Adoptee's bruises add to Russians' anger

ODESSA, Texas - A 3-year-old boy whose death fueled a fight over American adoptions of Russian children was brought into a Texas hospital unresponsive and bruised on several parts of his body, a medical examiner's investigator said Tuesday.

Russian authorities have blamed the Jan. 21 death of Max Alan Shatto on "inhuman treatment" at the hands of the American family that adopted him. The medical examiner's office said it could not immediately be determined if the bruises were intentional or accidental.

The boy was identified by the Russians as Maxim Kuzmin. Authorities in West Texas continue to investigate the case, and an autopsy is pending.

Shirley Standefer, chief investigator for the Ector County Medical Examiner's Office, says there were signs of bruising on Max's body, including in the lower abdominal area.

"Whether it's just normal bruising from a child being a child, or whether those bruises are from something else, I can't confirm or deny this," Standefer said.

No one answered the door Tuesday at the Gardendale home of Alan and Laura Shatto, the couple who adopted Max and his biological brother from the same orphanage in northwestern Russia, according to a Russian official. The Shattos did not return several phone messages. Other relatives could not be reached for comment.

Russian Foreign Ministry official Konstantin Dolgov said in a statement that the boy's death was "yet another case of inhuman treatment of a Russian child adopted by American parents."

An estimated 60,000 Russian children have been adopted by Americans in the last two decades, though future adoptions have been thrown into question after the Russian government passed a ban on American adoptions late last year.