In law enforcement they say one of the hardest things to investigate is the death of a young child. Easily images of nieces and nephews, sons and daughters come to mind bringing the life and dreams of spirited youth to the investigators imagination. Innocence so cruelly snuffed out. Sorrow as thick as the earth’s crust surrounding those who loved and cared for the child, swallowing up those with heart and humanity and spitting them into a world of darkness and evil intent.

Young Kayla Allen was once one of those spirited children whose life spread to those around her like a soft breeze through sheer lace-covered curtains moving gently around an open window, a contagious laugh, a beaming smile. She was made of pixie-dust and fairy-tale feathers.

Kayla’s life ended tragically and mysteriously. The mystery isn’t so much about what happened but how it happened. No one is talking much except her blood relatives. No one is saying much at all.

When Kayla was born to her young mother she entered a world full of love. She was her mother’s little baby and more than anything Kayla’s mother, Nicole, wanted to care for her best she could. Unfortunately the circumstances surrounding Nicole’s life made that desire hard to fulfill.

Nicole soon made the difficult decision to give her child to her brother and his wife early on because Nicole found it impossible to raise her all alone and begin her career in the Marine Corps. Boot camp makes no accommodations for small, little children.

So Nicole’s brother and wife begin to care for little Kayla. Raising her as their own child. Kayla is still in the “family” so-to-speak, still getting cards at Christmas from her Grandma and others who love her. Still being seen and loved by those kinfolk.

Kayla’s life is fairly uneventful. Raised in a house with other children, going to school, swimming, dancing, running barefoot in the yard chasing fireflies in the quiet community of Richlands, North Carolina. For all intent and purpose a seemingly normal kid in a normal family.

Soon the custody is official and papers were signed, all rights had been transferred from Nicole to her brother and his wife. Little by little the family begins a downward spiral. Separation and divorce, arguments and violence, things began to crumble. Harsh discipline becomes more of a norm in Kayla’s life rather than a rare moment of ill tempered, poor judgment.

Kayla stays at home with her uncle’s ex-wife, her “mom-aunt”, the woman who helped to raise her, her legal guardian, Carolyn Langford-Ochoa-Allen. (Now remarried and her last name is currently Futrell) It is uncertain how Kayla lived from this point. We will never know how many fireflies she caught on those grassy lawns after the family broke up.

What we do know is that Kayla’s grandmother became aware of some serious bruises on Kayla’s small underweight body. photos of bruises The bruises were serious enough to cause her grandmother to take Kayla from North Carolina to Michigan where the grandmother resided.

Taking a child without permission is kidnapping, even if it is done so by a family member and even if the family member is doing it in goodwill.

In June 2002 charges were filed against the grandmother, Kayla was returned back to the home she was taken from and so began the sorrowful events that make up this mystery. Even though the police report in Michigan recorded Kayla’s testimony of abuse she was still sent back into that home. police report one police report two

Kayla’s aunt, Heather Baker, wanted to adopt Kayla. Heather had already been a foster parent in the past and had proven herself to be a fit and caring mother, yet she was unable to gain custody away from Ms. Futrell.

Time passes, mostly with arguments in courts, with judges, attorneys and the Department of Social Services about Kayla and Kayla’s rights. The struggle wore on the little girl and she took solace best she could. Children are like that. Adaptive and flexible. Adults are demanding and rigid, each side wanting Kayla.

By the summer of 2003, about a year from the time Kayla was brought back down to North Carolina from Michigan, Kayla’s “mom-aunt” Carolyn Langford-Ochoa-Allen-Futrell begins the final process for adopting Kayla. The adoption supposedly goes through in June of 2003.

Kayla spends her summer on vacation and enjoying herself best she can in her isolated world. Not too much is known about this period of her life except that on August 24th, 2003 she was dead.

Less than 2 months short of her 8th birthday, Kayla is sent to bed because it has been reported that Kayla was feeling ill and feverish. Soon after putting her down, she was discovered unconscious, with blood on her face, lips, and pillow where she had vomited up some of the contents of her stomach. Kayla supposedly drank a poisonous cocktail of water and a powerful commercial grade insecticide. Atroban, the insecticide, is to be diluted to one part Atroban per 1,600 parts of water or one ounce per 12.5 gallons. prior to use on livestock. This is the recommended dosage for use on livestock., not children. If my math is correct converting milliliters to ounces, Kayla consumed more than 3 ounces (two shot glasses full) of the poison. Enough to soak, not spritz but soak, 25 head of cattle if diluted and used per specifications.

Some of the reports vary in exact detail but the autopsy of little Kayla revealed troubling circumstances. First the “cocktail” was in a generic plastic water bottle hidden under Kayla’s pillow. Second the amount, of this vile tasting petroleum based product, was doubtfully swallowed voluntarily because of the instinctive gag reflex action anytime something so sinister enters ones mouth. That and the fact that even when the substance is touched with the bare skin it burns and can cause blisters. This product is extremely dangerous and is only available in specialty farmer’s supply stores and catalogues. It is not something the general public is even aware of due to its potential for environmental toxicity. Thirdly, with the knowledge of the gag reflex and the burning once the product is introduced to the skin why would Kayla not cry out for help if she did this herself by some sort of accident? Instead we are asked to believe she hid the bottle and quietly went to sleep, dying with out a noticeable fuss.

