NEW HAVEN, CT — The state agency tasked with serving children and families had an open abuse and neglect “in-home” case against Alexandra Polino, 41, when her infant son was found dead after ingesting opioids.
Now charged with first-degree manslaughter in the homicide of her son, a report released by the Office of the Child Advocate shows the state Department of Children and Family Services failed to protect Marcello Cash Meadows.
Just 10 months old when he died from fentanyl, xylazine and cocaine intoxication, his death was ruled a homicide by ingestion of drugs, including fentanyl, the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled.
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In late June 2023, police were called to Farren Avenue for a report of an unresponsive baby. Not breathing, the infant boy was rushed to Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, and was later pronounced dead.
Special Victim’s Unit Detectives conducted an investigation into the suspicious death of the infant, and days later, a warrant was signed for his mother’s arrest.
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In his obituary, it’s noted the baby “is survived by his loving parents,” Polino and father Colt Meadows.
Marcello Meadows was the 11th CT child under 5 since 2020 to die from opioid ingestion: report
In Child Advocate Sarah Eagan’s detailed report, she begins with the news that since 2020, Meadows was the 11th Connecticut child under the age of five to die as a result of opioid ingestion. Eagan noted that if not for first responders administering Naloxone there would have been more fatalities rather than a number of near fatalities.
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In the Meadows homicide, Eagan reported that DCF, as well as an agency contracted by the state, and the state probation office all had a hand in failing to protect the child.
His mother, an addict with a “long history of involvement with the criminal justice system,” already had a three-year-old born in 2019 who tested positive for illicit opioids. But the hospital, Eagan reported, did not make a report to DCF and no case was opened.
Polino had been on probation for many years, and Eagan noted that “records reflect persistent concerns about opioid misuse.” Indeed, a month before Marcello was born in July 2022, with her 3-year-old in tow, Polino was arrested for larceny and risk of injury to a child after being caught shoplifting. A DCF report was made by police and an investigation opened.
Since she’d violated the terms of her existing probation, she was arrested and charged on July 20, 2022. It was the last time the probation department had contact with her until after her son died, the OCA Eagan reported. There were “outstanding warrants for violation of probation, issued by the court shortly after Marcello’s birth, which were served at the time of Marcello’s death,” Eagan wrote.
Around three weeks later, on Aug. 10, 2022, “Marcello was born, exposed to cocaine and opioids. He was diagnosed with Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome and Failure to Thrive, the OCA report reads, and a “Safety Plan was created by DCF to ensure his and his three-year-old sibling’s safety and engage their mother in treatment.”
Marcello’s father, Colt Meadows, was described as the “sober caregiver:” report.
But among other policy failures, the OCA found that there were no home visits. In fact, at one point in the report, it’s noted there was no fixed address for Polino. When her baby boy was found dead, they’d been staying in a family member’s home, where “glassine bags/wax folds in the trash can of the main bedroom where she slept with the children, with laboratory testing identifying cocaine on certain items and Ziplock bags that tested positive for Fentanyl, Xylazine, caffeine, and cocaine.”
Other failures include that the child’s father, Colt Meadows, described as the “sober caregiver” in the safety plan, did not undergo a background check. Meadows has a lengthy criminal history and at the time, was facing myriad charges including a number of violent felonies, court records show.
Nor was a toxicology screen done on Meadows, the report shows.
And, from August 2022 and December, Polico was not tested for Fentanyl, and once testing did begin, she tested positive a number of times.
“Once lab testing commenced, Ms. Polino tested positive multiple times, including three times in March and April 2023, after which she denied knowingly using illicit substances. No DCF Safety Plan was renewed as required by policy, despite staff being aware of the positive tests.”
DCF closed its case June 7, 2023, noting Polino, with a couple of negative tests for fentanyl in the previous few months, had successfully completed treatment, the report reads. Twenty days later, on June 27, the “methadone provider” asked that a welfare check be made as Polino had not shown up since June 6, the day before DCF closed her case.
On June 28, 2023, New Haven police were called to Farren Avenue in Fair Haven for a report of an unresponsive baby. Not breathing, Marcello was rushed to Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, and was later pronounced dead.
Among the DCF policies and processes that Eagan found “require further improvement” is the DCF practice with “in-home cases” like Marcello’s.”
These are cases that are “open with DCF but where the child remains at home, requires urgent attention.”
“This is the third fatality report that OCA has published in the last year regarding the death by homicide of a child under active or recent DCF supervision — two of the children died from Fentanyl intoxication.”
Data shows marked decline in DCF’s risk/safety assessment, case supervision since 2020: report
Eagan noted that DCF is “making numerous efforts to strengthen practices …however case reviews and DCF systems data continue to show persistent deficiencies in safety planning and case management. Available data shows a marked decline in DCF’s risk and safety assessment and case supervision over the last two years. OCA’s full report makes several recommendations for the agency’s and policymakers’ consideration and OCA and DCF remain in regular discussion about these dynamic challenges.”
Eagan wrote:
“Marcello’s family had an open child abuse/neglect case with DCF until three weeks before his death. His mother had outstanding warrants for violation of probation, issued by the court shortly after Marcello’s birth, which were served at the time of Marcello’s death. OCA examined events preceding Marcello’s death including 1) DCF policies and practice regarding safety planning in “in-home cases” like Marcello’s; 2) JB-CSSD policies for supervision of adult probationers and individuals under supervision who are using Fentanyl and caring for children; and 3) provision of services to Marcello’s mother by DCF and JB-CSSD. OCA found that though agencies involved with this family provided supervision and referrals to community-based treatment, they did not comply with all their respective policies and procedures regarding risk and safety management. Although OCA supports treatment focused family preservation efforts whenever safe and feasible, OCA finds that agencies’ policies and processes for assessing and managing risk and safety in the context of caregiver substance misuse require further improvement with concurrent quality improvement activities.”
Read the full death investigation report from the Office of the Child Advocate here:
CHILD FATALITY INVESTIGATIO… by Ellyn Santiago
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Among the OCA recommendations are:
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