THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 22, 1994 TAG: 9407220525
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
The baby died of diaper rash. The mother's intelligence was labeled ``borderline retarded.''
The child may have been the victim of fatal neglect, and if so, how much was the mother's mental state to blame?
This is what Circuit Judge Jerome James has wrestled with since July 5 in the strange and tragic case of Commonwealth vs. Kathleen Padilla. On Thursday, James found Padilla not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her 18-month-old daughter, Megan Capps. But that does not mean Padilla's legal troubles have ended.
``There is evidence in front of me that a crime has been committed,'' James said. He believes he has the authority to issue a bench warrant charging Padilla, 25, with felony child neglect. James has asked Padilla's lawyer and the prosecutor to submit legal briefs arguing whether or not he actually has this authority.
On Oct. 6, James will decide. If he issues the warrant, Padilla begins the legal process anew: preliminary hearing, grand jury considering an indictment, trial. She could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
``Diaper rash is very common, and it's common in neglect cases that come before me,'' James said July 5. ``But this is the first case I've ever known of someone to die from diaper rash.. . . When you look at the photos depicting the condition of the diaper rash and the severe infection accompanying it, a reasonable person would know . . . that if (Megan) does not get immediate attention, that injury would probably result.''
Padilla, the mother of seven children, would later testify: ``I didn't know the diaper rash was that bad. I didn't know that diaper rash could kill.''
When police came to Padilla's house on the morning of Feb. 17, 1993, they found Megan in her crib, her eyes open, her fingers blue. She wore a pink shirt, blue coverall and urine-soaked diaper. Springs poked through the mattress. Trash lay on the floor.
There were no signs of physical assault, but authorities found Megan's diaper rash had spread throughout her abdomen. Sores were scabbed over in some places, open and running elsewhere. The skin was black, crusty and blistered around her genitals, photos showed.
Megan's cause of death was ``a blood infection due to severe diaper rash,'' Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Leah Bush testified. The baby suffered from a ``severe staph infection of the genitals,'' which then entered the bloodstream and sent her into shock, Bush said.
``The child was poorly cared for,'' Bush continued. ``Her skin was unwashed and flaky. . . there was a film of brown dirt on her skin.'' Megan's nails were long and ragged, and she was dehydrated and malnourished. Bush estimated the rash was 10 to 14 days old.
Padilla was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Her surviving six children, ages 6 months to 7 years, were taken by Social Service workers and housed in foster homes. In the past two months, two of the children have been returned to live with her.
To get a conviction, prosecutors had to prove that Padilla showed ``callous disregard'' for her child. This was where her mental state entered into evidence. Padilla scored in the borderline retardation level on intelligence tests, said Raleigh Phillips, a clinical psychologist who evaluated Padilla after Megan's death. She was a slow learner, had poor hygiene, and had a lack of self-awareness.
But Phillips blanched when shown the pictures of Megan's fatal rash and said Padilla should have been able to see the child needed care.
Megan's death was not the first time Padilla had come to the attention of Child Protective Services workers, testimony showed. In May 1991, CPS workers said they found proof that Padilla gave inadequate food, clothing and shelter to an older daughter. They worked with her, and by April 1992 determined that the girl was safe.
Then, in October 1992, Padilla contacted CPS workers and told them that the same girl had been sexually abused by her father. They investigated, and confirmed the sexual abuse. But once again, they said they found evidence that Padilla physically neglected her children. Once again, they trained her in child care. Once again, they closed the file.
When Padilla took the witness stand on July 15, she spoke slowly, in a monotone. When shown the photos of her baby's diaper rash, she said it hadn't been that bad the night before she died, contrary to medical evidence. She seemed confused.
When she told about trying to cure Megan, she cried.
The first time she noticed the rash, she said, was Feb. 8, nine days before Megan died. ``The first time I saw the rash, it wasn't really bad,'' she said, so she applied some antibiotic ointment. But within a couple of days, the infection had spread, so she took Megan to a doctor.
``The nurse said that since she (Megan) was a new patient, the doctor couldn't see her until March 1,'' Padilla said. The nurse advised her to keep the area clean and dry and to apply ointment. But Padilla never told the nurse how serious the infection was, and no one looked at the child.
The last time Padilla saw Megan alive was at 8 p.m., Feb. 16. ``I put my lips on Megan's forehead to check her temperature because I couldn't read a thermometer,'' she sobbed on the witness stand. ``I'd heard that other people do that.'' She applied some more ointment and put Megan to bed.
She went to wake Megan the next morning between 9:30 and 10. ``I thought something was wrong because when I called for her she would get up,'' she said. ``But this time she didn't. I got scared.''
Padilla told her mother, who lived with her, that she thought something was wrong. ``She said, `What?' I said, `I think she is dead.' She said she thought I was exaggerating. I said, `I'm not exaggerating.' My mother got up and went in Megan's room.
``Then I heard her scream,'' she said, crying. ``Megan was dead.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Kathleen Padilla, 25, will learn Oct. 6 if she'll face felony child
neglect charges in the death of her daughter from diaper rash.
KEYWORDS: CHILD NEGLECT TRIAL FATALITY
VERDICT by CNB