WA WA - Sky Metalwala, 2, Bellevue, 6 Nov 2011 - #12

[Shelby2]

Metalwala says her illness would come and go. When we asked about the surveillance photos of Julia, taken before Sky disappeared, he says he noticed how different she looked in the photos compared to those posted on social media websites.
"I've seen that look before," Metalwala says. "That's the time we begged her to get help."

Who is the "we" SM is referring to? I am disgusted on so many levels. Someone else besides SM knew how sick JB is. Yet, he/she/they did nothing to help Sky and MM? I am not taking responsibility off of JB, but how could someone look away without at least making an anonymous call to CPS?

Someone may have, but I think I read here that they take calls from mandated reporters much more seriously, and investigate quicker, than calls made anonymously.

 

[rosemary]

hearing the whole interview, my heart just breaks for Solomon. after reading and hearing everything about this case and about the mom and dad, i cannot imagine Solomon ever being the abuser Julia said he was. this whole case is so tragic because the dad tried to do the right thing but still ended up losing his rights to his children. the system failed this whole family terribly.

 

[Shelby2]

hearing the whole interview, my heart just breaks for Solomon. after reading and hearing everything about this case and about the mom and dad, i cannot imagine Solomon ever being the abuser Julia said he was. this whole case is so tragic because the dad tried to do the right thing but still ended up losing his rights to his children. the system failed this whole family terribly.

What I found very telling was how his declaration was worded.

'I have tried to explain in the past how troubled Julia was in her own mind, and why I felt it necessary to terminate our marriage and the parental privileges that she had with our children (until she could get proper treatment and take her medicine, at which time I wanted everything to be shared).'

'When I rushed home, I would pick up our daughter, who had not eaten all day. The primary reason was that Julia refused to store any food in the house. I know it was because of her disorder.'

'Very significantly, Julia tried on occasion to self-correct her behavior, but told me that there was something in her head which told her that if she tried to stop, she would be forced to do her routine over and over again.'

'It was during that time, when I had a break away from Julia, that I realized how abusive and dangerous her behaviour had become to all of us. I know it was not her fault, but we had two children to take care of, and she was dangerous.'

'She is disabled by her mental illness, but that certainly should not mitigate against her having a nice place to live. I never expressed anger about that issue, or against her mother for letting her stay at her mother's home.'

'All that financial savings was due to Julia's good management when she was well and actively involved in our lives.'

He really seems to have compassion for her, he is not angry, but rather hurt, upset, confused, and terrified for his children.

Where is that little boy?????

 

[rosemary]

What I found very telling was how his declaration was worded.

'I have tried to explain in the past how troubled Julia was in her own mind, and why I felt it necessary to terminate our marriage and the parental privileges that she had with our children (until she could get proper treatment and take her medicine, at which time I wanted everything to be shared).'

'When I rushed home, I would pick up our daughter, who had not eaten all day. The primary reason was that Julia refused to store any food in the house. I know it was because of her disorder.'

'Very significantly, Julia tried on occasion to self-correct her behavior, but told me that there was something in her head which told her that if she tried to stop, she would be forced to do her routine over and over again.'

'It was during that time, when I had a break away from Julia, that I realized how abusive and dangerous her behaviour had become to all of us. I know it was not her fault, but we had two children to take care of, and she was dangerous.'

'She is disabled by her mental illness, but that certainly should not mitigate against her having a nice place to live. I never expressed anger about that issue, or against her mother for letting her stay at her mother's home.'

'All that financial savings was due to Julia's good management when she was well and actively involved in our lives.'

He really seems to have compassion for her, he is not angry, but rather hurt, upset, confused, and terrified for his children.

Where is that little boy?????

i totally agree. during the interview, solomon never said anything mean or derogatory about her. in fact, when the interviewer asked him if he wanted julia to go to jail, he said it was a horrible question to ask, he even sounded almost hurt by it. i think deep down he still cares for julia despite everything that's happened between them, and I can definitely buy that she really must have been the love of his life. I didn't hear any hostility or aggression in his voice when he was talking about her. i am hoping against hope julia decided to just give away or hide little sky and he is safe and sound somewhere, and that he will be found soon and reunited with his father and sister where he rightfully belongs.

 

[SurfieTX]

It's interesting that Sky disappeared on the last day she was to have the car.

 

[nursebeeme]

10 days before 6 november was 28 october

(just throwing that out there in case the date pops up again)

and brother didn't see the kids per SM's radio interview

around 23 october Sky last seen by neighbor

 

[jash]

<snipped>
Clay: The Julia that you saw on that awful dating site was pictures of her from Las Vegas a years ago. That isn't what she looks like today. I saw her at the mediation, believe me, what you saw on the surveillance tapes on the two locations that they caught her on surveillance. That's what she looks like.

Q: No one has come forward, she has not been able to provide one person that could talk to LE and say I hired a babysitter, I hired a nanny, so we believe those kids were left alone and if he was left alone on that day... he could be dead in 5 minutes if you left him alone in a room.
Clay: That's exactly right. It's not speculation. She told the police she left the children alone. Can you imagine a two year old in diapers left alone for 12 hours?
<snipped>

Thank you so much Ingra for transcribing! A lot of good information came out during this interview.

I recall there being a discussion previously about Julia getting her hair done and buying new shoes. It was some people's opinion that this would have been done in advance of the mediation as she wouldn't want to look unkempt in that situation but we now know that wasn't the case at all. So if she went shopping and to a salon after the mediation, could it be she was planning on meeting up with a "Sugar Daddy" and realized she needed to look more like the photos she had posted online? Was she maybe planning on travelling to Scottsdale?

I'm confused though that the lawyer stated "the two locations that they caught her on surveillance". I thought there were three (bank, Ross, and yet to be identified)? Maybe he meant two locations where she had the dark roots and looked distraught?

And now we know for sure that she told LE she left the kids alone during the mediation.

ETA - could that third location she was at be a car rental place?!? Would explain having to sign something and the sparse background.

 

[Cubby]

BBM

I can imagine this might be a sticking point, since she was quite possibly permanently short one child.

"Um, how about you pick the children up on Saturday, November 10th ... of 2057. Does that work for you?"

Still catching up, but you make a good point. After reading mediation went on until midnight, I'll bet things make a whole lot of sense in an entirely different light to those who were at mediation.

jmo

 

[Cubby]

I am surprised she hasnt claimed the SM has been stalking her and he may have been following her that morning, when she left him for gas SM snatched him. ANYTHING sounds better than nothing.

She probably knows SM would have (most likely) been at church at that time and had countless witnesses to verify his whereabouts. Which is why she can't go with the 'he was stalking me' route for Sunday morning.

jmo

 

[Cubby]

I read something in the delcaration about how Solomon would take the kids to day care. I do not think we have confirmation about when day care stopped. It may have stopped exactly when Solomon quit taking them. It would be interesting to find out for sure.

Respectfully snipped and hugs to you ((((cocomod)))). You are right about people not realizing a man can be in an abusive situation too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience.

Regarding the daycare situation. Since we learnt Julia does not have a car, wrecked a rental car and needed to borrow her brothers car, it wouldn't surprise me if the daycare ended with the lack of access for a vehicle with Julia.


jmo

 

[ThoughtFox]

so according to mark cavener from the link, there is now a pending lawsuit against the commissioner who handled solomon metalwala and julia biryukova's case? did i hear that correctly?

Thanks for posting that! You made me want to listen to the podcast and this is what he said:

Mark Cavener, executive director, Washington Domestic Violence Commission

(my transcription)

Mark Cavener: I don't think I can name names but there's a lawsuit against the Commissioner pending right now as we speak for this kind of wrongdoing. Where she has been seeing evidence of a potential threat to children and she rules just completely the opposite way. And not just her but a couple of others who have been doing the same thing. So the current lawsuit pertaining to them is against individually this Commissioner and for the King County Judges for failure to supervise.

Radio Guy 1: So these are Commissioners that sit in for Judges in Family Court because alot of time the Judge goes on vacation, then they'll have a Commissioner come in and sit for the Judge. But they make real decisions and life and death decisions about kids and moms and dads, right?

MC: Actually, most of the time, the Judges don't ever hear it. You would think elected officials are making such weighty decisions but it's always the Family Law Commissioners that are not elected representatives of our government, um, or the judiciary. It is them (they) who make these life-altering decisions. For example, in protection order cases - it usually only goes up to a Judge if you want revision. If you have enough money to pay your way that far up the ladder, then you'll see a Judge and actually get to provide evidence.

Radio Guy 1: Yeah, Alot of times it goes before Commissioners. About 2% of cases go before Judges that are actually tried, but you have to have alot of money in order to pull that off.

Radio Guy 2: Mark, my question to you then, would it be fair to say that you weren't necessarily just interested in just following the Baby Sky case but these documents came into your possession because you'd been watching the court system as a whole?

MC: We are a watchdog organization and a civil rights organization that's found such a huge amount of evidence to support that the true, most of those victims of the domestic violence "industry" far outweigh the actual number of domestic violence victims who need that kind of protection.

Radio Guy 1: So Mark, were these sealed documents and how did you get them unsealed and distributed?

MC: So these were got by the 6th floor Court Records Department. Anybody can walk in off the street, ask for Court records and pay 25 cents a page and get these documents. That is unless, of course, I'm not an attorney, so I don't know this for sure but I'm pretty sure that health records are supposed to be sealed. We've been collecting documents as we go as they relate to investigation of Commissioners, and this was on our radar slightly before it became a news item. For example, every week we'd get the Family Law calendars that list all of the new cases so we came by this just sort of in doing this kind of investigation on this Commissioner. That name's (Metawala?) is an easy one to remember and when it popped up we said, 'Oh, that sounds familiar - let's look at what we have there.'

http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=577&a=36139&p=&n=

If I had time I would transcribe the whole thing because it's a great interview! The bottom line is that this case is a failure of justice because the father should probably have been given custody based on the psychiatric state of the mother. But for some reason they ignored the father's plea for help. :furious: And now a child is missing and I truly hope these Commissioners or whoever are held accountable!!! :twocents:

 

[Twelve of One]

I can't recall in SM Declaration if he stated she was non med compliant. I would think before the court gave her custody back she would of had to prove that she was compliant and her condition was improved. Maybe she was for awhile and then went off of them again.

