Local 4 News at 6 -- Feb. 6, 2023

live from downtown Detroit Local 4 News at 6 starts now after death of five-year-old boy Local 4 is asking tough questions it's horrifying it's scandalous um it's a shock it's a shock to the conscience tonight it What We Have Learned About Children Who Have Died in Michigan's Child Welfare System Ethan Belcher's aunts had called Child Protective Services concerned for his safety at his parents' home and after encountering obstacles on the roads to To get answers about what CPS did to care for this child, we started asking questions about cases in the system. The state revealed to Local 4 that they have investigated hundreds of deaths of children who were involved with Michigan's child welfare system.

Rob Maloney lives tonight with worrying numbers and the reaction bar. Yes, Devin, the state separates the child welfare system into three parts: Foster Care, Child Protection. Services and adoption are required to report child deaths and then they are supposed to investigate them and what we found is that while many of the cases of child deaths do not come from child abuse, the number of child deaths from suspected abuse are downright chilling five-year-old Ethan Belcher died two weeks ago Prosecutors accused his parents Valerie Hamilton and stepfather Shane Shelton of murder and torture, although it turns out that, according to figures from the Michigan Child Advocate's office, the death of Ethan is very common in his In the most recent annual reports, Oco tells us that state law requires Michigan child welfare agencies to report child deaths when there is prior involvement within 24 months before the death.

Each case is investigated between 2020 and 2021. Oco received 741 preliminary death alerts and most of them are Not due to child abuse, they say, but the ombudsman's office does tell Local 4 that abuse was highly suspected and child neglect in 135 of the 741 child deaths in 2020 and 2021. End quote, disturbing math says that in Michigan a child died in or related to the child welfare system every five days for perspective we turn to someone who regularly deals with child welfare Claude Nice Holloman, who runs the Genesee County nonprofit called Voices of Children, is glorifying, it's outrageous, um, it's a shock, it's a shock to the conscience, but what What I recognize is that it's 135 kids and we as a community have to do something, it's not just about Child Protective Services, it's not just about those of us who work in the system.

However, Ethan's family intervened and he ended up being removed from the house and then returning State Senator Jim Runstead is furious after introducing a bill last week seeking more transparency from CPS. He is terrifying and what is so discouraging is that we can't get any information. I would like to know when he went wrong in each of these cases. There was a catastrophic failure like there was in the Ethan Belcher case, we just don't know, so we have to break this system overseas. Here is a statement from Susanna Shkreli, Michigan's children's ombudsman, on the death of Ethan Belcher.

It is a tragedy and my heart goes out to his family and friends. My office was notified of Ethan's death on January 22 and began the investigation process. Upon conclusion of the investigation, any recommendations for changes to the child welfare system are forwarded to the appropriate agencies. and posted for the public to see, end quote, so Rob, the office says they will post the recommendations. What about the information about this specific case? Well, that could end up in a report and we won't necessarily have it for quite some time, but This is what we put in a foia for this case and we were told flat out that CPS is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act and that's why Jim Runstead says that that's what your bill is about, changing that part of this system to make it public.

It's been so opaque for so long, exactly true, okay, Rod's families with a heartbreaking Bond are making it their mission to raise awareness about the dangers of opioids. Yes, everyone lost their loved ones to fentanyl poisoning and expect billboards like this. I-75 in Auburn Hills can save other families from the same pain. Sean Lay has the story of him. Good evening from Auburn Hills. We are invited by a large group of families to walk through the weeds and mud to see it up close. that big sign there along I-75, this meeting we have with parents is absolutely heartbreaking but so important and here's why Jane Toscano drove here today from Grand Rapids to see this sign for the first time.

She wanted to start crying, but I held it. When my grandson was 21 years old he thought he was buying a pill what he received was a fake Percocet, he was retinal and he died upstairs in his room. These parents and grandparents are part of a club that is growing with 300 deaths every day, not from drug overdoses but from fentanyl. poisonings this sign a flashing red flag for parents driving by that their child could be next breaks my heart every minute breaks my heart but we have to do it we have to do it we have to post the warnings and we have to be the voice that our children can no longer be Rebecca El Muscud lost his son Brandon, who took a pill that he did not know was 100 fentanyl.

She is with them. We fought against Dot Organ, the Billboard project and worked hard for it. this message up here a lot of emotions probably I just want my goal to be to raise awareness I want people to understand that the families of these children are being affected by this they are being murdered they are not overdoses these are poisonings these children are not asking to die we are not going to stop we will be your voice because my son's life his babies they mattered he mattered we greatly appreciate the meaning of the angel family is on that sign to show us today and to be clear guys we are not talking about drug overdoses we are talking from a loved one who swallows or buys a pill like they think it's Xanax, but it's absolutely deadly 100 pure fentanyl.

