Arrests made in toddler death case

Nearly three years after the death of 2-year-old Karina Moore, her Post Falls foster parents were arrested on Thursday in connection with the toddler's tragedy.

The Press has learned that Moore's foster parents, Jeremy 36, and his wife Amber Clark, 28, both of Post Falls, are being held at the Kootenai County Jail on a $25,000 bond on two counts of injury to a child, one count of destroying, altering or concealing evidence and one count of perjury.

Moore, 2, reportedly fell down stairs in a Post Falls foster home in January 2009, sparking what has become a nearly three-year investigation.

A press conference for this afternoon at the Post Falls Police Department was cancelled on site by Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh, citing the case is still sealed and the Clarks have not made their first appearance in court.

A grand jury came back with an indictment on Wednesday in the case. McHugh and Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug declined to comment on the case and the indictment on Thursday.

The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the case a homicide, citing "blunt force head injuries."

However, the examiner's report did not corroborate with the initial police investigation nor the opinions of multiple doctors police interviewed at Kootenai Medical Center and Sacred Heart, which determined the death was consistent with an accidental fall.

Karina's mother, Samantha Moore, has said she believes her daughter's death was not an accident. She declined to comment on Thursday, per her attorney's advice.

Moore filed a civil lawsuit against the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in January this year, claiming she reported abuse allegations against the Clarks to social workers twice, but her concerns weren't addressed.

The suit claims the IDHW "negligently and with reckless indifference failed to supervise the foster home . . . which resulted in the death of Karina."

Karina and two of her siblings, a brother and sister, had been living with the Clarks. The other children were removed from the Clarks' care after Karina's incident.

The Clarks haven't been booked in the local jail before. They had been a registered foster family for two years and had taken in dozens of kids during the time before Karina's incident.