About 500 people stood in line Sunday to get free school supplies, bicycle helmets, lunch and perhaps low-cost health insurance for their children.

Parents started lining up at 10 a.m. for the Back to School Florida KidCare Enrollment Fair at the Shoppes of Cresthaven west of Lake Worth. The doors opened at noon, and by 12:45 parents and children were eating cheeseburgers and hot dogs, a disc jockey was dancing to Crank That (Soulja Boy) with teenagers and Angel Gray, 5, was getting a butterfly painted on her face by a smiling clown.

Rosa Rodriguez was nearby, speaking with representatives from Florida KidCare, the state’s health insurance program for uninsured people younger than 19.

Rodriguez’s daughters Isabel Ulloa-Rodriguez, 11, and Paola Ulloa-Rodriguez, 7, were patiently waiting by her side. Neither girl has had health insurance for six years. Rodriguez, 39, wanted to know whether they qualify.

She made an appointment for Tuesday.

Rodriguez said Paola, her youngest daughter, was born with a back problem. Paola needed surgery, but she had to wait until earlier this year to get it.

She was in pain, Rodriguez said, but the only clinic that could help them was in Tampa, and they couldn’t just pick up and go. Rodriguez said that if her girls are approved for KidCare, she won’t have to worry about being unable to afford treatment or medication.

Children might be eligible if they don’t have health insurance, they are U.S. citizens or qualified noncitizens, and their parents meet the income eligibility, among other requirements.

There are about 700,000 children in Florida without health insurance, state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, said during a news conference. Most are eligible, but “we just have to let them know about it,” he said.

The event was sponsored by the state Department of Children and Families, the Health Care District of Palm Beach County, other state agencies and private corporations.

~ alejandra_cancino@pbpost.com

Learn about the program

For information on Florida KidCare,call (888) 540-5437 or visit www.floridakidcare.org.

Four-year-old Gregory Cesar woke to his aunt’s voice Saturday morning. Four hours later, she would lift the dying boy out of a Ford Expedition, splash water on his face and try to breathe life back into him.

But she was too late for Gregory, who admired Superman and liked to ride his red and blue bicycle around the house. He was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. after being left in a parked sport utility vehicle for about three hours while his mother and aunt visited a nail salon.

On that morning, Gregory showered and then dressed himself in the yellow shirt his mother had picked for him. He ate a chocolate chip cookie and drank some juice and water.

It was the big day. At 5 p.m., his mother, Mirlande Jean-Baptiste, 29, was to be married at the Elected Church of God in Lake Worth.

Just a day earlier, Gregory jokingly told his grandmother that he was going to marry the flower girl who would walk beside him as he carried the rings.

“He was a hyper child,” Jean-Baptiste said Sunday at her house on Oak Royal Drive in suburban Lake Worth. She was dressed in black, her eyes were swollen and a white hospital bracelet was still on her wrist.

Her sister, Juliana, 24, described the morning.

The sisters planned to leave Gregory; his sister, Lisa Jean, 10; his cousin, Tracie Cineus, 8; and another girl with a friend, Emanuella Castor. Castor would take the three girls to have their hair done at a nearby salon.

Juliana and her sister thought all the children jumped into the friend’s car. Then the sisters chatted with Castor for a couple of minutes from their Ford Expedition. The back door remained open until Castor closed it, and the two sisters drove to US Nails at 2650 S. Military Trail west of Lake Worth.

They were at the salon for about three hours, said Linda Le, the owner of US Nails. Mirlande Jean-Baptiste got a facial, a full set of acrylic nails and a pedicure. She had been Le’s client since moving from Fort Lauderdale about a year ago.

“She was very happy,” Le said. “She was preparing for a really big day. … They were just relaxing, having a good time.”

When their nails were done, Juliana walked to the car to get cash while her sister paid. She was opening her wallet when she felt the need to look back. She caught a glimpse of yellow fabric, so she looked more closely. That’s when she ran to the back door, opened it and carried Gregory out of the car.

“Gregory, are you crazy?” she said to him.

