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New Jersey Woman Arraigned for Child Abuse
Aired January 10, 2003 - 14:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A horrific case of child abuse takes a twisted turn. In Newark, New Jersey, Sherry Murphy, who faces charges of starving and beating children in her care, was arraigned this morning. One boy was found dead; two of them were starving. According to the "Star Ledger" of Newark, Murphy is now blaming the boy's mother for his death. CNN's Jamie Colby now live with the details -- Jamie.
JAMIE COLBY, CNN REPORTER: Good afternoon, Kyra.
New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey has called a 3:00 p.m. news conference to announce sweeping changes to the state's child welfare system. In particular, McGreevey will be targeting the Division of Youth and Family Services. The division, or DYFS, was supposed to protect the three brothers who were locked in a Newark, New Jersey, basement by their mother's cousin. Earlier this week, the governor had this to say about the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR JIM MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: At a minimum, children ought to be protected. Their lives ought to be safeguarded. This is reprehensible. The report today was disgusting. I mean, it read as if we're part of some third-world debacle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLBY: The governor has asked the state's human services commissioner for stricter guidelines on monitoring each and every child supervised by DYFS, and he's expected to formalize new parameters concerning caseworker caseload.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCGREEVEY: I've requested, literally, DYFS to track every single child, to identify where that child is, working with police departments, working with school systems, and working with the courts. And we will locate every single child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLBY: The governor will also release the results of a state study on what happened in the Williams case. Meanwhile, Sherry Murphy, the woman entrusted by her husband cousin Melinda Williams to care for her sons, waived her right to appear in court this morning, but Essex County public defenders entered a plea of not guilty in the case. The judge set bail initially at $250,000 but later revoked it on a probation violation. Murphy was arrested on Thursday, following a four-day nationwide manhunt on three counts of child endangerment. Each of those charges carries a sentence of five to 10 years. Additional charges are pending.
Police rescued Rahim and Tyrone Williams who were locked in the basement of Murphy's home on Saturday. Both had been starved and at least one of them burned. Police found the body of a third brother, 7-year-old Fahim Williams, stashed in a plastic bin a day later.
Governor McGreevey will be joined at the news conference by Human Services Commissioner Gwendolyn Harris. The commissioner has suspended both the caseworker and a supervisor assigned to the boys' case -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Jamie Colby, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 10, 2003 - 14:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A horrific case of child abuse takes a twisted turn. In Newark, New Jersey, Sherry Murphy, who faces charges of starving and beating children in her care, was arraigned this morning. One boy was found dead; two of them were starving. According to the "Star Ledger" of Newark, Murphy is now blaming the boy's mother for his death. CNN's Jamie Colby now live with the details -- Jamie.
JAMIE COLBY, CNN REPORTER: Good afternoon, Kyra.
New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey has called a 3:00 p.m. news conference to announce sweeping changes to the state's child welfare system. In particular, McGreevey will be targeting the Division of Youth and Family Services. The division, or DYFS, was supposed to protect the three brothers who were locked in a Newark, New Jersey, basement by their mother's cousin. Earlier this week, the governor had this to say about the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR JIM MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: At a minimum, children ought to be protected. Their lives ought to be safeguarded. This is reprehensible. The report today was disgusting. I mean, it read as if we're part of some third-world debacle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLBY: The governor has asked the state's human services commissioner for stricter guidelines on monitoring each and every child supervised by DYFS, and he's expected to formalize new parameters concerning caseworker caseload.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCGREEVEY: I've requested, literally, DYFS to track every single child, to identify where that child is, working with police departments, working with school systems, and working with the courts. And we will locate every single child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLBY: The governor will also release the results of a state study on what happened in the Williams case. Meanwhile, Sherry Murphy, the woman entrusted by her husband cousin Melinda Williams to care for her sons, waived her right to appear in court this morning, but Essex County public defenders entered a plea of not guilty in the case. The judge set bail initially at $250,000 but later revoked it on a probation violation. Murphy was arrested on Thursday, following a four-day nationwide manhunt on three counts of child endangerment. Each of those charges carries a sentence of five to 10 years. Additional charges are pending.
Police rescued Rahim and Tyrone Williams who were locked in the basement of Murphy's home on Saturday. Both had been starved and at least one of them burned. Police found the body of a third brother, 7-year-old Fahim Williams, stashed in a plastic bin a day later.
Governor McGreevey will be joined at the news conference by Human Services Commissioner Gwendolyn Harris. The commissioner has suspended both the caseworker and a supervisor assigned to the boys' case -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Jamie Colby, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
