A Carlsbad family said qualified family members and friends were lined up to take care of a three-month-old baby, but instead, Child Protective Services put the baby in foster care, where he died last Thursday.
CPS took Zane Wolfgang Thomas away from his mother, Kimberly, shortly after he was born June 8. Kimberly was struggling with a drug addiction, she said.
“We had to find out that he was moved to a foster parent’s home,” Ulises Thomas, Zane’s uncle said.
“Foster parents should work if the young lady doesn’t have anyone to go to in the state. That’s a foster parent. But we had grandma, we had family friends. We had everybody here. I even drew it out for them I said you had A and B. The whole time,” Ulises Thomas said.
They said baby Zane was already in grandma’s care up to five days a week
“I was so happy. When he was with me he was so happy. Always, always happy,” Maria Thomas said.
They said CPS finally granted Maria full custody, starting in October.
September 8 was one of the few days of the week CPS had baby Zane in foster care at a home in Scripps Ranch.
That day, he died.
“I cry day and night,” Maria Thomas said through tears.
Police believe Zane died from a medical condition, but the autopsy is not complete.
The Thomas family also said CPS did not tell them Zane was dead for 24 hours.
“They just dropped the ball. I feel helpless. No answers. I feel ignored. I just don’t think any human being should be treated like this,” Kimberly Thomas said.
10News reached out to CPS and a spokesperson said they would not talk about this specific case, but said procedure is always to keep the child with the biological family first.
The Thomas family wants an outside audit of Zane Thomas’ case.
“They had people lined up. It wasn’t like it was a mystery, like where should we place the baby?” Ulises Thomas said.
