Lawsuit claims a missed 2017 abuse report could have prevented death of Elwyn Crocker Jr.

RINCON, Ga. (WTOC) — A lawsuit filed on behalf of Elwyn Crocker Jr.’s estate claims a 2017 student abuse report never reached police, five months after the last time anyone in the original case claimed to have seen him.

The March 2017 report

The lawsuit claims that on March 16, 2017, a student reported that Elwyn Crocker Jr.’s grandmother, Kim Wright, beat him. A counselor at Effingham County High School sent that information to the Division of Family and Children Services but never notified law enforcement.

The following day, DFCS declined to investigate.

Timeline of the case

October 2018 is the last time anyone sees Elwyn Crocker Jr.’s sister, Mary Crocker. In December 2018, the bodies of Mary Crocker and Elwyn Crocker Jr. are found.

“Behind a mobile home, the bodies of Mary Crocker and Elwin Crocker Jr. are found in a shallow grave,” attorney Brent Savage said.

Five people — father Elwyn Crocker Sr., stepmother Candice Crocker, step-grandmother Kim Wright, step-uncle Mark Wright and Kim Wright’s boyfriend Roy Prater — were indicted in the children’s deaths. All five pleaded guilty.

Lawsuit names four school staffers

The lawsuit names four Effingham County High School staffers, sued in their individual capacity: counselor Kate Richards Keith, principal William Walton Hughes, student support coordinator Terri Shuman Johnson, and school resource officer John Peny. It claims they failed to properly report the abuse of Elwyn Crocker Jr., as required by school policy.

Attorney Brent Savage represents the estate. He said staff failed to follow the child abuse reporting policy.

“The sheriff’s office never got a report from the school system... that in March of 2017 a student had come forward,” Savage said. “The Sheriff’s Department solved this problem once they were put on notice in December 2018, in a couple hours.”

Georgia law requires staff to report suspected abuse within 24 hours.

Attorney calls failure negligence

Savage said the failure was negligence, not malice. He said if staff had called police, all three children would be alive today.

WTOC is reaching out to the four defendants named in the suit for comment. The school-district suit over Mary Crocker is still in the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Lawsuit dismissed, will be re-filed

The law firm representing Elwyn Crocker Jr.’s estate tells WTOC the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed. The firm said it was filed in the wrong court and will be re-filed in state court. The dismissal does not change the allegations in the case.