Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. Superior Court

The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) seeks writ review of an order denying its petition to modify an order of the juvenile court placing three-month-old James W. V in the care of his paternal grandmother. We grant the writ petition and issue a writ of *1564 mandate directing the juvenile court to vacate the order placing James W. V in the care of the paternal grandmother.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. Death of Kayla S.

On the afternoon of September 7, 2007, City of Hawthorne police officers found two-year-old Kayla S. on the floor of her home with her stepfather, James W. IV, and his infant son, James W. V. Kayla S. was taken to a hospital where she was determined to be in full cardiac arrest with numerous internal injuries and severe brain injury consistent with shaken baby syndrome. The medical director of the intensive care unit indicated the injuries appeared to have been inflicted within the preceding 12 to 24 hours. 1 Kayla S. had been in the care of James W. IV on September 7, 2007. Based on a handwritten note on the otherwise typewritten police report, it appears James W. IV called Kayla S.’s mother, Deshawn W., not 911,…