Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Evil parents watch little daughter die of LICE BITES

Episode Date: October 16, 2020

A 12-year-old Georgia girl has died after a lice infestation that may have lasted as long as three years. Kaitlyn Yozviak lived with her parents in a bug-infested and rat-infested home. Coroners say the lice made the girl anemic, which resulted in a heart attack.Yozviak’s parents have been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree child cruelty.Joining Nancy Grace Today: Kathleen Murphy - North Carolina Family Attorney Caryn Stark - NYC Psychologist   Steven Lampley - Former Detective, Author of "12 and Murdered" Dr. Kris Sperry - Former Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Georgia Levi Page - Investigative Reporter, CrimeOnline  Ashley Kelly - Licensed Clinical Social Worker - Expertise: Child Abuse TIP LINE: Georgia Bureau of Investigation: [phone]; Ivey Ga Police Department: [phone] Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How can a little girl, a fifth grader, die at home of a lice infestation. I didn't know you could die of lice. And where were her parents? What happened to this beautiful 12-year-old girl? And I can tell you this much, somebody's going to jail. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

It's not a topic that's, let's just say it doesn't taste good going down. It's not something you want to talk about over the fence with your neighbor or at a dinner party. But this is the reality. This is happening right under our noses. And when you see the picture of this little girl, Caitlin, it's going to break your heart. But I want justice. I can't bring Caitlin back, but I can find the truth and we can get justice for Caitlin. Take a listen to this. The Creamers say they first met Katie Horton and Joey Yozbiak in March of 2008

when they discussed adopting baby Caitlin. We had absolutely everything ready. Car seat, baby bed, furniture, everything was pink and brown. Outfits to bring her home in, diaper, absolutely everything. The Creamers say Katie and Joey told them they wouldn't be able to take care of the baby themselves. He worked a part-time job at that point. She wasn't working at all. They just felt like they couldn't be able to take care of the baby themselves. He worked a part-time job at that point. She wasn't working at all. They just felt like they couldn't provide for her.

After months of getting ready, the day had finally arrived. The Kramers were in the hospital on June 9th when Caitlin was born. I named her. I was in the delivery room. We held her. I have probably 100 pictures of her first few hours. She was beautiful. Beautiful dark eyes. Beautiful dark eyes. Beautiful dark eyes.

You know, it just breaks my heart so much to hear what I just heard. This little girl was 15 minutes away from having loving parents. Loving adoptive parents. But everything went

sideways. Did you hear that? They took about 100 pictures of her in the first 20 minutes of her life. Their baby. They even got a little pink outfit to bring her home from the hospital for her to wear a special coming home outfit. I'm just thinking back on bringing my twins home. She was this close to having a real family, a mother and a father that took care of her that close and everything went to crap. Listen.

The Creamers learned they wouldn't be taking Caitlin home. I went to the hospital. We were supposed to go home that day. I had the car seat. I had the diaper bag. I had her outfit. I had everything there. When I walked into her room, she was crying. Michelle says Horton told her she felt obligated to keep her daughter. And she looked at me that day and said, this baby's supposed to be yours. This baby's supposed to be yours. I don't want this baby, but I feel like I have to. The couple say they were

devastated for months. It was almost like a funeral around here for three or four days. We we never dreamed they changed their minds. They were adamant that this baby is yours and the worst part for us was we really didn't know what she was going to be going into the creamer say they didn't

hear of Caitlin or Horton since until this week when Michelle found the story, we ran Friday explaining documents we received on the family's history with defects. I was probably two lines into it and I went, that's my Caitlin. That was my baby. And of course, cried all over again. It was so hard to watch. Knowing that we were within six, seven hours of her life being completely different than that. It's just so much to take in. And now we know what happened to this beautiful little baby with the big, dark eyes. I'm looking at her photo right now, and I can just imagine how beautiful a baby that she was. Let me introduce to you an all-star panel and I really mean that and we need to hear from everyone, every single

one of these experts to make sense of what happened to little Caitlin. With me, Kathleen Murphy out of North Carolina. She is a family law expert. Let me tell you something. Family law is everything but family like. It's like putting your hand in between two fighting Rottweilers. When you go into family court, you got to be a pro. And she is. You can find her at ncdomesticlaw.com.

