Caseworker cleared infant who later died

A caseworker who said she visited 2-month-old Quasir Alexander on Dec. 21 had pronounced him and his twin brother "healthy and well" despite the fact that Quasir weighed only about four pounds, sources close to the investigation say.

The boy, who lived in a West Philadelphia homeless shelter with his mother and five siblings, would be dead two days later from starvation and dehydration.

Quasir's mother, Tanya Williams, 32, was charged Friday night with murder.

District Attorney Seth Williams said Monday that the investigation was continuing into whether social workers involved with the family failed to "perform their duties adequately or possibly even criminally."

"It should have been clear to anyone who came into contact with this child that the child was very sick and emaciated," he said. "The facts of this case are very sad."

Quasir weighed five pounds at birth and slightly less than four pounds when he died. He should have weighed about 10 pounds, according to World Health Organization standards.

The district attorney said the boy had not been fed adequately for at least a month.

In a photograph taken after his death, Quasir appears undernourished, with protruding ribs and wrinkled skin.

The boy's family was receiving voluntary services from Lutheran Children and Family Service and was living in the Travelers Aid family shelter on the campus of the Kirkbride Center, which focuses on the treatment of psychiatric and addictive disorders.

Two Lutheran Children workers have been suspended while the organization conducts an investigation, said Richard Gitlen, the group's executive director.

Homicide detectives have interviewed at least one Lutheran Children caseworker, as well as staff at the homeless shelter, sources said.

Gitlen said in a statement last week that Quasir's death "has saddened us deeply," and pledged cooperation with investigators. He did not return calls seeking further comment on Monday.

Lutheran Children became involved with the family after the city's Department of Human Services received a call in July concerning Tanya Williams' 15-year-old daughter, according to sources familiar with the DHS file.

After an investigation, DHS found no evidence of abuse or neglect, but did see a mother who had no stable housing and was overwhelmed, with four children between 3 and 15.

Williams agreed to have her family enrolled in a new voluntary 90-day program, Alternative Response Services (ARS), designed to help stabilize struggling families. At the time, DHS was unaware that Williams was pregnant with twins.

Lutheran Children and Family Service is one of four organizations that have contracts with DHS to handle ARS cases.

Williams began receiving services from Lutheran Children in September, after a DHS worker directed her to the city-run Eliza Shirley Shelter in Center City, a short-term shelter for women and children.

At some point, the family moved to Travelers Aid, a nonprofit agency that provides more long-term housing.

Once in a shelter, Williams told caseworkers that she was pregnant, but gave conflicting information about when she was due.

Her twins were born on Oct. 21 after receiving no pre-natal care. A nurse at the shelter examined the twins when Williams returned with them.

Ted Weerts, the executive director at Travelers Aid, said last week that he could not comment on the family because of privacy rights, but pledged his cooperation with investigators as well.

Williams was supposed to take the twins for doctor visits, but after the nurse's examination, they got no medical attention, according to sources.

Quasir's siblings are now in foster care. His mother, who remains jailed, has a preliminary hearing scheduled this month.

She does not have an attorney, according to online court records.

Although Williams volunteered to receive services and her children were not under the care of any agency, the district attorney said social workers still had a responsibility to Quasir.

"This isn't a child who fell through the cracks, who died in a vacuum," he said. "It doesn't make it any less acceptable for the child to receive such poor attention."