Autopsy clears Texas mother of beating to death her adoptive Russian son as medical examiner rules that bruises on toddler's body were self-inflicted

The death of a three-year-old Russian boy adopted by a Texas family has been ruled an accident, it was revealed Friday.
Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson and District Attorney Bobby Bland announced that the medical examiner determined that Max Shatto's death on January 21 was unintentional. 
Preliminary autopsy results had indicated Max had bruises on several parts of his body, and Bland said Friday that the bruises appeared to be self-inflicted. He also said no drugs were found in Max's system.

Autopsy: The medical examiner ruled that the death of Max Shatto was an accident

Accused: Kremlin accused Laura Shatto, right, of beating little Max, left, to death in January

Keeping mum: The driveway to the Shatto family home, rear left, is seen in Gardendale, Texas, with a sign that reads: 'No Comment'

‘I had four doctors agree that this is the result of an accident,’ he said. ‘We have to take that as fact.’
Alan and Laura Shatto adopted Max, born Maxim Kuzmin, and his half brother, two-year-old Kristopher, from an orphanage in western Russia this past fall.
Laura Shatto told authorities she found Max unresponsive outside their Gardendale, Texas, home while he was playing with his younger brother. The boy was pronounced dead a short time later.
The Shatto's attorney, Michael J. Brown, said he agreed ‘with the conclusion that it was an accidental death and I've been saying it all along.’
‘This is not a surprise to me at all,’ he said.
The investigation into the boy's death continues, Bland said. Once investigators complete their work, Bland will meet with them and decide whether to pursue charges such as negligent supervision or injury to a child by omission.
Russian authorities and state-run media have blamed the Shattos for Max's death and used the case as justification for a recently enacted ban on all American adoptions of Russian children.
Russia's Investigative Committee has said it has opened its own investigation. It's unclear whether the committee could charge the Shatto family or force their prosecution.
Alexander K. Zakharov, the Russian consul general in Houston, said he wanted to see an official report from authorities before commenting on Friday's announcement.

Tragedy: Max Shatto, 3, died last month after being adopted by a family in Texas. Russian authorities are claiming he was abused

Russian born: Maxim was born the town of Pskov, near Russia's western border with Estonia. The boy lived with a family in Gardendale, Texas with his family before his death

U.S. State Department officials and adoption agency advocates have called for caution.
The Russian government passed the ban in December in retaliation for a new U.S. law targeting alleged Russian human-rights violators.
 The ban also reflects lingering resentment over the perceived mistreatment of some of the 60,000 children Americans have adopted during the last two decades. At least 20 of those children have died, and reports of abuse have garnered attention in Russia.
Chuck Johnson, CEO of the Virginia-based National Council for Adoption, said an agreement ratified last year would have prevented the conditions that led to many deaths and abuse cases.
One change in particular would have required all adoptions to go through agencies licensed in Russia.
‘The deaths were terribly tragic, horrible,’ Johnson said in a February 19 interview. ‘But the frustrating thing has been that those cases have become the face of inter-country adoption, and they shouldn't be.’
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said Friday it found no violations at the Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth, the agency that processed the Shattos' adoption.
The state's Child Protective Services division is proceeding with a separate investigation into allegations that Max was subject to physical abuse and neglect, but has not determined whether those allegations are true.

Parents: The boy's adopted parents, Alan and Laura Shatto, denied knowing about the allegations being made by Russian authorities. No arrests have been made

Sad: The little boy, pictured right, was pronounced dead in hospital on Jan. 21

Russian state media have featured the boys' biological mother, 23-year-old Yulia Kuzmina, who lost custody over negligence and addiction to alcohol.
In a tightly choreographed February 21 interview on state television, Kuzmina insisted Russian child services officials seized her sons without her knowledge and said she wanted to be reunited with her other son, born Kirill Kuzmin.
She said she had given up drinking, found a job and pledged to fight to get the boy back for fear that if he stayed with his adoptive Texas family, he too will die like his brother. .
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has said it is necessary ‘to temper emotions’ over the case.
On his part, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has called for ‘sensational exploitations of human tragedy to end and for professional work between our two countries to grow, on this issue and many others.’
Max's tragic death has received international attention in the wake of a recent Russian ban on all American adoptions.
Russia's Investigative Committee said that it had opened an investigation into the little boy's death.
'Three-year-old Maxim was beaten, according to the investigators, by his adoptive mother, who fed him psychoactive drugs over a long period of time, saying that he had some psychiatric illness,' said Pavel Astakhov, the Russian Children's Rights Commissioner alleges, according to The Telegraph.

Plea: In a tightly choreographed interview, Max's biological mother, 23-year-old Yulia Kuzmina, tearfully appealed to President Putin to have her surviving son returned to her

Accusations: Pavel Astakho has alleged that Maxim was beaten to death by his American mother. American authorities have not confirmed the allegations are still investigating

He said the toddler had numerous bruises on his body and damage to organs.
'Our consuls must be allowed to see the materials of the case and take part in the formulation of the prosecution,' he added.
Texas Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins confirmed the agency had received a report on Jan. 21 of the death of a three-year-old named Max Shatto, and that the Ector County Sheriff's Office in West Texas was investigating.
Crimmins said CPS had received allegations of physical abuse and neglect, but had not determined whether those allegations were true.
An obituary for Max Shatto published Jan. 26 by the Midland Reporter-Telegram says he was born on Jan. 9, 2010, in the town of Pskov, near Russia's western border with Estonia.
The boy lived with a family in Gardendale, about 350 miles west of Dallas, before his death on Jan. 21, according to the obituary.
On the funeral home's website, Max's parents wrote: 'Max, you were not with us long enough to leave fingerprints on the walls but you left fingerprints upon our hearts.

Look of love: Alan Shatto embraces his son, Maxim, in this photo. Max's parents wrote in his obituary, 'When we get to Heaven, we know we will hear your sweet voice singing with the angels. We love you and will always miss you'

Timing: Max's death comes weeks after Russian authorities announced it was banning all adoptions by Americans

'When we get to Heaven, we know we will hear your sweet voice singing with the angels. We love you and will always miss you.'
The death comes weeks after Russia announced it was banning all American adoptions in retaliation for a new U.S. law targeting alleged Russian human-rights violators.
The ban also reflects lingering resentment over the 60,000 Russian children adopted by Americans in the past two decades, of which at least 19 have died.
Russian Foreign Ministry official Konstantin Dolgov said in a statement that the boy's death was 'yet another case of inhuman treatment of a Russian child adopted by American parents.'

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