North Carolina court blocks little girl's return to Florida

A child advocacy group argues that no one considered the fitness of the girl's birth parents.

By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 28, 2001

A 7-year-old girl caught in a custody battle will remain in foster care after North Carolina's highest court on Friday blocked her Florida birth parents from taking her home.

The decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court came two days after a lower court in Raleigh cleared the way for Lazalia "Sissy" Urick and Ernest Barnett to take their child, Crystal, back to Hernando County.

On Thursday, a child advocacy group appealed the ruling of a lower court judge, arguing that she failed to consider the couple's parental fitness and that Crystal's interests were ignored.

Crystal has been in a foster home since Katherine Gaytan, whom the child thought was her mother, was charged last week with hiding the girl from Urick since 1994.

Urick, who was 17 and homeless at the time her child disappeared, had asked Gaytan's family to watch her infant daughter until she found a place to live.

"If Crystal is deemed a person and not a piece of property, (the judge needs to ask) what harm would it cause to rip her from an established family unit?" said Lewis Pitts, director of Advocates for Children's Services, part of a non-profit agency that provides legal services to the needy. Pitts said his staff learned about the case from news reports and intervened because they were concerned about Crystal's welfare.

"(Urick) came up here with her trump card and said, "I'm the biological mother,' and the court said that's all that's relevant," he said.

Pitts also asked the Supreme Court to grant a hearing with better representation for Crystal, to approve visits with the family the child lived with in North Carolina and to delay the case until Gaytan's criminal charge is resolved.

The Supreme Court did not rule on Pitts' request for a parental fitness hearing but gave all parties until May 7 to respond. Until then, Crystal will remain in foster care.

Urick, 24, has had three other children, none of whom live with her. A son, 8, lives with her mother; a daughter, 5, lives with friends; a 21/2-year-old son accidentally drowned last year in a neighbor's swimming pool.

Also, Barnett, 29, has an extensive criminal record. While he has no history of violence, he has been found guilty of burglary, grand theft, dealing in stolen property, two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, eight counts of obtaining property with a worthless check, two counts of uttering a forged check, petty theft and violation of probation, records show.

Urick said last week that Barnett's past was no longer relevant.

Barnett's lawyer, Robert Lane, said the ruling disappointed Urick and Barnett.

When the couple told Crystal she would not be going with them Sunday, she started to cry, he said. The two are trying to decide how long they can afford to stay in Raleigh and how much time Barnett can miss from his job with a demolition company.

Gaytan, identified by police with her former last name, Romero, initially was charged with child abduction. Prosecutors changed the charge Thursday to felonious restraint, which carries the same penalty but more closely matches the evidence, they said.

Police say Gaytan hid the child from Urick for seven years and at one time fled to Mexico.

Gaytan, now out on bail, says she never knew Urick was looking for Crystal. Told Friday about the Supreme Court decision, she sighed deeply and said, "Oh, God, oh that's wonderful."

Gaytan said she spent Thursday night crying in Crystal's room in her home east of Raleigh, before tossing and turning in her own bed. She plans to seek visitation rights next week.

"This is tearing me up," she said.

- Times staff writer Jamie Malernee contributed to this report.

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