Wake toddler dies in foster care after judge had ordered child be returned to mother

"If my child was alive and loved in my care, he’d still be here," Christina Clancy told WRAL Investigates, blaming the system for his death. "Something so small and precious that actually relies on you, you destroyed."

Brayden Allen, or "Bubba" as she called him, was removed from her custody because of a reported burn mark – she says he was burned after bumping into something on a table – and the fact that Clancy missed follow-up appointments with a social services case worker, according to a medical examiner’s notes in the case.

A native of Italy who recently became a U.S. citizen, Clancy said she doesn’t fully read and understand English, so she said the language barrier played a role in the case.

Two months after Bubba was put in foster care, the situation seemed to be improving. Clancy said a judge ruled at an April 1 court hearing that she was allowed to have her son back.

Due to confidentiality rules, WRAL Investigates wasn't able to obtain a copy of that ruling. A copy was sent to Clancy, but she didn’t realize she needed to download it, and the document she received via email expired.

North Carolina courts have 30 days to file orders in child custody cases, so even though the judge ruled on April 1, the decision wasn't official until May 3, because the 30-day deadline fell on a weekend.

By the time the order was filed, however, it was too late for Bubba.

As Clancy waited for an update on when Bubba was going to be returned, she instead received information that he was hospitalized on May 1.

Case workers initially told Clancy that Bubba suffered an injury falling out of bed, but the medical examiner’s report says the boy had a choking incident. The foster father told authorities that he hit Bubba on the back, performed chest compressions and shook him trying to dislodge food from his airway, according to the report.

Bubba was taken to WakeMed and then transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Duke University Hospital, but he died three days later. He was 23 months old.

"My child was left out of my care, and he got killed," Clancy said. "He was everything I had. I didn't have anything else."

Officials with Wake County Children and Family Services declined to comment.

The medical examiner ruled Bubba's death a homicide, not an accident.

"A blood clot in the brain and his whole upper chest broken," Clancy said, describing her son’s injuries. "Poor little Bubba."

The Wake County District Attorney's Office confirmed that a criminal investigation into the foster father is ongoing.

Clancy said she learned about the details of her son's death only when she received a copy of the medical examiner’s report, noting that case workers and Raleigh police didn’t provide updates.

In fact, WRAL Investigates received the autopsies before Clancy did via a public records request.

"I thought something would be done about it, not swept under the rug like nothing’s wrong and act like it’s just a normal death," Clancy said, adding that she feels like her son's death is being covered up.

Children and Family Services sent her notices to attend parenting classes even after Bubba's death, she said.

"He didn’t die on her watch. He died when he was taken from his mother," said Shaquashia Hester, who used to babysit Bubba. "Somebody needs to tell her the truth about what happened to her child."

Hester's parents were foster parents, so she knows the system. In this case, she said, the system failed.

"If the court ruling April 1 said he should have been home, he should have been home April 2," she said.

Clancy said she feels silenced by the system, and she is hopeful that her story will protect other children taken by Child Protective Services.

"Justice, understanding, no more lies – the truth," she said about what she wants.