Breanna Terry v. Arkansas Department of Human Services and Minor Child

── Breanna Terry v. Arkansas Department of Human Services and Minor Child ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas Date: April 22, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 247 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION I No. CV-25-793 BREANNA TERRY Opinion Delivered April 22, 2026 APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE GARLAND COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT V. [NO. 26JV-23-353] ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HONORABLE LYNN WILLIAMS, HUMAN SERVICES AND MINOR JUDGE CHILD APPELLEES AFFIRMED; MOTION TO WITHDRAW GRANTED BRANDON J. HARRISON, Judge Breanna Terry appealed the Garland County Circuit Court’s order terminating her parental rights to her younger child, MC2, born 23 October 2023. Her counsel moved to withdraw without completing a merits appeal because, as she explained in an accompanying no-merit brief, the appeal would be wholly frivolous. See Linker-Flores v. Ark. Dep’t of Hum. Servs., 359 Ark. 131, 194 S.W.3d 739 (2004); Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 6-9(j). We agree, grant counsel’s motion to withdraw, and affirm. Breanna has a cognitive deficit or developmental delay that affects her ability to retain information; she has a diagnosis of partial Down syndrome. When this case opened, she already had a history with the Arkansas Department of Human Services (the “Department” or “DHS”). The Department had opened a protective-services case in September 2022 involving MC1, who was about a year older than MC2, after it found that Breanna was not providing food. The Department arranged in-home parenting classes and, as part of a safety plan, required Breanna to reside with her mother to provide support and guidance in caring for the baby. In July 2023, MC1 was placed in DHS custody for suspected abuse after Breanna and Austin McAbee, MC2’s putative father, gave different accounts of how MC1 broke her femur. 1 The Department received a hotline report for neglect of MC2 on 24 October 2023, when she was one day old. According to nursing staff at the hospital where Breanna delivered, Breanna and Austin were not feeding or diapering MC2 despite encouragement and several reminders. Because they were not feeding her at regular intervals, or not feeding her at all, MC2’s glucose level became critically low on October 23 and 24. Hospital staff continued to instruct them when and how to feed the baby throughout the day and night of October 24, and still had to wake them twice to do it. They could not perform basic cleaning of MC2 or the bassinet despite instruction from staff the previous day. In response to the hotline call, DHS searched for previous DHS cases involving Breanna or Austin. For Breanna, the search revealed the open protective-services case involving MC1 that had begun with a similar failure to provide food. For Austin, it revealed a “true” finding for sexual contact and sexual penetration of his developmentally delayed sister. A home assessment revealed that the presumed parents had no supply of formula and few other supplies for an infant. The home had water damage, poorly repaired flooring, and a wall with a hole in it. 1 We affirm the termination of Breanna’s parental rights to MC1 in a related appeal decided today, Terry v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 2026 Ark. App. 249, ___ S.W.3d ___. 2  The Department petitioned October 31 to adjudicate MC2 dependent-neglected as a result of abuse, neglect, and parental unfitness. The court entered an ex parte order awarding temporary custody of MC2 to DHS the same day. On December 15, it entered an agreed order adjudicating MC2 dependent-neglected due to environmental neglect because Breanna and Austin lacked appropriate housing. The court