UPDATE March 24 afternoon: Oswego County Department of Social Services Commissioner Stacy Alvord has issued a statement regarding the death of a 17-year-old with cerebral palsy and the investigation following. Statement can be found here.
UPDATE March 24: County Administrator Philip Church gave the following statement: “If a State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) Child Fatality Report contains any recommended actions, Oswego County DSS implements those actions immediately.
Further, the OCFS just completed a program quality review for 2021 on Oswego County DSS’s child protective, preventive, and foster care services. In the interests of transparency, the State review is attached, along with its cover letter. The final paragraph of the cover letter summarizes additional actions Oswego County has, or is in the process of, implementing that are over and above the recommendations contained in the child fatality report.”
Oswego County PQI review letter 3-21-2022
Oswego County Child Protective School District QA Report 2018 – 2019
UPDATE March 22: Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup today addressed county residents about the death of a 17-year-old with cerebral palsy from Palermo and reviewing the actions of the Department of Social Services Child Protective Services. Full story can be found here.
UPDATE March 17: Last night, March 16, at arraignment, Lisa Waldron was arraigned before Judge Wood in Oswego County CAP Court and remanded to Oswego County Jail on $10,000 cash bail or $20,000 bond. Anthony Waldron was also remanded to Oswego County Jail with $20,000 cash bail or $40,000 bond.
Both are currently scheduled to appear in Palermo Town Court on April 4, 2022, at 5 p.m.
PALERMO, NY – A couple was arrested today, March 16, following a long investigation into the death of a 17-year-old with cerebral palsy last year.
According to police, on May 9, 2021, the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office responded to an address in the town of Palermo for a 17-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who had become unresponsive. He was transported to the hospital and pronounced deceased soon after.
Post-mortem, the child was found to be severely underweight with bedsores covering a significant portion of his body.
Over the following months, the Sheriff’s Office conducted an extensive investigation that included interviews with the child’s teachers, doctors, parents, and physical and occupational therapists. Past records were obtained from medical institutions, schools, and other agencies involved with the child’s care.
A medical examiner’s report was finalized in February that named the manner of death as homicide, caused in part by infection and malnutrition.
On March 16, 2022, the child’s mother, Lisa Waldron, and stepfather, Anthony Waldron, were arrested on the following charges: Manslaughter in the second degree, Criminally Negligent Homicide and Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the first degree.
The arraignment of Lisa and Anthony Waldron is currently scheduled for around 5:30 p.m. tonight at the Public Safety Center in CAP Court.
