Hussing’s attorney, John Luskin, said his client took responsibility in the case, but because of her education and background, she did not realize the boy was seriously ill and was treating him with cold medication. “She is a mother that just did not have the capability to recognize’’ cancer, Luskin said yesterday.
Robinson’s lawyer, Thomas Rein, called it a “sad, horrific case’’ that drew inquiries from the White House as changes to federal health care law were being considered in 2009. “Had he had regular health coverage, it possibly could have prevented this,’’ Rein said of the boy’s death.
Luskin and Rein said the parents had financial problems and tried to get checkups for their children but could not afford it.
“The kid had what appeared to be swollen glands,’’ Luskin said. “This was not a tumor that was getting bigger. It would come and go. He would have his good days, he would have his bad days.’’
Hussing’s daughter, Lillian Hussing, said the family did not have money for medical care when they lived in Warren. She said they tried repeatedly to get help from social services and visited a free clinic, but left when told they would have to pay $180.
“We did not know it was cancer,’’ she said. “We tried and tried to get help and were denied every time,’’ said the daughter, 18.
The family soon moved to Cleveland and the boy died within weeks.
Prosecutors said that while the boy was suffering, the parents claimed financial hardship but paid $87 to have a pit bull treated for fleas. Luskin said the dog belonged to Hussing’s parents, and her parents paid for the treatment.
Trumbull County Children Services says it had worked with the family to provide Willie health care, getting involved after receiving a phone call in July 2007. Agency officials said a case worker visited the family at least monthly and pushed the parents to have a medical follow-up on his swollen neck but they didn’t.
However, Rein said a social worker who visited the family in January 2008 “indicated the kids were healthy and happy.’’ He said no one knew the boy had cancer until he died and an autopsy was performed.
And Lillian Hussing said a case worker had told the family the boy’s lump looked like a swollen gland and to hold off until they could secure financial assistance before getting it checked.
About two weeks after they moved to Cleveland, she said, her brother came down with something. Her mother treated him with cold medicine and he died within three days.
She said the boy never complained. “He played, he went outside, he wrestled, he played video games,’’ the boy’s sister said. “He was the happiest kid you could imagine. It never seemed like he was suffering.’’