This is where the train gets going around the track a little too fast. Not only is Kayla dead but on November 21, 2003, Kayla’s grandmother in Michigan, the one who was charged with kidnapping, committed suicide. She had promised to Kayla she would never let anything bad ever happen to her again. She was so convinced that Kayla’s life was in danger back a year prior that she risked her own freedom to rescue her granddaughter from the home Kayla ultimately died in. Kayla’s grandmother felt she failed little Kayla, not knowing it was the system that failed.

The Onslow County Department of Social Services leads the state with children dying while on their watch. Repeated failures in the system have sent children back to abusive homes to later be found murdered. Kayla’s death has not even been included in those numbers yet because she has not been officially listed as a victim of a homicide. story of another child killed in Onslow County

How are we to believe this was anything other than a homicide?

So now we want to know who did it right? Who killed Kayla? Was it intentional? Why was it done? Will they do it again to another person someday? And are they going to get away with it?

A segment of a community in Jacksonville, North Carolina is beginning to lose patience with the District Attorneys Office. Faithfully the aunt Heather, birth mother Nicole as well as friends of Kayla’s and sympathizers post in the local newspaper’s internet forum (http://www.enctoday.com) various suppositions and theories, as well as offer support to each other’s activism on Kayla’s behalf.

Hopefully this mystery will soon be solved but in the meantime people are demanding answers and cling to visions of a spirited little blond haired girl chasing fireflies on a warm summer evening, barefoot and giggling, innocent and with a future full of promise.

Social Services was reviewed following death
May 22, 2004
ROSELEE PAPANDREA
DAILY NEWS STAFF
The state Division of Social Services released a report Friday indicating that Onslow County DSS was reviewed following the August 2003 poisoning death of a 7-year-old Richlands girl whose home life was investigated by the agency.
The State Child Fatality Review was compiled in February. Social services officials released the report after Carolyn Futrell was charged Thursday for allegedly poisoning Kayla Allen with the pesticide Atroban. Futrell was Kayla's guardian.
Authorities made the arrest after receiving several toxicology reports confirming that the pesticide found in a water bottle under Kayla's pillow also was in her stomach. Kayla died on Aug. 24.
The report, which is required when a child dies within 12 months of a DSS investigation, included findings and recommendations. However, it did not provide many details regarding what really happened to Kayla under Futrell's care.
Roger Penrod, director of Onslow County DSS, said there isn't a lot of information he can release to the public regarding Kayla's case.
"I've reviewed the case, and no one has found any fault in what DSS was involved in," he said. "That doesn't satisfy some people. They are free to say what they want, but I can't comment on it."
DSS was contacted by Kayla's biological aunt, Heather Baker of Trenton, Mich., on several occasions because she suspected the child was being abused. DSS found that Futrell's treatment of Kayla didn't meet the legal requirements of abuse, Baker said.
Kayla, who was the biological child of Nicole Allen of Jacksonville, went to live with Futrell when she was 2 ??ars old. Baker said Allen was young and unable to care for the child at the time.
Futrell was married to Allen's brother. When Kayla was 5, Futrell and Kayla's uncle divorced. Futrell remained the child's guardian. Allen's parental rights were terminated in April 2003, Baker said.
The state's review team included representatives from the state Division of Social Services, Onslow County DSS, Health Department and Sheriff's Department as well as someone from the Community Child Protection Team and the Child Fatality Prevention Team, according to the report.
The purpose of the state's review was to "identify factors which may have contributed to conditions leading into the fatality and to develop recommendations for improving coordination between local and state entities, which might have avoided the threat of injury or fatality and to identify appropriate remedies," according to the report.
The review team came up with five findings and recommendations meant to better protect children in the future, although the team didn't know whether those changes could have saved Kayla's life, according to the report.
"It cannot be known what impact, if any, these recommendations could have had on the reviewed case if they had been in place at the time of the fatality," the report stated.
According to the report, the findings include:
n DSS didn't consistently notify the District Attorney's Office when it received a report alleging abuse.
n Kayla's placement was monitored by the court system prior to DSS involvement.
n There is a lack of preventive services, such as life skills, job placement and housing, in Onslow County.
n The medical examiner's report indicates that the cause of death was insecticide poisoning.
n There is a high turnover rate of social workers at DSS that increases case load size above state standards and impacts the ability to complete assessments.
In order to correct the findings, the review team made several recommendations including:
n Ensuring systematic referral's to the District Attorney's Office and law enforcement when Child Protective Service reports alleging abuse are received.
n District courts should consider appointing a Guardian ad Litem, someone to protect children's interests while they're shuffled through the court system, for non-DSS cases that are under court supervision.
n DSS and other community partners should continue to expand and provide preventive and case management services.
n The Community Child Protection Team should provide community awareness regarding safe storage of chemicals and poison prevention strategies.
n DSS should develop strategies to address social worker retention.
Contact Roselee Papandrea at rpapandrea@jdnews.com or at 353-1171, Ext. 238.

