(The Center Square) – The death of a four-year-old boy whose body was located in a shallow grave this month in Aberdeen draws disturbing parallels to another child death case also tied to the Department of Children Youth and Families.
Extended family members of Aiden Bevins asked police to perform a welfare check earlier in May on the boy, who had been returned to the custody of his biological parents after living with a foster family for much of his young life.
“Authorities found the little boy buried in a shallow grave in the backyard of a house,” said Aberdeen Republican Representative Jim Walsh. “The Aberdeen Police Department is still in active investigation and it’s easy to presume this or that, but we should try not to do that.”
“What’s striking to people who care about these issues is how closely it parallels the Oakley Carlson case, and in her case the body was never found,” Walsh added.
The five-year-old girl from Oakville was reported missing in December 2021, but the last confirmed sighting of the girl was back in February of that year.
Her biological parents are the primary suspects behind her disappearance.
The parents previously served time in prison for child endangerment and exposing Oakley’s siblings to methamphetamines.
Court documents revealed that Oakley was subjected to routine abuse and neglect, including being deprived of food and locked in a tight space under the stairs.
Oakley’s foster mother, Jamie Jo Hiles, begged case workers not to return Oakley to her biological parents for fear she would be hurt or killed.
Walsh said the same is true in Aiden’s case, where his foster parents were very concerned about his welfare and what would happen if he was sent back to his parents.
“They voiced their concerns to Child Protective Services and the Department of Children, Youth and Families, and in both cases the foster parents said ‘we think this child is in trouble. Please look into it.’ But in both cases the foster parents weren’t listened to,” Walsh said.
“Their fears were realized.”
As reported by The Center Square, the Keeping Families Together Act is being blamed for an alarming increase in the numbers of children killed or suffering critical incidents when returned to their biological families who in many cases are in active drug addiction.
Passed in 2021 and effective July 2023, the Keeping Families Together Act was intended to reduce foster care placements and racial disproportionality by raising the legal standard for removing children from homes.
The presence of hard drugs in the home is not considered imminent harm and many of the children who have died or nearly died have been exposed to fentanyl and meth.
“Even though it was well intended, this law is restricting the ability of caseworkers to get the kids out of harms way,” said Walsh. “We have heard from many frontline workers at DCYF and CPS that they know this law is bad and it handcuffs them. They can’t get these kids out of troubled households.”
During the 2026 legislative session, House Republicans offered several amendments to the Operating Budget hoping to address the “imminent harm” standard.
Majority Democrats blocked the amendments, just as they blocked several bills to address the alarming number of children under state supervision dying or suffering near fatal incidents in homes with drug addicted parents.
Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, who has passionately pushed the issue of DCYF failures for several years, begged majority Democrats to fix the broken system during the Feb. 28 debate on the House floor.
“This subject makes me want to crawl out of my own skin,” said Couture. “We don’t have any more time. I’ve predicted every single session since I’ve been here how many more babies and toddlers would die.”
Democratic leadership rejected the efforts, opting to keep the “imminent physical harm” standard intact. Many said they disagreed with the assertion that current law prevents social workers from stepping in when kids are truly in danger.
The Center Square reached out to DCYF for comment on the Aiden Bevin case.
“We cannot provide details at this time due to the active investigations, wrote Nancy Guttierez with DCYF.
