DATE: Tuesday, May 27, 1997                 TAG: 9705270057

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   71 lines

SITTER SAYS SHE WARNED CASEWORKERS OF ABUSE BEFORE 2-YEAR-OLD DIED

The baby sitter of a 2-year-old boy whose mother was charged Sunday in his death says she reported her suspicions of abuse to child welfare agents a month before the toddler died.

Virginia Beach police charged the baby's mother, Kelley Ann Carr Burns, with murder in connection with the May 19 death of Charles Michael ``Mikey'' Burns.

Kelley Burns, of the 1200 block of Pipers Crescent, was being held without bail Monday at the Virginia Beach city jail, police spokesman Mike Carey said.

Mikey Burns died at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, Norfolk, after he was in intensive care for about 24 hours. His mother had called paramedics the day before, saying her son had collapsed and was unconscious, Carey said.

Nycholle Gater of Hampton had been Mikey Burns' baby sitter since early this year, she told The Virginian-Pilot on Monday. That was confirmed by the boy's father, Charles Samuel Burns, who is separated from Mikey's mother.

On April 11, Gater said, she found bruises on the boy's neck and jaw that she thought looked like strangulation marks. She said she called Child Protective Services in Hampton that day to report her suspicions.

Someone from the Hampton agency came to Gater's house the same day and was there when Michael's mother came to pick him up, Gater said. The agent talked to Kelley Burns before she took her son home, Gater said. Hampton officials, however, could not be reached Monday to confirm that.

That day was the last time she saw the boy, Gater said Monday.

Hampton officials referred Mikey Burns' case to Child Protective Services in Virginia Beach, according to Candace Feathers, Virginia Beach family violence services coordinator. Virginia Beach caseworkers were investigating the abuse charges before the boy died, Feathers said Monday - adding that she could not comment further on the investigation.

Gater said she had cared for Mikey Burns, as well as three other children, in her home since January. She said she took care of the toddler for about 60 hours a week while his mother worked. Gater said Kelley Burns had explained her son's bruises to her as an accident, saying Michael had fallen.

After the day Gater called child welfare officials to her home, she said Kelley Burns never brought her son to Gater again. Gater said she learned of the boy's death when she saw his photograph in a newspaper obituary.

And she blames child welfare agents, who she believes should have taken the boy away from his mother.

``I often ask myself, `Whose job is it?' It's everybody's job to make sure this little boy lives to see the next day,'' she said Monday.

Mikey Burns ``hadn't been acting like himself'' at the time she noticed the bruises, Gater said.

``He wasn't the playful little 2-year-old I knew. All he wanted was for me to hold him. He didn't want to play with the other kids. He didn't want the other kids to touch him or play with him. He didn't want to play outside.''

The toddler was usually affectionate and friendly, Gater said. He was beginning to talk and had mastered words such as ``shoes,'' ``no'' and ``up.''

``I can hear him now just as if he were in the other room,'' Gater said. ``He was lovable, funny - he was such a sweetheart. He loved to play with cars and trucks and trains.''

Although Gater knew Mikey Burns only a short time, she said she already misses him dearly.

``There wasn't a person here who didn't see Mikey and get a hug or kiss from him,'' she said. ``He was that sweet. He was a blessing.''

Kelley Burns is scheduled to appear this morning in Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for a bond hearing. Police continue to investigate her son's death. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Color photo

Mikey Burns died on May 19, and his mother, Kelley, faces a charge

of second-degree murder. KEYWORDS: MURDER CHILD ABUSE ARREST

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