Gregory wasn’t moving but didn’t look hurt, so Juliana thought he was sleeping.

Mirlande came out of the nail salon and grabbed Gregory from Juliana. She called 911 and Juliana ran to a nearby liquor store to buy water. They splashed water on his face and tried to follow CPR instructions from Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue personnel.

Muhammad Uddin, 48, co-owner of the Apnar Bazar, a Bangladeshi grocery store near the nail salon, said he heard screaming and ran out to see what had happened.

Mirlande Jean-Baptiste “was crying, ‘Oh my God, my baby. Oh my God, my baby.’ She kept screaming. She lost it,” Uddin said.

The ambulance came next. Paramedics tried to revive Gregory and took him to Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee, but Gregory was gone. Jean-Baptiste had to be sedated at the hospital.

“You could feel the high heat from inside the car,” Uddin said. “The windows were completely closed, they weren’t even a little bit open. It was so hot that day at that time. It was impossible for anybody to survive in there.”

Juliana said Gregory probably didn’t want to go with Castor, so he hid behind the seats of the Expedition.

“He was very smart. All the time, he made me laugh,” she said.

Castor had noticed the boy was not in her car, sheriff’s officials said. She assumed Gregory had gotten back into the Expedition and was with his mother but didn’t call her to confirm that, the sheriff’s report said.

At the Elected Church of God, the Rev. Jacob Suffrard said he feels for Jean-Baptiste, who has been a congregation member for a couple of months.

Suffrard said Jean-Baptiste would come every Friday, Wednesday and Sunday for Bible study and to hear the service.

“She is very quiet but liked the church,” he said.

An autopsy was done Sunday morning. Investigators are waiting for toxicology reports and other testing to determine the cause of death.

Vehicular hyperthermia has caused the deaths of 17 children this year in the U.S., according to Kids and Cars, a national nonprofit. Thirty-five children died last year.

Pivotal points on fateful day

- Mirlande Jean-Baptiste and her sister drop off Gregory Cesar, 4, and three other children with a friend, Emanuella Castor. The women don’t know that Gregory still is in his mom’s SUV. The sisters assume the boy is with Castor.

- The sisters park the SUV at a shopping center at 2650 S. Military Trail west of Lake Worth.

- They walk to US Nails for their nail appointment.

- Three hours later, Jean-Baptiste’s sister discovers Gregory unconscious in the SUV.

- Gregory is pronounced dead at 1 p.m. at Palms West Hospital.

Source: Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and family accounts

Staff researcher Sammy Alzofon and staff writers George Bennett and Bill DiPaolo contributed to this story.

~alejandra_cancino@pbpost.com

~veronica_martinez@pbpost.com

A judge ruled Wednesday that Sheriff Ken Mascara was “absolutely immune” from having to pay the $600,000 a jury awarded in May to a former St. Lucie County corrections deputy.

Barbara Bates, the former deputy, expressed chagrin at the ruling, saying, “I am very frustrated that, after I went through a 12-year battle to try to clear my name and was vindicated by a jury, (Mascara) received immunity.”

In July 1996, Bates was on duty at the jail when an inmate committed suicide. A monthslong investigation was conducted and found that she didn’t do anything wrong, said Bates’ lawyer, Frederick Ford.

Bates resigned during the investigation to attend the police academy. After the academy, she applied to more than 30 agencies and passed all the tests but said she was always rejected. It wasn’t until she applied to the Riviera Beach Police Department that she learned a form filed with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was the reason she wouldn’t get a job.

And affidavit of separation is filed every time law enforcement officers leave their jobs. It has a checklist of different reasons why an officer might be leaving. Her form states she resigned “while she was being investigated for misconduct.” It also said she didn’t meet the “standard set forth by the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office within the probationary period.”

“But the investigation was completed, and she was a witness, not a target,” Ford said.

She tried to correct the form, but said then-Sheriff R.C. “Bobby” Knowles wouldn’t do it. Then Ken Mascara, who was her chiropractor, decided to run for sheriff, and Bates and her husband, Cameron, jumped on his campaign team.

