Killings fuel criticism of Tenn. agency

Two teenagers have been charged with killing their foster mother and her mother-in-law, fueling renewed criticism of how the state Department of Children's Services places juveniles in foster care.

James Earl Garrett, 17, and Jeffery Byrd Johnson Jr., 15, are charged with first-degree murder in the New Year's Day slayings. Police have not disclosed a possible motive.

Judge Andrew Jackson on Friday ordered the boys held in custody until he can decide whether they will be tried as adults.

"If this were an adult case, he'd be pleading not guilty today," said Garrett's attorney, Jerred Creasy. There is no plea process in Tennessee's juvenile courts.

The younger teen's father, Jeffery Johnson Sr., attended the hearing and said his son did not pull the trigger in the slayings of Mary Clark, 39, and Gail Clark, 66, of Orange, Mass.

Children's services has been repeatedly criticized by police and court authorities for putting violent juveniles in non-secure facilities while they continue to commit crimes. In 2006, a judge threatened contempt of court charges against top department officials after a teenage armed robbery suspect escaped custody.

Jackson told reporters after the hearing that, if the facts of the case are true, then blame for the slayings of the two women rests squarely at the front door of the agency.

"This is exactly the kind of situation we have warned about," he said.

William Clark, husband and son of the victims, has blamed the state for a policy that gives the agency 15 days to respond to requests to relocate children from foster families. One of the boys had asked to be moved from the home in White Bluff, and the slayings occurred while the family was waiting for a meeting to take place, William Clark said Thursday.

Clark said the younger teen was a student at Dickson's alternative high school, and didn't start to misbehave until Garrett arrived a few weeks ago. He said Johnson did have an assault charge for hitting a boy at school, a small charge that wouldn't cause DCS to move a child.

The process is expedited if there is a safety issue, DCS spokesman Rob Johnson said, but in general the agency is cautious about relocating foster children because of the disruption. So far, the agency's internal review has found no sign that anyone was in danger, he said on Thursday.

"As tragic and saddening as this case is, we still believe this is an appropriate placement," Rob Johnson said in response to the judge's comments. "Based on everything we've reviewed so far, there's nothing we've seen that shows these boys should have been placed somewhere else."

Davidson County Juvenile Court Judge Betty Adams Green, the same judge who threatened DCS officials with contempt charges, said she has seen signs of improvement with DCS' placement of children.

"We have had some very heated discussions with the DCS," Green said. "At least, from my perspective, there have been some improvements, especially better classifications of children."

Green said while she agrees with Jackson that there needs to be more reform, she thought it was inappropriate and unethical for a judge to comment on a pending case.

"That's rather unusual," she said. "Certainly it has happened. But we are not supposed to comment while a case is in hand."