Karen Stark, renowned New York psychologist joining us from Manhattan today. She's at Karen with a C, karenstark.com. Stephen Lampley, detective, author of 12 and Murdered, coming out next month on Amazon. You can find him at stephenlampley.com. Ashley Kelly, poor thing, she's in for it. She's a former defects worker, a licensed clinical social worker, and her expertise is child abuse. Dr. Chris Berry with me, a famous former chief medical examiner for the state of Georgia. Let me tell you, I've spent many, many hours with Dr. Chris Sperry preparing for trial. And when he would walk into a courtroom, open those doors, walk into that white medical jacket, it was like everything stopped. He'd walk up, take the stand, and the case would be on. I usually

either put him up as the first witness or the last witness to either start with a bang or finish with a bang. But first, to CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Levi Page. Levi, when I hear these adoptive parents about all the preparations they had made to bring baby Caitlin home, and now I know just a few short years later, she dies of head lice. How does that even happen? But that's a question for the medical examiner. For you, Levi Page, what went wrong with the adoption? Well, Nancy, what went wrong with the adoption was at the very last minute, her parents decided that they wanted to keep her. Her bio parents.

Instead of giving her up for adoption. Correct. Oh, Kathleen Murphy. Why? Is it under the law? Can you build the adoptive parents up like that just to yank the rug out from under them at the last minute? Nancy, that actually happened to me.

What? My youngest child was adopted at birth, and the birth mother attempted to change her mind at the last hour. And we were able to engage in discussions and negotiations such that she realized that she was not able to really do this. And so we were fortunate. But, yes, they can. You just gave me chills all the way down my left arm Kathleen Murphy that would really give you chills you have four children right I do okay and so is this your your youngest this is my youngest and my only adopted child oh man you lucky duck I always wanted children, but I waited so late in life. I'm lucky I got the two that I got.

Boy, was I blessed. Yes, we blessed. I just, how, right there at the last moment, she changes her mind. And now, years later, these adoptive parents have the heartbreak of reading their baby. Guys. And who hasn't had head lice? I mean, really? Well, wait a minute.

Wait a minute. I haven't had head lice. And mean, really? Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I haven't had head lice. And neither has anybody in my family. Okay. Have you guys had head lice? Okay. John Terenzio, oxygen producer, is in here saying you have not had head lice. Okay.

But you're, okay, I don't know a nice way to say this, but you're partially bald. Right there. Okay. So how likely is it you're going to get head lice? Brett had lice. So not everybody has had head lice. Kathleen Murphy. So let's just people just.

Yeah, I guess we are. But I've never heard of anything like this. And it had to be extremely painful. And where I'm going with this is if she died, this little girl died of head lice, that means neglect. Neglect in this gigantic proportion means that were these parents abusive? crime stories with nancy grace we're talking about a gorgeous little girl she is so beautiful not that looks matter because they don't and she's got this beautiful head of gorgeous dark brown hair. And I'm just imagining what this little girl went through every single day.

A few moments ago, you were listening to our friend Ashlyn Webb at Channel 13 WMAZ. Now take a listen to this. When Caitlin Yozviak was born, her parents had already had two children removed from the home to be raised by relatives. So Katie Horton and Joey Yozwiak arranged for a couple, the Creamers, to adopt Caitlin. After Caitlin was born, Horton and Yozwiak had a change of heart and canceled the adoption. The Georgia Department of Family and Children's Services had been involved with the family when the boys were removed from the home, and now they were called to make sure the family could care for baby Caitlin. And Caitlin went home with her mom and dad.

That was the last contact D-Fax had with the family until 2018. Our friend Dave Mack at CrimeOnline.com, that's what I don't get. To Ashley Kelly, she is now a licensed clinical social worker. Her expertise is child abuse. And boy, she cut her teeth in a tough environment at DFAX, Department of Family Children Services. Ashley Kelly, now this is not about you, okay? I know you're not with DFAX anymore. But why in the H-E-double-L, when you've already had two little boys removed from the home for abuse and neglect, would you send an innocent baby girl into that situation? When the parents wanted to adopt her out anyway, in the last minute have a change of heart, why in the

world would they get to keep a little baby that's a great question and i know i can remember several times that i had a tough time needing to do that as well um what do you mean you needed to do that unfortunately when you're just um a case manager you don't make any decisions by yourself. So you have to staff it up and then do whatever is told to you to do. And that's in Arizona. I don't know what it is in another state. They said that to the guard keepers at Auschwitz too. It's your job.

