WITH
WITH OUR
WITH OUR INVESTIGATION INTO CHILDREN IN CRISIS THE TROUBLEMAKER TO REMEMBER
SIBLINGS AMBER VINSON VELASQUEZ
REMINISCING AS THEY LOOK BACK
AT OLD PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
OF THEIR NIECE AND NEPHEW
BROOKLYN AND CHRISTOPHER
DANCING.
HE LOVED MUSIC AND THEN
BROOKLYN.
SHE WAS SHE WASN'T WALKING YET.
BUT ON MARCH 26, 2013 THEY WERE
WOKEN UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
NIGHT.
YOUR SISTER BRITNEY'S KIDS ARE
DEAD IN BROOKLYN AND
CHRISTOPHER STILL STRAPPED INTO
THEIR CAR SEATS DIED FROM
EXPOSURE AFTER THEIR MOTHER
BRITNEY LEFT THEM IN THE CAR
FOR HOURS.
SADLY IT WAS A CALL VINCENT AND
AMBER SAW COMING.
OBVIOUSLY I WAS EXTREMELY SAD
AND DISTRAUGHT BUT IT WAS LIKE
JUST ANGER YOU KNOW, AND LIKE
ALMOST NOT SURPRISED LIKE I
KNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
NOT SURPRISED BECAUSE HE SAYS
HIS FAMILY SAW RED FLAGS ABOUT
HIS SISTER BRITNEY WHO THEY SAY
HAD STRUGGLED WITH MENTAL
ILLNESS HER ENTIRE LIFE.
SHE HAD BABY CHRISTOPHER AND
LIKE HE WASN'T LIKE BEING FED
PEOPLE.
I'VE EVEN SEEN HER APARTMENT.
IT WAS JUST FLOODED WITH
DIAPERS LIKE YOU COULDN'T EVEN
WALK.
THE KIDS WERE CONSTANTLY SICK
AND THEY SAY THEY REPORTED IT
TO SUPERIOR POLICE AND TO
ARIZONA'S DEPARTMENT OF CHILD
SAFETY.
MULTIPLE FAMILY MEMBERS
INCLUDING VINCENT AND AMBER
WILLING TO TAKE CUSTODY OF THE
CHILDREN EVEN JUST TEMPORARILY.
PROBABLY EVERYONE IN THE WHOLE
FAMILY IS CALLED.
I WAS LIKE WELL CAN I JUST LIKE
TAKE YOU KNOW, BECAUSE
SOMETHING BAD'S GOING TO
HAPPEN.
AND JUST WEEKS BEFORE
CHRISTOPHER AND BROOKLANDS,
VINCENT MADE WHAT WOULD BE HIS
FINAL CALL TO DCF, I REMEMBER
SAYING, YOU KNOW, SHE'S GOING
TO DO SOMETHING STUPID AND
THESE KIDS ARE GONNA END UP
DEAD SINCE THAT DARK DAY IN
MARCH OF 2018, THE YOUNG BABIES
WERE LAID TO REST AND BRITTANY
VELASQUEZ WAS SENTENCED TO 20
YEARS IN PRISON.
DCF HAS PUT OUT A STATEMENT
SHORTLY AFTER THE CHILDREN'S
DEATHS.
THE STATEMENT SAYS THE
DEPARTMENT HAD TWO PRIOR
REPORTS INVOLVING BRITNEY AND
HER CHILDREN.
THEY SAY THERE WERE NO SIGNS
OF ABUSE OR NEGLECT.
AMBER VINSON WAS CALLED FIVE TO
10 TIMES THE DEPARTMENT
OF CHILD SAFETY DECLINED
MULTIPLE REQUESTS FROM 12 NEWS
FOR NONCOMS INTERVIEW.
DO YOU KNOW HOW HELPLESS FILLS
CHRISTOPHER AND BROOKLANDS
DEATHS WERE PREVENTABLE AND
IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THEY'RE
JUST TWO OF 165 CHILDREN.
THE US HAS CONFIRMED DIED FROM
ABUSE OR NEGLECT SINCE 2015.
TWO THIRDS OF THOSE CHILDREN
TWO YEARS OLD OR YOUNGER AND
LIKE CHRISTOPHER IN BROOKLYN,
AT LEAST HALF OF THOSE KIDS
WERE FROM FAMILIES KNOWN TO
D.C. AS WE CAN'T BRING THESE
CHILDREN BACK BUT WE CAN PUT
MEASURES IN PLACE TO PREVENT
THESE TRAGEDIES FROM GOING
FORWARD.
DARCY OLSEN IS THE FOUNDER
OF GENERATION JUSTICE WHICH
WORKS TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM
ABUSE AND NEGLECT AND EXAMINE
THE CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM.
THE BODY COUNT DOESN'T LIE AND
THE NUMBERS ARE HEADING IN THE
WRONG DIRECTION.
ACCORDING TO ARIZONA'S ANNUAL
CHILD FATALITY REVIEW.
SINCE 2010 MORE AND MORE DEATHS
OF CHILDREN CAUSED BY ABUSE OR
NEGLECT ARE HAPPENING IN
FAMILIES WITH PRIOR CHILD
PROTECTIVE SERVICES INVOLVEMENT
.
THE MOST RECENT REPORT
EXAMINING THE YEAR 2019 CHOSE
TWO OUT OF EVERY THREE CHILDREN
WHO DIED FROM MALTREATMENT SLIP
THROUGH THE CRACKS.
WHEN I WAS GROWING UP I ALWAYS
THOUGHT THE CHILDREN WHO DIED
OF ABUSE WERE CHILDREN THAT NO
ONE KNEW ABOUT AND THEN COME TO
FIND OUT WHEN YOU DO THE
RESEARCH.
A MAJORITY OF THE CHILDREN ARE
KNOWN TO THE AGENCIES.
THEY ARE KNOWN TO THE OFFICIALS
AND WE ARE FAILING TO PROTECT
AND KEEP THEM SAFE.
LIKE MOST EXPERTS IN HER FIELD,
OLSON KNOWS THE JOB OF A
DECEASED INVESTIGATOR IS
IMPOSSIBLY CHALLENGING AND
BELIEVES THERE ARE REFORMS THAT
CAN IMPROVE THE PROCESS
STARTING WITH MORE
TRANSPARENCY.
WE SHOULD ALL BE ALL HANDS ON
DECK TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WENT
WRONG SO THAT THE NEXT CHILD
LIVES.
NUMBER TWO, WE NEED A RED FLAG
LAW.
WE NEED SOME BLACK AND WHITE
RULES ABOUT WHEN YOU HAVE TO
MOVE A CHILD TO SAFETY.
TODAY VINCENT AND AMBER
REMEMBER THEIR NIECE NEPHEW
THROUGH PHOTOS AND VIDEOS BOTH
OF THEIR LIVES CUT TREMENDOUSLY
SHORT.
AMBER AND VINCENT KNOW IN THEIR
HEARTS THEY DID EVERYTHING THEY
COULD TO TRY AND SAVE
CHRISTOPHER IN BROOKLYN.
TO THIS DAY THEY BELIEVE THE
SYSTEM NEEDS TO CHANGE.
I THINK IT'S KIND OF OUR DUTY
TO AT LEAST TRY SOMETHING, YOU
KNOW, BECAUSE IF IT SAVES ONE
KID'S LIFE, YOU KNOW, THEN IT'S
WORTH IT.
AND IN AN EMAIL, DICIEST TELLS
FOX NEWS THE DEPARTMENT CAN
ONLY REMOVE A CHILD FROM THEIR
HOME IF SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE