Arrest warrants were issued Friday for the adoptive parents of Karreon Franks, a 15-year-old Vancouver boy who died of starvation and neglect in November.
The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed domestic violence charges of second-degree murder and homicide by abuse against Felicia Louise Adams, 52, and her husband, Jesse Costillo Franks, 56.
An affidavit of probable cause in support of the charges states the couple’s whereabouts are unknown. Their previous residence in the Mountain View neighborhood of east Vancouver is vacant. The warrants are marked for nationwide extradition. Upon their arrests, they will be held without bail pending court appearances.
Adams, also known as Adams-Franks, legally adopted Karreon and his two younger brothers in June 2012 in California; she is their maternal aunt, court records show.
Karreon reportedly had a rare genetic disorder that affected his development and severe autism, to the point he was nearly nonverbal. He was also legally blind and used a cane to get around, according to court records.
The charging documents for both Adams and Franks state that prosecutors are seeking a sentence above the standard sentencing range, based on several aggravating factors: deliberate cruelty to the victim, the victim was particularly vulnerable, violating a position of trust and the crime was committed by a household member.
The Vancouver Police Department had been investigating the circumstances of Karreon’s death since early December.
Weighed 61 pounds
On Nov. 27, Adams and Franks took Karreon to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead 14 minutes later. Bilateral pneumonia was listed as his cause of death at the time, according to a search warrant affidavit.
However, when the boy’s body was transferred to a Vancouver funeral home, staff reported “concerns with Karreon’s appearance,” the search warrant affidavit says. The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office then responded and conducted an autopsy.
Adams told the medical examiner’s office that Karreon’s brothers were giving him a bath on the morning of Nov. 27 when she heard them yelling for him to get into the bathtub. She went to assist, she said. That’s when Karreon became unresponsive in the bathtub, the probable cause affidavit states.
The autopsy report, which authorities received May 14, found Karreon weighed 61 pounds and showed abnormal bone and hair growth, as well as lesions, likely caused by starvation, court records show. When he was last seen by his physician in 2019, he weighed 115 pounds, the probable cause affidavit says.
A PeaceHealth Southwest emergency room nurse had contacted Child Protective Services when the couple brought Karreon in. She noted that he was frail and emaciated, weighing 70 pounds. CPS workers and law enforcement responded to their residence the next day and took Karreon’s brothers into protective custody, according to the probable cause affidavit.
That was the second time CPS responded to the residence in about a week.
Previous investigation
On Nov. 20, Adams’ sister, Letricia Brown, contacted CPS after she visited the family and discovered Adams had been withholding food from the children for years. She said they had to steal food when given the chance. Brown described Karreon as a “skeleton sitting in a chair” and said he “falls down due to malnourishment.”
Brown later told law enforcement that she never thought the boys were provided enough food, but she felt like she couldn’t confront Adams about it. Instead, when she noticed the boys were losing weight, she offered to have them over for dinner or to drop off pizza for the family. She also suggested protein shakes for Karreon, but Adams always declined, according to the probable cause affidavit.
CPS responded to the residence Nov. 21 and interviewed Adams and the two youngest boys. Both boys said they were spanked as punishment when they get into trouble. One said he was spanked with an extension cord, which left marks and made him bleed, and a cane. He said Karreon was also spanked with the cane when he’d vomit. The brother also said the three of them were locked inside their room at night, and the CPS worker noted the boys’ bedroom had a turn lock, according to the probable cause affidavit.
When CPS responded Nov. 28, the worker noted that the reports of physical abuse were similar as before. However, one of the brothers also reported their meals were restricted as a form of punishment when they stole food, the affidavit says.
Investigators spoke with Karreon’s former and current teachers at Evergreen Public Schools.
They learned Karreon was “very food motivated, but his parents did not want them to provide (him) with snacks.” A teacher on Karreon’s special education team said he would eat until he vomited. Multiple educators described him as being thin but active and said he was often soiled and dirty when he came to school, the affidavit states.
The teacher on his special education team said she hadn’t seen him since the COVID-19 pandemic started; his parents declined in-home or virtual learning, court records say.
His most recent teacher said she saw him in March 2020 at which time he looked to weigh about 115 pounds. She last saw him virtually Nov. 20 and described him as “being very still and zoned out,” and noted his cheekbones were protruding, according to the affidavit.
Court records do not indicate whether any of the boy’s teachers reported their concerns to authorities prior to his death.
Gambling habit
An affidavit filed in February in support of a search warrant for Adams’ bank records found she received $4,300 a month from the government to care for the three boys. She also earned a salary working for the health care nonprofit CareOregon.
Investigators learned that since 2017, Adams and Franks had spent a combined 2,238 hours gambling at ilani casino. Adams “had a lifetime loss” of $238,098, and Franks had a “lifetime loss” of $43,078, according to Cowlitz Tribal Law Enforcement records cited in the search warrant affidavit.
Casino surveillance cameras show Adams and Franks arrived at the casino just three hours after Karreon died, the affidavit says.
