The family that helped raise Omaree Varela, and had temporary custody of him and his younger sister, said the 9-year-old’s death allegedly at the hands of his biological mother was avoidable.
They blame the state Children, Youth and Families Department, which they say ordered them to return Omaree to his mother in 2011 after they had been caring for Omaree on and off for several years.
Essie Sotelo and her daughter, Shana Smith, took care of Omaree and later his younger sister Neviah Varela when, they allege, the biological mother’s drug abuse turned her into an absentee parent.
[...]
“I blame CYFD for what happened because they put him in that house,” a sobbing Sotelo said Monday. “I told them that girl (Varela-Casaus) was not ready to take care of those kids. He was doing so good when he was with us. He liked school, he loved sports, he was happy.”
Smith was equally critical of CYFD. “They failed that little boy. What they could have done was look at the environment he was going into before taking him away from us. They could have continued once a month to check on those kids, Synthia could have been required to undergo random urine tests, to take anger management counseling and attend parenting classes. They should have dug deeper.”
[...]
Official CYFD documents that Sotelo and Smith shared with the Journal show clearly that CYFD was well aware of Varela-Casaus and had concerns about safety of the children.
In September 2009, CYFD’s Protective Services Division recommended that Omaree Varela, then 5, and sister Neviah Varela, then 10 months old, remain in the care of Sotelo, and that the biological mother and the infant’s biological father “not take the children into their care until interviews and assessments of their caretaking ability can be completed.”
Sotelo said she knew Varela-Casaus because she was a longtime friend of another one of Sotelo’s daughter’s, who served time in jail with Varela-Casaus, both of them on drug and related charges. According to court records, Varela-Casaus has been convicted of a variety of crimes, including prostitution.
Sotelo said Varela-Casaus referred to her as “mama,” and Sotelo regarded her and Varela-Casaus’ children as family.
Omaree, she said, was left in her care from mid 2006 through mid 2007.
Varela-Casaus took him back in 2008 and her second child was born in September 2008.
In May 2009, Smith, who lived in Phoenix, came to Albuquerque to visit her mother for the summer. Smith stayed at Varela-Casaus’ apartment. By the end of the summer, Smith alleges, Varela-Casaus was using drugs again, leaving the apartment and her children for extended periods of time. Smith and Sotelo continued to care for the children, and when it was time for Smith to return to Phoenix, Varela-Casaus asked her to take the children with her, Smith said.
By August 2009, Varela-Casaus was having second thoughts and asked for her children back. Sotelo traveled to Phoenix to pick up the children and bring them back to Varela-Casaus’ apartment, but she never showed up to take custody.
CYFD got involved in September of that year, and Sotelo asked for and was granted caretaker status of the two children. The CYFD letter, dated Sept. 16, 2009, states it is investigating an open case regarding Synthia Varela, and Omaree and Neviah, and recommends that the children stay with Essie Sotelo during the investigation.
Sotelo, who had been planning to move to Phoenix, later received a letter from Varela-Casaus, giving her permission to take the children to Arizona, which she did in January 2011.
According to Smith and Sotelo, two months later, in March 2011, CYFD contacted them and ordered the children back to Albuquerque. The children were returned that month and “that was the last time we saw them,” Smith said.
By this time, Varela-Casaus had a third child, a son, and was married to her current husband, Steven Casaus.
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