WYLIE — The case of "Wylie's Angel" — six-year-old Gerren Isgrigg, whose grandmother, police say, abandoned him near Lake Lavon — is leading to a call for change in the state's Baby Moses law.
“I just hope more children can be saved,” said Malorie Martinez, the 20-year-old who launched a Facebook page to encourage others to pressure lawmakers to change the law.
“If the grandmother had felt she could do this, maybe she could have saved Gerren — if she felt like she could drop him at a safe haven without being prosecuted," Martinez said.
The Baby Moses law lets parents turn over their children at a safe location without penalty.
Since the State of Texas passed the law in 1999, lawmakers say more than 100 infants have been handed over at fire stations or hospitals.
The law, however, only applies to babies up to 60 days old. Parents who surrender children older than 60 days are often charged with child abandonment.
Gerren Isgrigg, age six, was too old for the law to apply.
A mowing crew discovered the severely disabled child’s body in a rural Collin County park on April 15.
Police arrested his grandmother, Darlene Phillips, for murder. Her family says the 63-year-old was likely overwhelmed by Gerren’s need for intensive care.
The case has frustrated children’s advocates like Susan Etheridge, executive director for Court Appointed Special Advocates of Collin County. Etheridge worked for Child Protective Services for nearly 20 years, and says parents — especially those of special needs children — have many resources ranging from group homes to charities.
In a worst-case scenario, parents can turn their children over to Child Protective Services.
“While there are some consequences for doing that, she absolutely can do it, and the sate will take that child,” Etheridge said.
While the parent may be charged, she says, jail time or even a fine is unlikely if the parent works with the agency.
“What you can’t do is place your child in a field to die,” Etheridge said.
Expanding the age cap on the Baby Moses law, critics say, is simply unnecessary. It’s designed to help new mothers with an unexpected child — not parents who are fed up with their care.
“I have concerns about parents just being able to abandon a child just because they've gotten to be difficult, rather than seeking services to deal with that,” Etheridge said.
CPS of Dallas said it was working 14 child abandonment-type cases in North Texas last month.
On March 26, a mother dropped off an 18-month-old toddler at an Irving fire station.
“She really didn’t say nothing,” firefighter James Skelton said at the time. “She just started crying, leaned over to kiss the child and then walked out the door.”
Police were looking for the mother, since the child was too old to apply for the Baby Moses law.
Still, it’s a move some children’s advocates support for truly desperate caretakers, like Gerren Isgrigg’s grandmother.
“She could have taken him to a fire station,” Etheridge said. “Even though he would not have technically qualified for Baby Moses, the firemen would have taken him… anything is better than leaving him in a field.”
E-mail jbetz@wfaa.com
