Hood County News from Granbury, Texas • Page 2

dad admits: really screwed BY MARK WILSON HOOD COUNTY NEWS The father of the 8-month- old Hood County boy who was found weighing just 9 pounds acknowledged that he made mistakes in not taking the child to the emergency room for medical treatment. know I really screwed Justin Lee Alston told the Hood County News Tuesday morning in the visitors room at the Hood County Jail. I could go back and change it, I The child, Riley Alston, was listed in critical condition after he was flown via air ambulance from Granbury to Fort Cook Medical Center late Friday night, Dec. 9. Early this week Riley was upgraded to stable condition, according to Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds.

Alston and his wife Brittany Nichole Oliphant-Alston, both 21 and 2009 Granbury High School graduates, were arrested on charges of injury to a child and of a child with criminal intent. Riley was found covered in feces, urine and vomit, investigators said. Alston said he and his wife had been unable to get Riley to keep down his formula. saying he was (not) he said. feed him bottles every time he was hungry, but he would throw it all back up.

He just recently started keeping it He said that they missed two doctor appointments they scheduled for Riley, including one when he had to take their vehicle to get to a job he had at the time. Justin claimed that they were eventually told the physician was no longer accepting Medicaid patients. should have took him to the Justin said. were trying to get him into the office. We were just trying to find a doctor that would take Hood County Office Lieutenant Johnny Rose said that the explanation hold up.

think a flimsy Rose said. are plenty of agencies that would help that child. We have a pretty good group of people here that would go out of their way to help the children of Hood Justin admitted they were not surprised by the serious nature of condition. realized it was that he said. and my wife both know we screwed up bad.

We should have done something about it a long time ago a month or two FACEBOOK PHOTOS Among the photos Justin has posted on his Facebook page are two sonograms, which he said are from when his wife was pregnant with Riley. Another photo shows tattoos on one of his arms the name and footprint of the other child they had together, 18-month-old Katelynn. have a lot of feelings for said Justin, who married Brittney on March 29, 2010. my first-born son. I love him.

sorry hard to talk about. I love him to death. messed up, and I know what I was supposed to do. I messed up and take care of Katelynn was placed in foster care by Protective Services after the arrests, officials said. Brittany has a 4-year- old son with a different father, Justin said.

That child was living with grandmother, but is now with his biological father, according to CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales. THE GATHERING Deeds has said he first was told there was a party at the Alston home, in the 4000 block of Rance Drive in the Sandy Beach subdivision east of Granbury. Later, he said it may have been a After the visitors arrived, the sound of a baby crying was heard from a bedroom. When one of the female visitors insisted that the child be taken for medical attention, Justin claimed he resist at something contradicted by Office reports. Justin denied the allegation by investigators that they fled their home to avoid being arrested.

He said the paramedic told him Riley would be if he survived 48 more hours. was scared at the time, and I know what to Justin said. figured he could get (to the hospital) a whole lot quicker than we could. Me and my wife took our daughter to her Justin claimed they were on their way to Cook Medical Center to see about Riley when they received a call from an officer who told them Riley was not at the Fort Worth hospital after all. Riley was taken to Lake Granbury Medical Center.

turned around and came all the way Justin said. we got back (to the house), they asked if they could go inside and look and take Justin said he is concerned about Riley. hope he makes it and probably never going to see him again. all thought about. If I could go back and change it, I 2A Hood County News FROM PAGE ONE Saturday, December 17, 2011 www.hcnews.com CIRCULATION For delivery or billing questions, subscriptions and vacation stops Phone 817-573-7066 or 817-279-9718 Delivery in county: Granbury, Lipan, Tolar, Paluxy, Cresson, Bluff Dale, Glen Rose, Rainbow and Nemo 6 mo 1 Year $45 2 Years 3 Years $118 Delivery to remainder of Texas: 6 mo 1 Year $65 2 Years 3 Years $169 Delivery to out of state: 6 mo 1 Year $89 2 Years 3 Years $239 CLASSIFIED Have a car to sell? Want to rent your house? Planning a garage sale? Phone: Metro Toll Free: Fax: email: Classifi ed billing questions? Call 817-573-7066 and ask for classifi ed billing.

