Still No Visitation for Barahona Daughter
DCF moving forward to terminate Jennifer Perez's parental rights
The mother of the child that led authorities to the horrific child abuse of four adopted children speaks out after losing her daughter.
The daughter of two Miami foster parents accused of murder is still not allowed to see her own daughter, Department of Children and Families officials said Wednesday.
Jennifer Perez had been working to get visitation with her daughter Alessandra, who initially reported the alleged child abuse going on in the Miami-Dade home of Jorge and Carmen Barahona.
DCF worked to strip Perez of custody, but sources close to the case had previously said the two sides were working on a deal that would allow Perez to be reunited with her child.
After a court hearing Wednesday that was closed to the media, DCF officials said they were still moving forward to terminate Perez's parental rights. Officials didn't comment on if a deal was being worked out.
Perez is the daughter of Carmen Barahona, who along with her husband, is accused of killing their adopted daughter, 10-year-old Nubia Barahona. Both have pleaded not guilty.
On Feb. 14, Jorge Barahona was found passed out on the side of Interstate 95 in his pest control pickup truck near West Palm Beach.
Nubia's dead body was found wrapped in plastic in the bed of the truck. Her twin brother, Victor, was in the passenger seat suffering from severe chemical burns.
The Barahonas also used to watch Perez's daughter, who told her therapist just days before Nubia's death that she had witnessed some of the abuse in the house.
By the time DCF investigators went to check on the situation, it was too late.
Perez has said she knew nothing about the abuse, but DCF officials told a judge the mother told her daughter to keep quiet about what she saw.
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