She Warned CPS—They Ignored Her. Now Her Grandson Is Dead

Grandmother says Michigan's child welfare system ignored repeated warnings before 2-year-old Kassius Lofton was fatally abused—just hours after CPS sent him home.

LANSING, Mich - A two-year-old boy with Down syndrome is dead just days after Child Protective Services sent him back to the home where he was allegedly being abused. Kassius Lofton, who could not speak or walk, died from blunt force trauma, and now his grieving grandmother is demanding accountability from Michigan’s child welfare system.

Brenda Wellons-Watson, Kassius’s grandmother, delivered emotional testimony this week before a Michigan House committee, outlining a series of failures by CPS that she says led directly to the boy’s death.

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“A tragedy of horrific magnitude has fallen upon my family,” she said. “The most devastating part is that it was preventable.”

Kassius was returned to his mother, Tierra Winston, and her boyfriend, Deon Hinton, on July 30, 2024. By 9 p.m. that same day, he was dead. According to police and medical investigators, Kassius suffered multiple internal injuries, including trauma to his liver and pancreas, along with visible bruising across his body.

Both Tierra Winston and Deon Hinton have been charged with felony murder and first-degree child abuse.

Wellons-Watson said she had contacted CPS about signs of abuse more than a week earlier, on July 21. She submitted photos of Kassius showing injuries, including what looked like a belt buckle mark on his face. She made seven follow-up calls after sending the photos but says her concerns were met with delays and indifference. It took four days before Kassius was finally taken to a hospital.

“No amount of money can ease the pain my family lives with daily,” she told lawmakers. “But if we are willing to examine where the system has broken down, we have a chance to prevent this from happening again.”

After the hospital visit, Kassius was placed with a friend of his mother’s — a woman who had only recently regained custody of her own children. Wellons-Watson said CPS did not verify the home’s safety or conduct a home visit before placing the child there. Kassius was sent with two diapers and a gift card.

Eventually, CPS decided to return Kassius to his mother — a decision that left the family in shock.

“I asked who made this decision and why,” Wellons-Watson said. “The caseworker, who had been communicating with me the entire time, suddenly told me I was no longer part of the case.”

She then reached out to state leadership, including the directors of the Department of Health and Human Services. A response came, but it was too late. “By the time they got back to me, Kassius was dead.”

Lawmakers at the hearing appeared stunned. Several questioned why the mother was allowed to choose where Kassius was placed, why no psychological evaluation or parenting classes were required, and why a court didn’t intervene.

“This child had no voice,” said one representative. “And the system didn’t give him one.”

Wellons-Watson has since retired from teaching and is applying to work within the CPS system in hopes of driving reform from the inside. She emphasized that her goal is not revenge, but systemic change.

“I’m not asking for your sympathy,” she said. “I’m asking for action. The policies must be rewritten. Oversight must be strengthened. Our children deserve no less.”

This case, along with others raised during the hearing — including a fatal fire in Grand Rapids where CPS had placed children with a mentally unstable mother — is fueling new calls for structural reforms, better triage procedures, and increased oversight within Michigan’s child welfare system.

Kassius Lofton’s name now joins a growing list of children who advocates say were failed by the very agencies meant to protect them.