Russia Backs Off Claim of Murder in Death of Adopted Boy in Texas
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Version 0 of 1. MOSCOW — Russian officials retreated from allegations of murder against a Texas woman whose 3-year-old son adopted from Russia died in late January, as investigators in the United States said the cause of the boy’s death remained unclear. Russia late last year banned adoptions by American citizens, and news of the death of the boy in Texas, Max Shatto, has provoked a huge outcry here, including demands for the return of his younger brother, Kristopher, 2, who was adopted by the same couple. On Tuesday, Russia’s prosecutorial investigative committee announced that it had opened an investigation into the “murder” of the boy, and the federal commissioner for children’s rights, Pavel Astakhov, issued a statement declaring: “Urgent! In the state of Texas, an adoptive mother killed a 3-year-old Russian child.” Andrei Turchak, the governor of the region where the boys were born as Maksim and Kirill, told the news agency Interfax that “a savage crime” had been committed. But in subsequent interviews, Mr. Astakhov backed off, focusing instead on negligence by the adoptive mother, Laura Shatto, who said that the boys had been playing outside and that she had left them unattended. She later found Max lying on the ground unresponsive. He died Jan. 21 at a hospital. “Even if she is not found guilty of murder, she will face negligence charges,” Mr. Astakhov told the television channel Rossiya 24. Sheriff Mark Donaldson of Ector County, Tex., whose office is investigating the boy’s death, said that officials were still waiting for autopsy results and that neither Ms. Shatto nor anyone else was suspected of a crime. “We need a determination on whether they rule it a homicide, or if they rule it accidental, or if they rule it undetermined,” he said in an interview. “Nobody is being investigated right now, because we don’t have the autopsy to determine what happened.” Mr. Donaldson confirmed that there was at least one bruise on the boy’s body, but he declined to describe it in detail and said he did not know how many bruises there were. Child welfare officials in Texas said they were investigating an abuse complaint that was received on the same day that Max died. Ms. Shatto and her husband, Alan, adopted the boys, who are biological brothers, in November. On Wednesday, their birth mother, Yulia V. Kuzmina, who lost custody of them in 2011 because of alcohol addiction, said she wanted the younger boy returned to her. President Vladimir V. Putin signed the adoption ban into law in December as part of a broader legislative measure intended to retaliate against the United States for a new American law aimed at punishing Russians accused of violating human rights. Dozens of American families are still hoping to complete adoptions that were already in progress when the ban took effect on Jan. 1 The adoption issue has moved to the center of an increasingly divisive diplomatic feud. Officials announced on Thursday that Secretary of State John Kerry and the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, would meet next week in Berlin to discuss several issues, including adoptions. Also on Thursday, the American ambassador to Russia, Michael A. McFaul, declined to attend a parliamentary hearing on the adoption matter, drawing criticism from the chairman of the Duma’s international affairs committee, Aleksei Pushkov. “By refusing to come to the State Duma to discuss the deaths of our children, the U.S. ambassador showed that they are not prepared for a serious dialogue on this problem,” Mr. Pushkov wrote on Twitter. Mr. McFaul responded by saying that he was willing to meet with Russian officials, including Mr. Pushkov, but said that neither American nor Russian ambassadors typically participate in the hearings of foreign legislatures. <NYT_AUTHOR_ID> <p>Andrew Roth contributed reporting from Moscow, and Staci Semrad from Lubbock, Tex. |