I checked SM declaration and this is what I don't understand. Before her involuntary commitment JB was seeing a psychiatrist and unilaterally went off her meds during her preg w/ Sky, then kept jumping around trying lots of different medications, including anti-psychotics, but all while under the care of her psychiatrist. She was also medicated during her hospitalization, of course, and I assume part of that hospitalization involved getting her meds all straightened out.

But once she got out of the hosp, she went to live with her friend SO and began seeing the therapist who wrote in support of her gaining custody of the children. He was not a medical doctor!! I don't know if she was on any meds at that time. SM wrote in his declaration that during that period of time, she complained to the court that she had never needed medications at all and that SM had forced her to use them.

So I don't know if she was even on anything or being seen by a psychiatrist at that point, so how in the world did she get custody just on the word of a therapist, right after coming out of a psychiatric hospital?

 

[Twelve of One]

It seems like this is where the system broke down. Nobody made sure that she was in the care of a medical doctor and following the treatment plan that surely must have been set up for her in the hospital. There was no follow through. She got out of the hospital, started seeing a therapist who wasn't a medical doctor, and nobody checked that guy's credentials? Then that guy supports her bid for custody at the same time that she starts filing complaints a/g SM for abuse, and all of a sudden SM has lost custody to her and never could get it back. He even lost visitation. So now here she is, unmedicated, with custody of 2 small children and nobody checking up on their welfare b/c the father is completely cut off with no access and she is free and clear.

 

[Abby Normal]

If I had time I would transcribe the whole thing because it's a great interview! The bottom line is that this case is a failure of justice because the father should probably have been given custody based on the psychiatric state of the mother. But for some reason they ignored the father's plea for help. :furious: And now a child is missing and I truly hope these Commissioners or whoever are held accountable!!! :twocents:

snipped for space, bbm.

And I mean this only to expand on your great point- the system didn't just fail him by giving custody to the mother, but by going so far as granting an order against him and denying him reliable access to his kids.

 

[Twelve of One]

snipped for space, bbm.

And I mean this only to expand on your great point- the system didn't just fail him by giving custody to the mother, but by going so far as granting an order against him and denying him reliable access to his kids.

BBM
In fact, they denied him ANY access. He couldn't even get supervised visits! He was required to first attend Domestic Violence Recovery classes and complete them before he could even start supervised visits which would last six months.

He found he couldn't take the class because it was expensive and interfered with his work and the class would take a long time to complete (10 weeks? I'm not sure) and then six months of limited, supervised visits. SM & his lawyer decided it would be faster to set a court date and just wait and hopefully be able to beat the domestic abuse finding.

 

[passionflower]

10 days before 6 november was 28 october

(just throwing that out there in case the date pops up again)

and brother didn't see the kids per SM's radio interview

around 23 october Sky last seen by neighbor

Wondering if any one saw him Trick or Treating?
Little sister may remember a special day with brother???

 

[Adrienne37]

What makes this whole situation even worse is the fact that Solomon warned them that he feared for the safety of the children. I sincerely hope that alot of people are held responsible for this.


~jmo~

 

[Cubby]

Yes there is a pending lawsuit against the commissioner(s) due to other similar decisions-only 2% of these hearings are heard by actual judges, if the people have enough money to pay for that.

Wow! I was completely blown away that the commisioner ignored both LE and CPS information that the allegations against SM were unfounded. IANAL and don't know much about these things, but it sounds as if a class action lawsuit should come against the commissioner. How can they just decide to ignore the complete lack of evidence and decide they don't believe something when no evidence exists? And in this case, the commisioners decision may have led to Sky's death. :furious:

 

[Camille]

Back to Clay:

Q: Clay, did J have other transportation? How would she get groceries or take the kids to the doctor without transportation?
A: ...We heard at the mediation where she and her attorney claimed that the only transportation she had was the bus and she was not driving any vehicle...she had no vehicle... and she wanted to have the family car. There was only one family car, 2002. We denied it because he needed the car to go to work to provide child support and maintainence.
Q: the assumption was that J would take both kids on the bus every time she had to go do anything?
A: Oh, she did have one friend for sure, SJ, and she's been the one person that was transporting her.

With Julia having custody wouldn't it have been easier for him to get transportation back and forth to work than it would be for her to haul two children around on a bus or a taxi and with her OCD would she even be able to handle public transportation?

 

[nursebeeme]

http://mynorthwest.com/108/581545/F...etalwala-says-he-believes-son-is-still-alive-