In re G.Q. CA2/5

I. BACKGROUND

Mother and G.Z., Jr., the father of G.Q. and A.Q (Father),2 began arguing in August 2022 when the family was packing to return to California from Missouri. G.Q. stepped between his parents to protect Mother, and Father threw the teen against a wall, knocking him to the ground. Father then began choking G.Q. and stopped only after G.Q. stabbed him with a screwdriver. Father then followed G.Q. into a bedroom and punched the teen in the head and stomach. The physical abuse ended after Mother and an adult sister intervened and took G.Q. to the hospital. The following month, once the family was back in California, the Department opened an investigation into the abuse that occurred in Missouri. As part of its investigation, the Department spoke with Mother, who, among other things,

1 Undesignated statutory references that follow are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. 2 Father is not a party to this appeal.

2 advised that B.T., the father of K.T., was deceased. The Department also spoke with G.Q. and A.Q.’s paternal grandfather G.Z., Sr., who denied having any Indian ancestry. So far as the record reveals, the Department did not question An.Z. (G.Q. and A.Q.’s…