KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When a tragedy happens in the community, like the news of a 6-year-old boy killed in his home on Tuesday, people often wonder — how did this happen? And what can be done to prevent it?
"We look at other systems where potentially there were opportunities existed in the past for some interventions in this family's life," said Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. "Can we make our processes better and stronger? Because if we owe anything, it's that we owe it to this 6-year-old little boy."
The boy's name was Karvel Stevens. His mother, Tasha Haefs, is now charged with his murder.
According to court records, she admitted to police she killed her son — investigators found knives in the 7300 block of Indiana Avenue home.
Haefs' other children were not there at the time.
"I know there's not enough details to know to what extent this parent was suffering, but I think it was pretty clear that there were some things going on with this parent and they really needed some support," said Kristina Jones, director of programs for Child Abuse Prevention Association.
Jones said many times people don't want to come across as nosy or get into other people's business, but the first thing someone should do is ask questions and offer help if they think something is off.
"I think when we really trust ourselves, trust our instinct and trust something is not quite right, we can come from a very loving, gentle and kind place and inquire and offer ourselves in help and assistance to people we can tell they're suffering," Jones said.
Groups like CAPA offer mental health counseling to kids and adults and have networks with other organizations that can help.
"We still have a lot of work to do to decrease the stigma around bringing in these more formal resources, but I think if you suspect something, you suspect a child is in danger, it's worth it to make that call," Jones said.
