Juan Martinez, a South Ward resident who spends time as a community activist, said the school system failed by not calling police.
TRENTON — Carmenlita Stevens was already dead on a bedroom floor when the two calls came in from Trenton Public Schools asking about her children.
One child, 13-year-old Quavon Foster, was also dead, his body decaying in a back bedroom after he and his mother were killed by 38-year-old Gerald Murphy inside their home on Grand Street. Stevens’ two daughters, ages 16 and 18, were being held prisoner by Murphy in the same room as their 4-year-old brother and their mother’s body when school representatives got in touch with someone inside the house by phone.
A female voice, believed to be one of the girls operating on instructions from Murphy, took the phone and answered the questions about where she and her siblings were, Superintendent Francisco Duran said yesterday.
She told the school representative that the children were sick, and could not come to school, Duran said. Truancy officers visited the home twice, but it was not until a relative sounded the alarm two weeks after Stevens’ death that police discovered the carnage that led to a 37-hour standoff with Murphy last weekend.
Yesterday, Duran defended the educators’ actions.
“We have a policy that we follow when the students are not coming to school,” Duran said.
The teenage girls and young boy were rescued early Sunday when a State Police tactical unit entered the home and fatally shot Murphy. Their 19-year-old brother was able to escape from the house when police officers first arrived Friday afternoon.
Juan Martinez, a South Ward resident who spends time as a community activist, said the school system failed by not calling police.
“That is a serious, serious problem,” he said. “You have to know when the red light goes off.”
Duran said the school district followed its policy, which takes action when students without previous attendance problems have five consecutive unexcused absences.
Truancy officers visited the house twice between April 25 and May 10, Duran said. The phone calls were also made during that time. He said the school reached out to Stevens, as well as Murphy, who was also listed on their contact form as they looked for reasons why the children were missing school days.
Police said yesterday that they believe Stevens and Quavon were murdered April 25 and the confinement of the children began the same day — a full 17 days before the rescue by State Police on Sunday.
The 16-year-old girl is a freshman at Trenton Central High School and was at school until April 24, Duran said. He said 13-year-old Quavon Foster, who was found dead inside the house when police entered on May 10, was last seen at Rivera Middle School, where he was in the sixth grade, on April 25, the same day police believe he was killed.
The 18-year-old girl, who attended Daylight/Twilight High School last came to school on April 8, but Duran said because she is 18 and legally an adult, the school district did not immediately reach out to the family.
Duran said the three enrolled in public school in Trenton in December.
On May 2, about a week before police discovered the murders and confinement, a truancy officer knocked on the door of the family’s home on the 200 block of Grand Avenue.
Receiving no response, he left a note on the door asking parents to contact the school.
Usually, a notice is left on the door of a student that has five unexcused absences, Duran said. If the student has a history of attendance issues, the protocol is to respond to the home after three consecutive, unexcused absences. If the notice is not responded to and the student misses five more consecutive days of school, the district’s truancy officer goes to the house again and leaves another notice, Duran said.
In the protocol, five days are given for the parent to respond to the second contact form before a legal notice is prepared. The notice, which cites the laws concerning school attendance and the violations and repercussions of violating those laws, is then delivered to the house, Duran said.
Letters and notices are not good enough, Martinez says, and the district should adopt a stronger policy.
“This needs to be a serious discussion,” he added.
Before truancy officers could deliver the legal notice to Stevens’ home, police officers conducted a welfare check at the urging of a family member and discovered the horror inside, Duran said.
A team of counselors have been made available at all district schools this week for any student who might want counseling as a result of the situation on Grand Street.
At Rivera Middle School, where students are grieving the loss of their classmate Quavon, some students have taken advantage of the counseling services, he said.
Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717. Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.
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