Woman who killed child in foster care set to be released

(MyFoxBoston.com) -- Fresh heartbreak and frustration for the family of a  4-year-old Dorchester boy who was brutally murdered by his foster mother. The high-profile case devastated the community, back in 2006. And it also shined a light on the failures between the Department of Children and Families and foster care agencies.

The foster mother convicted of killing Dontel Jeffers has served her sentence and will soon step out of prison, a free woman.

The family called it a light sentence and they're also unhappy with the recent DCF failures.

Dontel's uncle, Vincent James said, "It seem like it was just yesterday."

Nearly a  decade later and the wounds are still fresh for the Dontel's family. The 4-year-old was just two months shy of his 5th birthday when he was brutally beaten by his foster mother while in the state's custody for about 10 days. The case is still considered one of the worst cases of abuse in the history of Department of Children and Families, then called DSS.

"She's gonna be free. Coming home to her son, while Dontel is 6 feet below," James said.

Corrine Stephen, a single mother at the time, was charged with second degree murder but convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Dontel's death. Dontel's family tells us Stephen is set to be released next week after serving roughly 8 years in prison.

"That's not a proper sentence. So the state needs to look at the way how they sentencing people for beating kids in the state," James said.

He is calling for more prevention of abuse in state supervised foster homes. At the time of Dontel's death, then Boston Mayor Thomas Menino had called for sweeping reforms. But 10 years later, there have been several deaths of children in DCF care and Dontel's family says nothing has changed.

Governor Charlie Baker announced system-wide reforms to DCF last month including the re-establishment of a central regional office that hasn't been open since around the time of Dontel's death. Dontel's family says Baker could do more.

"They're saying things but there's still a lot more work to be done. And I don't think it go far enough yet," James said.

We did reach out to the Department of Corrections and they tell us Stephen's sentence was 8-12 years and her release is in line with that.

Cox Media Group