Levi was sick, says mom 07/08/2014 4:16 PM
The mother of a dead Wartburg toddler says she and her boyfriend are being wrongly accused of the abuse and ultimate death of 17-month-old Levi Beaty.
Beaty was pronounced dead on June 1 after he was rushed to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge. Initial calls to 911 reported the child to be choking on a cookie. Police reports from the scene noted there were no cookies in the childs mouth.
His mother, Amanda Beaty, said she told dispatchers Levi was choking on a cookie because that was the last thing he was doing before he collapsed.
He was eating a little vanilla wafers, she said in a July 2 interview.
Amanda Beaty said she was sitting on the couch with Levi on June 1 and then went to the kitchen to get the child some strawberries. When she turned around, Levi had slumped over. She assumed he was choking on a cookie and yelled for help. A neighbor responded, as did her boyfriend, Rodger Prince, she said.
Rodger
had just pulled up because they were gone all day in Knoxville, she said.
According to a June 10 letter from 9th Judicial District Attorney Russell Johnson to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, there was a no-contact order between Prince and Levi.
It was Prince and a neighbor who remove cookie pieces from Levis mouth, Beaty said last week.
I have nothing to hide and nothing to lie about. The truth is the truth, she said.
Levis death and alleged mishandling of the case by the Morgan County Sheriffs Department brought a 7-month Department of Childrens Services investigation to light.
Grevious injuries
Levi was placed into his maternal grandparents custody last November, according to Johnson. The child was allegedly suffering from several grievous injuries including, among other things, a splintered spine.
That simply isnt true, Beaty said. Her children werent removed from her custody until this past spring, though DCS did begin investigating last fall.
She said she grew concerned with Levis spine last September when she noticed a lump on the then 9-month-olds back.
I reported that back in September that a knot went on his back, she said. That was never an injury.
In November 2013, Levi was taken to the doctor with a broken collarbone. He had been in his playpen when his 6-year-old sister tried to get him out and dropped him on accident, Beaty said.
[DCS] got involved about his collarbone because I told them I wasnt in the room whenever my daughter dropped him, she said.
She believes Levi had brittle bones because there were also breaks in his legs that were vertical, instead of horizontal in nature.
He did have broken bones, she acknowledged Thats why we were looking into brittle bones.
Brittle Bone Disease, formally known as osteogenesis imperfecta, is a rare type of osteoporosis that makes bones susceptible to breaks for seemingly no reason. People with OI are born with a genetic mutation that affects the strength and structure of the bones. OI and child abuse can be mistaken for one another, though genetic testing should indicate whether or not a child is suffering from the disease, according to
Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation | OIF.org
At the time of his death, Levi had suffered multiple blunt force injuries recent and healing according to the preliminary autopsy report.
He had bruising on his face and head, according to the provisional autopsy report. His lips were cut and some of his teeth were broken. He had a broken spinal cord as well as broken bones in his arms and legs that was in the process of healing.
The childs right shoulder muscle, the deltoid, had a severe hemorrhage. The fatal injury was the transection (rupture) of the aorta, the major artery that supplies blood to the rest of the body.
Aortic rupture, often seen in car accidents with unbuckled occupants or from long falls, is almost always fatal.
The bruising on Levis head came from a fall with the babysitter, Amanda said. His teeth were cracked when emergency personnel put a breathing tube in his through.
She believes his aorta ruptured from CPR.
His aorta could have been ruptured whenever they did CPR and that will be determined when the autopsy is finished, she said.
Levi was sick.
All three of the Beaty children were sickly, according to their mother.
My kids have not always been these healthy kids that normal kids have been, Beaty said.
A hematologist was seeing Levi and his brother for an unspecified blood disorder, their mother said.
They said it was all abuse and the hematologist wouldnt see them anymore, she said.
The illness involved something about his white blood cells sticking together, according to Beaty.
Beaty says her ex husband, Wesley Beaty, is not the biological father of her children that her boys had one father and her daughter had another father.
DCS is trying to say [Wesley Beaty is the father], but hes not. Hes not any of my three childrens father. I was just married to the man, she said.
She says her sons blood disorder is genetic, passed on by their biological father.
Ive even tried to contact their actual biological father and ask him, and he mentions to me that his mother has some blood stuff going on, Beaty said.
In March, before she says she actually lost custody of the children, Levi was in the hospital with a Strep B infection and required a blood transfusion.
We stayed at the hospital for two weeks, she said. Hes had pneumonia and a sinus infection probably since he was born.
Her daughter doesnt have issues with her blood, but suffers from asthma and had pneumonia as a baby. Illness caused her to miss half of preschool, Beaty said.
Beaty believes the final autopsy report will clear her name.
Dr. Bennett (the coroner) is looking into Levis medical history, she said.
A final autopsy report could take another 60 days before completion.
Remembering Levi
While a Facebook group, Justice for Baby Levi, has almost 3,000 members who post updates daily, Beaty says she is remembering Levi on her own.
Levi was very spoiled by his siblings, she said.
After Levis death, her other two children were removed from the home and placed into temporary custody.
They didnt get to go to their brothers funeral, she said. It was a tragedy for all of us.
His funeral was June 5 at Zeigler Funeral Home in Athens. The grave at a Meigs County cemetery was reportedly hand-dug by Amanda Beatys father.
Levi loved music and loved to dance, she said. His favorite song was Happy by Pharrell Williams.
I played that song at his funeral, she explained.
She says she leaves the hall light on at her home for Levi, because he was afraid of the dark. She says she has photos and videos of a happy child.
People dont think that I remember my son or that Im crying, and its devastating, she said. I go sit with my son every weekend.
Though DCS believed Prince was responsible for causing Levis injuries last fall, Amanda Beaty paints a drastically different picture.
Levi was the son Rodger never biologically had, she said.
Prince helped her get on her feet after she separated from Wesley Beaty last year, she said. He reportedly paid for Levis burial expenses.
People need to know the true story of what happened, she said.
Meanwhile, members of the Facebook group which Amanda Beaty is not part of are planning candlelight vigils in both Cleveland and Wartburg. Some businesses around town have posted blue ribbons, and many people have tied blue ribbons to their porch lights and leave them on all night to honor the toddler. People as far as Kansas and California have reportedly left their porch lights on overnight.
The social media campaign also includes writing letters to state legislators such as Sen. Ken Yager, Rep. John Mark Windle and even Gov. Bill Haslam. Group members have reportedly contacted TV personality Nancy Grace and other national news outlets.
Beaty says she will attend the Wartburg vigil.
Im going to the one in Wartburg and I hope the news and everybody else is there as well. I have a right to be there, she said. I know everybodys not going to like me there, but thats my son as well.
The TBI continues to investigate the case surrounding Levis death. No arrests have been made, though it is believed the DA will present evidence to a grand jury in September. Suspects indicted in September would then be arrested and arraigned during the October session of Morgan County Criminal Court.
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