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Granbury, Texas 76048 Other questions? Call 817-573-7066 or 817-279-9718 Penny Holloway executive Lisa Riley executive Karen Chandler executive Bonnie Espin assistant www.hcnews.com INFO 126th Year USPS 249-520 P.O. Box 879 1501 S. Morgan St. Granbury, TX 76048 www.hcnews.com Phone: 817-573-7066 Fax: 817-279-8371 The HOOD COUNTY NEWS is published at 1501 S. Morgan Granbury, TX 76048 twice a week.

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Any erroneous refl ection upon character, standing or reputation of any person, fi rm or corporation, which may occur in the HOOD COUNTY NEWS will be gladly corrected once brought to the attention of publisher or editor. The publisher is not responsible for copy omissions or typographical errors that may occur other than to correct them in the nearest issue after it is brought to his attention and in no case does the publisher hold himself liable for damages further than the amount received by him for actual space covering the error. The HOOD COUNTY NEWS is an award-winning member of the Texas Press Association, North East Texas Press, West Texas Press and National Newspaper Association. Publisher, Jerry Tidwell Asst. publisher, Joe Thompson manager, Rick Craig Editor, Roger Enlow Sports editor, Rick Mauch Press, Dan Martin or Vincent Hernandez Newspaper In Education, Martha Pyron WELCOME TO THE HOOD COUNTY NEWS 2011 Hood County News, All Rights Reserved HOW TO CONTACT US B85 1 01 Mon a Satur a 0 4301 HWY.

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annoyed. I was getting very Then Magon went to the bedroom and saw condition. She said she found him lying in a baby bed, surrounded in filth. picked the baby up and he was slimy. The blanket underneath him was Magon said.

baby looked so fragile. I thought if I moved a certain way, I would break a When she took off the clothing Riley was wearing, she got the full impact. I saw the condition of the body, it was another emotional Magon said. took a deep breath. His hair was crunchy.

I wrapped the baby up in my Magon said she will never forget how blue were riveted on her. looked at me directly in the eyes the whole time. That really hits you Magon said, gesturing with her hand to her heart. basically begging you, me out of So always remember his big, blue CONFRONTATION Magon brought Riley out of the bedroom and told the parents that Riley needed immediate help. They said Riley had been throwing up the formula they had been feeding him, and insisted that they would take him to a doctor the following week.

was in complete Magon said. not a violent person, but I wanted to be violent. never been so angry, so Although Magon had a child, she said her maternal instinct kicked in then. went into full mom Magon said. said, touch this baby, whether you like it or not.

I said, baby your baby no more, had to keep my attention on the baby, or it would have become an altercation. got a little threatening (verbally). His main concern was that he was going to get in trouble. He kind of threw a Magon had gone to the Alston home with Caleb Fuller, whose father Paul Fuller has legal custody of Magon. She asked Caleb to call Paul, a paramedic with 20 years of experience.

Caleb also confronted Justin over the condition in which Riley was found. was standing toe to toe with Caleb said. was telling him how he do that to his Fuller arrived, stethoscope in hand, and assessed condition. He told the parents Ri- ley might not have more than 48 hours to live if he get immediate treatment. Justin to be incredibly Fuller said.

said, you call 911, going to take him and run and you ever see him again. Nobody will ever see him I said, going to the Justin finally said, you take him. They had given me permission to take him out of The home was littered with trash, Fuller said. were probably 150, 200 beer bottles and cans littering the entire living Fuller said. back bedroom where Riley came out of, it had beer bottles.

