On Monday, March 19, 2018, a grieving father rallied with local activists outside the Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services building in Cleveland, Ohio. His four year old daughter, Aniya, had died days earlier, and he says he warned officials she was being abused.
According to local reports, Aniya was found unresponsive at her home in the Euclid area and was pronounced dead at a hospital. Officials said she was malnourished and that her death was tied to blunt force trauma to the head. Her mother and the mother’s boyfriend were charged with aggravated murder and are each being held on $1 million bond. Charges are accusations, and both are presumed innocent.
Aniya’s father, Mickhal, believes her death could have been prevented. Court records obtained by Cleveland.com show that about three months earlier he told a judge in an affidavit, “I truly, truly, truly feel as though my daughter is being abused at home physically/mentally and that her life could possibly be in danger.”
Reports say county officials investigated but did not find enough reason to remove her from her mother’s care. Mickhal says he had reported visible scars, and other family members say they noticed injuries including rug burns and black eyes. A custody case was still pending when Aniya died.
A representative for the agency responded to calls for an investigation and said in a written statement that staff are expected to recognize patterns of abuse and neglect, and that if an internal investigation finds the agency did something wrong, there will be discipline.
Activists at the rally also pointed to other cases of children who died after child protective services investigations. Mickhal says he hopes this never happens to another family.