They showed him the affidavit, and the Bateses said Mascara agreed the form was wrong. After he was elected, the couple said Mascara never returned calls.

Barbara Bates filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office in 2002. In May, the jury awarded her $300,000 for injury to her reputation and “any shame, humiliation and hurt feelings.” The jurors awarded her another $300,000 for lost earnings.

On Wednesday, St. Lucie Circuit Judge James Midelis decided that because Mascara didn’t sign the FDLE form, he was absolutely immune from having to pay damages.

“We believe this is the proper ruling: the sheriff can’t be sued for defamation,” said Adam Fetterman, general counsel for the sheriff’s office. “We respect and appreciate the jury’s service, but this is the position the sheriff has taken since before the trial.”

When asked about the FDLE form, Fetterman said the sheriff’s office believes the form was executed properly and will remain as it is.

Bates has 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision. But Cameron Bates said an appeal could cost more than $50,000.

“Justice was served, and yet, justice was unserved at the same time,” Barbara Bates said.

Staff researcher Melanie Mena and staff writer Sarah Prohaska contributed to this story.

~alejandra_cancino@pbpost.com

A day after losing her daughter, Jocelyne Willard said she is scared, her heart is in pain and she is alone.

Willard’s 34-year-old daughter, Judith Rose Willard, was shot to death Saturday morning on the steps of her condo in the 7700 block of Lago del Mar Drive in suburban Boca Raton. Also dead is the daughter’s husband, 30-year-old Theodore L. Harris.

Deputies say it appears the couple were estranged. An argument ensued after Harris showed up at the condo, and shots were fired.

Jocelyne Willard, 60, said Sunday that she was in the condo with her grandchildren — Holly, 10, and Jaden, 3 — about 8:30 a.m. Saturday when she heard three gunshots. Then she heard people talking. Then Holly screamed: “The police is here!”

Willard was confused. “Why are they in the house?” she asked herself.

Willard, Holly and Jaden were taken to the back yard. She didn’t understand why deputies were asking so many questions.

No, her Judith Rose was not in the house. She had to be at work at 9 a.m.

Judith Rose Willard had separated from her husband two months ago. The mother didn’t know why. She knew Teddy Harris loved her daughter. He would come to the house on weekends to take his children to the pool and to get ice cream.

Deputies kept asking personal questions. Then Willard knew. The shots. Judith Rose was not coming back.

It’s hard to believe it happened, she said. “There were no screams, no yelling, no talking — just gunshots.”

Willard said Judith Rose and Teddy met while they worked at a restaurant in Miami. They married in 1997, but soon after he had an affair and she left him. He moved to Gainesville; she stayed in Miami.

Both ran into trouble with the law. He was arrested for drug possession twice in 1998, once for cocaine and heroin possession and once for bouncing a check.

Willard said her daughter was doing cocaine and crystal meth around that time.

Later, her daughter earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She wanted to be a psychologist but gave up to be a mother and take care of her children. Judith Rose stopped using drugs when she realized she was pregnant with Holly, Willard said.

Willard said she never thought her daughter would die before she did. “I didn’t think anything like this would happen.”

Willard recently moved from Miami to be close to her daughter and baby-sit the grandchildren while Judith Rose went to work.

Now she is alone in a place she barely knows. She doesn’t know what will happen to her grandchildren. Right now they are with Willard’s sister. She is sure of one thing: she will keep Judith Rose and Teddy in her prayers.

“I’ll be praying for them both this Easter,” she said.

Staff researcher Sammy Alzofon contributed to this story.

~alejandra_cancino@pbpost.com

Pedro Blanco walked toward his back door and flicked the switch that turns on his patio light. It didn’t turn on, so he strained to look through the window but couldn’t see anything.

At 5:30 a.m., still dark, he opened the door and stepped outside. That’s when he realized his $3,500 generator was missing.

The thieves broke the lock of the door that leads to Blanco’s back yard, unscrewed a bulb, cut the chain he had put on his generator for additional security and lifted the 200-plus pound machine.

“I just bought it three months ago,” he said.

