The State of Kansas has settled with the father of a child who was killed by her drug-addicted mother’s boyfriend despite being reported to child protective agencies many times.
Jayla Haag-Waters tested positive for meth at birth, and if she’d been removed from her mother by the state when she should have been, she might not have died also testing positive for meth at just 18 months old.
In the days before her death, baby Jayla suffered horribly. When her grandmother brought her to the emergency room in March of 2002 claiming the tot had fallen down some stairs, she had bruises, bleeding on the brain, malnourishment, severe head injuries, a fractured jaw, and her teeth had been forcibly removed with pliers.
The child’s mother, Alyssa Haag, admitted to investigators that her boyfriend, Justin Edwards, had repeatedly struck and strangled her daughter. Both she and her boyfriend had smoked methamphetamines in front of the baby throughout her short life.
Jayla Michelle Haag Watters died March 30, 2012. It’s taken years for the state to settle with her father, but they finally did, paying him $75,000 for not intervening and protecting the child when it was their moral and legal obligation to do so. The money can never bring his daughter back, so it’s too little, too late for the father, Steven Watters. The settlement does send a strong message to the state, however—protect children or pay.
Senate President Susan Wagle said the case is something she’s ashamed of, and indeed she should be. Everyone involved in this case, and those who should have been involved yet were not, should be ashamed.
In 2013 Alyssa Haag was sentenced to 31 months in prison for her role in her daughter’s death. That means she has since been released. Hopefully she is on the state’s radar now, because she’s still young enough to have more children.
This is not where any father should have to go to visit his daughter. RIP Jayla.
In memory of Jayla Haag-Watters. A touching tribute for a beautiful baby. This never should have been allowed to happen. Her blood is on the state’s hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypPUcA4rojU