Ohio CPS Gives Full Custody to Attempted Murderer So She Can Kill Her Baby

Ohio CPS Gives Full Custody to Attempted Murderer So She Can Kill Her Baby

Part 1: The Background and Early Relationships

Avery Lee deia Hobbs was born on September 22nd, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Britney Mays and Jamie Hobbs. Both parents were barely out of their teen years at the time of her birth. Often times in our episodes, we start our story with the birth of the victim, but in this case, it is important to talk about some of Britney’s history before sweet Avery came into the world. Much of our information on this case came from a book written by Avery’s grandmother, Tammy Ryzen. In Tammy’s book, many of the people in the story are given pen names to protect their identity. We will be using some of those names, particularly for the minors in the story.

Britney first entered the life of Tammy and Jamie in May of 2009. She arrived abruptly with a clear air of trouble and chaos about her. She showed up at Tammy’s home, began rummaging through her cabinets for a drink to wash down a handful of pain pills before even saying hello to Tammy. It seemed from the start that Britney had unsavory motives. Jamie, only 17 at the time, had gotten a chunk of money from a car accident settlement and unfortunately was pretty loud about it. It seems that Britney’s interest in Jamie was only monetary.

That day, Jamie was invited to an overnight party where Britney’s mother, Jean, assured her she would be there to supervise and that Jamie would sleep in a separate part of the house with Britney’s brother. However, when Jamie returned the next day, he openly told his mother about the uncomfortable and rough intercourse he had with Britney. He also told her Britney insisted she could feel that she conceived a child that night. Despite Tammy informing him that it wasn’t possible for her to know that soon, Jamie fell into her trap and they began dating regularly the next week.

In July, Britney’s brother called Tammy to tell her that Britney was about 12 weeks pregnant. This information ruled out Jamie as the father, as they hadn’t met until she would have been about three to four weeks pregnant. When Tammy suggested they get a DNA test before going any further in the claims of Jamie as the father, Britney decided she was done with Jamie and Tammy and walked out of their lives—at least that was how it initially seemed. Over the next six months, she would pop up periodically to harass Jamie for money, claiming she needed it for baby items.

In March of 2010, Jamie received a call to inform him that his baby had died during birth. There had been complications during the delivery, and the baby had been stillborn. Jamie was crushed and fell to the floor in despair, and told his mother that the funeral would be taking place in a few hours and that their family was not allowed to attend. Tammy felt like this was fishy, so when Jamie went to lay down, she turned to an internet solution to try to find the truth. She discovered pictures of the new baby on the hospital’s website, as well as new photos uploaded into a Photobucket account that Britney had forgotten to log out of on Tammy’s computer.

In the photos was a beautiful, healthy-looking baby with her mother, her grandparents, and her father. To no one’s surprise except Jamie’s, another man was clearly the father and was being acknowledged as such. After recovering from this shock and betrayal, this seemed to give Jamie the clarity and space to finally move on. Summer months proceeded normally and without dramas. Jamie found a job to occupy his mind and his time, but unfortunately, this did not last.

Part 2: Escalating Control and Escalating Violence

In October of 2010, Tammy received a call that Jamie had not been showing up to work. This was news to Tammy, as she had seen Jamie leave for work every day. One phone call to Jamie that included the sound of a crying baby in the background revealed that Jamie had been pulled back into Britney’s twisted web. This web turned out to be even stickier than the first. Britney claimed that her mother had actually orchestrated all the drama, including claiming Jamie as the father and the fake death of the baby. Allegedly, she had even planned for Britney to be educated, causing Britney’s pregnancy to help her claim more welfare dependence.

These claims were then followed up with the further claim that since Britney had spilled the beans and told Jamie, Jean had kicked her out and they had nowhere to go. Jamie begged Tammy to let them come stay in her home. Tammy was very hesitant, as this girl had already proven to be untruthful and intentionally caused Jamie mental anguish. But before Tammy could even make a choice, Jean pulled up in the driveway and dumped all of Britney’s belongings onto Tammy’s yard. The next thing Tammy knew, she had a teenage mother and her baby living in her home for the next month.

