A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ordered the release of Child Protective Services case files for three Tucson children who were under its watch.
Judge Edward O. Burke ordered the release of the case files to the Arizona Daily Star and the Arizona Republic, which sued for them.
The case files are for 5-year-old Brandon Williams, who died in March from a skull fracture; 4-year-old Ariana Payne, whose body was found in a trash bin in February; and Ariana's brother, Tyler, 5, who is presumed dead, although his remains have not been found.
In both the Williams and Payne cases, a parent, along with an accomplice, has been charged with killing them.
While Burke said CPS did an "admirable" job removing confidential information from the Williams file, he was extremely critical of heavy redactions from the Payne files.
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The judge said, "Many of the proposed redactions make little sense," adding that the amount of information CPS wanted to remove from the Payne files would make the records "practically meaningless to even the brightest journalist."
Burke provided an outline for what should be restored to the files. It's unknown when the case files will be released.
