Arrest warrants allege that the 2-year-old foster child who died last month in the care of a Henry County commission candidate and her husband was malnourished and severely beaten.
The couple’s attorney, however, called the charges “a big mistake.”
Aspiring politician Jennifer Rosenbaum, 27, and her husband, Joseph, were arrested Friday, nearly three weeks after the Nov. 17 death of Laila Marie Daniel, a child placed in their custody by the Division of Family and Children Services. Authorities have said they responded to the Rosenbaums' home on McDonough's Lincoln Terrace that night after receiving a "choking" call, but have otherwise released few details about the investigation.
Warrants obtained after the couple’s Monday court appearance provide more insight into the murder, aggravated assault and child cruelty charges against Jennifer Rosenbaum, as well as the child cruelty charges against her husband.
The documents said Jennifer Rosenbaum hit Laila “in the abdomen with such force the child sustained a transected pancreas,” which GBI investigators described as a “major contributing factor to the child’s death.”
Jennifer Rosenbaum is also accused of “failing to feed [Laila] in quantities necessary to sustain an adequate body weight.” Warrants said the girl’s 4-year-old sister claimed Jennifer Rosenbaum hit her as well, and “makes her state that she fell down if anyone asks her about the injuries.”
Warrants taken against Joseph Rosenbaum accuse him of striking both girls.
“Laila Daniel also sustained bone breaks about her body that Joseph Rosenbaum knew about, or should have known about, and failed to provide adequate care for the child,” one warrant said.
Why Laila and her sister were taken from their biological parents remained unclear Monday, as did the specific relationship between the children and the Rosenbaums. A DFCS official did say, however, that the Rosenbaums fell under the category of fictive kin — “relatives and other appropriate caregivers who are close to the family.”
“Placing a child with relatives or caregivers who are close to the family is widely recognized as a best practice in child welfare that potentially limits trauma for children, because it offers a sense of stability in a turbulent time and allows a child to stay connected to his or her community,” DFCS said in an emailed statement. “All potential replacement resources must undergo a vigorous background review.”
Jennifer Rosenbaum previously announced herself as a candidate for Henry County’s District 1 commission seat, for which an election will be held next year. Her LinkedIn page says she is currently studying law at Emory University and serving as a legal extern with the House Civil Judiciary Committee.
She previously spent time as a legislative intern, an aide to state Rep. Mike Dudgeon and a legal intern to Henry County Probate Court Judge Kelley S. Powell, the page said. A 2013 graduate of Clayton State University, she was a military police officer in the Georgia National Guard from April 2008 to April 2014.
The attorney representing both Rosenbaums, Corinne Mull, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that her clients are innocent and that Jennifer Rosenbaum is “extremely distraught and dismayed at the thought she would hurt a child.”
Mull said warrants state that the injuries occurred sometime between June 13 and Laila’s death — and that the Rosenbaums didn’t have custody of the children until late July.
“When you take in foster children, you don’t know what’s in their history,” Mull said. “And you’re left with the hot potato.”
Messages left with several members of Laila’s biological family went unreturned Monday. In a statement emailed to The AJC, Roger Krause, who represents biological parents Tessa Clendening and Anthony Daniel, called the situation “tragic.”
“My clients are grieving at the loss of their young daughter and, as of right now, wish for privacy in that process,” Krause wrote in an email.
During a brief Monday morning court appearance, Joseph Rosenbaum, 26, was granted a $10,000 bond. He was released Monday afternoon, Mull said.
A Jan. 12 preliminary hearing was set for Jennifer Rosenbaum, whose bond will be addressed in Superior Court.
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