Britney returned to work while Tammy and her daughter Angie took turns caring for the baby. Not only did they provide child care, but they bought everything the baby needed. The plan had been that once Britney was earning money, she would find another place to go. However, none of that money ever made it back into Tammy’s home, and Britney made no effort to move out. Over a month later, Britney’s brother came to check on the baby. He feared how Britney and Jamie were treating the baby—the baby was referred to as Katie in Tammy’s book—but Britney refused to let him see her.

Tammy spoke to him, assuring him that this baby was well cared for. This was when Tammy and Jamie learned that not only was the welfare fraud story a fabrication created by Britney, she also hadn’t been kicked out of Jean’s house; she had left on her own accord. In addition, Britney had been telling everyone that Jamie was mistreating her, adding to the concern of Britney’s family for the welfare of her baby. Unfortunately, this trend of lies was nowhere near close to being over.

Part 3: Physical Assaults and Ongoing Denial

On November 25th, 2010, many Americans were celebrating Thanksgiving, and it was no different here. They ate a hearty meal and enjoyed the presence of a sweet baby in their home. But alas, for Britney, she was not the center of attention during this joyous day, and this would unfortunately prove dangerous to those around her. After their Thanksgiving meal, Britney saw Jamie wearing her socks and flew into a rage, kicking him so hard she broke some ribs. Everyone in the room heard the crack of bones, and Jamie’s parents quickly loaded him into the car, and Britney jumped in as well.

When he arrived at the ER, Britney lied and said he fell down some stairs. Jamie and parents froze and did not contradict her. When Tammy encouraged Jamie to tell the truth, he refused to do so. A few days later, Britney faked an injury from Jamie to create the illusion that she was the victim of a violent situation instead of being the one inflicting the mistreatment herself. Despite a trip to the ER where a doctor confirmed that she was not injured and even gave her a medical note for her work stating as much, Britney continued to spread the lie that Jamie had broken her nose.

In December, Britney brought home an ultrasound photo proving that she was once again in the early stages of a pregnancy and that it was obviously Jamie’s. After that, she threatened to terminate her own pregnancy at home herself. Tammy, concerned for the baby, her own son, and Britney’s well-being, tried to talk her down from this. In her efforts to keep Britney and the new baby safe, she said that she would adopt this baby. Britney didn’t want it. It seemed that Britney realized she suddenly had power over Tammy, so her tune shifted and she decided to keep the baby.

In January of 2011, when Tammy prepared a birthday meal of spaghetti for Britney, there was another physical incident. Britney declared that she no longer liked spaghetti and refused to eat. The rest of the family sat to eat anyway, ignoring Britney’s childish ploy for attention. As the meal neared its conclusion, out of nowhere Britney entered the room with an antique paperweight in her hand and bashed Jamie in the side of the head. He instantly slumped forward on the table with his eyes glazed over.

Tammy jumped up and took the paperweight as Britney reared back to hit him again. This time when Jamie’s parents took him to the ER, they left Britney behind in the car. Tammy was able to get Jamie to admit that this type of violent behavior happened frequently when they weren’t around. Tammy insisted that Jamie needed to file a police report, but he refused to do so. He did not want to appear to be a weak man and also insisted that the outbursts were caused by Britney’s hormones.

Part 4: Societal Frameworks and the Illusion of Marriage

Now we know that pregnancy hormones can cause mood swings and perhaps some extra drama, but pregnancy hormones should not make people homicidal. If they are, that person needs to get immediate psychiatric help. And furthermore, okay, I really have to say something about this: these types of answers that Jamie gave to dismiss his family’s concerns are frequently seen in cases of abuse towards male victims. Obviously, many of us can look at a case like this where a grown man has his ribs broken by a woman or gets knocked out from being clubbed on the side of the head with a heavy object and say, “I would never put up with something like that.”

