Father of 3 children slain in Riviera Beach sues DCF

By Jane Musgrave

WEST PALM BEACH — The father of three children who were killed and a fourth who was injured when his ex-wife's estranged husband went on a deadly rampage in September 2010 is suing the Florida Department of Children & Families for negligence.

The suit filed by Michael Barnett comes a month after the father of a fourth child who was killed in the massacre filed a similar lawsuit against the state agency that is to protect children from harm.

Instead, according to the lawsuit Barnett filed last week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, the agency ignored obvious warning signs. For instance, the Riviera Beach Police Department was summoned to Natasha Whyte-Dell's home 34 times before Patrick Dell broke in and shot and killed Whyte-Dell and four of her seven children and wounded another youngster before turning the gun on himself.

The agency did open an investigation in December 2009 after Dell was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief for coming after Whyte-Dell with a knife. While she and a friend cowered behind a door, she told police he screamed at her, "Your family is going to cry today" and "You will be going to the morgue."

However, despite the threats and ongoing violence, the agency closed its investigation, concluding the children weren't at "significant risk," according to Barnett's lawsuit.

In May 2010, Whyte-Dell got a restraining order against Dell after he again attacked her. In her petition, she said she heard Dell was trying to buy a gun and would use it to hurt her and her children. Four months later, that's exactly what he did.

Killed in the attack were Barnett's children: Daniel, 7; Diane, 13, and Bryan, 14. Injured was the divorced couple's 15-year-old son Ryan. Also killed was Javon Nelson, 11, the son of Leroy Nelson Jr., who is suing DCF. Two children survived.

DCF officials declined comment on the lawsuit. Shortly after the attack, then-DCF regional director Perry Borman admitted the case was not handled properly. The investigator was fired after being charged with battery in an unconnected incident.

Systems have been put in place in hopes of averting a similar disaster, said Mark Riordan, an agency spokesman. DCF now receives copies of any requests for restraining orders filed with the Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts. There also is greater cooperation between the agency and local law enforcement agencies, he said.

Source http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/father-of-3-children-slain-in-riviera-beach-2220804.html