ATLANTA - A DeKalb County Juvenile Court judge has ordered that a four-year-old girl who has lived with a foster family since she was eight days old be returned to her biological mother. <br>
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The judge ordered the return of Epifania Crane to her mother -- Stephanie Crane-Domingue -- Thursday against the recommendation of DeKalb County child welfare officials. <br>
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Judge Robin Nash also ordered her six-year-old brother -- Dae'lin James Crane -- back to the children's mother, who lives in Commerce. <br>
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The DeKalb County Department of Family and Children Services had petitioned the judge to keep the children in the department's custody. <br>
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But the judge said the department had failed to prove that either of the children would be deprived if returned to their mother. <br>
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The girl has lived with Bonnie Gunter and Rene Jimenez since she was eight days old. <br>
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Child welfare officials called Gunter and asked her to take her into her home. The child had cocaine in her system. Jimenez says she was a crack baby. <br>
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The mother says she had overcome her addiction and has been clean since 1999. She drove the child away in a minivan last night after a child welfare worker took Nia from her foster father.