And maybe you wouldn’t in this exact instance, but think about the types of frameworks and beliefs that lay the foundation for a situation to get to this point. People will think I’m weak if I report a woman assaulting me. You see depictions in the media, or maybe you’ve been unfortunate enough to witness something like this in real life, where a woman hits a man multiple times and he just tries to shrug it off the best he can, worrying that even restraining her will make him look like he’s the aggressor to people around him, or even worse, be the one charged with assault. Or that if he covers up too much, he’s weak and a coward. Or men who dismiss the abuse they suffer by saying that women have greater challenges than men do, or blaming hormones as if hormones make somebody capable of extreme violence.

A situation like this, a lawyer could argue assault with a deadly weapon in court. There have been cases where that charge has stuck with something as simple as a pencil or a tile floor. There is no excuse for having a woman physically assault you, especially in the manner that Britney did. Now I get it: a woman forced herself into somebody’s home with a baby in tow, almost as if she was holding that baby’s safety hostage in exchange for housing. I know this case is an extreme example, but how many men have you known in life to put up with or dismiss this kind of treatment on a smaller scale, only to be met with the same excuses or worse?

They essentially have to put up with it because they cannot do any better in life. And by “do any better,” they mean that they believe their options in life are being forever alone or having companionship that’s fraught with physical or emotional abuse, and for them the latter is a better alternative in their mind. The meme “forever alone”—almost all of us have known someone like this, men and women who settle for this type of environment because they think they can’t do any better.

So to men—since this situation involves a man who’s a victim—you don’t have to settle for even a fraction of this kind of treatment. This idea that you will be forever alone if you don’t accept somebody who is Red Flag City, it’s just not true. It’s not true. It doesn’t matter if women have certain things in life harder than men do; there is no excuse for behavior like that. Seeking help and fleeing the person hurting you is not a weak act; it is an act that takes bravery and strength.

After this incident, Tammy reached out to a family friend who was also a county sheriff and had some previous involvement in Britney’s life. He told Tammy to get herself and her son out of that situation as soon as possible. Britney’s family had a long history of violence, fraud, arson attempts, and more. He was adamant that no good could come from staying involved with Britney. However, Tammy’s efforts to break up the relationship were in vain. On January 22nd, Jamie and Britney were wed at Tammy’s house, with the ceremony performed by Tammy’s sister. It was later discovered that her sister’s license was void, so their wedding wasn’t valid. Tammy kept this a secret, however, to give Jamie an easy escape route later.

Part 5: Ongoing Abuse and the Birth of Avery

As we would expect, the fake marriage did not slow down or stop the violence from Britney. Over the next several weeks, she broke Jamie’s leg and attempted to strangle him, among other things. Jamie’s stepfather, John, essentially became his bodyguard, constantly intervening between the two to protect Jamie. Tammy also witnessed Britney pick up her older child while she was sleeping and throw her into the air to try to get a reaction out of Tammy. She did get her reaction; the result was that Tammy kicked her out of the house. Tammy felt she could no longer sit silently and watch Britney neglect her daughter.

Unfortunately, despite the extreme mistreatment that he was enduring, Jamie insisted on going with her, so they both left to go stay with Jamie’s grandparents. According to Tammy, there was an incident a few weeks later that led Jamie to discovering that Britney was cheating on him. He finally decided to end the relationship. When Britney returned home to Jamie’s grandparents’ house, she grabbed her baby Katie roughly and carried her to the other room, dangling by one arm.

The next day, Jean, Britney’s mother, noticed bruises on her arm, and a report was made to Jobs and Family Services, or JFS for short. Instead of opening a lengthy CA case or pressing charges, JFS gave Britney the option to turn over her parental rights to Jean. This was done without Jamie’s knowledge or consent. At this point, despite not being the parent listed on Katie’s birth certificate, Jamie considered himself to be her father.

