6-month-old found dead in house months after Florida DCF placed him in custody with violent criminal
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: Months after the Department for Children and Families placed a 6-month-old boy with a violent criminal, he was found dead in a closet. On March 1, Scorpio Sharp's body was reportedly found unresponsive in a plastic container at a Cape Canaveral apartment home in Brevard County. The corpse of the infant is still at the morgue, more than four months after he was discovered dead. The child was placed in the care of Ricky Tubbs, 25, after his mother Roxanne Raphael lost custody earlier this year when she was arrested for child neglect.
“I’m in a place of unknown because I don’t know anything, so I’m just in the dark right now,” the child’s biological mother told WFTV9 regarding her son's death. Tubbs, who signed a safety plan and received explicit instructions she was to be the sole primary caregiver, had passed necessary background checks.
A spokesperson for DCF told the outlet in the case of Sharp, “A non-relative placement was the only available option outside of a licensed foster placement. Ms. Tubbs and the other disclosed household member both passed thorough background checks, as outlined in state administrative code. It was not disclosed to the Department of Children and Families that Tanya Galvin was a household member, and therefore, she was not subject to a background screening. Additionally, locks and alarms were installed throughout the home, intended to help keep the children safe.”
Galvin, 41, was the one in whose care Scorpio was left on the day he was found dead. Galvin had a history of violence. Attorney Orlando Sheppard, who represents the child’s family, questioned the lack of due diligence done by the child services department. “This kid was placed in foster care temporarily for the child’s safety, so, ultimately, someone should’ve made sure the child was in a safe environment,” Sheppard said. “Who knew she (Galvin) was living there and what was done to make sure that she was not watching the children?”
DCF and its sub-contractor, Brevard Family Partnership, apparently did not carry out a thorough probe and simply took Tubbs at her word that no one else lived in the apartment when a safety check was done on February 15. When the four welfare visits were done between February 15, the date of placement, and March 1, Galvin was not present at the residence.
After three children between two and four living in the apartment were found wandering around the neighborhood, the police paid a visit to Tubbs' house and found the newborn dead. The door was found open and Galvin was reportedly asleep. She told the authorities that she didn't know where the children were and the deputies initially believed that they were under the care of Tubbs. Shortly after, Scorpio's body was found in a plastic storage container. The victim was pronounced dead at a local hospital. An autopsy report said that the infant died as a result of drowning. Tubbs was charged with neglect of a child and great bodily harm and Galvin was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and violation of probation. It was also found that Tubbs lied to DCF about the living arrangements in order to gain custody of the victim. She also failed to properly provide medication to the infant.