http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/...12/detail.html
Team 4: Mom Of Girl Accused Of Killing Dad Speaks Out
ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A Team 4 investigation found that the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Family Services knew about problems between a 13-year-old girl and her father before the child allegedly shot and killed the man.
Matthew Booth's 13-year-old daughter is accused of shooting Booth in the head with a shotgun early Monday morning at their Elizabeth Township home.
The child is charged as an adult with homicide, but WTAE Channel 4 Action News is not identifying her by name because there have been allegations of sexual abuse.
Booth's ex-wife, Michelle Fazek, said she had complained about Booth abusing her and her children for the past several years, but she said the authorities did little. Court records back up her story.
Police were frequent visitors to Booth's house, mostly because of complaints by Fazek.
Team 4's Paul Van Osdol sat down with Fazek for a one-on-one interview on Tuesday.
"Is it your belief that he abused her?" Van Osdol asked.
"Yes," Fazek said. "He was very violent with everyone he came in contact with."
In 2005, McKeesport police arrested Booth, charging him with assaulting one of his two daughters after he allegedly "slapped her in the face, knocking out a tooth and causing her nose to bleed heavily."
The charge was dropped.
According to court records, "CYF explained to Fazek -- the mother -- that it was not considered child abuse, because the injuries were not severe and only resulted in moderate pain."
"I was incredulous, completely shocked and stunned," Fazek told Van Osdol. "All logic dictates when a grown man strikes a child in the face it's abuse, but they didn't seem to think so."
Also in 2005, Booth was charged with aggravated assault after Fazek told police he "pointed a shotgun in my face and pulled the trigger."
That charge was also dropped.
"Very, very frustrating," Fazek said.
Fazek said she complained frequently to CYF officials and township police about filthy conditions at Booth's home. Her most recent call was made three weeks ago, she said.
"They didn't look good. They looked like they weren't being fed, like they hadn't bathed," Fazek said.
Township Police Chief Robert McNeilly said he has no record of that call.
McNeilly said there were at least six complaints from Fazek last year, but officers visited the home each time and found no problems.
According to court records, in February 2006, the 13-year-old daughter called Fazek and told her that she had tried to commit suicide and that she had been sexually assaulted 51 days earlier by a family friend who later committed suicide.
Also that month, CYF opened an investigation after Fazek complained that the girl had missed 45 days of school and shown a noticeable deterioration in hygiene and ability to focus, according to the records.
CYF apparently took no action to remove the 13-year-old from her father's house.
Fazek said the girl denied being abused whenever she testified in court -- likely, according to Fazek, because the child had been manipulated by someone else.
"I feel like, in a lot of ways, the system let everybody down in this case," Fazek said.
A CYF spokeswoman said the agency cannot talk about specific cases, but the agency is investigating its own involvement with the Booth family and reviewing its actions in connection with the case.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks