Dad’s New GF Claims Toddler’s Shattered Body “Just an Accident”
Hazel Journey Homan nicknamed Hazel buug was born on March 13th 2016 in Shelton Washington her mother madora Peterson was just 17 years old at the time of her birth her father Brandon homman was 26 Brandon called Hazel his miracle baby she was born purple and blue via emergency C-section but doctors were able to get her breathing Hazel was a sweet little girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes that looked even bigger behind her round eyeglasses her family said she lit up the room she loves to dance and sing the song Baby
Shark she also loved chicken nuggets in the movie Moana Hazel was adored by her family even though she was young Hazel was described as kind and caring she would try to comfort anyone who seemed sad and crawl up onto their lap and hum she would ask you okay anytime she heard someone cough or sneeze Hazel’s parents live with Mador or’s family when she was first born but eventually moved to an apartment on Queen Street in Bellingham Washington located almost 2 hours north of Seattle however both parents struggled with addiction and Brandon had
a pass history of trouble with the law it wouldn’t be long until both parents found themselves in hot water on November 2nd 2017 a concerned family member called the police allegedly the couple was arguing and Brandon had given madora a black eye family member was particularly concerned because Hazel who was only 19 months old at the time was in the apartment when police arrived Brandon wouldn’t let them in and wouldn’t let madora leave because of this a hostage negotiator had to be called to the scene after a 5-hour
standoff police arrested Brandon who was charged with fourth deegree assault police placed Hazel in protective custody and called the Washington State dcyf who decided Hazel wouldn’t be safe with her parents understandably Brandon’s mother Tammy and and her husband Dale Mortenson agreed to care for their granddaughter at their home in Olympia according to family members the grandparents were told they had to sign the paperwork or they wouldn’t be allowed to take Hazel home their agreement meant that DCF had complete
control over when and how the little girl was returned to her parents although Hazel was in the custody of her grandparents she was still ward of the state Hazel’s teeth were rotten and she had cold sores on her mouth she often woke up with night tears Sammy and Dale would stay up all night offering Comfort to the scared little girl they took her to the doctor and the dentist Hazel was loved and supported by her entire extended family for 1 year and 7 months she thrived in her grandparents care to regain custody of Hazel Branson and
madora needed to make a lot of changes first they needed to stay away from one another and a no contact order was put in place despite this madora kept seeing Brands and even though the order had been established for her safety in addition they both needed treatment for substance abuse problems Department policy also required they complete parenting classes in mental health counseling madora struggled to comply she didn’t go to her appointments she started a program that included parenting classes but quit after one
week she missed her scheduled visitation to see Hazel even though DCF arranged and paid for her to travel to Olympia and back madora could not be bothered around the fall of 2018 she moved back to Iowa to live with her mother she made no further contact with DCF Brandon didn’t do much better he tried to fight Hazel’s removal but he really didn’t have a leg to stand on because of his actions he had put her in the middle of a 5-hour standoff and he refused to participate in any of the required programs he also could not
manage to stay out of trouble in March of 2018 he was charged with disorderly conduct Des a weapon and fourth deegree assault in April he started communicating with DCF and the courta appointed special Advocate Brandon agreed to start doing what he needed to do in order to get his daughter back in may he asked if his girlfriend Cammy Dixon could visit Hazel with him dcyf ran a background check and in the past Cammy had legal troubles of her own in 2012 she was convicted of theft and trespassing 2017 she was convicted of
witness tampering much like Brandon she also had strugg struggled with drug addiction because of her history DCF made her participate in several programs they also wanted her to get a job once the department was satisfied she was allowed with supervised visitation along with Brandon even though she had her own apartment about 15 minutes away in Bellingham she still considered herself part of Brandon’s household in July the charges against Brandon were dropped because madora would not cooperate with police in the following months Brenda
did some of what dcyf asked asked him to do but not everything at a meeting in December they said he hadn’t made consistent and measurable progress the previous year after that meeting his behavior changed he got a full-time job and a place to live he was meeting with his probation officer in passing drug tests in turn he asked to spend more time with hazel in February of 2019 dcyf did a health and safety walkthrough of Brandon’s home in Ferndale Cammy and her son were there and Brandon told the social worker that they plan to marry
soon Cammy was considered a support to Brandon and a positive influence to the family after the walkthrough Hazel’s visitation was expanded to overnights and weekends in March in May a meeting was held to discuss returning Hazel to Brandon’s custody the courta appointed special Advocate and case worker involved were pleased with this progress Brandon had completed some required treatments and was on the wait list for others he was still working full-time and had hadn’t committed any new crimes the overnight and weekly visits with hazel were going
well surprise home visits found no safety concerns whatsoever on June 19th Hazel was returned to Brandon for a trial reunification Cammy posted pictures of Hazel’s room on social media that day the room was decorated in pink and gold with Disney princesses on the wall edding Cammy called the room a little girl’s fantasy that month she also posted several pictures of Hazel sleeping and other pictures of Hazel posing in cute out pit at this point in our story Hazel was 3 years old Hazel’s case was transferred to a new child and
