Child Welfare Agency Reported Kids 'Fine' Day After Mother Got Arrested For Their Murders

Miami, Florida, -- A child welfare agency in Florida had reported two kids were doing "fine," a day after the police found them dead.

The children's mother, Odette Joassaint, was taken into custody for tying up and strangling to death her 3-year-old son Jeffry and 6-year-old daughter Laura on April 12. A day after the gruesome murders, the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) entered into their system: "She [Joassaint] reports that everything is fine," referring to the two kids who were by then dead, the Miami Herald reported.

The report was documented in connection with a visit the agency made to Laura and Jeffry’s father, 45-year-old Frantzy Belval on April 2.

"He likes to play, laugh, and grab things," the agency wrote about Jeffry, and added, "She is a quiet child [who] is well-behaved," while referring to Laura.

However, when the deputies responded to Joassaint's home ten days later, the children were found tied up and strangled. During interrogation, Joassaint said they "would suffer less if they were dead" and "I don’t want them anymore," the New York Post reported.

The DCF had reportedly started an investigation into the children's family in 2017 after they received a report of "domestic disturbance" between Joassaint and Belval, during which the latter had a "large bite mark" on the right arm. Joassaint was charged with domestic battery in connection with the incident.

A year later, the investigators arrested Belval in connection with another incident where he was accused of punching Joassaint in the head, while she was pregnant with Jeffry.

Despite several reports of domestic violence and poor parenting, the agency reportedly supported Jossaint and did not support Belval, who fought for the custody of the children. Even when Jossaint ignored the investigators and refused to open her door for inspection, the agency assumed the kids were safe with the mother, the outlet claimed.

The practice of making retroactive entries, days or weeks after the visits, have also led to confusion and deadly outcomes, according to reports.

Meanwhile, the agency responded to the outlet saying: "Every day, staff at [DCF] have the difficult responsibility of protecting Florida’s children while only removing children from a home if a parent is unfit to care for their children or is likely to harm their children. In this case, DCF investigators were very involved with the family and recommended many services, but there was no history of physical child abuse to the two young children that would have led to their removal."