The baby bed was covered in vomit, urine and fecal matter. I had to step over huge piles of trash and crap just to get to the bed. It was one of the nastiest houses seen in Hood ANGER AND HEARTBREAK Fuller said his emotions ranged from anger toward the parents to heartbreak for Riley. imagine letting something like this happen to my Fuller said. just Fuller said he had heard through a source that as of early Thursday morning intake of formula had increased to 3 CCs at a time.

very Fuller said. really think it was going to turn out like Magon said she consider the gathering to be a party. me, it was friends hanging out and Justin Magon said. my knowledge, nobody else was drinking but When the story first broke, Sheriff Roger Deeds had praised Magon for insisting Riley needed immediate treatment, referring to her as Fuller said he realizes Magon and Caleb risked getting in trouble for being in such a situation, and commended them for calling him that night. extremely proud of them for standing up and putting the safety before their own Fuller said.

Megon said she had trouble sleeping for three nights after the incident, and still feels angry. people put their baby in the back room and forgot about said Magon, who mentioned she wants to find a way to become an advocate for neglected and abused children because the incident opened her eyes. not parents. not even m.wilson@hcnews.com|817-573-7066, ext. 254 HERO: not parents.

not even FROM PAGE ONE Alston Teenage girl charged with burglarizing Alston home BY MARK WILSON HOOD COUNTY NEWS A 17-year-old girl is accused of burglarizing the mobile home where Justin Alston and his wife Brittany lived before they were arrested last weekend in connection with extreme child neglect, according to the Hood County Office. Lieutenant Johnny Rose said that Kara Michelle Traweek, of the 4000 block of Rance Drive in the Sandy Beach subdivision east of Granbury, was arrested Tuesday night. She was charged with burglary of a habitation, which occurred on Sunday at the Alston home on that same block on Rance Drive, Rose said. No details were provided. Rose would only say that the case is still under investigation.

Another teen, 17-year-old female Granbury High School student Magon Rutledge, was confirmed by Rose as the person who Sheriff Roger Deeds had earlier credited with getting help for the severely underweight 8-month- old boy Riley. m.wilson@hcnews.com|817-573-7066, ext. 254 OPINION POLL Do you think hydraulic fracking associated with natural gas production can contaminate drinking supplies? To vote go to the Hood County News website www.hcnews. com. Click on poll at the top of the page.

Results and a new question will be published in issue. LOOKING BACK 30 years ago, 1981: Kikee Dunn and Brett Brawner, both seniors at Granbury High School, were selected as Outstanding Young Texans of the Month by the Granbury Optimist Club. 20 years ago, 1991: Ollie Donahoo was appointed councilman to fi ll the slot vacated by Rick Frye. 10 years ago, 2001: The fi eld at Pirate Stadium was awarded the Texas Turfgrass 2001 Football Field of the Year Award. show that residents were secured in their individual rooms from the beginning of the program day, 5:30 a.m.

until the end of the program day, 11:00 p.m.” Capers said she could not go into detail about why the juveniles were confined to their rooms during program hours, stating that while some parts of the investigation are public information, other pieces by statute can only be revealed to certain individuals, such as detention officials and family members. Cooley told the Hood County News that shortly before the incident occurred, an officer had been sitting just feet away in the dorm area working on reports. The state report confirms such. Cooley said Adams apparently was choked into unconsciousness in the few minutes the officer stepped away to turn in the reports. The administrator said that staffers responded quickly and were able to keep Adams alive while first responders were en route.

He lived for six days before his family removed him from life support. Though some counties removed their juvenile offenders from the Granbury facility after the incident, Cooley said that Johnson County the county Adams was from continued to house youth there. He said that Johnson County officials viewed video surveillance that showed how difficult it would have been to spot the bed sheet, particularly since the cell doors were close in proximity and the sheet became very thin once it was pulled taut. Since the tragedy, trainings have been increased for GRJJC staffers, and the facility has amended its Policy and Procedure, Cooley said. He noted that the facility received high scores of 95 and 96 on its last state audit.

Capers said that each year TJJD monitors more than 90 juvenile facilities on more than 200 different standards. rarely a facility that ever scores 100 she said, adding that what is important is quickly and issues are addressed. Traweek JUVENILE: Family removed patient from life support FROM PAGE ONE.