SEIZED BABY DIES IN FOSTER CARE

Mother Accused of Using Cocaine, Marijuana

Growing up in Los Angeles County's foster care system, Elizabeth
Espinoza is sure of one thing: A baby needs its mother.

Espinoza, who was separated from her own mother when she was young
because of neglect, also had her newborn baby taken by the foster-care
system when she tested positive for marijuana and cocaine at the
hospital after giving birth.

Just three months later, the baby, Gerardo, died when his foster
mother strapped him into a car seat, took him to a neighbor's home and
left him in the car seat on a bed, according to a lawsuit filed
against the county's Department of Children and Family Services
seeking unspecified damages.

The autopsy listed the cause of Gerardo's death as unknown, but noted
that "airway compromise" could not be ruled out and that a car seat is
not "a proper sleep environment for an infant."

"The last time I saw him I hugged him," said Espinoza, 21, of Los
Angeles. "I felt something different. I felt like he was trying to
catch his breath. I think he missed his mother.

"A lot of people say it, and I believe it myself: A baby should not be
taken away from their mother."

Principal Deputy County Counsel Rosemarie Belda said the county had
not been served with the lawsuit yet and could not comment on pending
litigation.

The case began two years ago when DCFS took 1-year-old Alexis R.
Martinez and her newborn baby brother, Gerardo, from Espinoza after
the positive drug test, according to Beverly Hills attorney L. Wallace
Pate, who is representing Espinoza.

The suit alleges DCFS took Espinoza's children based on false and
perjured allegations that she was incapable of caring for her children
because of the positive drug test.

Espinoza says a county social worker took her children despite her
insistence she didn't take drugs. Gerardo had tested negative for
drugs and had no signs of withdrawals, according to the lawsuit.

Espinoza enrolled in a drug treatment program and had monitored visits
with her children until Gerardo's death two months later on Aug. 2,
2006.

"(DCFS) didn't even pay for the funeral service," Espinoza said. "They
wouldn't even pay for the headstone. I was getting welfare, and people
had to help me bury my son.

"I got the cheapest headstone I could find. It says, 'Rest in Peace
Gerardo Martinez,' has little angel wings on the side and the dates he
was born and passed away."

Several weeks after the baby's death, the social worker returned
Alexis to her mother under DCFS supervision. In May 2007, the social
worker told the court Alexis was safe and doing well at home, Pate
wrote in the suit.

The next month, the social worker asked Espinoza to take a drug test
and Espinoza tested positive for marijuana, according to the suit.

The positive test, in and of itself, is not grounds for detaining a
child, Pate wrote.

"It wasn't confirmed," said Espinoza, who denied smoking
marijuana.

The social worker visited her home and found the apartment was clean
and there was no evidence Alexis was in imminent danger, Pate wrote.

The social worker told Espinoza to attend a team decision-making
meeting in August, but the day of the meeting Espinoza called to say
she had taken the wrong freeway and missed the appointment.

The next day, the social worker came to her home, took Alexis and put
her in a foster home, according to the suit.

In September, a judge granted a motion by Espinoza's attorney to
dismiss the case and ordered the girl returned to her mother.

While Espinoza has her daughter back, she misses her son nearly two
years after his death.

The day she buried him, she said, she bought 12 white doves and
released them after the service.

"They say when you let them go it's like their soul is released,"
Espinoza said.

"And they say when one of the doves stays, that means the person's
spirit stays there.

"One dove stayed there. It flew to the top of his casket and just
stared at everybody. I felt it was Gerardo's soul saying goodbye."