State warned of threat to toddler

Austin American-Statesman

State caseworkers received an anonymous warning that a mother had threatened
to kill her son more than a year before the toddler was found strangled to
death recently, according to court records. The agency found the report to
be unsubstantiated.

Court records obtained by the Tyler Morning Telegraph show state Child
Protective Services caseworkers were aware of threats made by Catherine
Stevens toward her 2-year-old son William, who was found strangled to death
July 8. Stevens remains in Smith County Jail on $1 million bail on a charge
of capital murder.

A court document filed in May 2006 by an agency investigator shows that the
agency went to Stevens' home to investigate allegations of abuse. But when
the investigator arrived, she found that the woman was in a hospital being
treated for "depression with psychosis."

The document also outlines an anonymous report that Stevens threatened to
drown or suffocate her son if allowed to return home.

Agency spokeswoman Shari Pulliam said that the report was unsubstantiated
and that mental health professionals later told the agency that Stevens
wasn't a danger to herself or her child.

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Source : Austin American-Statesman

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