Baby dies amid child abuse allegations
Send a link to a friend
[March 05, 2022]
By BETH HUNDSDORFER
Capitol News Illinois
bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Sophia Faye Davis loved to
eat noodles. She slept with a stuffed hippo that made soothing sounds
and reflected stars on her ceiling. She sang and danced as she pounded
on the keys of her toy piano.
These are the memories of her only child that Cassy Needham clings to –
not the final month of Sophia’s life that was filled with child abuse
allegations, failed investigations and ignored pleas for help that ended
with a beating so severe the tiny, blonde, blue-eyed 19-month-old
wouldn’t survive it.
Sophia died on Feb. 8.
Sophia’s father’s girlfriend Cierra Coker is charged in Logan County
with first-degree murder and aggravated battery to a child, accused of
beating the toddler to death.
But a month before she died, Needham reported her concerns that her baby
was being abused to the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services. But DCFS did not intervene, Needham said. As of Friday, the
investigation into those claims remains open.
On Jan. 2, Needham picked up her daughter from an overnight visit with
the infant’s father and was shocked by the condition of her daughter.
Needham found scratches on her head, a black eye, cuts on her mouth,
bruises on her face, and what appeared to be friction burns on her face.
Sophia wasn’t moving her left arm so Needham took her to HSHS St. John’s
Hospital in Springfield. It was broken.
“The doctor there told me they suspected child abuse and called DCFS,”
Needham said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/05/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
An investigation was opened and a DCFS worker came to her house the next
day and asked to see Sophia, Needham said. She also checked Needham’s
home to ensure it was safe and Sophia had the essentials.
Another worker went to Sophia’s father’s home and spoke with the father
and his girlfriend, Coker. It was relayed to Needham that Coker told the
investigator that Sophia was injured accidently by other children in the
home.
“Her story kept changing, though. I was just very nervous about sending
her back there,” Needham said.
The investigator told Needham that she was going to unfound the case,
meaning they would find the allegations not credible. Sophia’s father
was ready to see her again.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/030522pics/news_a1.jpg)
Sophia Faye Davis died of traumatic brain injuries
after DCFS said previous suspicions of abuse or neglect were
unfounded. (Photo submitted)
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
“I asked if we could put a safety plan in place, but DCFS told me that
they were going to unfound the case,” Needham said.
Facing pressure from Sophia’s father to resume visitation, Needham
agreed to let him take Sophia for the night on Feb. 5.
The next afternoon, Needham received a call from Coker, telling her that
Sophia was having trouble breathing and bleeding from her mouth.
“I told her to call 911. I told her something was wrong,” Needham said.
Eventually, Needham reached out herself to get help for her daughter.
Paramedics arrived at the apartment in Lincoln that Coker shared with
Sophia’s father. Emergency medical technicians transferred the baby to
the hospital in Lincoln, but due to her serious condition she was
airlifted to HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield.
But it was too late, Needham said.
Sophia died on Feb. 8. An autopsy would find that she died as a result
of a traumatic brain injury, due to blunt force injuries of the head.
The DCFS investigation into the abuse allegations remains open.
Sophia’s the third child in as many months to die after reports of abuse
or neglect. DCFS Director Marc Smith has been held in contempt six times
so far this year for failing put children under the state’s care in
proper placements. A DCFS investigator was murdered when checking on the
welfare of six children.
The legislature has held hearings, but reform doesn’t mean anything to
Needham.
“None of this should have happened. I did everything I could to protect
her and the system failed me,” Needham said.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news
service covering state government and is distributed to more than 400
newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press
Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |