MotherofHartford toddler who fell to his death from apartment window to remain free on bond

Aug. 10—Frank, 34, was charged with first-degree manslaughter with grave risk of death in addition to 10 counts of risk of injury from her July 22 arrest. She had faced the prospect of going to jail Thursday upon her return to court, where a judge was scheduled to consider setting a higher bail.

That didn't end up happening.

Before the courtroom opened at Superior Court in Hartford on Thursday morning, Frank's lawyer, Wesley Spears, said a state prosecutor will not pursue a bond increase.

"I'm scared. I'm nervous," Frank said before she heard the news that she would remain free and allowed to continue to have supervised visits with her four daughters.

Spears said after the court appearance that he was pleased with the outcome. "This woman is not a flight risk," Spears said. She has been "villainized" when in fact she is a "caring, loving mother" who the state Department of Children and Families determined "was doing everything right."

Vannessa Dorantes, DCF commissioner, said her agency was about to close an open case filed on Frank on the grounds the conditions at her home were safe when her youngest child, 2-year-old Corneliuz "Papa" Williams, fell from a third-story window while she wasn't home.

DCF officials said last week that there had been 18 cases opened on Frank and the family but only one substantiated case of neglect in 2016, years before the toddler was born. A DCF worker was last in their Capitol Avenue apartment in June and found that "further child protective services involvement was not warranted," Dorantes said. There had been no contact with the family since then because the case was about to be closed, the commissioner said.

"My kids are my reason for living. They are my purpose. That's why I keep going," Frank said before the courtroom opened.

"I was grateful for my kids," Frank said. "That's why I didn't try to make them someone else's problem."

Spears said Frank was returning from driving an Uber customer to Cape Cod the day her son fell out a window and was gravely injured. He died two days later, police said. Spears said during her last court appearance that he is representing Frank free of charge.

According to a police report, Frank told officers she left the boy and his four older siblings at home while she went to the store to get food and diapers. She said the boy's father had agreed to come over to watch the children and was on his way, the report said. A family member confirmed that on Aug. 3.

Frank was arrested the same day as the fall from the Capitol Avenue apartment window. She was charged with 10 counts of risk of injury to a minor — two counts per child — because police said she left five children alone in what they described as squalid conditions. The charge of manslaughter was added after the 2-year-old died.

DCF, which is overseeing the care of Frank's children, has allowed her to have supervised visits with her four girls.

Two are with a foster parent, she said. Frank sees them once a week, she said. The other two are with their fathers, she added. Frank can see them when the fathers allow, she said.

Frank said she is grateful that she is allowed to see the children, but she said she feels it's unfair, considering DCF workers always told her she's doing the best she can.

Little things like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese commercials can bring her to tears since she knows that's the type of food her children love, she said. Corneliuz loved to dance to any type of music, she said. His favorite TV show was the "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse," she added. She found the music to the program annoying, Frank said. But now she misses the tune and her son's reaction to it, she said.

"I miss him sitting there dancing," she said. "I miss it all."

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Her daughters also miss their brother and are struggling with why the family can't be together, she said. "My 4-year-old asked, 'Are you going to jail?'" she recalled. She tells them it will be OK, she said. "I don't know what else to say to them in this situation," she said.

The family is still seeking help with burial expenses through a GoFundMe account, she said. She doesn't want her son cremated but she can't afford a burial.

Frank said she is a nervous mother who usually calls home every 30 minutes when she's away from her children. Her heart breaks when the children's foster parents call to ask what is her daughter's favorite song to fall asleep to, she said.

Every time she's faced with a court date or a visit with her other children, she feels like she's losing Corneliuz "all over again," she said. Frank wiped away tears often as she spoke of her children outside the courtroom.

"I did everything I could to make sure stuff like this didn't happen," she said.

Staff writer Christine Dempsey contributed to this story.