A court hearing on the death of a 4-year-old boy at a foster home of the Department of the Family in Arecibo was rescheduled for October 26. The boy’s paternal grandmother, identified as Carmen, said the postponement came because the department’s social worker assigned to the case was absent on a six-day leave. Carmen said the family still does not know what caused the death; the boy’s mother, Shelsy Rivera, told Telenoticias she was waiting for the autopsy paperwork.
Carmen described finding the boy alone in the bathroom with dilated pupils and purple lips, and said he and his 2-year-old sister were healthy when they were removed from their mother’s home in Jayuya in mid-September. She said the social worker first approved having them stay in her home, then took them away two days later because she had no separate beds.
The Institute of Forensic Sciences was waiting as of Sunday for additional test results to determine the cause and manner of death, with no estimated completion date; the mother was interviewed Saturday as part of the process. The department said the boy had lived in the foster home for four days, that all children there were relocated safely, and that the grandmother’s home did not meet 'Family First' safety requirements.