often endanger the children.
 
Yeah, some of you have heard about the horrors of E's sister's aunt's custody. She was basically treated like a slave where they were paying her $40 a month to watch their kids and then decided not to pay her at all. She kept A's disability checks ($800) and used that money to live large. She and her husband were spotted at a rock concert in the pricey balcony seating while they had neglected to take A to the eye doctor, medical doctor, gynecologist, or dentist. Just a couple of weeks before her 18th birthday, her uncle got up in her face about something and she packed her little bag and left that very night. She has PTSD from her s.a., and he should've known it would set her off. The social security office is aware that they stole her benefits, but I don't know if anything will happen to them. Over a 3-year period, that's a lot of money but might not be worth putting A though any more testimony. She's still waiting for her s.a. abuser's criminal trial and doesn't need any additional stress.

We aren't related to E or A, but we've done a better job than any of their actual family. We actually love and care about these teens while their family has taken the side of the abuser. A has confronted her bio mom who was never actually a mother and allowed that s.a. to go on for many years, but I don't know if it helped or not. It's going to take a long time for her to heal, and I very much hope she can heal.
 

Price, Robert L​

Transaction #51713​



Sentence Date

County

Crime
Sentence
Length
Sentence
Adjustment
11/30/2021BrookingsManslaughter 1st39y 0m 0d

Booking Key Dates​


Initial Parole

Next Review

Good Time
Release

Adjusted
Good Time
Release

Suspended
Sentence
Release

Term Expires
11/01/204808/02/2058

Fayant, Renae R.​

Transaction #50586​




Sentence Date

County

Crime
Sentence
Length
Sentence
Adjustment
09/22/2021BrookingsManslaughter 1st74y 3m 0d


Booking Key Dates​



Initial Parole

Next Review

Good Time
Release

Adjusted
Good Time
Release

Suspended
Sentence
Release

Term Expires
09/18/2056
 
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