Bullock v. Miss. Dep't of Child Prot. Servs.
| Decision Date | 19 July 2022 |
| Docket Number | 2020-CA-00966-COA |
| Citation | 343 So.3d 1079 |
| Parties | Tenisha Monchelle BULLOCK, Appellant v. MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES and Jackson County Department of Child Protection Services, Appellees |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
343 So.3d 1079
Tenisha Monchelle BULLOCK, Appellant
v.
MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES and Jackson County Department of Child Protection Services, Appellees
NO. 2020-CA-00966-COA
Court of Appeals of Mississippi.
July 19, 2022
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: MARCUS PITTMAN, Pascagoula
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES: TONYA MICHELLE BLAIR, Jackson
BEFORE CARLTON, P.J., LAWRENCE AND McCARTY, JJ.
LAWRENCE, J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1. Tenisha Bullock appeals from the Jackson County Youth Court's judgment terminating her parental rights to her four children. Specifically, she argues that (1) the youth court erred in finding that the Jackson County Department of Child Protection Services (CPS) presented clear and convincing evidence to support a termination of parental rights (TPR); and (2) the court-appointed guardian ad litem (GAL) failed to conduct a proper investigation. Finding no error, we affirm the youth court's judgment terminating Bullock's parental rights.
FACTS
¶2. At the time of this appeal, Bullock had four children—Lucy, born in 2011; Thomas, born in 2014; Jack, born in 2015; and William, born in 2016.1 In January 2017, Bullock lived with Trevon Jones, Thomas’ legal father and Jack and William's putative father. Lucy was enrolled in kindergarten at College Park Elementary School in Gautier, Mississippi. On January 18, 2017, Lucy went to see the school nurse, Christy Tingle. Lucy appeared to have a one-inch red mark on her right cheek, a half-inch red mark on her forehead, a two-inch red mark on her nose, and bluish red bruising and swelling around her left eyebrow and left eye. Lucy told Nurse Tingle that the night before, she was playing with her brothers in their room. Soon after, her mother's boyfriend,
Jones,2 came in the room, "grabbed [her] by her hair," "punched [her] in the face," "crashed [her] to the floor on her head," and then locked her outside. Nurse Tingle filed a report with CPS, which included a body diagram indicating the location of Lucy's injuries as well as a written account of how Lucy allegedly sustained the injuries.
¶3. The next day, Lucy got off the bus wearing only one shoe. When Nurse Tingle asked Lucy why she had on only one shoe, Lucy said she got herself ready because her parents were sleeping. Nurse Tingle gave Lucy some new socks and shoes and noticed three abrasions on Lucy's face, each about one centimeter in diameter. When Nurse Tingle asked Lucy what happened, Lucy said, "My daddy hit me in the face with a switch last night" because "he just wanted to." Nurse Tingle filed another report with CPS.
¶4. On January 23, 2017, Nurse Tingle saw a two-inch scratch to the left side of Lucy's neck. Lucy told Nurse Tingle that Jones "had scratched [her] with his nails because he was mad at [her] because [she] was eating cornbread, collard greens and green beans, and he wanted to eat them." Nurse Tingle filed a third report with CPS in which she noted that she had already filed two previous reports.
¶5. On February 1, 2017, Lucy arrived at school with a half-inch laceration on the right side of her neck and a one-inch red mark surrounded by bluish bruising. Lucy told Nurse Tingle that Jones was mad at her for "play fighting" with her brothers, so "he hit [her] with [a] belt on [her] hand a bunch of times and then cut [her] with a knife." Lucy said her mother was asleep when Jones abused her, but she told her mother what happened the following morning. According to Lucy, her mother told her to tell the school nurse. Nurse Tingle filed a fourth report with CPS and included the dates she had filed her three previous reports. This was Nurse Tingle's last report for the school year.
¶6. School resumed on August 4, 2017, but Lucy was not present. Lucy eventually reported to the school on August 22, 2017. Jones walked her into school. While Lucy was walking to class, she complained to Nurse Tingle that her arm was hurting. Nurse Tingle examined Lucy and noticed a four-inch by three-inch welt or bruise to her upper-right arm. Lucy told Nurse Tingle that "my daddy hit me with a belt because I missed the bus this morning." Upon further examination, Nurse Tingle noticed Lucy also had a cut on the right corner of her mouth with dried blood on it, a one-and-a-half-inch by two-inch red welt or bruise on her left-inner forearm, a four-inch by three-inch welt on the back of her left shoulder blade, and a three-inch (in diameter) welt or bruise on her left flank area. Lucy also had multiple old healing marks on her chest, stomach, and neck. Nurse Tingle filed a fifth report with CPS and referred back to her four previous filings. Following that fifth report, CPS caseworker Eleria Nettles came to the school to meet with Lucy, but CPS did not remove Lucy from the home.
¶7. On August 23, 2017, Lucy rode the afternoon bus home but was returned to school because no one was at the bus stop to get her. Nurse Tingle and Suzanne Ros, the school principal, took Lucy home and knocked on the door. Jones answered. According to Nurse Tingle, Jones "immediately started going for her[,]" and she pulled Lucy behind her. Nurse Tingle stated that Jones was "angry" because he claimed Lucy had seen him walking toward the bus to get her. Nurse Tingle
called Nettles and told her she was worried for Lucy's safety because she felt like Jones "could really hurt her." Around 4:30 p.m. that day, Nettles went to Lucy's home to check on her, but no one appeared to be home.
¶8. On August 30, 2017, Lucy got off the bus with a busted lip. When Nurse Tingle asked her what happened, Lucy said, "My daddy hit me with [a] switch because he was mad, but I don't know why ... my mama said she better not get anybody calling her or coming over to the house about this either." Upon her examination, Nurse Tingle noticed a one-centimeter (in diameter) abrasion with a scab on Lucy's left cheek, red bruising on her left thumb, and a half-inch laceration on the middle part of her lower lip. Nurse Tingle filed a sixth report and noted that Nettles was Lucy's caseworker.
¶9. On September 5, 2017, Lucy did not show up for school. Nurse Tingle and Principal Ros went to Lucy's home that morning to check on her. They knocked on the door, and Bullock answered. Bullock told Nurse Tingle and Principal Ros that Lucy had missed the bus but that she was almost ready. So Nurse Tingle and Principal Ros took Lucy to school. They both noticed that Lucy had a "strong odor." Lucy told them she had not had a bath since the week before. Nurse Tingle gave Lucy a towel, a washcloth, baby soap, and a set of new clothes. Lucy told Nurse Tingle...
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