For a short period of time, Britney went to live with another man. Jamie became lonely without his older daughter, whom he was not allowed to visit. To fill this void, he invited Britney back into his life once again. In the spring of 2011, during a visit from Jamie and Britney, Tammy was told by Britney that her mother, Jean, used to give her sedatives to calm her down. Britney learned to do this as a “legal high,” as she referred to it. Tammy instantly felt sure that Britney had been doing the same thing to Jamie and Katie to keep them under her control. This type of behavior will come into play later in our story.

Around this time, the couple got their own rental in a very decrepit part of town. Britney was holding down her job at a burger place while Jamie did odd jobs to try and get by. When they owed Tammy any money, those earnings were wandered away by Britney on non-essentials while they had no food in their house. During a visit from the couple, Tammy learned that Britney had purposefully set fire to her non-operational car in order to cash in on an insurance policy. Jamie was not aware of her plan and was the one to call 911 when he awoke to find the car burning. Britney was able to claim that the vehicle had been running and soon had a rental car to drive to work.

When the police became suspicious, Britney turned in Jamie and her roommate, falsely accusing them of arson and fraud. The boys did not turn on Britney because they did not want her imprisoned while she was pregnant, so they went to jail instead. Jamie was released from jail after a short stay and moved back in with his mom, intent on living his life free from Britney. That lasted a few months, until his daughter Avery Lee Hobbs was born on September 22nd, 2011. She had raven hair, and when Jamie came to see her in the hospital, he instantly fell in love with her.

Part 6: The Hospital Incident and Severe Injuries

At the hospital, Britney and Jamie agreed to try co-parenting, and this seemed like the first sure move Britney had ever made, so Jamie’s family was delighted by this. However, when Avery was just two days old, Britney showed up on Tammy’s doorstep to abandon her daughter. She said she didn’t want motherhood getting in the way of living her life. The one stipulation she had was that Tammy had to return her whenever Britney asked for her to do so. Tammy agreed, expecting this to be very short-lived. Jamie and Britney soon became a couple again and became legally married, moving back in with Jamie’s grandparents. Avery ended up being with Tammy more often than she was with her own parents.

By mid-October, Britney was still working at the burger place while Jamie was working late nights at a nightclub. Britney seemed irritated by this arrangement, as she claimed that it meant she was caring for Avery all alone. Tammy, on the other hand, would argue that she did most of the child care. The night of October 18th, Jamie returned home late after Avery had been home with Britney and Jamie’s grandmother for the day. He went immediately to bed, which infuriated Britney because she had already been alone with the baby for seven hours.

According to Grandma Lee, Britney then went to the bathroom to bathe Avery in the regular bathtub. However, there was soon a loud thump followed by Avery’s screams. Britney came out of the bathroom with a dry Avery wrapped in a towel, claiming that she had accidentally dropped the baby in a tub of water. Either Avery or the bathtub were wet; she kicked Jamie until he woke up and told him to go to the pharmacy to get nighttime acetaminophen to give Avery. Jamie ran the errand to get what Britney wanted, however when he returned he saw the baby’s head was swelling up, so he refused to give her the medicine, insisting that she needed to go to the hospital. This likely saved Avery’s life.

Keep in mind, at this point Avery is less than 1 month old. It is important to note that though there are a few over-the-counter pain relievers labeled as infant formulas, most are not for babies under 2 years of age without doctor’s advice, and the nighttime formulas are all marketed for children over the age of six—definitely not for a newborn baby. When Avery arrived at the hospital, she was found to have a linear skull fracture. But that’s not all; she also had fractures to her tibia and ulna. That’s right: a baby less than 1 month old with a fractured skull, a broken arm, and a broken leg.