So I don't understand how in the world could DFAC send a little baby like this, an innocent infant girl, into a home where the agency had already removed two boys for neglect and abuse? I agree. And the question is, too, you have to do a home visit. So I'm wondering, and just a couple of years ago, how much different it could have been i doubt it okay not two years passed until defects is called to the home take a listen to our friend at channel 13 wmaz ashlyn webb defects files show a call in 2018 about the home being quote bug infested excessive cats and hazardous conditions.

Our folks came in, they saw that the house was really a wreck. Deepak's agreed the house was unsanitary. They responded very quickly to our request that they make this house a fit place to live. That indicated to us that they were in fact capable of caring for Caitlin. He says there wasn't enough evidence to pull Caitlin out of the home in 2008 or 2018. The standard required to remove a child from home is that the child is in imminent danger.

Is there's child safety? Is it really a threat? Now that can be emotional safety as well as physical safety. But we also do get involved with cases that maybe are a little less than that, but that where there's a chronic issue where we need the assistance of the courts in making sure the family does what they need to do to remedy the situation. You're hearing our friend Ashlyn Webb at 13 WMAZ, and you're also hearing the voice of Tom Rawlings, Georgia DFAX director.

Well, I don't know if he still has his job after this. So let me understand something to you, Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. So DFAX removes two boys from the home for abuse and neglect. Then mom gets pregnant again. She has a little baby. She reneges on the adoption deal from her hospital bed. Says she doesn't want the baby but feel like she has to keep it. D-Fax lets her keep the baby.

And within a couple of years, D-Fax is back at the home with bug infestation. there were rats there as well excessive cats do i understand that correctly and they leave the girl there yes nancy they actually took her brothers and placed her brothers with their grandmother but they placed Caitlin with an aunt, and she was only there for six days. And then for some reason, this is very hard to explain on their part, Child Protective Services, they placed Caitlin back into the home, but they did not place her brothers back into the home. So the big question is, if the home was not safe enough for her brothers,

why was it safe enough for her? Think about this, and I need to go to our doctor, Dr. Chris Perry, on this. Repeated hundreds of lice bites lowered her blood iron levels, causing anemia and triggering a heart attack. This little girl, she's 12. She just turned 12. A heart attack because of a lice infestation. Dr. Crisperi, I've got so many questions for you. Number one, why is it a danger to children to have a home overrun with cats? So I'm sorry, what kind of diseases? No, why is it a danger to have children in a home that's

overrun with cats? Well, filth, you know, cats are animals. They carry parasites. Toxoplasmosis is one of them that actually will get into people's brains you know it's a bad disease to have will you say that again toxo what toxoplasmosis is that what's been connected to paranoid schizophrenia

yes yeah it's been connected to that and you know you find it basically in all cats. And if there's a lot of cats, then you just have more parasites. And cats are dirty, and they have litter boxes, and flies come and lay eggs in the litter boxes and you know you you have to be really work very hard to keep um you know a house or an apartment with cats in it clean it's just it's a hard thing to do it requires constant attention uh does this apply to guinea pigs this is a personal question does apply to guinea pigs well not not so much unless they're dirty you Of course they're dirty. They poop where they eat.

They're filthy. They're disgusting. They're more pig than guinea. Well, any animal, if it's not kept clean and its surroundings are not clean and it poops and pees in the house, that's just a setup for uh all kinds of bacteria let me ask you another question dr sperry this says the home was um it says the home was filthy in disrepair with vermin covering the mattress stuffed animals animals, and other furniture in Caitlin's room. What does that mean specifically by vermin?

