Decker sisters needed protection. But our court system failed them. | Opinion
As awful as the Decker family tragedy is in isolation, I can't help but feel even more anger and frustration because it fits an appalling pattern that stretches well beyond the state of Washington.
Paityn Decker was the oldest. She was only 9. Her younger sisters − Evelyn and Olivia − were 8 and 5.
All three are now dead − their bodies discovered June 2 near a campground east of Seattle.
Their father, Travis Decker, is wanted on murder and kidnapping charges and is the target of a manhunt in a wilderness area of Washington state.
And Whitney Decker, the girls' mother, is enduring a pain so excruciating that, as a mother myself, I can't imagine it.
Family courts too often fail to protect children
As awful as this family tragedy is in isolation, I can't help but feel even more anger and frustration because it fits an appalling pattern that stretches well beyond the state of Washington.
The family court system in our country far too often fails the people it should protect.
According to the Center for Judicial Excellence, about 1,000 children have been killed since 2008 by a parent embroiled in a custody battle. And 140 of those deaths are considered to have been preventable if a judge had properly intervened.
"What is it going to take for not only society, but especially professionals who practice in family courts, to recognize that one more child being murdered is one too many, and that we need to do something to change how we're adjudicating these cases?" Joan Meier, director of the National Family Violence Law Center at the George Washington University Law School, told Paste BN.
In the case of the Decker sisters, their mother asked a judge to temporarily revoke her ex-husband's overnight visitation rights in September 2024.
Whitney Decker's attorney told the court that Travis Decker's housing and financial instability, among other issues, posed a significant risk to the girls.
Travis Decker failed to complete evaluations
The judge granted that request and ordered that Travis Decker undergo a psychiatric exam and be evaluated for his risk level of committing domestic violence.
Travis Decker, an Army veteran, failed to complete the evaluations. Yet, he was allowed to continue unsupervised visits with his daughters, despite concerns about his mental health and his struggles with chronic homelessness and unemployment.
I have sympathy for Travis Decker's apparent struggle with post traumatic stress syndrome and other mental health issues, but his daughters' safety should have been the primary concern for the courts in Chelan County, Washington.
Instead, three little girls are now dead.
A family is shattered forever.
And I can't help but plead that our courts, law enforcement and others do better in protecting our most vulnerable children.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with Paste BN. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.