The tender image was a sharp contrast to the often-bruised Eain, who had won the hearts of neighbors on Albany Street. On several occasions Eain would have bruises and black-and-blue marks either on his neck or face, the neighbors said. “One time I asked Matt about three marks on Eain’s neck. They were bruises. He said Eain fell in the bathtub,” Monteleone said. McCarthy said she was upset when she spotted a mark below the boy’s eye. “Eain told me he got punched in the eye at school,” McCarthy said. Eain, who was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, attended a preschool program at a Gateway Longview facility, according to his family. At a birthday party last June for a baby on the block, Eain was there and had a bruise on his forehead. The excuse that time was that Eain had been bouncing on a bed and slammed his head, Monteleone recalled. Then around midsummer, Kuzdzal started accusing neighbors of reporting him to Child Protective Services for child abuse. None of this surprises Robin Hart, the maternal grandmother, who lives in Buffalo’s Lovejoy neighborhood. “CPS dropped the ball last March. I told the caseworker Kuzdzal had physically abused Eain four different times,” Hart said. “He told me he did not see any signs of abuse. Every time Eain was hurt, it was when he was alone with Matt. Matt kept coming up with lies, and the CPS worker believed him.” “I called CPS, my son called CPS, my brother called CPS, and the teachers at Gateway Longview called,” Hart said, breaking down and sobbing several times. “My daughter Nora was constantly asking Eain if Matt was hitting him, and Eain would not say. Matt had scared Eain.” “I am not condemning the CPS system. Any system that tries to protect children is good. What I am saying is investigate the people from the system who failed Eain,” Hart said. murder and execute him,” she said of Kuzdzal. Erie County officials declined to comment specifically on the case, except to acknowledge they are investigating the boy’s death. Peter Anderson, spokesman for County Executive Mark Poloncarz, issued this statement: “There are currently two ongoing investigations into this tragic death, one being conducted by Child Protective Services, as required by law, and one a criminal investigation. “We are prohibited by law from commenting on any aspects of this case at this time, or for that matter any other CPS case. Like all people, we grieve the passing of this child, and we thank the Buffalo Police Department for its rapid, professional response and quick arrest in this matter.”
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 21:42:49 +0000
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