Zona Byrd

1 month ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Zona Byrd |Jessica Calefati

The Department of Human Services last week released corrected data showing that far fewer Maryland children have died from abuse or neglect in recent years than the state previously reported. The number of such deaths in each of the past five years is dozens lower than what the agency submitted to the federal government, human services staff discovered, though the death rate still exceeds the national average.

2 months ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Zona Byrd |Jessica Calefati

Some were beaten to death. One was tortured. Another was shot. As many as 83 Maryland children died from abuse or neglect in 2023, according to the most recent data reported by states to the federal government. That’s more than one death per week on average, making the state’s published rate of child maltreatment fatalities among the worst in the nation. But the alarming number of deceased children reported that year wasn’t a blip or an outlier.

Nov 13, 2024 | thebaltimorebanner.com | Jessica Calefati |Ben Conarck |Zona Byrd

When 5-year-old Zona Byrd was discovered unresponsive in bed last month, her mother, Bernice, didn’t call 911, according to court records. She called her sister. The girl’s aunt soon arrived at the Byrds’ gray brick row house in Northeast Baltimore, climbed the steps to the second floor, and entered the middle bedroom that Zona shared with her older brother. She felt Zona’s hands and they were “ice cold,” according to a police report. By all appearances, Zona had starved to death.