Missouri DSS had multiple contacts with Jayden Robker’s family before KC teen found dead

Jayden Robker’s mother and stepfather both repeatedly refused services from and refused to cooperate with the Missouri Department of Social Services the two years before the 13-year-old was found dead.

As a result, the agency twice closed cases investigating the Kansas City child’s allegations of abuse. Both times, he was living with other family members by the time the case was closed.

A fatality summary report obtained by The Star Wednesday confirmed Robker reported abuse by his stepfather to police in 2021. But the DSS report also detailed at least two contacts by DSS’s Children’s Division offering to help the family, beginning in 2021.

According to DSS records dating back to 2021, Jayden Robker’s mother, Heather Robker, declined state services and Eric Givens, the stepfather whom Jayden Robker accused of abuse, refused to cooperate with the state agency.

The records also reveal that around the same time Jayden Robker went missing, a second child accused Givens of abuse. Givens is married to Heather Robker.

Robker’s body was found in a pond in a wooded area in Gladstone in March. Family said he went missing from his home in February. The teen’s body was found five weeks later, about a mile from his Kansas City home.

The Star could not immediately reach Givens for comment. Heather Robker, when reached by The Star on Wednesday, declined to comment on the contents of the DSS report.

“My son has been gone for 10 months,” she said. “Leave it alone.”

2021: Initial report of abuse

In November 2021, Jayden Robker was found by Gladstone police wandering near the 5700 block of North Walnut Street. It was then that he told officers he had run away and was being abused by Givens.

Kitty Robker, his grandmother, picked him up that evening.

“‘I really had to look and say, ‘Those are bruises,’” Kitty Robker told The Star earlier this year. “‘That is not a pigment thing.’”

Gladstone police referred the case to DSS that same year.

The state placed Robker and his grandmother on a safety plan and sent counseling resources to his mother. When the case was closed, Robker was living with his grandmother, according to the report.

“No further services were offered,” the filing reads.

In a previous interview with The Star, Givens denied ever abusing Robker.

“Jayden got put on his knees because he was doing something to the kids,” Givens said. “That was it.”

In 2013, Givens was charged with domestic battery against a household member in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, according to court documents. The assistant district attorney filed a motion to abandon the charges less than five months later, noting that Givens had been placed on a pre-trial intervention program.

2022: Stepfather refuses to cooperate

A second DSS report — this one filed in 2022 — also makes reference to a runaway attempt, in which Robker alleged he was being abused by Givens. Robker “refused to return to the mother’s home due to abuse and fear of being removed from school,” the report reads.

In a previous interview with The Star, Robker’s uncle, Derek Robker, said the young teen lived with him for about eight months after he ran away.

But when Heather Robker was asked to sign a power of attorney, she refused, according to DSS.

“Mother refused to sign, refused services, and failed to engage in services. Mother’s partner unwilling to cooperate with (Children’s Division),” the report reads.

When DSS closed the 2022 case, Robker was still living with his uncle.

Derek Robker said his nephew was eventually sent back to live with his mother, even though he didn’t want to go.

“That kid was literally crying — begging me — not to let him go,” Derek Robker told The Star previously. “He said, ‘Uncle Derek, I’ll do anything. What do I have to do?’”

But officials said that even if Heather Robker had signed over power of attorney for Jayden Robker to his uncle, “There would have been nothing legally preventing him from going back to mom,” who could revoke the agreement at any time, said Caitlin Whaley, a spokeswoman for DSS.

2023: Another child reports abuse in the home

Sometime earlier this year, DSS opened an investigation after another child in the home reported physical and emotional abuse by their “father” and “made threats to harm self,” according to a third DSS report.

DSS was not able to immediately clarify the exact date the child reported the abuse, or whether it was before or after Robker was found dead. The report does not specify the age of the child.

Children’s Division attempted to make contact with all the children in the home, according to DSS.

“Father refused to allow CD access to children. (Children’s Division) later verified 3 of the 5 children (all 3 biological children of father) within the home had been placed with father’s mother,” the report reads.

When Robker went missing, his mother told authorities he ran away. After his disappearance, Eric Givens told The Star that Jayden Robker left home in a rush with his skateboard and Pokemon cards in hand. Heather Robker said he disappeared while she was taking a nap.

“CD was given several different stories as to child’s status,” the DSS report indicates.

Jayden’s body found

On March 10, crews pulled Robker from the waters of a small Gladstone pond surrounded by trees in a quiet neighborhood near the QuikTrip where he was last seen weeks earlier.

In the weeks after Robker’s body was found, other family members said they had been voicing concerns for Robker’s safety for months.

Wednesday’s DSS report confirmed their concerns. But it also left unanswered questions, including a more precise timeline of events, why the initial cases were closed, and why Robker ultimately ended up back in a home with someone he had accused of abuse.

Whaley, with DSS, aid she could not immediately comment on specific details in Robker’s case, but could instead speak to policy regarding cases like his.

Families are allowed to decline services and are allowed to refuse to cooperate with DSS, Whaley said.

“Unless there’s court involvement, there’s not really an enforcement mechanism for the division other than the option to escalate and potentially make a referral to the juvenile office for either court supervision or removal,” she said.

When DSS closed its second case looking into Robker’s allegations, he was still living with his aunt. By the time they opened his third and final case, he was again living with his mother and stepfather, according to the DSS report.

Whaley said if a case is closed, DSS does not necessarily have to be notified if a child moves to someone else’s care, as long as they are not in the custody of the state.

DSS policy requires the agency to notify law enforcement of any investigations into abuse. But law enforcement is not required to investigate the abuse, Whaley said. The Star could not immediately confirm whether the Kansas City Police Department was conducting an investigation based on the DSS reports.

An investigation into Robker’s death by the Gladstone Police Department is ongoing, Capt. Karl Burris, with the department, confirmed Wednesday. Detectives have not identified any suspects or persons of interest in the case, and Robker’s autopsy report has not yet been released.