Blanco, 30, was one of at least five neighbors in the Parker Ridge Neighborhood who reported break-ins or thefts this month. About 3 1/2 miles north, at least six other houses were broken into in the Pineapple Park Neighborhood. Generators were stolen from three of them.

Rudy Gurrola, 48, bought his $500-$600 generator about a year and a half ago but never used it.

Burglars, he said, broke into the shed in the back of his house and took it. They also broke into his neighbor’s shed but didn’t take anything.

“Only three houses had something stolen — all generators,” he said.

Gurrola’s generator was stolen before dawn on Aug. 7, a day before Blanco’s generator was taken. Blanco’s neighbor, Margarita Hernandez, was also a target.

Hernandez’s $800 generator was stored in the laundry room in the back of her house, so when thieves broke into the room, they also took three gasoline containers and a box of Gain powder laundry detergent.

“They took the unopened box and left me the empty one,” she said.

Hernandez said police officers searched the room for prints but doesn’t know if they were able to get an ID.

They weren’t.

Peter Robbins, spokesman for the West Palm Beach Police Department, said there is no description of the thief or thieves. They suspect there is more than one because the generators are heavy.

He said this is a crime that increases every time there’s a storm. Hurricane Dean got people thinking about storms, including crooks. And the crime doesn’t stop in West Palm Beach; police departments in other cities also have similar reports, Robbins said.

Robbins said there are no reports of violence. Thieves try to get in the houses quietly and get out quickly.

But neighbors are worried about burglars returning.

“I make sure I put the alarm at night, but I have a dog I have to let out, and it’s scary that somebody could be in your back yard,” Gurrola said.

Blanco said he is upset the thieves took his generator, but in the end it’s a machine he could replace. His real worry is his wife’s well-being: “Every time I come home, I’m praying everything is here and no one is waiting.”

~ alejandra_cancino@pbpost.com

How to protect your equipment

West Palm Beach police recommend:

- Find a secure place. The garage might be better than a shed.

- Write down the serial number, brand and model.

- Engrave your name.

Stevens Dormezil was dancing to an R&B song in a club at 2:45 a.m. Monday when he heard what sounded like firecrackers.

He still didn’t realize what the sound was, but then something stung him, right above his left hip.

Of the three clubgoers who were shot by an unidentified gunman that night, Dormezil is the only one who lived to tell about it.

On Tuesday, he gave this account: People began running out the door, and he joined them. He heard a woman scream and saw another on the floor. She was identified later as Shalena Perry, 18, who died Monday at St. Mary’s Medical Center.

Dormezil ran downstairs, asked for directions to an emergency room and got in his SUV. Someone told him to drive south on Old Dixie Highway.

As he drove away, he saw police cars heading north, toward Palm Beach Finest Club at 1601 Old Dixie Highway. People call it the Caribbean Club or the Upstairs Club.

He flagged down an officer and got out of his car. The officer thought Dormezil was a suspect, and he started to handcuff him. But then he realized the 25-year-old was hurt.

About 10 minutes later, Dormezil was inside an ambulance when he learned that Abdullah Luke, 24, also was shot and died at the club.

Authorities believe Luke was the intended target, said Paul Miller, spokesman for Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Dormezil remembers seeing Luke dancing a couple of feet away from him. He wasn’t causing any trouble, Dormezil said.

He doesn’t remember seeing Perry at the club, but he saw her later at St. Mary’s in the bed next to him.

She had been shot in the head.

“It was like a movie … crazy,” he said, sitting inside his parents’ house Tuesday in Delray Beach.

The part-time Florida Atlantic University finance student lives in West Palm Beach and works at a car-warranty company.

On Tuesday, he was calm while showing off without hesitation the white gauze covering his wounds.

One bullet grazed his back.

Another went about 3 inches into his left side without damaging any vital organs. The nurse told Dormezil that his body will expel it in a couple of days, he said.

In the meantime, he just has to clean the wound. He was lucky, he said.

“I’m happy to be here. I am grateful,” he said.

Funny things go through the mind when one is shot, he said.

