Virginia Beach, Va. - One of the most perplexing parts of Baby Braxton's case is how child-welfare workers completely missed visible signs of violence.
Pictures were taken in the social services building by Braxton's case workers just days before he died from abuse. The photographs show bruises, cracked lips and vacant eyes; all injuries inflicted by a troubled first-time foster mother.
By this point, Braxton could no longer crawl. He was regressing. Workers noticed that, but did nothing. Our investigation showed, and state reports later confirmed, the workers missed these signs of chronic abuse. Instead they fell for the foster mother's implausible explanations.
Now, the director who supervised those case workers is leaving her job.
According to several city sources, Cheryl Williams has submitted her resignation. Braxton's biological mother Kristen Wall, also told NewsChannel 3 the resignation was revealed to her and her lawyers at a settlement hearing. The city agreed to pay $450,000 to end the wrongful death lawsuit.
Meanwhile Braxton's biological father, who got $75,000 in the settlement, could be using some of that money for court. A convicted drug dealer in Norfolk, he is facing more charges in North Carolina, including driving under the influence, theft, and possession of drug items.
on Friday, for the first time since we broke this story, Braxton’s biological mom is going to talk about this case. She'll tell us what she's done to get her life back on track, and what she plans to do with the settlement money.
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