Vermin means bugs. There's bugs of all sorts that feast on feces, on waste, human waste. They feast on the people. They bite them and get their nourishment by biting and sucking some blood. So vermin is kind of a broad term, but it really means all sorts of bugs. And then there's bugs, other types of bugs,

that eat certain bugs. So you have a whole ecosystem almost going on, but at the heart of it is the human being, the person who is living in that room. And everything else just comes to either bite her or to eat the bugs that are biting her, and it becomes just a giant, stinky mess crawling all over them. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about just a beautiful

12-year-old little girl. I would say she would have been in about the 6th grade in middle school. Her name is Caitlin Yazviak. And once you look at her picture, you'll never forget her. You just heard Dr. Chris Sperry, who was the medical examiner for the state of Georgia, describing what vermin bugs, lice infestation and others can do to a child. You've also learned how defects repeatedly sent this infant newborn baby back into the home as she would get older and made her live there. Take a listen to our friends at WMAZ.

Caitlin's maternal grandparents sent a statement to us. Anna Horton, the grandmother, says she's been taking care of Caitlin's two older brothers since Joey and Katie lost custody of them before Caitlin was born. Now here's their statement. They say, we are gutted, we are in the dark, and we don't understand. It's a deep, dark, black void. There is nothing we can say. Joey should have been arrested immediately. He deserved it. I've been raising Katie and Joey's two sons since they were in diapers and taken away from them. Had the system done their job and rescued Caitlin, I me, New York psychologist. Karen, how can the people at Defects, I think they should A, be fired, and B, be criminally prosecuted

over the death of Caitlin Yazziak. And I'll tell you why. They stood by and watched.B. criminally prosecuted over the death of Caitlin Yazziak. And I'll tell you why. They stood by and watched it happen. Karen Stark, you know my theory. If you stand by and you let injustice go on and you don't even try to do anything about it, you're complicit. You're part of it. You're part of the conspiracy of what happened to this little girl.

What a horrible, horrible death that she endured being bitten hundreds, probably thousands of times by lice until she dies of a heart attack. She's 12. And Karen, do you hear this? That was the aunt, Anna Horton speaking. Excuse me, the grandmother. Then you have an aunt, all of them saying, we saw what was happening. They should have been arrested long before Caitlin died. But nobody did anything. Karen, why?

Nobody did anything. And how many times do we see that happening, Nancy? Through the years, we hear about children who are neglected. I think that not enough people, it's horrific, just horrific. And yet it doesn't surprise me at all that just the idea that they understood to take the brothers out of there and not let them back again. And this little girl was even checked. They were even called to the home. And yet she was allowed to stay there.

And it makes you feel powerless because there need to be more people on these cases checking out, even understanding the fact that two of the children are not there. So how could the third be allowed to be there? It's outrageous. To Stephen Lampley, detective, author of 12 and Murdered, coming out November 29 on Amazon at StephenLampley.com. Stephen, what kind of an investigation should have been done? Because let me hear this. When the agents got to the home and find Caitlin's body,

the inside of the home was filthy and disrepair. Vermin were covering her mattress, stuffed animals, the furniture in her room. The mother, Mary Catherine Horton, says her daughter had not had a shower or bath in a week and a half. A week and a half. I mean, didn't teachers, didn't neighbors,

relatives notice what was happening to this girl? Nancy, the neighbors did. It was my understanding that several of the neighbors said that they didn't see the little girl out playing in the yard, and she would sometimes go to their houses and then visit and have snacks. And the neighbors did notice that she was not doing her normal routine. She was not getting out and playing in the yard. She was not riding her bicycle. She was not coming to their houses you know and and 21 years of law enforcement nancy i have been in these homes and some of these situations police officers are taught to be stoic unemotional but there are times that i have

had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. When you have a little child, when you get a call to a house, and you have a child, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 years old, and you walk in and they run to you and they hug you asking for help. There are indeed some really horrible situations out there that some are investigated properly, some, unfortunately, Nancy, are not. You know, to Ashley Kelly, now a very successful licensed clinical social worker, her expertise, of course, children, but former DFACS, Department of Family and Children's Services, employee. What can a single employee do when you see these horrible conditions and the child living there? These cases are always hard, Nancy, because we call them dirty home cases. And sometimes you can go in and say the home needs to be cleaned up in a certain amount of days or we're going to intervene.

