February 18, 2016 - According to an affidavit filed in the Shelby County 123rd Judicial District Court by Shelby County Attorney Gary Rholes, the four-year-old male sibling of a two-year-old female child who perished in a house fire in the Lone Cedar Community on Wednesday, February 17, 2016 is being taken into the custody of Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS).
DFPS was contacted by Shelby County Sheriff's Investigator Chad Brown who informed that the father Jesse Dwayne Whitteck had admitted using methamphetamine and also stated there was evidence the mother Raven Whitteck used methamphetamine. DFPS was informed the name of the deceased child to be Roselynn Whitteck, and that she was being transported for autopsy.
Upon arrival at the hospital, DFPS was informed examination of the four-year-old child by the hospital had been refused by his father. At the time DFPS was at the hospital, Raven Whitteck was unconscious and intubated. She was transported to UTMB Burn Unit in Galveston for burns on her hands and possible internal damage.
DFPS spoke with Jesse Whitteck at the hospital and according to the affidavit stated he was not at home at the time the fire started; however, he arrived when it was still burning. He admitted he and Raven Whitteck used methamphetamine, and later admitted to medical personnel they both used methamphetamines on the morning of the fire.
The affidavit states Jesse Whitteck has a past conviction from 2007 of possession of marijuana. Based on the admitted drug abuse, refusal to allow the four-year-old child to be examined at the emergency room, and the unknown circumstances of the fire including the two-year-old siblings death, it was determined the Department had exigent circumstances to take custody of the child immediately. Due to the circumstances of the child's death which are still not completely known and the parents' abuse of methamphetamine, the Department believes that it is in the best interest of the child to be taken into the Temporary Managing Conservatorship of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in order to assure his safety and well-being.
Further information on this case will be provided on Shelby County Today as it develops.