family Welfare Services case worker cuz Hazel was so young the casew worker had to visit the home twice a month to make sure she was okay Brandon worked long hours 6 days a week he was often at work Cammy handled the home visits but no problems were reported the home seemed safe and Hazel was going to daycare regularly on August 3rd a family member was babysitting Hazel and noticed concerning marks on the little girl she took pictures of several odd bruises on her chest and her back and also photographed what looks like a healing
cigarette burn later in August cammy’s friend Autumn Tucker witnessed a frightening incident Cammy made Hazel take a cold shower as punishment for wetting her pants Cammy left Hazel in the shower for a long time so long the toddler was shaking and clenching her teeth thankfully Autumn made Cammy stop at the same time Hazel started missing lots of days at daycare even though cammy’s son was still attending his daycare regularly Brandon’s participation in the required programs also started to slip he wasn’t going to
his parenting classes in September Hazel’s case was transferred to yet another new case worker they noted Brandon still need to complete a mental health evaluation and his parenting plan when the new case worker contacted Brandon on September 30th to arrange a safety visit Brandon told him that Hazel had burned her hand on the stove while the family was cooking this burn covered her entire hand her palm and her fingers were red and blistered it happened almost a week earlier but they hadn’t taken her to the doctor Cammy said that
she had tried but since she was not her legal guardian she was not allowed to when Hazel finally saw a doctor on October 3rd she was referred to Seattle Children’s Hospital Clinic this burn was so severe that they thought that Hazel might need Physical Therapy the hospital reported the incident to Child Protective Services but they decided to let Hazel’s case worker handle the issue instead of a it to a CPS investigator Brandon and Cammy took Hazel to a followup appointment for her hand on October 14th next day Brandon called the
casew worker to report that Hazel may have sprayed something potentially hairspray in her eye at the emergency room doctors found she had an alkaline chemical burn this is a very serious injury that can quickly lead to permanent blindness and hairspray could not have cause such an injury this kind of chemical burn is caused by a strong Bas something like dro bleach or an oven cleaner doctors flushed her eye and recommended weekly follow-ups with an opthalmologist because she may have permanent blindness Brandon agreed to
store all cleaning and beauty products out of her reach and the caseworker visited the next day to make sure that they had all been stored the casew worker also asked Hazel about her hand she said it was okay but the case worker noted that she still couldn’t put weight on it there was no discussion of her eye injury Beyond confirming a follow-up visit scheduled for October 23rd on October 3 first Cammy posted a Halloween picture on social media she was dressed up as cruel aille Brandon was Jasper one of cruell as henchmen and the kids were
dressed as small spotted Dalmatians on November 13th Brandon had a health and safety visit he reported using new shampoo because Hazel’s hair was thinning thinning hair sometimes can be an indication of CA but the casew worker did not examine Hazel’s hair or scalp however the casew worker did tell Brandon he was not in good standing for the court case coming up in December he still hadn’t gotten his required mental health evaluation he still wasn’t going to the required parenting classes Brandon claimed that he was going to a
parenting class the next day and he had scheduled his mental health evaluation for November 21st he said Hazel was supposed to be going back into full-time daycare on November 27th the next day he missed another parenting class on November 27th Hazel did did not go back to full-time daycare instead Cammy left Brandon’s home in Ferndale around 8:15 a.m.
and took Hazel to her apartment in Bellingham later that morning Cammy called 911 and told them Hazel had choked on food and was not breathing Camy did not have a phone so in order to make this call she carried Hazel to a neighbor’s apartment and used their phone when paramedics arrived Hazel was naked wet and unresponsive she was rushed to St Joseph’s hospital with a temperature of only 86° where she was immediately treated for hypothermia doctors also noted multiple bruises and a cigarette burn on her body after further examination the medical staff
realized Hazel had a brain bleed she was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center Hazel was diagnosed with an anoxic brain injury and a bilateral subdural Hemorrhage that meant she had bleeding in both sides of her brain and a complete lack of oxygen she showed no signs of choking after two brain death assessments Hazel was pronounced dead on November 30th 2019 she’s kept on life support until December 4th to keep her organs alive for donation her heart kidney and liver were able to help three families one for each year of her short
life Cammy was arrested on December 5th 2019 her bond was set for $1 million on December 13th she was charged with homicide by abuse in second deegree homicide the trial began in April of 2022 and lasted for 95 days during the trial prosecutors said Cammy was Hazel’s primary caretaker for the last 6 months of her life they said Cammy kept Hazel isolated from family friends and daycare in order to hide her bruises and injuries cammy’s friend Autumn testified to an incident that occurred when she was babysitting Hazel had an accident
and had soiled her pants and she texted Cammy to ask how she should handle it Cammy was extremely angry and accused the three-year-old of soiling her pants on purpose she texted she’s trying to beef with me and she knows it will piss me off on June 7th Brandon testified he wept on the stand while watching videos of Hazel and Cammy he said Hazel never showed pain distress or irritation except for the instance with her hand and eye he said he was unaware of her extensive injuries prosecutors asked him about the bruises that occurred on
