EVERETT — Nearly every one of the baby’s ribs was broken.
Neither her mother nor the woman’s boyfriend offered state social workers an explanation for the fractured bones. They also couldn’t explain why 3-month-old Madilynn Schreib had a black eye or a deep gash to her chin. They attributed the baby’s healing broken arm to a fall, but doctors said the break likely was caused by a twisting or pulling motion.
Jerrica Schreib, 19, said she would never hurt her baby. Her live-in boyfriend, Donald Coons, 42, told a social worker that he was good to the child. His teenage daughters also never told him that they hurt Madilynn when she was left in their care, Coons said.
Child Protective Services conducted an investigation into allegations that Madilynn was abused and neglected before she died in December. Social workers determined the allegations were founded, according to CPS records recently obtained by The Herald. In support of their findings, social workers cited extensively from Madilynn’s medical records.
“Madilynn had over 20 broken ribs which were in all different stages of healing which would indicate at least three separate events of abuse that caused the injuries. A baby of this age is not ambulatory and could not cause these injuries on her own,” a social worker wrote.
The CPS worker also noted that it was clear to doctors that the infant’s medical care had been delayed. Madilynn was diagnosed with meningitis and pneumonia. The baby likely would have stopped eating and shown signs of being sick. Her untreated broken arm would have been swollen and painful.
Records show that Schreib brought Madilynn to see a doctor for a routine well-child exam six days after she was born. She didn’t show up for follow-up appointments in September or October.
Schreib called 911 Dec. 18. Madilynn was unresponsive and in critical condition. Social workers were told that Schreib and Coons argued about whether to seek help.
They “only called when the 11-year-old child encouraged (them) to call 911, and told (them) the infant might die,” the social worker wrote.
Coons’ daughters also told social workers that their dad and Schreib knew about Madilynn’s injured arm because they pinned it to her body with a bandage.
CPS completed its investigation in late January.
“We’ll present any findings to law enforcement,” Children Administration’s spokeswoman Norah West said. “We aren’t law enforcement, though, and we don’t prosecute or file charges.”
Under the law, the threshold for a finding of abuse or neglect is lower in CPS investigations than criminal prosecutions.
Everett police detectives continue to investigate Madilynn’s Dec. 20 death. They plan to eventually share their findings with prosecutors, who will decide if they have enough evidence to prove who caused Madilynn’s injuries.
Coons and Schreib were arrested Jan. 1 for investigation of first-degree criminal mistreatment of a child. Prosecutors declined to file charges in Superior Court at the time. Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe said his office is working closely with police.
An autopsy concluded that the baby died of pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis, a complication arising from infection. The medical examiner also concluded that Madilynn suffered non-accidental trauma and tested positive for methamphetamine. He classified the death as a homicide.
CPS had previously investigated complaints that Schreib was smoking meth around children. Social workers examined four separate allegations, beginning in 2014, that Schreib was using drugs around her oldest daughter and other children, records show. CPS classified the allegations as unfounded, meaning social workers concluded that the abuse didn’t happen or there wasn’t enough evidence.
Schreib was investigated again January 2015 when a day care teacher noticed bruises on her then 2-year-old daughter. CPS closed the case, again ruling it unfounded.
Social workers were told that Schreib left her older daughter with a relative in April.
CPS received a complaint in August that Coons allowed his daughters to be around a registered sex offender. The complaint wasn’t investigated further after Coons and his daughters denied it, according to records. Coons told a social worker he’s had other contact with CPS, including losing custody of two other children in 2005. His daughters, ages 11, 13 and 14, said that Coons told them to lie to CPS and warned them that he was videotaping them.
Coons said he and Schreib started seeing each other in October, about a month after Madilynn was born. He told social workers that they used methamphetamine and heroin.
The couple and children had been staying in a hotel for a couple of days after moving from a trailer.
The CPS records detail interactions between Schreib and a social worker hours after Madilynn was removed from the motel room and taken to the hospital.
Schreib complained that an Everett police detective harassed her during the car ride to Seattle Children’s Hospital. She insisted she’d done nothing wrong.
Schreib said Madilynn was colicky and she gave the baby some gripe water, an over-the-counter remedy. The infant became unresponsive and a nurse told her to call 911. She said she didn’t know Madilynn had meningitis or broken bones.
“Mom asked if the doctors can tell if her baby received injuries from a fall off of the bed,” the social worker wrote.
The social worker noted that Schreib called Coons and pleaded with him to come to the hospital. She warned Coons not to talk to the detective or answer questions. She counseled him to tell authorities that he was getting a lawyer.
“Mom told him to promise her that he was going to do what she told him to do and that he was not going to talk or answer any questions because that would just cause more problems,” the report says.
Schreib asked Coons about their dogs.
She hung up and told the social worker that Coons does everything for his children. She denied using drugs.
Later that day at the hospital, Everett police advised Schreib that Madilynn and Coons’ daughters were going into protective custody. A sobbing Schreib was escorted to see Madilynn.
The hospital reported no contact with Schreib after she left. They called her several times on Dec. 20, after it was determined that Madilynn had no brain activity. Plans were under way to remove the baby from life support. Hospital staff finally reached Schreib, and she said she’d be there in a few hours. She never arrived, and the hospital considered Madilynn abandoned.
“The mother would have been allowed bedside, but never showed up at the hospital,” the social worker wrote.
Jail records show that Madilynn’s father was locked up during the days surrounding her death. Social workers were told that he hadn’t been involved in Madilynn’s life.
In early January police found Schreib and Coons in a van on a friend’s property. Coons spoke with police for three hours and allegedly told detectives he might have saved the baby by insisting she go to the doctor.
Schreib started talking with detectives but declined to answer more questions after they showed her a picture of Madilynn.
Detectives agreed to let a social worker speak with the pair. Schreib declined, saying she wanted a lawyer.
Coons talked at length with the CPS worker, explaining that he’d advised Schreib numerous times to take the baby to a doctor. He thought the baby was seen by a doctor for her arm. Schreib said it was a sprain, Coons told the social worker.
He said there were times when the baby didn’t sound right when she was alone in the bedroom with Schreib. He also said they left the baby with his daughters to run errands, and she was always screaming when they returned. One of his daughters “would be very stressed out and bouncing the baby pretty hard,” Coons said.
He believed Schreib was about to tell him what happened to Madilynn right before their arrest, the social worker wrote. He said that if the detective allowed him to spend time with her, she’d disclose what happened.
Coons reportedly went on to say he had the means to bring down meth and heroin suppliers. He asked the social worker to have the detective call him.
“He’s worried about his dogs Brownie and Angelo. He wants to know if the dogs can go to the children. He is ready to tell the detectives some ‘stuff,’” the records say.
“I didn’t hurt that baby at all, you can ask anyone,” Coons told the social worker.
Herald writer Rikki King contributed to this report.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
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