But this would have been a great case at the very least for an in-home intervention. So people going in regularly for up to 90 to 120 days, at least in Arizona, to make sure that the family has the skills needed and the resources needed to make sure that that would be remedied. I'm not sure what, if anything, defects did, but what would have been SOP, Standard Operating Procedure, Ashley? What should they have done? They should have put in a referral at least for community resources or, like I said, that third party that would be the in-home intervention. So that would be a counselor, a family support

specialist. And from there, if they found that it continued they can go to a higher level of intervention you know i'm looking at the home on the outside and it's got a nice yard the home looks fine there's shrubbery all around although it's kind of growing up toward the the roof of the house but her bedroom was infested with rats and vermin. Back to Dr. Chris Sperry. What kind of pain would this child have endured? Her room is infested with rats. Her mattress is covered in bugs.

The furniture, the stuffed animals are infested. She had been bitten thousands of times to the point where she had a heart attack. What suffering did she go through as defects stood by and twiddled their thumbs? It would be horrible suffering because this is not something, you know, to get to the state that she was in. It isn't a day, a week. This is on the order of months. And you mentioned the rats, you know, we talked about vermin earlier with bugs and bugs eating bugs. Well, the rats come in and they start eating on the insects too. They're, you know, they're looking for a good food source. And all the while the child is being bitten. Now the, the itchiness of the insects of the lice

especially would be insane would be overpowering we really to the point where people they actually they managed to ignore it because there's they get so sick and so weakened that the itching kind of fades into the background. But she would become weak and confused. And with losing as much blood as would happen with biting her and sucking the blood, she is then set up for infections. Her immune system is weakened. She's nutritionally in terrible shape.

She's just deteriorating in front of everyone's eyes, really. She would not be normal before she died. If someone were to see her, she would be weak and lethargic, not talking, and the stink would be overpowering as well. So here she is inside of a cesspit, basically, with tens of thousands of bugs biting her, sucking her blood. She gradually becomes weaker and weaker and weaker. And then, you know, in this case, she lost so much blood that her blood was more or less like water. And that's why she had a heart attack, because there wasn't enough red cells, enough cells to carry oxygen, because her blood was so thin. It would be horrible. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

This little girl did not have to die. Her name, Caitlin Yazviak. She deserved and could so easily have had a wonderful life. But at the beginning, her deadbeat parents, who've already lost two boys to defects for neglect and abuse, reversed their decision to adopt her out to a loving family, and her life was pure hell until the day she died a painful death, neglected, mistreated, underfed. Take a listen to Megan Bragg, NBC2.

We're also learning the three other children in the home were only allowed to eat raw fruits and vegetables, and two of them were severely underweight. Sheila and Ryan did admit to police they thought something was wrong with their baby weeks before, but didn't call for help. In this nine-page report just obtained by NBC2, Sheila tells police the baby became sick six months ago and was throwing up and lost weight. About a week before the baby died, Sheila says the 18-month-old stopped eating and would only breastfeed occasionally. The medical examiner says the baby was extremely malnourished, dehydrated, and feet were swollen. Sheila says the baby has never been to

the doctor and was born inside their home. Cape Coral police also say two other children were also extremely underweight and one of their children's teeth were rotting. Sheila told police the family would sleep in the living room with one child on a hammock and another on a dog bed. That is a story of another child allowed to

wither away in front of the eyes of their parents, Ryan Patrick O'Leary and Sheila O'Leary, and they stood by while their children's teeth rotted out. I mean, to you, Dr. Crisperi, how long would that take? Oh, that would take really months because it takes a long time for teeth like this to start decaying and then rotting. It's constant poor diet, lots of just sugary drinks know, to give the child something, you know, soda, Coca-Cola, things like that, that would just be really sugar flavored, flavored juices. And that's about it. But, you know, what impresses me the most is that the stink would be unbearable. Now, wait a minute. Now you're talking about our first case of Caitlin Yazviak. I was comparing the other case where the parents stood by and watched the child slowly digress. But as a matter of fact, let's go back to Caitlin because the parents did the same thing. It's the point that I'm making. Take a listen to Cheryl Preheim, WXIA 11 Alive. In August, Katie Horton and Joey Yazviak were both charged with murder and child cruelty in the 12-year-old's death. A GBI investigator testified Monday that Caitlin's death likely

