Couple held in death of Post Falls toddler

Post Falls police arrested a Post Falls couple in the January 2009 death of 2-year-old Karina Janay Moore, who was fatally injured while in the couple’s foster care.

Jeremy and Amber Clark were booked into Kootenai County Jail on Thursday on charges of injury to a child, conspiracy and perjury, according to a jail official. The case has been sealed by a judge until the Clarks’ first court appearance, according to Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh.

“There is a case, and beyond that I can’t really say,” McHugh told those gathered for an aborted news conference at the Post Falls Police Department on Thursday afternoon.

Karina was found unconscious by police after they were called to the Clarks’ Post Falls home shortly after midnight on Jan. 7, 2009. The Clarks said Karina had fallen down a flight of carpeted stairs.

Ten days after the injury, Karina died in a coma after being removed from life support. A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from blunt force head trauma, resulting in the investigation by Post Falls detectives.

Karina and her brother, 6, and infant sister were placed in the Clarks’ home in November 2008 after their mother, Samantha Moore, was charged with negligence in the injury of her son. Although she was cleared of injuring him, she lost custody of the children. Since the death of Karina, Moore has regained custody of her surviving children.

Moore told The Spokesman-Review in March 2009 that she noticed bruises and scratches on Karina’s head during visits to the Clarks’ home the previous year.

Moore has filed a lawsuit against the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, claiming the department’s failure to supervise the foster home resulted in her daughter’s death.

The Clarks’ own four children were removed from their custody for two months during the investigation into Karina’s death, but a judge ordered them returned.