Lawmaker demands answers from DCFS, proposes new bill to help
Jul 31, 2024, 7:00 AM | Updated: Dec 17, 2024, 5:55 pm
WEST HAVEN — State lawmakers are joining a growing number of voices demanding answers from the Utah Division of Child and Family Services in the death of 12-year-old Gavin Peterson.
Representatives Christine Watkins, District 67, and Tyler Clancy, District 60, told KSL TV they will be questioning the Utah Division of Child and Family Services about its response to multiple complaints filed by school employees and family members on Gavin’s behalf over the years.
“We ended up with a child dying and in the state of Utah that’s inexcusable,” Watkins said. Watkins is the House Chair of the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel which oversees DCFS.
Prosecutors allege Gavin suffered for years. He was fed only a slice of bread with mustard once a day, until he died on July 9. According to court documents, doctors determined Gavin was so malnourished, that his internal organs shut down completely.
A photo of Gavin Peterson taken by his biological mother in February, 2020, who wanted to document what she considered to be signs of malnutrition. (Melanie Peterson)
Gavin’s father Shane Jesse Peterson, 46, stepmother, Nichole Lea Scott, 50, and older brother, Tyler Shane Peterson, 21, with whom Gavin lived, are charged with child abuse homicide and multiple other charges connected to his death.
Read the full story and more from Garna Mejia on ksltv.com.
