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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, July 21, 2005

Abuse of child was reported to Army twice

BY PETER BOYLAN AND Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writers

Army and federal investigators are looking into the events that led to the death of Talia Williams.

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According to court documents, Talia Williams had bruises on her arms, chest, knees and thighs. The 5-year-old died on Saturday.

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Talia's mother, Tarshia Williams of Orangeburg, S.C., says Talia had told her via phone earlier this year that her father was beating her.

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Army officials at Schofield Barracks received at least two formal complaints alleging that 5-year-old Talia Williams' father and stepmother abused her in the months leading up to her beating death Saturday, a source close to the investigation said yesterday.

The source did not know what action Army officials took after receiving the complaints.

However, a spokesman with the state Department of Human Services said DHS was never notified by Schofield Barracks officials — or anyone else — that abuse was reported in this case. Such a report is required under an agreement between the state and the military that the Army must report all "known and suspected incidents of child abuse" to DHS and its Child Welfare Services branch, said Derick Dahilig, DHS spokesman.

Talia was taken to the hospital Saturday after emergency medical personnel were called to an apartment at Wheeler Army Air Base and found her unresponsive. At the hospital, she was pronounced dead.

Her stepmother, Delilah S. Williams, was charged with murder. Her father, Naeem Williams, who is a Schofield Barracks soldier, is being held by military authorities in "pretrial confinement" and has not been formally charged.

The Army has declined to answer specific questions about the case, citing an ongoing criminal investigation.

"It is standing Army policy that we do not discuss specific matters pertaining to cases that are under investigation. The reason we don't discuss specific matters is to protect the rights of the accused or suspect and the victim," said Maj. Stacy Bathrick, spokeswoman for the 25th Infantry Division (Light) and U.S. Army, Hawai'i, in an e-mail.

"If we independently attempt to gather facts surrounding a case that is under investigation, we can impede the investigation and create a situation where information must be dismissed in the military legal system," Bathrick said. "Furthermore, in this specific investigation there are records on file that contain sensitive/privileged information that is protected by the Privacy Act."

The source close to the investigation said that in addition to abuse complaints made to officials with the Army's Family Advocacy Program, calls to police were made by neighbors of the Williamses.

The source declined to comment on how many times police were called to the home or whether the Williamses were arrested.

The Army's Family Advocacy Program provides a range of family counseling programs to military personnel and their families, handling such issues as domestic violence and child abuse.

Allegations of domestic violence or child abuse are reported to officials with the program.

Yesterday's revelations came as Army and federal investigators examined the circumstances that led to the abuse and violent death of Talia Williams.

According to court documents filed Monday, Delilah Williams told Army investigators that her husband, 25-year-old Naeem Williams, spanked Talia with a belt Saturday morning for wetting herself. He struck her again later that day after she wet herself. This time the child fell and hit her head on the floor. She lost consciousness, and the Williamses initially delayed calling 911 to see if she would awaken, the documents said. When emergency medical personnel arrived, Talia was unresponsive and had no pulse, the documents said.

According to medical personnel, Talia had bruises on her arms, chest, knees and thighs, as well as a small cut on her back, court documents said. Blood spatters could be seen throughout the apartment. Delilah Williams told investigators the spatters were caused by scars on Talia's back that burst when she was whipped with a belt, the documents said.

Naeem Williams told authorities that he regularly beat the girl for wetting herself and that the couple often left her at home unsupervised, according to the documents.

Talia died of "inflicted head trauma due to battered child syndrome," the Honolulu Medical Examiner's Office said Tuesday.