Woman charged in death of girl, 7

By JERRY ALLEGOOD, SARAH AVERY AND LYNN BONNER, Staff Writers
JACKSONVILLE -- An Onslow County woman has been charged with the fatal poisoning of a 7-year-old girl in her care in a case that has drawn outrage across the country.
Before her death Aug. 24, Kayla Allen was the subject of child abuse allegations made by biological relatives who had been trying to remove her from the legal custody of the woman now charged with murder.
Carolyn Ann Futrell, 33, of Futrell Loop Road near Richlands was arrested Thursday and charged with murder and felony child abuse of Kayla, the niece of her former husband. Onslow District Attorney Dewey Hudson Jr. said Friday that the arrest came after a nine-month investigation into how Kayla had ingested an insecticide commonly used to kill flies.
Futrell is being held in the Onslow County jail without bail. An autopsy in August determined that Kayla died of insecticide poisoning. The autopsy report said insecticide was found in her stomach, and the compounds were similar to those found in a bottle under her pillow during the Onslow County Sheriff's Department's initial investigation. According to the report, the components are found in the commercial product Atroban.
Hudson said there was a relatively long period between the initial investigation and the arrest Thursday because extensive toxicology tests were required. He said recent test results, which he declined to discuss in detail, prompted authorities to file charges.
"There was no doubt about how she died and no doubt about the contents of the bottle," he said. "The issue is how the contents of the bottle got into her [Kayla's] stomach."
Web, radio attention
Nicole Allen of Jacksonville, Kayla's biological mother, said Friday in a telephone interview that she had repeatedly told authorities that she feared for the girl. She said she had unsuccessfully attempted to gain custody.
Allen, 26, said she gave custody of Kayla to her brother and Futrell three years ago because she was a single parent. Her brother and Futrell later divorced.
Allen said the last time she saw Kayla alive was September 2002. "I will always remember her as a sweet, innocent little girl who would not do anything to anybody. She was very loving."
The case has captured the attention of child advocates in North Carolina and beyond. A foster care advocacy organization in Texas called Hope4Kidz Inc. has featured Kayla's story on its Web site for months; the case has generated brisk discussion on the Jacksonville Daily News Web site; and a Wilmington radio talk show has run several segments about Kayla's death over the past months.
Tre Benson, executive producer of the Blueline radio show, said callers have expressed outrage that authorities took nine months to make an arrest. Benson said there has been concern that child protective services failed to remove Kayla from Futrell's care, despite repeated allegations of abuse raised by Kayla's relatives. Tim Baker said his wife, Kayla's aunt Heather, had reported problems to authorities as early as 1998.
"She had a black eye," Baker said about one of the first reports to Onslow County social services.
Family hard-hit
In a telephone interview from his home near Detroit, Baker said the Onslow County agency responded that it would not take action because " 'the allegations do not meet the legal definition of abuse or neglect.' "
Another complaint was rejected by child services in October 2002, Baker said.
He said family members did not know until January that Kayla had died from insecticide poisoning.
Futrell's arrest Thursday, he said, was a surprise but a welcomed development.
The child's situation has been distressful for Kayla's family, Baker said. Last November, Kayla's grandmother -- Heather Baker's mother -- was so distraught over the little girl's death that she committed suicide in Wilmington, Baker said. Nicole Allen also said the grandmother's death was the result of her distress about Kayla's situation.
The grandmother was arrested and charged with kidnapping in 2002 when she took Kayla to Michigan but the charges were dropped.
The grandmother told police in Michigan that the child had bruises on her arms, face and bottom. Kayla told police there that the bruises had been inflicted by her "aunt-mom" Carolyn Futrell, according to police records posted on the Hope4Kidz Web site.
No calls for dismissal
In 2001-02, the latest period for which statistics are available, Onslow County was tied with Cumberland in reporting the most child abuse homicides in the state, the N.C. Child Advocacy Institute reported. Each county had five such deaths.
A state report on Kayla's death, in which an Onslow County social services representative contributed, said the department "did not consistently provide notification to the D.A.'s office upon receipt of Child Protective Service reports alleging abuse."
A state review is required in child deaths when a local social services department has been involved in the 12 months before the death.
The report, issued in March, recommended that the department follow the practice of making referrals to the District Attorney's Office and law enforcement when it gets child protective service reports alleging abuse.
The report also noted that a high turnover rate in the social work staff "has led to increases in caseload size over state standards and impacts the provision of services."
Roger E. Penrod, director of the Onslow Department of Social Services, said he could not discuss a child protective services case.
But Penrod said he was "satisfied that this thing has been looked at real hard," and no one in the department was disciplined or lost his or her job over the case.
"There has been no call to do that," he said.
© Copyright 2004, The News & Observer Publishing Company