One child survived abuse, but her sister didn't

CAHOKIA - Christyuna Mickens was only 33 days old when an ambulance rushed her to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis with nine fractured ribs.

A medical report stated the infant's injuries were "highly suspicious."

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services took Christyuna and her sister, Rashae, then 3, into protective custody two days later on Oct. 21, 1999.

A state child abuse investigator initially determined that their mother, Lenora Russell, or her live-in boyfriend, Christopher Mickens, had abused or neglected Christyuna, but there was no official determination of who broke the baby's ribs.

DCFS workers faced a difficult dilemma: Who do you trust -- the mother, the boyfriend, or neither?

"(Russell's) parenting skills are a problem in that she has not met the minimum parenting standards in terms of protecting her child," a DCFS caseworker wrote in a report.

The state required Russell and Mickens to receive counseling and attend parenting classes and eventually returned Russell's children to her.

Mickens continued to live in a house in East St. Louis with Russell and the children, even though he failed to attend the parenting classes or counseling sessions, according to case documents Russell provided to the newspaper.

A caseworker ignored this and failed to take action, according to a child death summary by the DCFS Office of the Inspector General.

Russell gave birth to Natoria Mickens in October 2002 after the family moved to Cahokia. Less than two months later, Natoria died from shaken baby syndrome.

In December 2004, Mickens pleaded guilty to killing Natoria and received nine years in prison. Mickens said the infant's irreversible brain damage was from an accident.

Child protection investigator Steven Blair wrote in a confidential DCFS report supplied by Russell: "(Russell) admitted she suspected that Christopher Mickens caused the injuries to Christyuna in 1999," but didn't tell authorities.

"I asked Ms. Russell that knowing all she knows about Christopher Mickens if she didn't have concerns about leaving the children with him, and she stated she guessed she was stupid," Blair wrote.

"Ms. Russell stated that she doesn't know why, but she 'loves that boy.'"

When Russell lost her children for the second time, after Natoria's death, investigator Blair again became concerned.

"Lenora appeared to be having some sort of breakdown," Blair wrote after a judge ordered Russell's children be removed again.

"She was holding her head and moving in very jerky movements, and it sounded as if she stated she was hearing voices," Blair noted.

After Natoria's death, Russell got her children back 16 months later after she agreed, once again, to take parenting classes and meet with counselors.

Today, her children -- Rashae, 10, Christyuna, 7, Kattie, 4 and 2-year-old Arterio -- live with their mother in a small, rented house in Cahokia. She said she has no boyfriend or job and spends her time with her kids.

During a recent interview at her home, Russell said: "You can't tell what a person is going to do to your children. I never saw this coming. You can't tell what's in a person's mind."

After the interview, Russell showed a News-Democrat reporter a room full of toys where her four neatly dressed children were playing.

"Don't they look well taken care of?" she asked.

"My baby's dead, and she's never coming home. All I got is a picture of her on the wall," she said of Natoria.

Russell said she no longer takes medication for chronic depression because her mental problems ended when she got her kids back.

"I don't need that stuff," she said.