Bereft mom seeks answers, two years after son's death
Bereft mom seeks answers, two years after son's death
More than two years after the death of 5-year-old Dennis Vaughan Jr. in Laconia, his mother has not been able to get answers about why her repeated calls for help
More than two years after the death of 5-year-old Dennis Vaughan Jr. in Laconia, his mother has not been able to get answers about why her repeated calls for help weren’t enough to save her son.
The medical examiner determined his death was a homicide, caused by blunt force to his head and neck.
The little boy’s mother, Danielle Vaughan, figures she called the Division of Children, Youth and Families dozens of times — if not hundreds — to report her worries about the home where her children lived after she lost custody.
She still can’t understand how her son fell through the cracks, despite her pleas.
She can’t understand why no one moved to remove her children from the home when they weren’t getting enough to eat, or when they had inexplicable bruises.
She can’t understand why the child protection system did not intervene after doctors and teachers reported their concerns.
When DCYF did eventually petition the courts to remove one of her four children from the house, she can’t understand why they didn’t remove the rest, too.
Growing concerns
As Vaughan kept making reports, she said, her worry grew.One day, Vaughan got a voicemail from her mother, who seemed to have dialed by mistake. Vaughan could hear a hand smacking flesh, her third-oldest child screaming, and her mother screaming back. “I hate you, you dirty dog,” she screamed, cursing at the 8-year-old, Vaughan remembered. “I can’t wait for someone to take you away.”
Vaughan made another report, she said.
In July 2019, Vaughan said, her mother duct-taped that same child to a chair and left him overnight in an Epsom campground. Other people in the campground called police. DCYF petitioned a court to remove the child from Connor on an emergency basis, and returned him to Vaughan.
Vaughan said she is still not clear about why the division removed only one of her children from Connor’s care in the summer of 2019 — but did not move to get her other three children, including Dennis Jr., out of Connor’s home.
By this time, Vaughan said she was calling for help multiple times a day. She called the Office of the Child Advocate, an ombudsman’s office, police, every authority she could think of. She was frantic.
