A Missouri man was sentenced following the death of his son, an outcome the child's foster family warned officials of.
Zaydian Dopirak, 4, died while in the custody of his biological father in January 2022. Prior to being remanded to Blake Dopirak, Zaydian's foster parents, Dawn and Jeff James, warned officials that the child would die in the care of his father.
"We should have never been here, if the courts would have originally listened," Dawn James said outside the courthouse.
The case reached its emotional conclusion on Thursday, at Blake Dopirak's final hearing. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison for endangering the welfare of a child – death of child, reported KTVI.
Dawn and Jeff James could be heard weeping as the court proceedings began. They took in Zaydian when he was only four months old, after he experienced "a non-accidental traumatic brain injury at 5 weeks old." While they were initially told Zaydian would never be able to walk again due to the injury, the child began to walk and thrive under the James' care.
In 2022, the couple petitioned for guardianship of Zaydian. Furthermore, social workers, a guardian ad litem and a pediatrician all testified that Zaydian's life would be endangered if he were to be remanded to his father's custody.
"When you have so many people telling you that if this child is returned home, he will be killed, you need to listen to that," Dawn said. "We were shocked when the judge said she was going to do a trial reunification."
Following Zaydian's reunification with Blake, the child died of a head injury. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Blake in connection with Zaydian's passing. This sequence of events seemed to spur the retirement of the family court commissioner.
"When Commissioner [Diane] Monahan stepped down and we knew that no family would be put through this again, that restored – did restore our faith," Dawn said Thursday.
"Justice has been served. We are relieved for this family that this painful chapter is over, and they can continue on their path to healing. May this angel rest in peace," St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith said.
"I know that Zaydian can never be brought back, but my family got justice for him today," Dawn said. "Knowing that he's going to go away, I have a little bit of peace."
Originally published on Latin Times
