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DCF Almost Done With Investigation Into Custody Of 17-Month-Old Who Died

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By KRISTA KLAUS | News Channel 8

Published: March 20, 2009

Updated: 03/20/2009 05:23 pm

A final report from Florida Department of Children & Families about the custody of a 17-month-old boy who died last week will be released Tuesday.

Matthew Wyrosdick, 32, was charged with aggravated manslaughter after the boy, Zachary Johnson, died from injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome, according to Lakeland police.

Linda Page and her husband, Tom, who are the children's great-aunt and great-uncle, had custody of the boys briefly last summer when their parents, Eugene and Clarissa Johnson, were arrested on multiple charges ranging from grand theft to credit card fraud.

The boys briefly stayed with the Pages in their four-bedroom home in Winter Haven last year. DCF later placed them in the one-bedroom home of Wyrosdick and his wife, Mysti, in Lakeland, Linda Page said.

After the death, Johnson's great aunt and uncle had questioned why DCF took the boy and his 2-year-old brother from their care and placed the children with Wyrosdick.

But today, a DCF spokeswoman said that before the children were taken from care, "child protective investigators met with children's great aunt, Linda Page."

"The child protective investigator asked Ms. Page if she would be able to care for these children in the interim, and Ms. Page indicated she was not in light of injury her husband was coping with,'' DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said.

Reporter Josh Poltilove contributed to this report.

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