In response to a records request from The Associated Press, the Kansas Department of Children and Families released a summary Tuesday of its involvement with 2-year-old Zayden JayNesahkluah. He is at least the ninth child age 5 or younger since 2017 to die in the Wichita area under suspicious circumstances, several of them after state welfare officials had contact with the family.

Zayden’s mother, 23-year-old Kimberly Compass , was charged last month with first-degree murder following her son’s overdose of the addiction treatment medication. She previously has denied any wrongdoing. Her attorney, Casey Cotton, didn’t immediately return a phone message Wednesday.

The child welfare agency says Compass was assigned to a program designed to keep the family intact almost continuously from August 2016 to September 2018, although the state contractor working with Compass lost contact with her during the second year after she moved. It was unclear from the summary why she was participating in the program. But Mike Deines, a spokesman for the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said her participation was voluntarily.

The agency says it then received reports in December 2018 and January 2019 about neglect and lack of supervision. Later, the agency received reports that Compass’ then-partner was physically abusive, and that Compass was neglectful and failed to provide supervision. At one point, Compass refused a drug test, the summary shows.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas child welfare officials say they received repeated reports about a toddler before he died of an overdose of the addiction treatment medication methadone.

The Kansas Department of Children and Families released a summary Tuesday of its involvement with 2-year-old Zayden Jay Nesahkluah of Wichita in response to a records request from The Associated Press.

Zayden’s mother, 23-year-old Kimberly Compass, was charged last month with first-degree murder.

The agency says the initial reports in December 2018 and January 2019 were about neglect and lack of supervision. Later, the agency received reports that Compass’ then-partner was physically abusive, and more that Compass was neglectful.

Although the reports weren’t substantiated, Compass received a mental health referral. The agency says a service provider attempted to contact her on May 31, the day Zayden was found dead at a motel.