Margarita Garabito Abuse/Murder of S. Daug. Date TBD
Posted on Sat, Oct. 31, 2009 On her 11th birthday, friends mourn death of abused girl By Mark Fazlollah, Allison Steele, and Robert Moran Inquirer Staff Writers Charlenni Ferreira would have turned 11 yesterday. Instead of marking her birth, friends and relatives mourned the death of a girl police said was tortured to death by her father and stepmother. A private funeral service was held in the morning, before Charlenni's body began its trip to the Dominican Republic, where she will be buried. A small group of mourners, including Charlenni's 26-year-old sister, Glenny, went in and out of the Guckin Funeral Mansion in Juniata Park, talking quietly and sometimes comforting each other. "I couldn't prepare for this," said Maria Ramirez, who said she was a friend of one of Charlenni's cousins. "That beautiful girl, she was innocent. It's terrible." Another mourner, Manuel Perez, said Glenny Ferreira was devastated. "She's doing badly," he said. "She's crying, crying so much." Final Farewell, a Jenkintown charity that subsidizes funerals for the children of needy families, assisted with the funeral costs and the transportation of Charlenni's remains. Meanwhile, on Charlenni's old Feltonville block, neighbors who have kept a memorial since her Oct. 21 death held a birthday celebration in her memory. About 200 people filled the street, which police blocked off. Neighbors brought out a cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to Charlenni in English and Spanish before releasing hundreds of balloons into an overcast sky. Daly Blanco, a community activist who helped organize the party, said all the stuffed animals, balloons, and other items left at Charlenni's memorial would be given away by today to children in the neighborhood. "The point of this is, she's all right, she's in heaven, she has no more pain," Blanco said. "Everything is clean again, and the girl is in peace." After Charlenni's funeral service, Guckin held a service for her father, Domingo, who was charged last week in his daughter's death and hanged himself in his jail cell Sunday morning. His body will be cremated and the ashes returned to the Dominican Republic at a later time. This week, a lawyer for Charlenni's stepmother, Margarita Garabito, said Domingo Ferreira's suicide could be seen as "an admission of guilt." Police sources, though, have said that Garabito, 42, is believed to have been the parent who inflicted most, if not all, of the abuse on Charlenni. Domingo Ferreira, 53, was charged as well because he did nothing to stop the beatings, sources said. He also was visiting the Dominican Republic for a month this fall, and did not return until three days before his daughter's death, according to police sources and the family's landlord. Sugeiry Holguin, a niece who arrived from New York for the funeral services, said she was convinced that her uncle was not involved in Charlenni's death. "He's a good person," she said. "He didn't do it." Drivers from High Class Limousines, Domingo Ferreira's old employer, stopped again and again at the funeral home, parking their cars briefly to pay their respects and then quickly going back on the job. Charlenni was suffering from a number of injuries at the time of her death, including a seven-inch gash on her head that had been stuffed with gauze and covered with a hair weave. Ultimately, she died from an infection caused by untreated broken ribs. She also had injuries that showed she had been sexually abused. No sexual assault charges have been filed, as police await the results of DNA tests. During the last three years of her life, Charlenni was seen by a succession of doctors, counselors, and school nurses, and the Department of Human Services was involved with the family for five months in 2006 and 2007. DHS closed her case in 2007 after being unable to substantiate a school nurse's concerns. The agency received no more complaints about Charlenni. Investigators are conducting interviews and combing through Charlenni's medical and other records trying to determine how her abuse, which police officials called one of the worst cases they had seen, could have gone unchecked. Last night, on Charlenni's C Street block, next-door neighbor Wanda Torres, who came up with the idea for the birthday party, spoke to the crowd. Aida Alva translated from Spanish as Torres urged the crowd to be vigilant of children suffering abuse. "Please, please, help them and report it," Torres said. Staff writer Troy Graham contributed to this article. Contact him at 215-854-2730 or tgraham@phillynews.com. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20091031_On_her_11th_birthday__friends_mourn_death_of_abused_girl.html

