Utah Department of Human Services officials tried to stop Robert Gene and Iris Marie Herron from taking their baby son, Bobby, from Cottonwood Hospital on Nov. 10.
The Salt Lake County attorney's office, however, told state officials they didn't have enough cause to get a court order taking custody of the infant.Iris Herron called Provo police 11 days later from a pay telephone on University Avenue and said the 3-week-old baby was seriously ill. Bobby died a short time later at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. The state medical examiner's office preliminarily ruled the baby died from pneumonia.
The Utah County attorney's office charged the Herrons with manslaughter for "recklessly" causing Bobby's death. The parents, who said in court they are homeless and have not worked for several years, are undergoing mental health evaluations at the Utah State Hospital.
State officials say the system didn't fail Bobby Herron, it just couldn't find him.
Cottonwood, like all hospitals, has a state social worker on staff. The social worker at Cottonwood became concerned after hearing Bobby's parents discuss a motorcycle gang that might come and take the infant away. Concerned about Bobby's safety, the social worker also did a mental health and criminal background check on the Herrons.
"We were not comfortable with (the Herrons) taking the child home, but we could not legally stop them," said Terry Twitchell, public information officer for the Department of Human Services.
Social workers also wanted custody of the infant because they felt his homeless parents could not provide the special care he needed. Even though Bobby was more than a week old, he weighed less than four pounds.
Jess Gomez, Cottonwood Hospital spokesman, said doctors use three criteria before discharging a baby. The baby must be able to maintain its body temperature in an open crib, must be able to nipple feed every three hours and must be gaining weight. Bobby met all the criteria.
"From a medical standpoint there was no reason to keep the baby any longer," Gomez said.