Pinwheels planted in parks for National Child Abuse Prevention Month

Hundreds of blue pinwheels spun in chilly winds Sunday in a Port Washington park, a scene Jacqueline Franchetti hoped would spark conversations about child abuse prevention and policy changes that could have saved her 2-year-old daughter’s life.

Kyra Franchetti would have turned 9 on Tuesday.

Instead of planning a birthday celebration on the April day, Jacqueline Franchetti has spent it at her daughter’s grave. Kyra, a giggly, happy girl who loved Elmo, Mickey Mouse and bubbles, was killed in 2016 in a murder-suicide by her father, Roy Eugene Rumsey, during a court-sanctioned visit in Virginia.

“Kyra deserved to live,” said Franchetti of Manhasset on Sunday at Blumenfeld Family Park, a place in Port Washington she and her daughter frequented. There, Kyra liked to go high on the swing and fast down the slide. On summer days, she would laugh and splash water in the sprinkler area, her mother said.

“I don’t even know what a 9-year-old girl would want for her birthday,” Franchetti said, standing in front of rows of pinwheels that shone in the sun and made rustling sounds as they spun in the wind. 

Franchetti said Nassau County Family Court, which was adjudicating the custody dispute she had with Kyra’s father, should have done more to protect the toddler after she told the court Rumsey became abusive.

Franchetti has since created nonprofits the Kyra Franchetti Foundation and Kyra’s Champions, as well as called for changes in the court system that would place a greater emphasis on the safety of children whose parents are in custody battles and divorce proceedings.

Lucian Chalfen, director of public information of the state Unified Court System, said in a statement Sunday that judges and staff work “tirelessly to ensure cases are resolved as expeditiously as possible.”

“Family Court deals with some of the most fraught and emotional cases and must determine the child’s best interests and safety without a presumption for either parent,” Chalfen wrote.

Shayna Blumenfeld, a 10th-grader at Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington and a youth ambassador with Kyra’s Champions, said she was shocked to hear Franchetti talk about her daughter’s death on a virtual call a few years ago.

“I just couldn't believe what I was hearing,” the 15-year-old said. “It's a tragedy.”

Blumenfeld suggested an annual event to raise awareness and they began in 2021 to plant the pinwheels in April to honor National Child Abuse Prevention Month. About a dozen volunteers, mostly students, planted the pinwheels at Blumenfeld Park.

Nationwide, an estimated 1,820 children died in 2021 from abuse or neglect at a rate of 2.46 per 100,000 children in the population, according to the latest child maltreatment report released by the Children’s Bureau under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The report noted that nearly 80% of the perpetrators were parents.

In New York, the number of child fatalities due to maltreatment was 126 in 2021, according to the report. The data didn’t specify how many of the victims were children who died amid custody disputes.

Franchetti, who has compiled news reports, said since 2016, at least 23 children were killed by a parent during child custody battles or divorce proceedings in New York, including Kyra and Thomas Valva.

Thomas’ father, Michael Valva of Center Moriches, was sentenced last year to a maximum of 25 years to life in prison for the murder of his 8-year-old son. Michael Valva's ex-fiancee, Angela Pollina, after a separate trial, was also convicted of murder in Thomas' death and awaits sentencing.  

Last year, a bill to mandate training for forensic evaluators in cases involving child custody and visitation was signed into law. More bills were introduced this year, including one named Kyra’s Law, which was also introduced last year but did not pass. 

Under its current version, the proposed bill would require the court to conduct a review of findings or allegations of child abuse, domestic violence and “heightened danger and risk of lethality” before issuing any permanent or initial order of custody or visitation. It would also require judges to complete training before they handle child custody proceedings.

In the same statement, Chalfen wrote: “We are watching the discussions regarding the proposed legislation and until the bills are finalized we have nothing to say at this point.”

More pinwheels were planted Sunday in Mary Jane Davies Green Park in Manhasset, another one of Kyra’s favorite parks.

By Dandan Zou

dandan.zou@newsday.com@DandanZou

Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.