COLDWATER, Mich. — The family of 7-month-old Carson Burm wants to know why social workers didn’t act sooner.
When Brian Kelsey saw his grandson Carson two weeks ago, he couldn’t have imagined it would be for the last time. The 7-month-old died on Friday, and the coroner said he’s a victim of abuse.
“You see it, but you never think it’s gonna hit home,” Kelsey said.
The person deputies took into custody for shattering the infant’s skull and cracking his collar bone is Steven Eric Shaw, 41.
According to family members, Shaw was in a relationship with the infant’s mother.
Relatives said that abuse happened while Shaw was watching Carson and his older sister while their mom was at work.
They said they recently learned during a court hearing that Child Protective Services had been to the mother’s home mutliple times.
Kelsey said, “[The] CPS worker was on the stand and during questioning, said that she had interviewed the mother one time, uh, to let her know about this guy. Went back a second time to interview and interviewed the third time, so that she could really get an interview of why. If CPS felt compelled to interview her three times, why did cps leave them kids in that home, 3 times? I mean, c’mon. Really?”
He added, “I’ve seen [CPS] take kids for less. You hear about it all the time.”
Kelsey also learned that Carson was at the hospital about 3 weeks before his death for yet another injury.
“Supposedly at that time [Carson] had a busted ear drum, or a real bad ear infection. The trauma surgeon said that bleeding from the ear is a sign of head trauma, not an ear infection. So there was a misdiagnosis,” Kelsey recalled the testimony.
As the judicial process begins, Kelsey has the following to say to the man accused of killing his grandson.
“May god help ya. I hope he lives a long life in prison,” he said.
Carson Burm’s funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Lighthouse. Family visitation hours are from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. The general public’s visitation hours are from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
