Keron Owens

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keron Owens was born with cerebral palsy and required a feeding tube through his stomach, as well as considerable care and attention. He lived with his family in a poor neighborhood outside Walterboro, South Carolina. On November 16, 1991, the Marlboro County Sheriff's received a phone call reporting a domestic dispute in progress. A sheriff's deputy was dispatched to the Owens home to investigate. Although there were no allegations of child abuse or neglect, when the sheriff`s deputy arrived, she decided it would be best to have Keron removed from the Owens home. The police record indicates "insufficient home environment" as the given reason.

 

Three year old, Keron was placed in a foster home in the care of Roosevelt and Dorothy Hodges. On January 19, 1992, two months after he had been placed with the Hodges, the foster parents brought lifeless, Keron to the hospital. The Hodges said that Keron had bumped his head on the door facing in moving from one room to another. Then they said that he had fallen out of a seat belt or buckle and hit the floor in the car.

The autopsy determined that Keron died of subdural hematoma, hemorrhaging around the surface of the brain. The findings indicated that Keron had suffered a violent shaking, one which resulted in a case of what is more commonly referred to as "shaken baby syndrome."

 

A year later, no one had been charged with the crime. The State Police were saying it was likely that no one would ever be. The Hodges and their children, 17 year old Naketa and 12 year old Terril, refused to tell what they knew about Keron's death. They invoked their Fifth Amend rights.

 

 Unknown- January 19, 1992