Markes still has national organization's support

The National Lissencephaly Network is still backing Erin Brittany Markes, 19, who was arrested March 28 after lawmen in Santa Rosa County alleged she neglected her son.

Markes’ arraignment was reset on Tuesday due to a conflict in the schedule of Markes’ defense attorney. James “Bart” Countess, from the Tallahassee-based Arrowood law firm has taken over her criminal case from the public defender.

The criminal arraignment was previously continued to May 7 at the request of the State Attorney’s Office. Assistant State Attorney Will Nelson had told Judge Ron Swanson the State needed additional time to complete its investigation into the allegations of felony neglect. The new tentative date for her criminal arraignment has been set for May 28 at 9 a.m.

President of the National Lissencephaly Network Dianna Fitzgerald said on Wednesday representatives from the organization will be at Markes’ May 28 court date.

“The Vice President Mary Anne Ehrgott is coming down with me to support Erin,” says Fitzgerald. “We are still behind Erin 100%. We continue to support her and we are cooperating with prosecutors in the criminal investigation.
“Countess, her new attorney for the criminal case, is also investigating and we are assisting in any way we can with that. I know the prosecutors are interviewing doctors, our doctor, Dr. Dobbins, still hasn’t been interviewed, though. I hope they [State Attorney’s Office] don’t neglect to speak with him."

Fitzgerald says the child’s prognosis is still the same outcome he would have had staying with his mother.

“What people need to realize is, they need to look at the fact that everything they [the hospital] are doing right now for Jaden are things we have told them about. To think this mother could have made the diagnosis and cared for her child on her own is ludicrous. I still wonder why that child was never sent to a children’s hospital or a GI Specialist. He never was,” says Fizgerald. “Of course he is in the best place he can be for his health right now, but his mother doesn’t need to go to jail, she needs to be with her son.”

The online petition to Governor Crist started by Fitzgerald currently has in excess of 570 signatures of supporters who feel Markes should be exonerated.

Meanwhile, Markes continues to visit with her son at Baptist Hospital where he has begun a gradual decline, having lost a little over a pound in the last week.

Markes’ son weighed about 10 pounds when he was admitted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola on March 12.

He continues to receive treatment for his illness at Baptist Hospital. He suffers from Miller-Dieker syndrome, a form of the genetic brain disorder lissencephaly, characterized by a smoothing of folds in the brain. Doctors say symptoms include seizures and feeding difficulties including the inability to absorb nutrients.

An update on the child's condition was given in court on Monday by officials representing the Florida Department of Children and Families.

“The child currently weighs about 16 lbs. He has lost around one pound over the last week and there seems to be in a gradual decline in his health," testified a DCF representive talking to Judge Marci Goodman.

DCF also states that the hospital has reported Markes has been hostile to staff who are caring for the child.

“We have some concerns about the mental status of Markes, she has fallen off with cooperation and contact with us and now we have heard from the hospital that she is being hostile and angry,” says the official from DCF.

Markes’ attorney, Randall Werre, who was present for the pre-trial dependency hearing says his client is under emotional stress due to the condition of her child and the court hearings.

“She is visiting with the child as much as possible. I am unaware of the situation with her behavior at the hospital. I had heard nothing about that,” says Werre.

Another pre-trial dependency hearing is scheduled for June 2 at 9 a.m. and the child will remain under the custody of the Department ofChildren and Families until the court makes a decision to change this. DCF will be continuing its investigation regarding the custody and alleged neglect of the while the State pursues its investigation of criminal charges.

Assistant State Attorney Will Nelson says he feels confident the criminal investigation is making progress.

“We are speaking with all of the doctors involved in the care of the child, the doctors who made initial assessments of the child and all relevant parties to the case, this takes time. Due to the complexity of the case, it would be a disservice to everyone involved to be in a hurry to complete the investigation,” says Nelson. “At this time we are still actively investigating the abuse allegations by interviewing doctors from the initial report of abuse as well as doctors and others regarding previous allegations of abuse in Missouri [where Markes lived before moving to Pace].

“We are making good progress on our investigation, although we have not concluded our interviews yet."