In Re WRE

167 S.W.3d 636, 2005 WL 1667544
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 18, 2005
Docket05-04-00457-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 167 S.W.3d 636 (In Re WRE) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re WRE, 167 S.W.3d 636, 2005 WL 1667544 (Tex. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

167 S.W.3d 636 (2005)

In the Interest of W.R.E., K.N.E., and B.A.C., Children.

No. 05-04-00457-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Dallas.

July 18, 2005.

*637 Timothy Ray Haney, Attorney At Law, and Joe Neal Smith, Sherman, TX, for Appellant.

Stephan Love, Grayson County Attorney's Office, Rainey Lynn McClung Webb, Sherman, TX, for Appellee.

Joseph David Brown, County Attorney, Sherman, TX, for State.

Before Justices WHITTINGTON, MOSELEY, and LANG-MIERS.

OPINION

Opinion By Justice LANG-MIERS.

William Raymond Elrod II appeals the trial court's judgment, following a jury trial, terminating his parental rights to his children W.R.E., K.N.E., and B.A.C. In four issues, he contends the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to support the trial court's judgment. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Elrod lived with Nancy Cruz for five years, and they had a son, W.R.E., and a daughter, K.N.E., together. Cruz had another daughter, I.C., whom Elrod treated as his own.[1]

*638 On October 2, 2002, Misty Wade Pryor, a Child Protective Services ("CPS") employee, went to the parents' home on a referral of physical neglect. Because she feared that the children had been left alone in the house when no one answered the door, she called a family services investigator with the police department. Before the investigator reached the home, Cruz came to the door and allowed Pryor inside. In the house, Pryor saw two-year-old W.R.E. lying in a crib with flies covering his mouth and could not tell whether he was breathing. Four-year-old I.C. was sitting in a toddler bed with a soiled blanket. One-year-old K.N.E. was also lying in a toddler bed. All three children were covered in fleas, lice, and scabies and were wearing soaked and soiled diapers. I.C.'s scalp was bleeding and raw, and she had blood under her fingernails.

Pryor and the investigator observed dirty sheets on some beds, and dirty clothes and a bowl of spilled cat food on the floor. They testified that the children's room smelled strongly of cat feces. Pryor described the general condition of the house as "deplorable." The investigator stated that the house was one of the five dirtiest he had seen in his twenty-seven years in law enforcement and that, due to the amount of animal feces present, he considered the condition of the house to be a danger to the physical health of the children. Pryor and the investigator testified that the children were nonresponsive and seemed unemotional.

Elrod was not present and it appeared that Cruz, who was pregnant at the time, was in charge of the children. However, Cruz referred Pryor to Elrod regarding questions about income and the children's shot records.

Pryor removed the children from the home and took them to an emergency room for medical care. There, the children were given juice and cookies. W.R.E. ate quickly, became ill, and vomited juice and cat food.

Home Visits

About fourteen days after the children were removed, a court appointed special advocate went to the parents' home. At that time, the house did not look as bad as it had in pictures she had seen from the day the children were removed, but was not clean. There was a strong urine odor in the house, cat feces on the carpet, and mouse droppings in the cabinet. A litter box and cat food were on the floor in the children's room. The bathroom in the children's room was dirty, and a roach was floating in the toilet. She later visited the parents at a different house and observed dirty dishes in the sink.

Melody Wheeler, an ongoing case worker for CPS, visited the parents in April of 2003 at a different house than the one from which the children were removed. She observed piles of trash everywhere in the house. She also testified that the house's odor was so strong she could smell it from outside and had to take periodic breaks to breathe during her visit. She did not see signs of cats during this visit.

Children's Development

Wheeler met with the children after they were removed from the home. When she first met them, they were all behind developmentally. W.R.E. could not stand, and I.C. was not potty trained, would not stand up for a diaper change, and had no facial expressions. Within a few months, she observed notable improvement in the children's development.

A psychologist and development consultant testified that the children had significant developmental and behavioral delays and that they might be set back developmentally if sent back to an environment where they had been neglected. She also *639 testified that the children's pediatricians diagnosed I.C., W.R.E., and K.N.E. with failure to thrive.

I.C.'s foster mother testified that I.C. was nearly four years old and still wearing diapers when she came to live with her. She was like a zombie and did not show emotions, could not speak, and did not know how to drink from a cup or straw or to use utensils. She had scabies, lice and fleas in her hair, and a bleeding scalp, and was behind on her vaccinations.

W.R.E. and K.N.E.'s first foster mother testified that the children were covered in body and head lice when they were placed with her. K.N.E. was fourteen months old and could not sit up on her own. Three-year-old W.R.E. could barely walk and talk. Neither child smiled. Their second foster mother stated that W.R.E. was like a zombie when he was placed with her, that he could not run well, and that he ate every meal as if it would be his last. She stated that both children had progressed significantly after being placed with her.

W.R.E.'s teacher testified that although he was delayed in speech, gross motor, and fine motor skills, he had progressed well since starting school.

Parents' Progress

Wheeler met with the parents at a hearing held within two weeks of when the children were removed and again later to discuss their CPS service plan. At the hearing, both parents appeared lice-infested and had extremely strong and offensive body odor. Elrod told Wheeler that he believed he was a good parent and did not see the need for CPS to be involved. The parents' hygiene was still a problem when they met to discuss the service plan. The parents were not granted visitation with the children because of the lice and body odor, which posed a risk to the children. Elrod obtained a report from the health department, stating that he was lice-free. When she met with Elrod for a third time, he was no longer living with Cruz, but still had extreme body odor.

The parents' counselor testified that she did not see much progress in the parents. They did not follow through with her suggestions on housekeeping, life management, nutrition, and hygiene. She did not think it would be proper to send the children home with either parent.

The social worker who taught the parenting classes thought the children would be endangered if they were sent back to the home.

According to Wheeler, although the original plan was family reunification, CPS eventually decided to seek termination of both parents' parental rights based on the results of the psychological evaluations, the counselor's recommendation, and the lack of the parents' participation in the parenting classes.

Elrod's Testimony

Elrod testified that he had been at home on the morning the children were taken, but was at work when Pryor was there. He attempted to keep the house clean, but became discouraged because Cruz would not cooperate with his efforts.

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In the Interest of W.R.E.
167 S.W.3d 636 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
167 S.W.3d 636, 2005 WL 1667544, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-wre-texapp-2005.