November 20th he admitted Cammy texted him about the bruises but did not report the bruising to CPS overall it didn’t seem like Brandon really felt like his girlfriend was capable of harming his daughter this is a tragic situation and I hurt more than anyone okay I’m the father that was my baby girl and I want answers too but don’t place blame at trial Cammy testified that she loved Hazel and talked about happier times like taking Hazel and her son to the trampoline Zone she also described two times that Hazel fell down
concrete stairs of the apartment building she blamed Hazel’s multiple injuries on the second fall which Cammy said happened in November on the day of the 911 call she said she helped Hazel shower at her Bellingham apartment she then wrapped her in a blanket and gave her a breakfast sandwich to eat on the couch she came back in the room she claimed that Hazel was slumped up against the couch I didn’t I didn’t know what was I didn’t know what was going on um I knew something was was very very wrong when I looked at
Hazel it was like the lights the lights in her eyes were off I remember grabbing her body and throwing it over my arm and pounding on her back thinking maybe some food would come up or something that didn’t that didn’t help so then I’m like what do I do do I do CPR so I am not a medical professional I’m not trained and I wish that I would have been but I figured if she wasn’t choking then she needed some CPR so I I began to do CPR but what Cammy claimed happened that morning didn’t align with the story that Hazel’s
broken body was telling the King County Medical Examiner Dr Nikki yared found 50 injuries in various stages of healing all over Hazel ‘s body she determined that injuries had occurred over a period of 5 months that none of this was an accident Dr Yar found bruises on Hazel’s chin body neck chest and groin she had head wounds a broken leg a broken knee a broken hip a broken arm a broken finger and fractures in her spine her cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head trauma consistent with shaking baby
syndrome in closing arguments Eric Sigmar the Whatcom County Deputy prosecutor said quote the defense would have you believe that the head trauma is just a coincidence the multiple bruises just a coincidence 50 blows just a coincidence multiple fractures just a coincidence handb burn just a coincidence serious chemical alkaline burn just a coincidence bruising noticed by Hazel’s cousin just a coincidence bruising noticed by the defendant’s best friend just a coincidence end quote some witnesses told police that that Cammy
had relapsed and begun using heroin again in the months before Hazel’s death another said she admitted to being frustrated the morning of the 911 call because she was experiencing withdrawals that information was never mentioned at her trial on June 28th 2022 the jury found Cammy guilty of one charge but deadlocked on the other the judge asked them to continue deliberating but they still deadlocked on June 30th they announced their verdict Cammy was guilty of homicide by abuse they found that she used her position of
trust to commit homicide by abuse against a vulnerable victim the second deegree murder charge was dismiss without prejudice which means she could be tried again the prosecutor sought a longer sentence because of the unique circumstances of the case on August 2nd Cammy was sentenced to 34 years in prison with 3 years of probation at the time of Hazel’s death no one knew how to contact her mother madora that was until she was arrested for trespassing and P County Iowa since then she has been charged with probation violations and
several assault charges she’s currently in prison until 2026 dcyf conducted a child fatality review after Hazel’s death they noted several areas that could have been handled better case workers never directly assessed Camy they did not know about her bonding discipline style or interactions with hazel if they had they may have been able to provide her with support to address her needs as a caregiver now speaking of case workers three different case workers handled Hazel’s case over the course of 6 months Hazel’s last case worker was managing 24
cases the most in the department at the time they also belied that Hazel’s language skills may have decreased in the months before her death this was a problem because the case workers assumed Hazel could speak for herself so they didn’t consistently double check information to make sure Hazel was getting the care she needed they concluded that letting the casew worker investigate the burn was a mistake it should have been assigned to CPS the case worker focused on getting Hazel to the doctor for treatment but didn’t get
a medical consultation with an expert in CA an expert would know better if it was an accidental injury or not communication between the case worker CPS and the courta appointed special Advocate was delayed the court appointed special Advocate didn’t have critical information they needed to make informed decisions Committee in charge of the review recommended more training to help provide better care to children in the future Hazel’s funeral was held on December 17th 20 2019 at Christ the King Community Church in Bellingham in the
wake of her death Hazel’s Aunt Ashley Bartell partnered with the organization light the way to help raise awareness for CA prevention Ashley organized a peaceful protest at the capital in Olympia on April 23rd 2023 her goal was giving children their voices back light the Way’s website has a section dedicated to Hazel that includes a statement from Ashley and her family Hazel Journey as her family refers to her as is terribly missed they feel as though the Washington State Department of Children Youth and families failed
her and continues to fail the vulnerable children of Washington they urged the Washington legislature to support policy change because Hazel’s voice mattered the voices of all children matter and we have to do better
