The state Office of the Child Advocate has begun an investigation into the death of 14-year-old Michael Shore, who was struck and killed by passing vehicles after he got out of a car driven by his foster mother on Route 8 in Naugatuck Dec. 22.
He is the third foster-care child to die in December.
Michael was a ward of the Department of Children and Families and was living in a therapeutic foster home — where the foster parents have received training to offer a higher level of care, the advocate’s office said. Michael had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, a state source said.
The preliminary information is that the boy may have been angry or upset and got out of the car and walked or ran off, Assistant Child Advocate Faith Vos Winkel said Thursday.
In addition to Michael, DCF ward Michael Citron, 13 months old, was found unresponsive in a Bridgeport home and pronounced dead at a hospital on Dec 3. The medical examiner has not yet released a cause of death in the Citron case. Bridgeport police are investigating.
On Christmas morning, Noah McCoy, 6, was ejected from a pickup truck during a crash on I-91 in North Haven. Noah was not wearing a seat belt, police said. He died from his injuries, the state police said Thursday morning.
The child advocate’s office is reviewing all three cases.
Michael Shore was on the highway when he was struck by a northbound van and then by a second vehicle, a Jeep SUV, state police said. A source said he may have been crossing Route 8 when he was hit.
DCF spokesman Josh Howroyd said the agency was still pulling together facts as of Thursday. He concurred with the child advocate’s understanding of the incident.
Michael Shore’s foster parents were recruited, screened and licensed by a private child-placement agency that works under contract with DCF, Howroyd said.
The boy’s biological father is Michael J. Shore of Plainville, who was charged in May with sexually assaulting two teenage girls more than 100 times.
The elder Shore, 39, of Kent Street, was charged with 102 counts of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a minor, police said. He posted $200,000 bail.
Shore, a truck driver, is accused of sexually assaulting two girls close to his family from 2013 to 2015, according to police Lt. Nicholas Mullins.
Investigators have no evidence that anyone else was sexually assaulted, he said.
It could not be immediately determined when Michael entered DCF care.
Fos Winkel said the advocate’s office will submit reports on all three foster-care deaths to the state Child Fatality Review Panel, which may order a deeper investigation into any aspects of the cases that reflect on the child-protection system in the state.
The medical examiner’s office said Michael died of “blunt impact to the head and torso, with fractures and visceral injuries.” The death was classified as accidental.
Michael was born in New Britain on April 8, 2002. He is survived by his biological mother, stepfather, the elder Shore, and several siblings and stepsiblings.
Trooper Kelly Grant said the incident remains under investigation. No charges have been filed. Grant urged witnesses to call Troop I in Bethany at (203) 393-4200.
The state Office of the Child Advocate has begun an investigation into the death of 14-year-old Michael Shore, who was struck and killed by passing vehicles after he got out of a car driven by his foster mother on Route 8 in Naugatuck Dec. 22.
Source: Teen Killed On Route 8 Was DCF Ward; 3rd Foster Child To Die in December – Hartford Courant