Mother & Boyfriend Commit One of the Most EGREGIOUS Crimes – The TRAGIC Case of Henry Wheatley Brown
“Yeah, Marlo, the one-year-old died, as you said, earlier this month after being found unresponsive and covered in burns. Now his paternal side of the family is raising questions. They say that both deputies and Children and Family Services failed to act despite repeated reports.”
Sugarloaf, California, a quaint mountain town less than a mile south of Big Bear City in San Bernardino County, California. Big Bear is a popular vacation destination in winter; people come from all over to ski and snowboard, and in the summer, Big Bear Lake is a popular boating destination. Unfortunately, in a place where happy memories are made for so many, that wasn’t the case for baby Henry. His little light shone for over a year before those who were supposed to protect and love him dimmed it in the most horrific way.
Henry Wheatley Brown was born August 17th, 2022, to Samantha Garver and Thomas Rios. I wish so badly I could say he was a happy baby with bright eyes and many smiles surrounded by love, but unfortunately, I can’t. He was born to an unstable mother who had a history of harming her children, abusing substances, and struggling to make ends meet. Samantha Garver was a mess and had no business caring for children. But as in most of these tragic stories, authorities and CPS knew her children were at risk. Hell, Samantha had an outstanding child abuse warrant, and nothing, absolutely nothing, was done to protect Henry.
Henry’s mother, Samantha, has a history with CPS dating back to 2009. During that time, Samantha and her first child, a son who was 4 months old, lived with Samantha’s mother, where the two drank and smoked marijuana. The report was filed with CPS by an anonymous reporter who was concerned the baby would inhale smoke and that he was being neglected in that environment. A social worker investigated, but the CPS report does not state if any action was taken.
A year later, in July of 2010, two more reports were filed with CPS regarding Samantha and her partner. At this time, Samantha had another baby, so she had two children: a one-year-old and a one-month-old. The report stated Garver and her partner were using and selling drugs from their home and their vehicle, and that Samantha would bring her two babies with her to buy and pick up drugs. There were also concerns that Samantha would leave the baby unattended in a crib for extended periods of time.
It also stated that her partner smashed his foot through the window of their vehicle while the children were in it. It was also reported that Samantha had told a doctor that she felt like putting a pillow over her baby’s face because the baby would not stop crying. All of this information was reported to law enforcement, but no action was taken against Samantha and her partner.
In January of 2013, CPS received three reports stating the following: Samantha had asked a Facebook group if duct-taping a child’s mouth shut was abusive. She also posted that a friend was watching her 8-month-old at the time, and when she returned, the baby had blistered burns on her thighs. She asked the group how she could treat the injuries because several blisters were torn open. She stated she didn’t want to take the baby to the hospital because she was terrified of CPS and the hospital would likely call them. She never reported the supposed babysitter to law enforcement. I think we all know at this point who was likely behind the burns, and it’s doubtful there ever was a babysitter.
The report sparked the sheriff’s department to conduct a welfare check. The baby was immediately taken by ambulance to the hospital for treatment of the burns. The deputy requested a CPS worker respond to the home. He reported the bedroom the children slept in was filthy and covered in fecal matter, and there were cockroaches crawling all over the place. The deputy advised CPS he wouldn’t arrest Samantha that night, but she would be charged with felony child neglect.
Samantha was charged with one felony count of willful cruelty to a child, along with a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to a child. She also lost custody of all three children. She pled guilty to the misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to 100 days in jail. She did not show up to serve her sentence, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. She evaded this warrant for 10 years until Henry’s death in 2023.
The truth is, though, she wasn’t really hiding. Look at these posts from her Facebook page: literally her “About Me” section shows where she was currently working, shows where she was currently living, with a whole history of places that she lived, worked, and where she went to school. So if law enforcement really wanted to find her and enforce this warrant, they easily could have.
What was Samantha up to after losing custody of her kids and the warrant was issued in 2014? According to her Facebook, she was with her kids often—you know, the kids she lost custody of. I found countless photos and some videos of her with her kids as if nothing had ever happened. I even found photos of her kids with Henry, as seen here. So whatever custody arrangement the state set up back in 2014 was not enforced whatsoever. There are no records I could find that show she was given custody of her kids or supervised visitation, so I am assuming the state dropped the ball and was not following up on the well-being of these children.
Mara Rodriguez, who is a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department, told the San Bernardino Sun that each station receives a list of outstanding warrants in their jurisdiction, and when time permits, they will go to the last known address in an attempt to locate the person. If that person is no longer at that address and there is no forwarding address, the warrant will be checked again later.
Her Facebook page would have been a great place for them to look. For 10 years, she lists new jobs and what city she is living in, but it seems everything involving Samantha slipped through the cracks. Scrolling through her Facebook page shows that from 2014 until Henry was born, she struggled with addiction and keeping a roof over her head. She often posted random things for sale, such as this postcard shown here. This is a postcard from Big Bear, probably worth a dollar, and it shows the mindset she’s in; it seems to be one of desperation.