resulted from a severe lice infestation. Special Agent Ryan Hilton testified that Caitlin's primary cause of death was cardiac arrest. The secondary cause was anemia. He said the girl's lice infestation was the worst he'd ever seen and doctors had ever seen, and it may have lasted for years. Hilton said repeated bites lowered her blood iron levels, which likely caused that anemia, and may have triggered the heart attack. After hearing the evidence, Judge Brenda Trammell ruled there was enough evidence to charge both parents. Prosecutors plan to ask a Wilkinson County grand jury to indict the couple. The case against these two sorry parents is making its way through the justice system, we understand that there have been murder charges filed, but sadly to Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family law attorney,

what I've seen over all the years that I prosecuted and covered cases, when the victim is a child for some reason is treated more leniently. The parents could get voluntary manslaughter and get a sentence of seven years and be out in three. What do you think? Unless we stay on the case and keep covering it, that's what's going to happen. Jump in. It is disgusting because I went through and read what Caitlin's attorneys were saying. And they said there was absolutely no neglect because they had Riddick's in the home to treat the life. And I almost literally threw my computer across the

room. The house is disgusting. There is no excuse to treat a child like that. And they have been bound over. Caitlin's parents have been bound over for felony murder to trial. And it, to me, is, I couldn't be a criminal defense attorney. I don't know how they do it. You know, a neighbor, Solomon London, says he was so worried about Caitlin the first time he ever met her because she was playing with his three children. And Caitlin stopped and said, oh, no, no, no, no, no. Don't come any closer. My mom will beat me.

I mean, if that's not a tip off. Please tell all your listeners, please tell all your listeners, reach out and contact social services if you have an inkling, especially during this time where children are isolated. If you have an inkling that something's going wrong, please call. Protect our children. You know, I'm just thinking about what you're saying to Stephen Lampley. How often do neighbors, teachers, the parents, the children's friends know something is wrong, but don't do anything about it? Nancy, unfortunately, that happens more often than it should, of course. There are times when people, you know, and they brush it off sometimes.

Well, maybe their own vacation or maybe the child's sick and they try to rationalize some of this. There's nothing at all wrong if you suspect something to let somebody know. It's not a bad omen. You're not going to wreak seven years of bad luck. Let somebody know if you suspect something. Murder charges against the parents of Wilkinson County 12-year-old Caitlin heading to a grand jury after a probable cause hearing. We understand there are going to be felony murder charges. Now, Kathleen, of course, we know what that means. That means that, and it's a very wise move by the state. Instead of showing they intentionally murdered Caitlin, the state is going to show another felony was in progress and a death occurred.

It would be as if you and I went in to rob a bank and then suddenly I got a wild hair and shot the teller dead. You're on the hook for murder because we were in the commission of an armed robbery and a death occurred. It could have been as we drove away and we ran over a pedestrian. We were in a felony bank robbery and a death occurred would still be charged with felony murder. It's very simply in the commission of a felony, a death occurs. And I think that's the way to go with these two parents, because there's clear child felony child abuse and felony child neglect and a death occurred. Kathleen? Spot on. Spot on. Well done to the prosecutors. The parents have also said we fed her. We closed her. We bought her

Rit X. We didn't neglect her. The facts speak for themselves. What would they have seen, Dr. Crisperi? What would the parents have been seeing manifest right before their eyes? Well, seeing tens of thousands of lice is inescapable. They'd be moving in her hair. Her hair would be constantly moving and just wriggling and twisting because of all these bugs that are crawling all through the hair. You could see it probably from 10 feet away, actually. She also would be very wasted away.

She'd be very, very pale, listless, no energy. She would look like an ill child. But the most bizarre thing is that the parents, well, anyone, but the parents seeing her every day would see all these tens of thousands of lice wriggling and moving throughout her hair, and it's inescapable. And as a matter of fact, the state has brought in an entomology, a bug expert, to discuss the effects of this life infestation after the death. We wait as these two make their way through the justice system, and this has got to be felony murder or nothing. I'm begging the Bibb County

prosecutors, do not reduce this case down. Don't plead it out. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.