Paediatrician charged with abusing & murdering 4-year-old adopted daughter

Now where is a big, bad cop when you need one?

Methinks they adopted this child for a specific purpose. And then she was of no use anymore.

What a chilling case. It sounds like this child had a hellish life ... and now is dead. IMO whoever abused and murdered her should spend the rest of their life in prison.

How anyone can do this to a defenceless child is beyond me.

Dimsie wrote:What a chilling case. It sounds like this child had a hellish life ... and now is dead. IMO whoever abused and murdered her should spend the rest of their life in prison.

How anyone can do this to a defenceless child is beyond me.

What's even more shocking is that she is still allowed to practice despite being charged murder

Lawyers For Doctor Accused of Killing Daughter Speak Out

Jul 13, 2010

A Wilson County pediatrician accused of killing her adopted daughter is still legally able to practice medicine in the state of Tennessee. That's because there is no law or rule providing an automatic review of a medical license when a doctor faces criminal charges.

A Wilson County grand jury indicted Dr. Deborah Mark and charged her with one count of first degree murder, one count of perpetration of aggravated child abuse, one count of aggravated child abuse and four counts of child abuse. She is accused of killing 4-year-old Kairissa Mark.

Her husband, Steven, faces an 8 count indictment. The charges are aggravated child abuse and neglect, criminal responsibility for aggravated child abuse, aggravated assault by failure to protect, accessory after the fact and four counts of child abuse.

The Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners oversees licensed health professionals. Board records show Doctor Mark has never even faced disciplinary action. Her attorneys said that's not a surprise. Jack Lowery and Jack Lowery Junior represent Dr. Deborah Marks and Steven Marks.

"I've had several calls this morning from people who talked about what a good doctor she was, how kind she was to children in her treatment and her profession," said Lowery. "We're not in a position to make any explanation at this point, because as he eluded to this thing has happened so quickly that we're trying to get our hands around what has occurred here."

The Lowery's said to their knowledge neither parent has been in trouble in the past with the law.

"It's a highly emotional time. It's a difficult time. They have another 8-year-old child that they're concerned about as well," said Lowery, Jr.

The Mark's live in Mt. Juliet. Steven is a civil engineer who is a stay-at-home dad. Dr. Mark graduated from the Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1997. For three years she did a pediatric residency at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey. The Lowery's said she's been practicing medicine in Tennessee for 10 years.

Church officials said they regularly attend the Donelson Fellowship Church in Donelson.

Lowery, Jr. said the Mark's are having a difficult time dealing with the charges and the death of their adopted daughter.

"So, a family has been completely upset in this process and so it's like anybody. It would be extremely difficult," said Lowery, Jr.

The attorneys said the Marks are both U.S. citizens born and raised in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Both are free after posting bonds on Monday.

The couple also has an 8-year-old biological daughter. She has been in DCS custody since the beginning of the police investigation.

Doctor Mark is employed by Centennial Pediatrics in Lebanon. Centennial has not returned our phone calls, but they have removed her profile from their web site.

The Mark's are scheduled to appear in Wilson County Criminal Court July 23 for an arraignment.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=12801773

Video:- http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/category.asp?C=125220&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=4942049&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

I dont call it adopting children - they buy them and IMO it should be outlawed. They will still have been assessed before being able to go ahead but when money is changing hands anything can happen.

What a sad life that poor child had.

aqeleega wrote:I dont call it adopting children - they buy them and IMO it should be outlawed.

Another adoption tragedy taints Tennessee

Death of child may cause international backlash

July 18, 2010


Deborah Wen Yee Mark is accused in daughter's beating death

This was supposed to be Kairissa XingJing Mark's forever home.

On March 29, the 4-year-old's new family brought her home from China to a big brick house in a cozy Mt. Juliet subdivision that is the picture of the American Dream. There was a big fenced-in yard for her to play in and pretty pink curtains in the upstairs bedroom window. In the window next to the door, someone had taped a child's coloring of a religious scene, the Good Shepherd guarding his flock.

But three months after her adoption, Kairissa is dead, her adoptive family is shattered and the international adoption community is reeling from the news of yet another horror story out of Tennessee.

Kairissa's mother, Dr. Deborah Wen Yee Mark, a pediatrician, stands accused of beating her to death. Last week, a Wilson County grand jury indicted Mark on one count of first-degree murder and eight counts of child abuse. It also indicted her husband, Steven Joshua Mark, a stay-at-home dad, on multiple counts of aggravated child abuse, child abuse, failure to protect and of being an accessory after the fact.

The couple's 8-year-old biological daughter is in foster care. Police say she told them she witnessed some of the attacks on her little sister.

Court date set

The Marks will be arraigned Friday and they intend to plead not guilty, said their attorney, Jack Lowery Jr. Kairissa died at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital on July 2, one day after police were summoned to the family home by a report of a child in distress. Lowery said the fact the case is already heading to court shows signs of a "rush to judgment."

