The accused killer of a Fulton County boy under the watch the Georgia Division of Families and Children Services waived a first appearance hearing Wednesday morning.
Michael Williams is accused of homicide in the Feb. 6 death of 4-year-old Nasir Patrick. Williams, the former boyfriend of the boy's mother, Yakeera Patrick, remains in the Fulton County jail.
State child protection officials have acknowledged they failed to properly watch over the boy, who died of head injuries. DFCS had an open case on the family of Nasir Patrick, but there was confusion about which worker was to visit the home, said Acting DFCS Deputy Director Kathy Herren. Consequently no workers made a documented visit there in nearly two months before Nasir was injured Jan. 25.
“We were remiss in visiting the child,” Herren told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday.
DFCS fired three employees after the boy died.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner declared the death a homicide Tuesday, finding that Nasir died of delayed complications from blunt force head trauma.
Nasir’s death came to light through a joint investigation by the AJC and Channel 2 Action News. It was among 35 deaths in the past ten weeks of children whose families have a DFCS history.
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