“You feel like you are dead. Then you ask yourself, ‘Am I in heaven?’ And then you realize you are still alive.”

He also thought about the paramedics cutting up his favorite brown shirt to get to his wounds. Then he thought about how he didn’t want to stain his car with blood.

Monday was the third or fourth time Dormezil was in the club, known for its Jamaican music and as a place to hang out on Sunday nights.

Patrons usually are patted by a security guard on their way in, but Dormezil said the security guard didn’t bother to check his left leg or the back of his pants when he arrived at the club early Monday.

After being released from the hospital, Dormezil went back to the club with police officers.

He said he saw two buses full of people police were interviewing.

Miller said that, although more than 30 people were interviewed, police don’t have an accurate description of what happened.

Dormezil said he didn’t see the shooter.

“I didn’t see him. I didn’t want to look back,” he said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Palm Beach County Violent Crimes Task Force at (561) 688-3888 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-8477.

Staff researcher Melanie Mena contributed to this story.

- alejandra_cancino@pbpost.com

Gunfire at a crowded nightclub early Monday left two people dead, another injured and sheriff’s deputies frustrated by the reluctance of witnesses to come forward.

The county Violent Crimes Task Force is investigating the shooting, which took place at 2:45 a.m. at the Caribbean Club, 1601 Old Dixie Highway.

Abdullah Luke, 24, of West Palm Beach died at the scene. Shalena Perry, 18, of West Palm Beach was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where she died. Stevens Dormezil, 25, of Delray Beach was treated at St. Mary’s and released.

About 100 people were at the club when the shooting occurred, but none has come forward to identify the shooter, said sheriff’s spokesman Paul Miller. Riviera Beach police detained people they believed were witnesses, but the club patrons would not talk, Miller said.

Perry was a student at Life Skills High School, a charter school in West Palm Beach, said her father, Sam. She wanted to be a hairdresser.

The father spent much of Monday at St. Mary’s emergency room, waiting for word about his daughter.

She died Monday afternoon.

He said he last spoke to her Sunday night. She told him she was going to a club with two girlfriends.

He described her as “outgoing and very smart.”

Her stepfather, John McPhee, sat to Perry’s right. His eyes welled as he described her: “She is loving.”

The club is housed in a building next to train tracks. Inside, audio speakers are crammed into the lobby next to the bar. Adjacent to the lobby is a small room where people can dance.

A man who said he is manager but refused to give his name said the club would reopen today. He said he didn’t know anything about the shooting.

Police are looking for one suspect, but have not released a description.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Palm Beach County Violent Crimes Task Force at (561) 688-4000 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-8477.

Staff researchers Melanie Mena and Angelica Cortez contributed to this story.

- alejandra_cancino@pbpost.com

On most days, Maritza carries a big smile. On this day, her eyes well up as she talks about illegal immigration.

“I’m just very sensitive,” the 16-year-old says in perfect English.

She tries to hold the tears and hide her secret, but the more she talks about it, the more she opens up. After a few minutes, they all come out: the tears and her story.

Her mom brought her to the United States when she was 7.

She cries because not having legal status means she won’t be able to go to college, mainly because of economic reasons.

“If I can go to college and get a good job, I can help my family” said the student at Forest Hill High School, who didn’t want to give her last name for fear of being deported to Mexico.

About 5,000 undocumented students graduate from Florida high schools every year, said Maria Rodriguez, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. The coalition is one of many groups working to pass the federal Dream Act, a bill that would allow undocumented students to go to college and qualify for in-state tuition. A Florida resident pays an average of about $3,300 a year in tuition. An out-of-state student pays $16,200.

Like Maritza, thousands of Florida students who graduate every year won’t go to college because they are undocumented. Although all 11 state universities and 19 of 28 community colleges accept undocumented students, those students don’t qualify for in-state tuition, state and federal grants, financial aid, or numerous scholarships.

Maritza’s mother sometimes works 14-hour days. She could never afford Maritza’s education.

Maritza said she would work to pay for her school, but without legal documents, she would earn less than minimum wage.

