A lawsuit filed against the Tucson Police Department over a decision by two officers to leave siblings with their father who ended up killing them has been dismissed by a Pima County Superior Court judge.
On March 9, 2006, Jamie Hallam, asked police to help enforce a court order giving her full custody of her children, Ariana and Tyler Payne. The police refused. Four months later, the kids were dead and their father, Christopher Payne, was arrested.
In a nine-page decision released today, Judge Carmine Cornelio said there was no evidence on that day “that there was a high probability that substantial harm would result from their failure to remove the children from (Christopher Payne’s) custody and care.”
Ariana, 3, and Tyler, 4, were living with their mother on Jan. 20, 2006, when she agreed to let their father take them for a weekend visit, to get reacquainted after three years of estrangement. The visit was extended a few times with Hallam's permission.
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Hallam claims Payne began avoiding her in early February, and on March 9, 2006, she met with Tucson police Officers William Nutt and Rene Gomez outside Payne’s apartment to get her children.
She showed the officers a signed court order saying she had full custody of the children and Payne didn’t have any visitation rights because he had a history of substance abuse and domestic violence.
The officers found Payne living in a tidy apartment with food in the refrigerator and children who appeared fine. Payne told them Child Protective Services was investigating Hallam for drug use, and he showed them a document proving he had filed for temporary custody.
When the officers called state CPS, a supervisor confirmed Payne’s story.
Although the police say the CPS supervisor told them she thought it best the children stay with Payne, she disputes it. She says she told them to abide by whatever the court order stated.
On Feb. 18, 2007, Ariana’s remains were found in a plastic tub in a storage unit on East Prince Road. Tyler’s body was never found.
Payne was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and multiple counts of child abuse. He is on Arizona’s death row. His live-in girlfriend, Reina Gonzales, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and testified against Payne. She was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Hallam filed a lawsuit against the city of Tucson and CPS; CPS settled for $1 million in June 2008.
The lawsuit said the officers had a duty to remove the children from Payne because Hallam had a valid court order and gave no indication she was under the influence of drugs.
In his ruling, Cornelio pointed out the first time there was any indication there was anything wrong in the Payne household was in mid-April when one of Payne’s relatives said Ariana appeared “dirty and scrawny” and when Gonzales said Payne lost his job and began abusing the children.
“Given the lack of temporal connection between the time of TPD’s visit to Payne’s apartment on March 9, 2006, and any evidence concerning the abuse and neglect, plaintiffs cannot establish causation between TPD’s actions and the abuse of the children,” Cornelio wrote.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