After Henry was born in 2022, Henry’s paternal grandmother contacted CPS with concerns for Henry because of Samantha’s past. We talked to his very distraught grandmother by phone, and she tells us her one-year-old grandson, Henry Wheatley Brown, could have been saved if authorities had followed up on her suspicions. The one-year-old, as we mentioned, died earlier this month. His mother, Samantha Garver, and her boyfriend, Sergio Mena, have been charged with his murder.
The paternal grandmother, Sierra Rivers, says more than a decade ago, she witnessed Samantha Garver hitting her then-youngest child, a baby, and reported it to authorities. She says Garver, who was her son’s girlfriend at the time, lost custody of her three kids and has had a warrant out for her arrest ever since for failing to comply with a court order in her child abuse case. Still, she says, when Garver gave birth to her grandson a year ago, the child was left in her custody despite, she says, repeated calls to Children and Family Services.
“I don’t know if anything was ever followed up on, because anytime I would call, they would say, ‘We don’t have any record of you calling.’ And I said, ‘I called and made a report,’ and they’re like, ‘Well, we’re sorry, we don’t have a report.’ And this was at least a dozen times in his first three months, because in every picture there would be like a little mark or some kind of bruising or something, and he kept getting skinnier.”
Four months later, Henry’s paternal grandmother made another report to CPS with concerns for Henry. There is not much information as to the details of what the grandmother was reporting, but again, no action was taken. In going through Samantha’s social media, I did find some photos of Henry that I found concerning. I also found a video of Samantha, the only one I could find of her speaking into the camera. I want to play that for you as well. I believe these photos and the video will give you a little bit of an idea of how things weren’t doing good, and I also want to give you a trigger warning: some of these photos might be a bit disturbing.
[Music]
“Hello people. I know many of my friends are housekeepers, and uh, this video message is for people who aren’t housekeepers, who understand that housekeepers are human beings. So I’m making this on the assumption that people just don’t know; they don’t know any better. So housekeepers, feel free to share this, but if you are a guest staying at an Airbnb and you come into a room that looks similar to this—see that three-bunk—and you bring your bright, bouncing, happy bundles of joy with you, please don’t let them do things like sleep on this bottom bunk and then that top bunk. If you can have them not sleep on the top bunk at all, okay? I don’t know if you see this, okay, see, I’m short, I’m really short. I have to stand on this table, and I have to stand on this table right there just to be able to make this bed. Have your kids please sleep on the bottom bunk. And if they’re going to use multiple beds, top and bottom bunk of one bed, not three different beds, because it makes our job so much harder.”
Around 8:00 p.m. on October 1st, 2023, Samantha called 911 seeking emergency medical care for Henry. When paramedics arrived, Henry was in full cardiac arrest and had questionable burn patterns from his genitalia down to his toes, with significant scarring on his genitalia. He also had bruising on various parts of his body in various states of healing. Hospital staff tried life-saving measures on little Henry with no success, and he was pronounced deceased soon after arriving.
At the time, Samantha was living with a new boyfriend named Sergio Mena, who was actively using methamphetamine. It is believed Mena burned baby Henry, and Henry was left to suffer for 12 hours before Samantha called the paramedics. It was also found that Henry previously had a dislocated arm and had some of his baby teeth knocked out.
Samantha Garver and Sergio Mena were later arrested. They are both being charged with felony murder and permitting a child to suffer. Mena is also charged with a sentencing enhancement of great bodily injury of a child under five years old.
Samantha had four children with numerous reports to CPS and authorities concerning child harm. She lost custody of three of the children, had a warrant out for her arrest for neglect and abuse, yet was allowed custody of Henry, which led to the most horrific injuries and suffering for this precious baby. When CPS was called by Henry’s grandmother, how did they not see she had an outstanding warrant? The news reported law enforcement was familiar with Samantha Garver, yet never arrested her for the warrant.
They say, “See something, say something,” but do they really mean it? Many did just that in Henry’s case, and it all fell on deaf ears because of system negligence and failures. Baby Henry never stood a chance. He was failed horribly and didn’t deserve the torture he endured. His little body couldn’t endure anymore, and he died waiting for someone, anyone, to rescue him.
I wonder why there never seems to be repercussions for CPS, law enforcement, and judges whose blatant negligence contributes to so many children losing their lives. This case absolutely wrecked me. The thought of baby Henry’s cries for help ring in my head and my heart. His last 12 hours were fraught with unimaginable pain, his mother only concerned for herself as he suffered.
Although these cases are uncomfortable to hear about, we have to keep shining the light on the failures of our society to protect its children. We need to push for change and tell stories so stories like Henry’s don’t have to be told.
Samantha Garver and Sergio Mena are currently sitting in jail where they belong. Their cases have yet to work their way through the justice system. I pray they receive the maximum punishment for their crimes. Even though they directly committed the crimes, I feel that anyone in law enforcement or CPS and the court system who contributed to the failures that led to Henry’s death should receive punishment. Maybe then a precedent will be set that if someone will be held criminally liable for failing to do their job when their job is to protect children, they will be less likely to be so remiss in their duties.
If you suspect a child is being abused, please report it. Please follow up on your report, and if nothing is being done, don’t let up until someone listens to you. Henry needed someone to listen, and because no one did, we can only pray he gets justice.