Posted on Fri, Oct. 23, 2009 Hard life, sad death of a girl nobody knew Cops: Signs of torture, possibly sexual abuse By JULIE SHAW & DAVID GAMBACORTA Philadelphia Daily News shawj@phillynews.com 215-854-2592 NEIGHBORS OF Charlenni Ferreira said they never saw signs to suggest that she was being abused by her family. Then again, they rarely saw the 10-year-old girl outside her Feltonville home. The glimpses they did get of Charlenni in recent years suggested a youngster who was "sick" in some way. She was quiet and thin, they said. She walked with a limp and had a swollen face. But Charlenni's situation apparently was far worse than neighbors imagined. The fifth-grader at Feltonville Intermediate School suffered years of horrific, torturous abuse at the hands of those closest to her, police said. On Wednesday, she died of a lung infection caused by a lack of medical care, hours after she was found unconscious in her home on C Street near Louden, said Sgt. Ray Evers, a police spokesman. Yesterday, the District Attorney's Office approved charges of murder, endangering the welfare of a child and related offenses against the girl's father, Domingo "Anibal" Ferreira, 53, and stepmother, Margarita Garabito, 43. At a news conference, Homicide Capt. James Clark called the alleged child abuse "one of the worst cases that I have ever seen." He confirmed afterward that Charlenni had been sexually assaulted, but did not elaborate. Later in the day, police officials said a medical examiner found injuries to Charlenni's vaginal and anal areas. No sexual-assault charges have been filed against Charlenni's father or stepmother. Doctors from St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and the Medical Examiner's Office noticed "several old and new injuries" on the girl, including severe head trauma, bruising of her back, leg and torso, a recent fractured hip bone and injuries, police said. They said that Charlenni had a gash on her head that had been covered with a hair weave. Clark said that Charlenni's two stepbrothers, ages 16 and 19, who also lived in the house, were questioned and released yesterday. TV news reports said that the city's Department of Human Services had investigated the family in 2007 but had closed the case after the girl's injuries appeared not to be suspicious. DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose said in a written statement yesterday: "I am deeply saddened by the tragic death . . . s the facts of this case become known to DHS, we will have lots of work to do in looking at the recent events that could have led to or have prevented this tragedy." Domingo Ferreira had been working for about four years as an independent driver for High Class Limousine, on Wyoming Avenue near C Street, a block from the family's home. Company owner Yolanda Deliz-Arroyo said that Ferreira was "always a happy person" and an "excellent" worker. "We're shocked with what happened," she said at her office yesterday. The Ferreiras would have parties at their two-story house, which was clean with nice furniture and a nice entertainment system, she said. She said that whenever she saw Charlenni, the girl appeared to be "sick" and "always quiet." "She would always be in her own little world," Deliz-Arroyo said. "She would say hello. She smiled. I never saw her active." Charlenni moved as if she had "like a limping problem." She said that Domingo Ferreira was from the Dominican Republic and had returned a few days ago from that country. Dozens of Feltonville residents gathered for a somber vigil outside the Ferreira house last night. Candles and pink "Snow White" balloons adorned a small table, and a white placard a few feet away reminded people to bring flowers and stuffed animals. The memorial was made all the more sad when it became clear that many of those in attendance had no memories or personal stories of Charlenni to share. "It's terrible. Nobody knew her, or her family, for that matter," said Angie McClain, who lives a few doors away from the Ferreiras. "If we knew that DHS had been investigating them, we could've looked after her." Some neighbors said that Charlenni had come to the city about five years ago from Puerto Rico, where her biological mother is believed to be now. It was not clear if Domingo Ferreira had previously also lived in Puerto Rico. Ricardo Rodriguez, who lives next door to the Ferreiras, said he was shocked when he learned of the allegations against the girl's parents. "They were like a normal family," he said. "One time I asked about her, and they said she just got sick. They didn't say anything else about it." Wanda Torres, 37, who lived next door and whose porch abutted Ferreira's, said that Charlenni appeared to be happy, but that things had seemed to change during the last year. "She was walking funny," Torres said, adding that she didn't see the girl outside often. She said that she would speak with the stepmother and that she appeared to be a good person. But if the allegations of abuse are correct, "let God punish her," Torres said. "A woman like her, that was the devil in the body of the angel." http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/65727732.html