SAN DIEGO — The woman charged with murder and torture in the death of her adopted daughter appeared in juvenile court Monday for a dependency hearing.
The confidential hearing was meant to determine the custody of the two surviving, younger sisters.
CBS 8 has learned the girls will remain in the custody of a new foster family as the criminal case progresses against the adoptive family members.
The biological mother, Torianna Florey, walked into juvenile court Monday expecting to come face-to-face with the woman accused of murdering her oldest daughter, Aarabella McCormack, 11.
Florey lost custody of her three biological daughters in 2017 following several complaints to Child Welfare Services. The girls were placed into foster care with the McCormack family, who later adopted them.
The adoptive mother, Leticia McCormack, and her parents, Stanley and Adella Tom, are now charged with torture in the death of Aarabella and the abuse of the two younger sisters.
Monday's hearing was closed to the public. It was set to formally transfer custody of the surviving siblings, ages 6 and 8, to a new foster family. It will be a difficult transition, according family law attorney Anton Georghiou, who is not involved in the case.
“They'll be placed with new foster parents, but how can you possibly move past this having lost your biological parents, then having been adopted by foster parents only to be abused by them, and now being placed with a second set of foster parents? They're never going to trust adults,” said Georghiou.
Florey, the biological mother, said she is fighting to regain custody of her two daughters. But that's a legal long shot, according to Georghiou.
“I don't see the authorities taking that risk. I think that they're going to place these children with another set of able adults that can take care of them,” said Georghiou.
Eventually, the case may end up in a lawsuit, which could provide some answers about how and why the adoption of the three girls took such a tragic turn.
“Somebody should be held accountable, and the county realistically should be, because they were the ones that placed these children with this family. It's pretty terrible,” said Georghiou.
Florey also is fighting to get her daughter's body released for burial. She may have to file a lawsuit against the Medical Examiner's office to make that happen.
WATCH RELATED: 3 adoptive family members charged in girl’s death volunteered with San Diego police (Nov. 2022).
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