The Dream Act has been introduced in Congress every year since 2001. This year, although a broad immigration bill failed in the Senate, many believe the act has a good chance of succeeding, mainly because it has had increasing support. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., attached the bill as an amendment to the military authorization legislation that the Senate put off until September.

In the House, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami; Rep. Howard Bernan, D-Calif.; and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., introduced the bill in March.

Those who oppose the bill call it a reward for breaking the law. But the Dream Act is Ivan’s only ticket to college. The 14-year-old gifted student learned to read, add and subtract when he was 3.

His mother, Maria, came to the United States looking for an opportunity for Ivan. In her native Mexico, she said, Ivan wouldn’t have had the education he has here.

This school year, Ivan is enrolled in two Advanced Placement classes and four International Baccalaureate classes. All his classes could give him college credits. He has a 3.8 grade point average and received multiple awards last year for math and science.

“It’s frustrating to think that he is not going to pursue his education,” said Maria, who also didn’t want to use her last name for fear of being deported. Maria earns $800 a week cleaning houses in Palm Beach. But that steady income is not enough to pay out-of-state tuition.

Lt. Col. Larry Marksberry, a JROTC senior army instructor at Forest Hill High, said he has seen undocumented students excel in the JROTC program. Marksberry said he had a student last year, Juan, who volunteered 3,000 hours to the community and was selected for every honor he could think of. He now works in the back of a supermarket.

“They are phenomenal young citizens, and it breaks my heart,” Marksberry said.

The New York Times contributed to this story.

~alejandra_cancino@pbpost.com

Rules for relief

Requirements to qualify for immigration relief under the Dream Act:

- A student must have been in the United States for at least five years.

- The student must have been brought to the U.S. when he or she was 15 or younger.

- The student must be able to demonstrate a good moral character.

The Dream Act

- Once a student graduates from high school, hewould be permitted to apply for conditional status, which would authorize up to six years of legal residency.

- During the six-year period, the student must graduate from a two-year college, complete at least two years toward a four-year degree or serve in the military for at least two years.

- Permanent residency would be granted at the end of the six years if the student has met all the requirements and has continued to maintain good moral character.

Source: The National ImmigrationLaw Center

Soon after the captain turned on the motor of his 65-foot boat, Terrina Barnes felt dizzy. She had never been on a boat before and the rocking was new to her.

Despite the queasiness, the 13-year-old from Lantana ran to see Chris Vincent’s first catch, a 9-pound bonito.

Then she went to the back of the boat to see Terrance Lowe’s second catch, also a bonito. She drank an orange Gatorade, ate some crackers, sat inside the cabin and then went back outside to feel the breeze. She still felt dizzy, but a smile never left her face.

“There are some crazy fish out here; they are big, really big,” she said.

Barnes, Vincent and Lowe were three of about 150 children who participated in Tuesday’s opening day of the Palm Beach County Fishing Foundation Kids Fishing Day. In its 20th year, the three-day event hosts about 400 children from Palm Beach County.

Event coordinator Tom Twyford said that after this year’s batch, about 9,000 children will have participated - a new milestone.

The children go on a two-hour drift-fishing trip and then spend another two hours in Lantana’s Bicentennial Park, where they have a meal, learn about marine life and fish some more.

All kids go home with a free fishing rod and reel. The lucky ones take home some fish.

Nahum Hyacinthe said he went home last year with some Rainbow Runners, which his mom fried and boiled. This year the 11-year-old wasn’t so lucky.

“I don’t want to go home without catching nothing,” he said moments before the captain turned on the motors to head back to Sportsman’s Park in Lantana, where the Lady K is docked.

Standing next to Hyacinthe was Jessica Ramos. The 9-year-old caught and released a sailfish.

Her eyes widened as she saw the fish in the air.

She went home without the big prize but sported a big smile.

As the boys and girls from For the Children, a Lake Worth after-school and summer program, returned to the park, another group was getting ready to leave. Lady K makes four daily trips to the Boynton Inlet.

“They are going home with some wonderful fishing memories,” Twyford said. “This is the most meaningful program we do all year long.”

- alejandra_cancino@pbpost.com