Topeka police failed to share crucial information about Zoey Felix. It can't happen again.

The Capital-Journal
·2 min read

We failed Zoey Felix.

We now know that Topeka police didn’t pass along information to the Kansas Department for Children and Families about Zoey’s whereabouts.

This is vexing news.

The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Jason Alatidd reports 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 a day before DCF began its search.

The Department of Children and Families launched an investigation into the well-being of Zoey Felix on Sept. 6 and tried to reach Zoey seven times that month at her mother's house. Topeka police found out on Sept. 5 that Zoey no longer lived there but didn't share that information with DCF until after her Oct. 2 death.
The Department of Children and Families launched an investigation into the well-being of Zoey Felix on Sept. 6 and tried to reach Zoey seven times that month at her mother's house. Topeka police found out on Sept. 5 that Zoey no longer lived there but didn't share that information with DCF until after her Oct. 2 death.

DCF's first attempt at that time was 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.

It turns out this information didn't make it from TPD to DCF — at least not when Zoey was alive.

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

Had DCF known this information sooner perhaps something could have been done to help her. Maybe she’d still be with us.

Unfortunately, we can’t change the past, but it’s critically important that we keep talking about Zoey and her story. We don’t do this to increase guilt or assign blame, but rather to ensure this doesn't happen again.

No one person failed Zoey. There’s plenty of blame to go around, including multiple agencies.

More: Zoey Felix, 5, was killed October 2 in Topeka. Here's complete coverage of her death.

We need to learn from this tragedy. We can call for and implement changes that might potentially save others like Zoey. We can demand transparency and reform. So we must.

It’s deeply concerning that TPD dropped the ball on this case. Because if it happened once, does that mean it happened to other children in other cases? It can — and likely will — happen again without changes to the system. The city of Topeka spokesperson pointed to human error and said steps were taken to ensure the mistake wouldn't happen again. She didn't say what those changes were.

We hope the changes will make a difference, but who is making sure of that? How the department conducts its business and procedures matters for our citizens.

In some cases, it can be a matter of safety and security, of life and death.

We can’t have further failures like this. It’s critical we get this fixed for Topeka and for Kansas.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka police failed to share crucial information about Zoey Felix