UPDATE: Manassas woman pleads guilty in death of daughter
Published: July 6, 2009
Updated: July 6, 2009
MANASSAS — A Manassas woman pleaded guilty today to killing her 13-year-old adopted daughter, whose body was found in a creek earlier this year.
Alfreedia Gregg-Glover stood before Judge Craig D. Johnston in Prince William County Circuit Court pleaded guilty to felony murder, felony child abuse and filing a false police report.
Police say Gregg-Glover lied when she told them her daughter Alexis “Lexie” Agyepong-Glover had run away in January. A massive search ensued, and two days later the girl’s body was found in a Woodbridge creek.
After the hearing, county Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert said there were many missteps, with authorities and social service workers failing to take immediate action and putting too much trust in the mother’s statements.
“It’s a true horror story what happened to Alexis,” he said. “I hope it will never happen again.”
Police said Gregg-Glover adopted the girl in December 2003. In the following years, officials received several neglect and abuse reports involving Agyepong-Glover, including one in which school bus employees said the girl came to the bus stop last fall dressed in nothing but a diaper.
Prosecutors said Agyepong-Glover had special needs and health problems. The girl began wearing a locator bracelet in March 2008 because she was known to run away from home. Ebert said “the question was why” she was running away. Agyepong-Glover also was hospitalized for long periods between 2005 and 2007.
Gregg-Glover provided police with different accounts about the last hours she was with the girl, telling them she drove her daughter to the hospital because the girl was sick, but then decided not to take her inside and eventually they ended up at the creek, officials said.
Medical examiners ruled Agyepong-Glover drowned.
Glover faces up to 40 years in prison for the murder charge, 10 years on the child abuse charge and a year in jail plus fines on the false police report charge. Her sentencing is set for Oct. 2.
Last month, the county social services department fired a senior social worker, and disciplined two social work managers for mishandling the case. An internal review found that several employees did not follow proper procedures in response to the abuse and neglect reports.
The review prompted changes in how cases are handled. Officials said now if there are three or more invalid reports about the same child, the case will be investigated further.
On Monday, Prince William County police released an internal investigation about its interactions with Gregg-Glover over the last six years. The report raised concerns about how the mother intentionally mischaracterized her daughter; the poor communication between police and the county social services department; and inconsistent investigative practices by officers and detectives.
Police Chief Charlie T. Deane also asked the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to do its own investigation into how cases are handled. The center said the department met national standards, but improvements could be made in areas such as the process for dealing with children who run away.
The department said it has already begun reforms, such as enhancing training and cooperation with other agencies. Officials said they have disciplined three sworn staff members for failing to follow department policy.
Brenda Taylor, a school bus aide who attended the court hearing, said she reported seeing Gregg-Glover put her daughter in the trunk of a car. Taylor and others wore ribbons printed with the girl’s name. She said she hopes the county learns from this case.
“We did our part and we were getting so frustrated because no one was listening,” Taylor said. “I think people stood idly by and let it take place.”
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Reader Reactions
this is SO heartbreaking. i cant imagine what this poor child went thru. being the stepmother of a 4 year old who was abused and neglected by his mother(thank god he’s in the custody of my husband and i now) i know first hand how the system fails our children. its a crying shame our children have to face things like this, when it could probably be avoided with a little more thorough investigations.
dee65..I’m not speaking about CPS, I’m talking about Social Services…which handles children that have been placed in foster and adoptive homes…which IS regulated by the Government. The issue is, they have too many cases with too few workers, so too many children are ignored. The employees do not have the time or ability to do the required checks and that is how children like this end up murdered and neglected.
I have to agree with Rogue Mule, if this had been a dog, there would be a ten fold of comments. We have become so immune to the death of child or other human. Not to justify cruelty to animals, but it is a bit misplaced.
How a person can be reported more than 1x and this be the result…. well that is a real sad commentary on the system and our society.
Robo
Child protective services is NOT regulated by the federal government its regulated by each state individually, so I don’t see how Obama plays into this. Yes, its tragic that this child died and that no ONE paid attention to the warning signs. The social workers and the family should have been more vigililant. We can’t place all the blame on the social workers alone, where was the rest of the family,neighbor’s,friends,school community? Did this child not go to school? Did she not attend church or other activities? What about family outside of her adoptive mother? All these factors need to be taken into account. How did the adoptive mother get certified to adopt this child in the first place? All cases of child abuse fall on everyone’s conscience that doesn’t speak out if they have any suspicions of such. Social workers are overburdened and under paid so for those that think that government workers bring home the fat check, you’re wrong. I’m not excusing them for the death of a child but don’t put all government workers in the same box because then I have to put all government “customers” in the same box and say they are all royal pain to deal with.
Obama needs to throw away his terrible healthcare idea and focus on fixing our broken social services system. How many more children must die and be abused in the hands of those that take care of them? It disgusts me and saddens me everytime I read an article like this that includes something like, “The county’s social services agency fired one senior social worker and disciplined two others for mishandling the case. An internal review found that several employees did not follow proper procedures in response to abuse and neglect reports about the child.“
And we want these people running our healthcare system???
Such a tragedy when a child is lost this way.. It sounds like there were people trying to help the girl.. but the government system didn’t work as it was intended. Govt workers who probably were more worried about smoke breaks and getting out of the office on time.. “the work will be there when I get there tomorrow”..well this time, it wasn’t.
I am not slamming all social workers I am sure that there are many that go above and beyond and give of themselves… but this scenario is all to common.
I agree with Rogue Mule….somewhere someone knew something was wrong!!! We MUST speak out & follow through when we see a child in need. As a Mom I usually go with my gut feeling when I see or suspect abuse, we can’t be afraid to get involved, like it’s not our problem. Children depend on US for survival and in cases of abuse, WE are their voice!!!!
We as a society failed this child. This is not a comparison but where is the out cry like for the pit bulls. where is the help for the children?? I am not pointing fingers because I count myself with the guilty. If we don’t change some things we will not be worthy to live ourselves.
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