In re J.D.

BACKGROUND

A. The Initiation of This Case On July 7, 2018, shortly before turning three years old, J.D. was removed from his mother’s custody following two violent altercations in his presence, one of which seriously injured his six-month-old half-sister, R.G. The first was an argument between mother and R.G.’s father that took place when the two encountered each other on a train platform; their argument escalated into a physical struggle while mother was holding her baby girl (each accusing the other of being the aggressor), and it culminated with J.D. either falling or getting pushed to the ground near the edge of the train platform as a train approached. Mother reached down to grab him just as the train whizzed by. The second incident occurred a few days later. That time, after another child hit J.D., mother had a physical fight with the child’s father (J.D.’s uncle), again while holding her baby daughter (and again, the two adults accused each other of being the aggressor), and mother accidentally dropped her daughter. The baby was transported to the hospital and later diagnosed with a skull fracture of undetermined cause (according to the attending physician, it was possibly…