Mom charged with manslaughter in death of Raffy Gomez

Maribel Gomez will make first court appearance on May 25

Raffy Gomez' mother has been charged with first-degree manslaughter in his death, according to papers filed Thursday afternoon by Grant County Prosecutor John Knodell.

Maribel Gomez, who saw the 2-year-old Raffy taken away and returned to her by Child Protective Service four times, has not been arrested and will appear in court on May 25 to answer the charges, Knodell said.

At that point, she will be assigned an attorney if she requires one, he said.

First-degree manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and a standard sentencing range of 78 to 102 months, Knodell said.

Maribel Gomez brought Raffy to Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata on Sept. 10, 2003, saying he had repeatedly thrown himself to the ground and hit his head. Medical personnel found Raffy unconscious and unresponsive with dilated pupils. He was airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, where he was later declared brain dead.

Raffy was removed from life support on Sept. 11, and he died.

An autopsy report conducted the next day by Dr. M. Ross in Spokane concluded Raffy Gomez died as a result of blunt force injuries to the head by means of homicidal violence.

According to Knodell's report, Ross noted a number of injuries, including: abrasions to the face, right ear and scalp, hemorrhages of the scalp, occipital skull fractures, epidermal hemorrhage, cerebral edema and other head injuries.

According to a Sept. 11 report from Ephrata Police Detective John Phillips, Maribel Gomez said Raffy was eating a bowl of noodles when he threw himself from his high chair to the floor three times, striking his head each time.

Kenneth Feldman, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital in Seattle, reviewed medical and police reports in the case, and he stated the brain injuries Raffy suffered indicate "severe blunt impact to the head with a whip lash rotation component," according to Knodell's report.

Feldman also stated that he doubted whether Gomez' description of the head banging was enough to cause Raffy's injuries, according to Knodell's report.

Denise Griffith of Royal City, the foster mother who cared for the boy for 14 of his 25 months, sought in vain to retain custody and is now the court-appointed representative of the little boy's estate. She said she was disappointed with the first-degree manslaughter charge.

"If she gets the maximum of 10 years, what is that?" Griffith said. "We get to sit here for the rest of our life, not having him, wondering what he would be like today."

The toddler was in and out of foster care several times before a state social worker, Murray Twelves, returned him to his birth parents for a third time on the spring of 2003 over the foster family's objections.

Raffy Gomez had traces of cocaine and amphetamine in his blood when he was born Aug. 7, 2001. By the time he died, he had been treated for broken bones, burns and bruises while in his natural parents' care.

Kathy Spears, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social and Health Services, said the agency would release a fatality review early next month.

"There were many, many services that went to help this family that appeared to be culturally appropriate, and yet a child still died," Spears said. "We are counting on the fatality review to look at how we could have done something differently to change the outcome of this."

Knodell said he shied away from murder charges because he doesn't think he can prove intent in the death.

"This is what we feel we can prove," Knodell said of the manslaughter charge.

The father of Raffy Gomez was not present when the boy was injured and has not been charged.

Ephrata attorney Doug Anderson, who is representing Maribel Gomez in the dependency hearings of her other four children, said Gomez has been able to see her children every other weekend in supervised visits.

The children live with a foster family in Moses Lake, Anderson said.

Anderson is not representing Gomez in the manslaughter case.

The creation of a new system to provide public defense has delayed Knodell in formally charging Maribel Gomez. He said she will receive adequate representation if she requires a public defender, despite recent controversy about Grant County's indigent-defense system.

"I'm confident that any one of our judges will make sure she gets effective assistance of counsel," Knodell said.