LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — Before a Children’s Protective Services (CPS) caseworker dismissed a Detroit boy’s claim that his mother choked and wanted to kill him—months before prosecutors say she did—state watchdogs were concerned that CPS workers were mishandling reports of strangulation.
Watch Ross Jones' video report:
But a 7 News Detroit investigation reveals that, for more than a year, CPS has resisted calls to train its frontline employees in recognizing the signs and seriousness of strangulation.
The revelation comes just a week after the family of 9-year-old Zemar King—the Detroit boy killed after offering the chilling warning to CPS—filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the State of Michigan.
“I don’t know why any CPS worker that’s dealing directly with these cases would not be trained in recognizing signs of strangulation,” said Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park), who represents the district where Zemar King lived.
Watch below: Detroit boy warned CPS his mom wanted 'to kill him.' Prosecutors say she did.
The warning inside the Plymouth hospital could not have been more clear. With his mother Brandee Pierce in the throes of a mental health crisis, Zemar told a CPS caseworker that his family had no place to live, that his mom “(whoops) him with a belt,” “choked him with her hands” and “(wants) to kill him.”
While documenting Zemar’s warnings in their report, the CPS employee would conclude “there is no preponderance of evidence of physical neglect.” Zemar and his family were sent to a homeless shelter.
Months later, according to prosecutors, Pierce would kill Zemar, burying him in this Detroit backyard. The cause of death: smothering and compression of the neck.
“He was advocating for his own life, and he was ignored,” said Talisa Garcia, a longtime friend of Pierce.
‘You cannot wait to train’
How any CPS employee could ignore a cry for help so clear might seem unfathomable. But more than a year ago, state watchdogs found that a number of CPS workers were mishandling reports of strangulation and urged the department to fix it.
In August of 2023—more than a year before Zemar died—the Office of the Child Advocate would open an investigation into how staff treated a reported strangulation.
The office helps to oversee CPS, and it was probing how employees treated the reported strangulation of a 14-year-old girl by her adoptive father.
Despite the seriousness of the claim, CPS intake staff would not refer it for investigation, according to the OCA, because the child “didn’t have any marks, bruises or injuries.”
The Office of the Child Advocate dug further, finding that intake staff didn’t know the difference between choking and strangulation, and that they only assigned strangulation reports to be investigated if a “child loses consciousness, can’t breathe or has a visible injury.”
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“If a child is saying they’re being strangled or choked,” said Rep. Regina Weiss, “I would hope that would warrant an extensive investigation.”
Casey Gwinn, the co-founder of the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, said that child welfare agencies have long misunderstood reports of strangulation.
“You are not going to have visible injuries in most of these strangulation or suffocation cases,” Gwinn said. “You can kill someone with no external visible injury.”
Gwinn notes that 85% of strangulation cases leave no visible injuries.
“As soon as somebody has put their hands around a child’s neck or smothers a child, they have just raised their hand and said they are a killer,” Gwinn said. “You cannot ignore that. You cannot wait to intervene. You cannot wait to train. This is life and death.”
The OCA investigation found that only half of the state’s intake staff—the first point of contact when allegations are made—had ever been trained in the signs of strangulation.
Last year, the office recommended that all intake staff receive the training—and not just them.
It recommended “all new and current MDHHS staff” receive it too—that would include caseworkers, like those who come face-to-face with children.
But more than a year since that recommendation was made—and more than a two years after Zemar warned a caseworker that his mother wanted to kill him—CPS has taken no steps to train its staff.
‘It makes no sense at all’
Lawmakers were surprised to learn that the training hadn’t taken place.
Rep. Angela Rigas, a Republican from Caledonia, said the training was overdue, especially in light of the death of Zemar King.
“This child was pleading for help. This child felt that he was in danger,” Rigas said. “This child said the words: ‘I think my mom wants to kill me.’”
“Goodness,” said Rep. Luke Meerman (R-Coopersville), chair of the House Subcommittee on Child Welfare. “If anyone puts their hands around your neck and restricts your airway, that’s pretty serious thing."
“I definitely think training should happen.”
Watch below: Senate bill would prioritize CPS complaints coming from Michigan schools
After being told the training was never scheduled, he responded: “I would love to ask the department why.”
In response to questions by 7 News Detroit, MDHHS spokeswoman Erin Stover said, in part, that centralized intake staff are “directed to assign all allegations involving choking or strangulation for investigation, regardless of visible injury.”
While half of intake staff never received the specialized training, Stover said they were later given “hard copies of the training materials” instead. Stover said expanding the training to other CPS staff could happen in the future "if funding becomes available."
The cost of the initial funding for half of the state’s centralized intake staff, Stover said, was just over $4,000.
“It makes no sense at all,” said Gwinn, the strangulation training expert.
“What is the life of a child worth? What’s the liability of the state for the failure to intervene, resulting in the death of a child? That liability could run into the millions of dollars. It is shocking and stunning to me whenever any organization says, ‘Well we can’t afford to do this training.’”
Brandee Pierce is scheduled to go to trial for her son’s murder in January. She has pleaded not guilty.
MDHHS did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit filed last week by the family of Zemar King.
“There are other kids out here,” said Talisa Garcia, Pierce’s longtime friend. “Let’s use this as an opportunity to save others, because Zemar mattered…children matter.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.