Case Name: In the Interest of A.W.J., a child. D.H.R., Appellant, v. Department of Children and Families and Guardian Ad Litem Program, Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2014-08-01
Citations: 161 So. 3d 501
Docket Number: No. 2D13-4879
Parties: In the Interest of A.W.J., a child. D.H.R., Appellant, v. Department of Children and Families and Guardian Ad Litem Program, Appellees.
Judges: CASANUEVA and VILLANTI, JJ., Concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Third Series
Volume: 161
Pages: 501–501

Head Matter:
In the Interest of A.W.J., a child. D.H.R., Appellant, v. Department of Children and Families and Guardian Ad Litem Program, Appellees.
No. 2D13-4879.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.
Aug. 1, 2014.
Frank D.L. Winstead of Winstead Law Offices, Land O’Lakes, for Appellant D.H.R.
Bernie McCabe, State Attorney, and Leslie M. Layne, Assistant State Attorney, Tampa, for Appellee Department of Children and Families.
Laura E. Lawson, Sanford, for Appellee Guardian ad Litem Program.

Opinion:
ALTENBERND, Judge.
D.H.R., the mother, appeals an order adjudicating A.W.J. dependent as to her based upon its findings that she physically abused her son and that she failed to protect her son thereby placing him at risk of "abuse, abandonment and/or neglect." In the same order, the trial court also adjudicated the child dependent as to the father, and that case has been separately appealed by the father and reversed by this court. N.J. v. Dep't of Children & Families, No. 2D13-4877, 2014 WL 3765949 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014). Because the trial court's finding that the child was injured as a result of physical abuse was not supported by competent, substantial evidence, as explained in N.J., we likewise reverse the order adjudicating the child dependent as to the mother. Moreover, the Department did not introduce any evidence whatsoever that the mother had caused the child to sustain the injuries that led to this adjudication of dependency.
Reversed.
CASANUEVA and VILLANTI, JJ., Concur.