Kalab Lay
Kalab’s story is so tragic and so indicative of the failures of child protective services throughout this country, that the entire story is contained below.
Three-year-old Kayla Lay lost her twin brother, her mother, her father and her home in a single day.
Kayla and her brother, Kalab, were rushed to an emergency room. Kayla was treated for severe bruising and released; Kalab died in the intensive care unit.
Their parents, Amanda and Terry Lay, were jailed in Indiana on child abuse charges and then charged with first-degree murder after Kalab died April 1.
Kalab and Kayla became Illinois wards after police discovered a methamphetamine lab inside their parents’ Southern Illinois apartment in 2004.
Nearly three years later, an Illinois judge ordered the foster children returned to their parents — who had moved to Indiana after their release from prison — for an extended visit.
Even though the family was now living in Indiana, Illinois Department of Children and Family caseworkers continued to supervise the case. On the same day that Kalab died, DCFS caseworkers traveled to Indiana and immediately retrieved Kayla so she could be placed in a new foster home in Illinois.
As the tragic events unfolded, Kayla’s Illinois DCFS caseworker offered the toddler what consolation she could– a toy hippo, a promise to visit and a kiss goodbye.
A...