For obvious reasons, the hospital called in a social worker to interview both Britney, Tammy, and Jamie. Jamie and Tammy did not have any solid answers, only speculations, as they were not witnesses to the incident. Meanwhile, Britney was rattling off lists of possible ways that this had happened: maybe a dog jumped on her, or maybe Jamie’s grandfather had dropped her accidentally. After the social worker left the room, unaware that they were still being recorded, Britney turned on Jamie, telling him to take the fall so that she wouldn’t have to go to jail.

Part 7: The CPS Investigation and Flawed System

Avery stayed overnight in the hospital while the adults went home to attempt rest. Tammy and Jamie were given instructions to follow up with the sheriff’s office in the morning before returning to the hospital. At the sheriff’s office in the morning, Jamie finally reported what Grandma Lee had witnessed, adding that he thought it must have been an accident. However, his attempts to divert blame from Britney were unnecessary: Britney took a polygraph that proved she had intentionally harmed Avery. Britney was arrested, and Tammy was asked to be at least temporary guardian of Avery while everything was sorted out.

The next day, Tammy was visited by a social worker referred to as Terry to sort out the arrangement. Tammy was told that Avery would remain in her care, with both parents having the right to unlimited visits during daytime hours. Tammy found this to be odd—that the person currently being charged with harming her baby would be allowed unlimited visits. Tammy also inquired about taking full custody of Avery, just as Jean had taken custody of Katie. The caseworker said that wasn’t possible and that all protection cases had to follow a certain procedure. Terry told Tammy that nothing could be done before the family meeting; any attempts to submit a custody proposal before that time would be a waste of everyone’s time and money.

Unfortunately, even though Tammy was confused at how differently Katie and Avery’s cases were being handled, she simply did not have the knowledge needed to advocate for herself or for Avery. She didn’t know at the time that anyone can request emergency custody at any time. As we have seen in other cases, like the case of Logan Maher in Maine, the agencies designed to help parents and families are not always truthful. Unfortunately, families rely on agency workers who are in a position of power to disseminate information to them, and regrettably those people tasked with communicating information often do not do so truthfully or accurately.

Due to Britney’s plea of innocence in court that day, she was released while awaiting trial. Britney returned to Tammy’s house boasting of freedom and claiming there was no proof of a wrongdoing. Britney seemed to have no remorse or concern for the seriously injured child. Tammy claimed that she attempted to get Britney to care for her baby appropriately; for example, she suggested that Britney should give Avery her bottle instead of snuggling her poor injured newborn. Britney propped the bottle in Avery’s mouth and walked away.

Tammy tried to remind her that feeding times were a great opportunity for babies to bond with their caretakers. However, simply in suggesting Britney do something different, Britney felt that her performance as a mother was being criticized. Britney’s response to this was to pick up her daughter and throw her in the air, catching her again. Tammy immediately took Avery away from Britney and told her to leave—keep in mind, Britney had just fractured the baby’s skull the day before. Britney initially refused, saying that kicking her out went directly against the social workers’ terms of visitation. Luckily, Jamie was able to talk her down and he got her to leave the house.

Part 8: The Custody Deception and Trial

Over the next several months, Avery was cared for by Tammy and John. They took Avery to every appointment requested by JFS, which was a lot. John cared for Avery during the night to give Tammy time to sleep. Avery soon fell in love with her papy and favored him over anyone else. Jamie continued to visit, but Britney never came into the home unprompted. When she did, Tammy reported that she never looked at or touched Avery unless she was told to do so. Somehow, the family made it through Christmas and the New Year with few incidents from Britney.

In January, the family meeting was finally held. There were 10 family members present, as well as the caseworker who was referred to as Joan in Tammy’s book. There was also a guardian referred to as Melissa and the head of JFS. In this meeting, Tammy fought for custody of Avery to ensure she stayed safe and out of the system. Ultimately, Britney agreed because Tammy promised that if she ever got back on her feet, she would consider returning Avery to her—a promise she had not gotten with Katie.