The fact that a pediatrician, someone who devoted her entire career to protecting other people's children, is accused of killing one of her own adds to the horror of this case. Those who know the Marks best aren't talking — their neighbors, their congregation at the Donelson Fellowship Free Will Baptist Church, where they worshipped, her colleagues at Centennial Pediatrics in Lebanon.

She's a lady who, in the past several days, I have received numerous calls in support of, telling me what wonderful care she took of (her patients') children," Lowery said. "This is just a quality family. They attended church here. They were very involved. They have suffered. Their lives have absolutely been turned upside down."

The Marks, he said, spent a number of years attempting to adopt from China. It's a process that has become increasingly difficult over the years, as more and more countries have tightened their restrictions on international adoptions to the United States.

Russian case was shock

In April, news broke that an adoptive mother from Tennessee had put her 6-year-old son on a plane back to Russia, with a note saying she no longer wanted him. The incident sparked an international uproar and threats of a moratorium on further adoptions from Russia.

"We do expect changes to happen," said Chuck Johnson, CEO of the National Council for Adoption, who has been in contact with the Chinese government about the case. Overall, rates of abuse of adopted children tend to be lower than among biological children, he said, but "every tragedy is one too many."

China probably would hold off on any policy changes until there is a conviction, but Johnson said there is already talk of requiring additional follow-up visits after an adoption. Right now, China's minimum requirements are home visits at the six-month and one-year mark after an adoption.

"It's so unfortunate. Our hearts just break," Johnson said. "We see the motivation and desire of most families who just want to bring a child out of an institution and give them a home, have someone to call them Mom and Dad. … And then to see something like this happen."

China cracks down

Local adoption agencies also are bracing for a possible backlash.

China has already cracked down on U.S. adoptions in recent years — it now bans adoptions by single women, anyone who has ever taken medication for depression and anyone with a body mass index of 40 or higher.

International adoptions have nosedived from a peak of 22,739 children brought into the United States in 2005 to fewer than 13,000 in 2009. The average wait to adopt a child from China ranges from more than four years, for parents who want to adopt a perfectly healthy child, to an average of nine months to two years for those willing to adopt a "waiting child" — one with a diagnosed health problem.

Families screened

Prospective families undergo rigorous scrutiny, including background checks, home visits and interviews with friends and family members. The Marks worked with an as yet unidentified Nashville adoption agency, but most agencies in the area follow the same basic precautions.

Bethany Christian Services, a national adoption agency with an office in Nashville, declined to say whether it was the agency that helped the Mark family adopt Kairissa. But Tammy Bass, director of Middle Tennessee Bethany, noted that any couple looking to adopt overseas would have to run through the same rigorous background check — starting with local criminal history checks and running all the way up to a screening by the Department of Homeland Security, not to mention financial history checks and visits from social workers.

Bethany checks in with its new families two weeks after an adoption and again at the six-month and one-year marks, she said. Social workers check to make sure the children are bonding with their new families and look for signs of attachment disorders or other problems.

Adoption "can be a shock to your system," she said, explaining the reasons for the home visits. "We stress the importance of staying connected with the family, not just the two-week visit but beyond."

The local Bethany office has placed 25 children with new families so far this year, Bass said.

"This isn't the norm, when you look at how many children" are thriving and happy in their new homes, she said. "But the fact that a lot of (adoptions) are going really well doesn't take away from this tragedy."

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100718/NEWS03/7180359/1009/NEWS02/Another+adoption+tragedy+taints+Tennessee

Doctor Accused of Killing Daughter Loses Medical License

Jul 21, 2010

The Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners voted unanimously to suspend Dr. Deborah Mark's medical license Tuesday following allegations she killed her 4-year-old adopted daughter.

Assistant General Counsel, Sara Whitehead, explained why Dr. Mark voluntarily surrendered her medical license.

In less than 10 minutes, the board voted to accept the decision of Dr. Marks.

On July 12, both Dr. Mark and her husband Steven were arrested and posted bond for the murder of 4-year-old Kairissa, a girl the family adopted from China back in April.

Police say on July 1, Kairissa was taken to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for injuries from her head to her toes.

Both Steven and Deborah are facing charges, with Deborah facing 1st degree murder for striking Kairissa with the fatal blow.

Dr. Mark and her attorney could argue the decision, but that is unlikely since Dr. Mark surrendered her license without being asked.

If Dr. Mark wants her license to be reinstated, she will have to go before the State Board of Medical Examiners.

Whether she decided to do that or not, she will have to face the board for a formal hearing sometime in the future.

Dr. Mark no longer works at Centennial Pediatrics in Lebanon, where she was employed at the time of her daughter's death.It's unclear whether she saw patients after her daughter's death and before she turned herself in.

Deborah Mark and her husband Steven Mark will be arraigned on their criminal charges Friday. Meanwhile, the Marks' 8-year-old biological daughter remains in state custody.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=12842454

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100721/NEWS03/7210359/2066

http://www.wsmv.com/news/24329903/detail.html