Stop, the country needs to step up, of course, and people need to be held accountable. Now, the organizations we are talking about, for them, we fight.org. Also, the Billboard project will link you to them on our website, click on detroit.com and Guys, there are two versions of the poster on that screen that we showed you, you can only put 80 loved ones on those very strong posters of that family that They want to share their story to raise awareness and hopefully help other families. Sean, we appreciate that, right? Governor Whitman. launches Democratic plan to help with inflation and includes sending every Michigan taxpayer a direct check and $180 refund checks would go to each taxpayer as part of a package that would also reduce the tax on public and private pensions.

The governor says it could save 500,000 homes for about a thousand dollars the plan also calls for an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit up to 30 percent the governor says that would be equivalent to about thirty hundred dollars Republicans, though instead They are pushing for Michigan's income tax rate to be reduced. However, it could be automatically cut due to an increase in tax revenue. A law was passed so that when our government received too much money, there would be an automatic trigger and that's what we're seeing right now, we're in a position. that we can really provide real long-term financial relief when we focus on these three methods to put money back in people's pockets, we can ensure it gets there, we can act quickly and it's a hell of a lot more meaningful to people, so please vote about the proposal.

They are expected to emerge this week. Democrats, of course, have a majority in both the Senate and House, but some Republican support would be needed for this to take effect immediately. We will follow it throughout the week. Okay, help me. Hank scam alert for anyone watching. We at Xfinity Cable police say scammers are using a familiar tactic to target customers. Police in Hazel Park have received several complaints about this consumer investigator. Hank Winchester is alive with the warning and Hank, this involved Xfinity and Target, yes, and Kimberly, these stories just break me. heart because in this case you have an elderly person who lost a thousand dollars and bought Target gift cards here because they told him that if he sent them to the representative, the representative, the person who thought it was an Xfinity wrapper, he would receive a great deal on your cable bill, but as you will see, everything you received was scammed.

I thought, well, I'm one of those older people who got caught. Donna Turner told me that she thought she was getting a great deal on her cable and internet bill from Xfinity, but instead they ripped her off big time and said oh no, this is good, this is a good deal. Donna received emails and phone calls from someone claiming to be an Xfinity representative, her promotional rate was about to expire and she wanted a new deal and was offered even bigger savings. All she had to do was purchase two 500 Target gift cards and share that information with the alleged representative.

She did just that and says she knew almost instantly that she had been scammed. I said well that doesn't sound right and he said oh no. This is a good promotion. Target has our back and I said well I don't know, he says well I guarantee it and then we'll release three new iPhones. The Hazel Park police tell you to help me, Hank, because Donna is missing. In fact, she is not the only recent victim of this scam that is spreading throughout Metro Detroit and not only is she linked to the Xfinity DTE imposter who is also making the move on her right now.

Remember this if someone offers you a deal that sounds great or tells you she can pay with a gift card. she remembers it's probably a scam and I said but they'll catch you if they don't catch you here they'll catch you at Pearly Gates yeah Karma thank you so much to Donna because she wanted to share this story with hope. don't let it happen to you, a good reminder for all of us, maybe have a conversation with our parents or grandparents, these scammers that they target, older people, let them know the dangers of these gift card scams that are proliferating right now throughout Metro Detroit.

We're live here Hank Winchester, help me Hank, I'll answer you, okay Hank, thank you. A series of bomb threats made against Walmart stores in metro Detroit today may be part of a nationwide problem. Deputies say someone made threatening phone calls to the stores in Rochester Hills White. Lake Township and Canton, the man threatened to blow up the store if a cash ransom was not paid. The stores were evacuated and searched. Agents say the threats were not credible. They are working with investigators nationwide to find the caller. Things are heating up in Metro Detroit. those snow drifts are going to melt as we watch live from our Mount Clemens skycam oh yeah, beautiful night tonight, meteorologist Kim Adams here with uh, we're tracking some rain, not snow, no rain this time .

With that melt, Thursday there will be a lot of melt and a lot of water on the roads, but I want to show you something new on our weather alert app, it's called my picks and my picks and it's easy, you can just upload photos. from your pets the weather your kids whatever you want to show us this is from Doreen it's she's her puppy in Detroit so sweet so just go to our 401 weather app or any of our apps here at Local 4 and you can upload a my choice 32 degrees at City Airport 29 at Mount Clemens 32 at Pontiac it's colder this afternoon than yesterday we had a very weak cold front last night and a little bit of cold air remained, but that won't last long tonight We'll see temperatures drop to around 30 degrees and then they will begin to rise overnight tonight tomorrow we will have southerly winds that will quickly warm us up to 40 degrees.

We will have rain in the morning. but clearing in the afternoon I will have more on this good warm up coming our way in just a few minutes, well Kim, we have a lot more ahead of us here at six, let's talk to Dr. McGeorge.