Foster Mother Loses Parental Rights in Connection with Lethbridge Murder

Detroit, MI - Charlise Adams-Rogers, the foster mother who was in charge of the homes where Isaac Lethbridge was found beaten and burned to death has lost the parental rights to two of her adopted children.

On November 13th, at the end of her trial in family court, the judge read off the testimony before rendering her verdict around 3pm. In the testimony on this day and on her previous court date, police officers and doctors gave testimony as to how Isaac was found and how he died.

Charlise Adams-Rogers alleges that her 12-year-old adopted daughter was throwing Isaac onto a mattress on the floor when she missed and he was injured. Doctors testified that the injuries, which included a broken clavicle on his left side, bruising on the right side of his head, and burns are inconsistent with the story of how he died. The cause of death is listed as multiple blunt-force injury and burn injury.

Ms. Adams-Rogers also testified that the burns he received were from being splashed with hot bath water, though this was also disputed by the medical examiner, who testified that the marks had to be made with steam or a hot object, as the edges of the burns were clearly defined and there was little of what he called "satellite burning", the likes of which would have occurred from splashing of liquid.

Before testimony, Ms. Adams-Rogers sat joking with three support people she had present. One of which testified in her defense though she wasn't with Ms. Rogers and was in the basement at the time in which Isaac's body was found.

Her attorney tried to get a stay on the hearings until more information could be released about the police investigation, which is still pending. He wanted discovery on her notes as well, but as the investigation is ongoing, he was unable to get much out of testimony of Ms. Slappey, the detective in charge of the case.

Her attorney, Marc Shreeman, seemed frazzled and irritated at his inability to get information from the detective and finally gave up because she couldn't answer his questions or compromise her investigation. According to Ms. Slappey, Charlise Adams-Rogers is still a suspect, since no one has been ruled out.

Several of Ms. Adams-Rogers were in the home before or during the time of his death, including grown grandsons. Part of what is alarming and difficult about this case is the mass amount of people entering and exiting the home at any given time.

Her attorney pled his case at the closing arguments, stating that destroying the family will not hellp, is not justified by the facts and evidence, but the judge decided differently.

At the end of the lengthy testimony review, the judge stated her opinion on this case and the evidence that was presented, citing that she is "troubled" by this "very, very unfortunate incident". The judge, Sheila Ann Gibson, stated that "the fact remains that something was going on in that home. Ms. Rogers was responsible for the care and well being of those children" and that "Isaac died in a home full of people, yet ironically, no one knows what happened. Ms. Rogers failed Isaac."

For the best interests phase, she determined that "Ms. Rogers doesn't know what's going on in her own home" and expressed anger at the way the situation was "so cavelierly handled".

As Ms. Rogers sat and waited for the verdict, she shed not a tear as the court determined that it was contrary to the best interests of the children that they be returned to her home and her parental rights were terminated.

The only tears came from those of the natural parents of Isaac Lethbridge, who sat through the hearings hoping for justice. They state that they are "relieved that some justice is finally being done about our son's murder" but that they are not happy, because as of yet, it has been 3 months and no arrests have been made in connection with his death.

Isaac Lethbridge had been taken from his natural parents' home in September of 2005 for conditions of the home and prior. Based on what the parents told the court, they were given another chance and were in reunification at the time of his death.

He may have been home by the date of his murder if the judge hadn't adjourned the hearing to go on vacation for 3 weeks. The parents assert that the agency responsible for the care and custody of Isaac and his sister was instead responsible for hindering reunification and making barriers to compliance with the court plan. In the meantime, the agency was shuffling the children through abusive and neglectful homes and failing to report the abuse to CPS, even when his sister allegedly contracted Hepatitis B in placement.

When asked about what they feel led to Isaac's death, the Lethbridges assert that this was a massive breakdown in the system that was allowed to continue because parties rubber-stamped the behavior of other parties, all of which policed themselves. No matter how much the parents complained about the conditions of their children, their complaints went unheard because agencies failed their son, leading to his murder.

When asked what they really want, the Lethbridges stated that they want their daughters out of care. They are facing termination with a child born while their siblings were in care based on prior termination, which is legal in many states. Regardless of circumstances, once your rights are terminated they can seize your child and terminate your rights to any other child that you have in the future. They are still in reunification with their older daughter, who was in the same home as Isaac when he died.

Past that, they want the persons responsible for Isaac's death to have no right to contact with children in any fashion, particularly the caseworkers who were found to be improperly trained at the Lula Belle Stewart Center that they hold in significant part responsible for Isaac's murder.

The Lula Belle Stewart Center has had their foster care license suspended, but they are fighting the suspension. The state is looking to remove their foster care license permanently.

Isaac was found and pronounced dead-on-arrival at Children's Hospital of Michigan on August 16th, 2006. As of yet, to arrests have been made in connection with his death, which was labelled a homicide after the autopsy 2 days later.