The custodial agreement was signed by both parents and Tammy in a room full of witnesses. Joan then informed them they would be made official in court the very next day, but insisted that no family members needed to be present, just the JFS workers. The next day, Joan came to Tammy’s house to inform her of the court’s finalization of the custodial agreement. However, without any family members present in court, the caseworker lied, saying that no family members had come forward to claim her, and instead Avery was made ward of the state.

Ultimately, Joan’s goal was reunification between Avery and Britney, and she lied to get her way. After all, in her mind, being with the biological mother was in the best interest of the child. Tammy was horrified and continued to insist that Joan and all the other witnesses there at the family meeting knew the truth. Through Tammy’s insistence, Joan continued to state that no family had come forward and what was done was done. After Tammy decided she would need to play by JFS’s rules, she was instructed to sign an agreement if she wanted to remain in Avery’s life.

The first thing she was made to do was sign an agreement stating that she would not speak about Avery’s case with anybody who was not a JFS worker. She also had to agree to be Avery’s primary caregiver, and with that she was in charge of getting her to all medical appointments and parental visitation. In addition, they made her sign a statement saying she would never use physical discipline against Avery. By the time Britney’s trial for the charges of child endangerment began on April 17th, 2012, Avery had a new cousin born to Tammy’s daughter Angie.

Britney and Jamie’s tumultuous relationship had pushed them to move out of Grandma Lee’s house and into a rental. However, due to lack of payments and their lack of cleanliness in their new home, they were evicted the morning of the trial. Britney injured her puppy by slamming him into the ground in front of the family before climbing casually into the car to go to the courthouse. Once again, everyone was left in shock that Britney seemed to have no regard for the safety of anybody; even her sweet puppy was just a pawn to shock people, or perhaps a scapegoat for her sick need to hurt something. Britney ended up taking a plea deal that carried a 6-month sentence and was cuffed and taken that day.

Part 9: Continued Bias and Systemic Roadblocks

In August of 2012, Jamie was in a new relationship. Sadly, one night when Jamie was babysitting his new girlfriend’s daughter, she fell out of her bassinet and was injured. Jamie, being the adult in charge at the time, was blamed for the injuries. Tammy hired a lawyer per the recommendation of the guardian, however Joan had already developed a bias against Jamie and was clearly in Britney’s favor. For this reason, Jamie was blacklisted and told to stay out of Avery’s life. A restraining order was put in place preventing him from visiting Avery.

Jamie proceeded to try his best to jump over every hurdle that JFS put in his path. He attended class after class required by JFS without any acknowledgement from the agency that he was clearly meeting requirements. Meanwhile, Joan’s bias continued to show. During a visit to Tammy’s house by Joan, Avery bumped her cousin in the head with a rattle; Joan recorded this as a child being injured in Tammy’s care. Tammy continued to ask about filing for custody, and she even filled out the paperwork and gave it to Joan. Unfortunately, Tammy was repeatedly told that she could not file for custody while Britney was imprisoned.

In the fall of 2012, Tammy brought her concerns about Joan’s bias to the guardian ad litem, Melissa. Tammy was encouraged by Melissa to request a replacement social worker because of her blatant favoritism of Britney, however this request was denied based on staffing shortages in the agency. Britney was released on October 14th, 2012. She returned home to live with her mother, Jean. Next question for Jamie’s family was what life would look like now that Britney was out of jail.

Britney kept insisting to Jamie that her goal was to reunite their whole family. However, she claimed she was instructed to live with one of her children instead of with him to increase the odds of getting Avery back. Jamie’s false record of mistreatment made it detrimental to Britney’s case for reunification if they lived together. Now that Britney was released, Tammy and John filed for custody, which was soon followed by Jamie’s biological father and fiancée filing as well, and then subsequently Jean followed suit.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Joan was determined to get Avery placed back with the mother who had fractured her skull and broke two limbs before she was even one month old. Their petitions went nowhere. Everywhere Tammy and the other grandparents turned, they kept hearing the same phrase: “In the best interest of the child.” The default position of JFS was that being with the mother was the best interest of the child. After a few short one-hour supervised visits, Britney was allowed to start having unsupervised visits within a few weeks of her release. Avery, who had lived with Tammy for 14 months, was struggling with this transition. Jamie was still not allowed any visitation due to the injuries to his girlfriend’s child.

