'Human error' prevented Topeka police report about Zoey Felix from being sent to DCF

Kansas child protective services searched for 5-year-old Zoey Felix and her family seven times in early September.

Despite home visits, a letter and a phone call, they couldn't find her.

Topeka police, however, knew Zoey wasn't living at her mother's house anymore. They found the girl and her parents but didn't tell state officials — contrary to what city officials said publicly earlier this month.

Zoey was raped and killed Oct. 2, police said. Zoey had been living in a homeless camp in a wooded area of southeast Topeka less than a mile from her mother's house.

Topeka communications director Gretchen Spiker previously said police were called to that house for a Sept. 5 welfare check. She said officers left the child with her custodial parent, then the Topeka Police Department provided information to the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

Spiker on Wednesday acknowledged the report wasn't sent.

"The information provided was preliminary, and at the time, believed to be accurate," Spiker said. "Recently, the Topeka Police Department (TPD) learned that the referral to DCF on September 5, 2023 about Zoey Felix did not occur."

Topeka police found Zoey Felix but didn't send report to Kansas DCF

Zoey's short, tumultuous life ended with firefighters and police called to the gas station of the Dillons at S.E. 29th and California. There, they found Zoey with life-threatening injuries.

A little more than a month earlier, DCF received one of its many reports about Zoey's family.

While none of the previous reports turned up sufficient reason to remove the child from her home and take her into state custody, DCF couldn't fully investigate an Aug. 29 report alleging a lack of utilities and drug use occurring in the home.

The state's child welfare agency tried seven times in September to find Zoey but couldn't contact her family — and child protective service investigators didn't know the police had found Zoey. DCF's first attempt at a home visit in September was on Sept. 6, the same day the city shut off water to the address because of past due balances.

The day before, police showed up on a check welfare call that included an allegation of a child living in a house without electricity. Police confirmed there was no electricity to the house in the 2200 block of S.E. Market and also found Zoey wasn't living there at that time.

Officers "made contact with residents of the home" — apparently Zoey's mother — who confirmed there was no power. Officers "then spoke the custodial parent of the child" — apparently her father — "who confirmed the child had not been staying there because there was no power."

The report didn't say where Zoey had been living, though officers did meet with her.

"Officers then met with the child who was in good spirits and apparent health and the child was left in the care of their parent, per the custodial agreement," Spiker previously said. "Officers then left the scene. TPD provided information about the incident to the Department of Children and Families and the City of Topeka's Property Maintenance Unit followed up on the electricity matter on 9/11/23."

Now, Spiker says the Sept. 5 police report to DCF was never sent, even after Zoey died — though police did eventually tell DCF about it in a phone call.

"Per protocol, the responding TPD Officer provided the report to TPD's Records Unit to be processed and forwarded to DCF," Spiker said. "A human error occurred within the Records Unit, and the Officer's report was not transferred to DCF. TPD deeply regrets this human error, and has taken steps to avoid this type of error from occurring in the future."

Topeka officials won't say if police knew Zoey Felix was homeless on Sept. 5

When Topeka police have referrals to send to DCF, they compile the reports and forward them once each weekday, Spiker said. If there are any referrals over the weekend, those are sent to DCF on Monday mornings.

Because of the error in referring Zoey's case, "Additional checks and balances and supervisory oversight have been put in place in the Records Unit," Spiker said.

Spiker did note Topeka police had previously sent reports about Zoey to DCF, with a pair of referrals in early November 2022. A DCF summary shows a report in the same time frame of an unsupervised child, but the case was unsubstantiated after an investigation. The family also declined an offer of DCF services at that time.

But the revelation of the unsent report in September raises more questions on police interactions with Zoey.

Spiker declined to say whether officers met with Zoey at her mother's house or someplace else. Spiker said prosecutors have filed criminal charges and referred questions to them.

Had officers met Zoey at the house, it could have potentially been a violation of the mother's probation, who apparently was ordered by a court to have no contact with Zoey or her father. District Attorney Mike Kagay has previously declined to confirm whether the terms of the plea deal from his office required no contact between Zoey and her mother, Holly Felix, telling reporters, "I'll let you figure that out."

Officers may have met Zoey someplace else, since they acknowledged speaking with the custodial parent. But Zoey's father — who had had custody of Zoey since her mother's DUI crash last year— was apparently homeless by that point, having been evicted from an apartment a couple months earlier.

Neighbors said Holly Felix told several people, including Zoey and her father, to leave her house a few weeks before Zoey's death.

Spiker also declined to say whether officers had determined where Zoey was living. Had police known her whereabouts, that could have been valuable information for DCF investigators who couldn't find her.

Meanwhile, the public has been blocked from obtaining more information on what Topeka police and Shawnee County prosecutors know about Zoey and her death. A Shawnee County District Court judge has sealed the Topeka police affidavit in the case against Mickel Cherry, who has been charged with capital murder and could face the death penalty.

Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka police didn't file Zoey Felix welfare report with Kansas DCF