“I thought one day he’d come home. But I never thought something like this.”
The biological mother of a 10-year-old boy who was drowned by his adoptive father believes that the system failed her son.
Jatoya Ruff had her son, Kentae Williams, when she was 14, a point in her life when she admitted to having her own behavioral issues and an unstable home life. Ruff said the 10-year-old’s grandmother temporarily had custody of him, but courts allegedly ruled that she didn’t have a safe home for Williams, who was diagnosed with Autism. When Williams was only 3 years old, he was taken from his mother by the Department of Family and Child Services.
Ruff said she never wanted to stop fighting: “I wanted him to come home,” she told only 11Alive’s Faith Abubey. “I just thought he’d be safe in DFCS until I get myself together.”
For three years, Ruff tried to regain custody of her son and would frequently visit him while he was in foster care. She even had a relative attempt to adopt Williams but was unsuccessful. It was ultimately Leon Williams, the man accused of drowning Kentae, who adopted him in November. [Read Full Article]
Source: 11Alive