Part 10: The Push for Reunification and New Head Injuries

During Christmas of 2012, Jamie sent a giant teddy bear that they named “Daddy Bear.” Daddy Bear became one of Avery’s most prized possessions. Jamie told her, “When you hug Daddy Bear, I can feel it too.” Avery was very bright for her age. As Avery grew older, she would tell caseworkers what her mother was doing to her during visits, however they discounted all of these claims, saying that Tammy had coached her with those answers. When Avery was seen flinching in her mother’s presence, JFS hired a therapist who determined that Avery was having flashbacks to a time in utero when Britney was beaten by Jamie.

Yes, that’s right: Avery was having flashbacks to mistreatment that didn’t happen while she was in her mother’s womb—but she wasn’t actually having flashbacks of her getting beat by her mother when she was out of the womb. On New Year’s Eve 2012, Joan called Tammy from her personal phone to inform her they were going to skip the standard steps in reunification and push for immediate reunification between Britney and Avery. Phone calls from Joan’s personal phone and unreported visits became the way that Joan would deliver information that she did not want in Avery’s permanent records. I assume this is illegal.

According to Joan, the first step to reunification was doing multi-day stays in Jean’s home as Avery reintegrated back into Britney’s life. Jean’s favoritism for Britney became more and more apparent. This even included transporting Britney in her personal vehicle to go shopping or to many of her JFS appointments. Whenever this happened, they had to borrow the car seat that Tammy owned, as neither Joan nor Britney had an appropriate car seat for Avery at this time.

Avery’s older sister was nearly 4 years old and not yet potty trained. Katie reported in front of JFS workers that Britney wouldn’t allow her to wear clothes in the house, and she didn’t like being naked all the time. Britney defended this as a potty training strategy so that her daughter would feel it when she urinated or defecated and that it would reduce the dirty laundry Britney had to clean. During this same visit, everyone witnessed Britney take her two daughters over to a play structure and tend to her four-year-old while her wobbly 16-month-old was left on her own.

Everyone watched as Avery tumbled off a 5-foot structure straight onto her head on the cement below. The JFS guardian who witnessed this simply shrugged and said Britney was new to motherhood and was still learning. Keep in mind, Katie was 4 years old now; Avery was her second child. Sure seems that four years should be an adequate learning curve to understand how to monitor a toddler.

As Avery’s extended overnight visits with her maternal grandmother Jean began, so did more problems. Initially, Britney was not supposed to be present—this seems strange, as these visits were supposed to be part of reunification, but it is likely that this is another one of Joan’s ploys to favor Britney. It was quickly clear that Britney was indeed present, as she was there taking pictures of Avery and Jean together within just a few hours of leaving Tammy’s care. She received a picture of Avery with an enormous egg-sized bump on her head. She was told Avery had fallen and hit her head on a table three times in the same spot.

You heard that right: she hit her head three times in the same spot. Being a mandated reporter, Tammy reached out to insist that Avery had been taken to get an X-ray, as this bump was as bad if not worse than the one Avery had when her skull was fractured. Joan said that it was Britney’s call, and if Britney said no, the answer was no, so Avery was not seen. A month later, Avery had a doctor’s visit where the bruise was still visible, but the doctor could not confirm nor deny if her skull had been fractured, as he was not allowed to X-ray without the appropriate consent. Over time, Tammy repeatedly reported the disclosure of mistreatment that Avery made to her. Avery was repeatedly screened by medical professionals chosen by JFS. These professionals continued to say that Avery—who was bruised, battered, bitten, burned, and clearly articulating that she was being hurt by her mother—was simply lying.