State To Watch Over Girl Whose Mother Was Killed 7-Year-Old Still In Light Coma; Initial Family Member Ruled Out

A court awarded the state temporary custody on Friday of a 7-year-old girl whose mother was killed this week, while social workers investigate family members who could get permanent custody.

Even though Diana Valdez is unlikely to leave the hospital soon, a custodian is needed to make pressing medical decisions.

The court granted the state custody for three days. A follow-up hearing was scheduled for Monday.

Authorities initially thought Diana Valdez’s grandfather was a good candidate to take custody of the girl, who was critically injured Tuesday in an accident that killed her mother. The two were hit by a Pony Express delivery van as they walked to school in southeast Portland.

But the State Office for Services to Children and Families found that Harold Dean Smith, 50, had an extensive criminal history dating back to the 1970s and ‘80s. Diana’s biological father, Jason Smith, also has a criminal record and had told caseworkers he has “no psychological relationship” with the child. He hasn’t seen her in four years.

Connie Isgro, who presided over the juvenile court hearing, told Diana’s stepfather, Allen J. Tabert, he had no legal standing to take custody of the girl. The 26-year-old fisherman from Nanaimo, British Columbia, said his wife had returned to America for immigration reasons.

Diana was upgraded to serious condition on Friday and remains in a light coma at OHSU Hospital. Doctors are trying to save her lower left leg.