Killer’s Parents Urge Disclosure in Adoption Cases

LOS ANGELES —  The adoptive father of Jeremy Strohmeyer, who was convicted of killing a 7-year-old girl in a Nevada bathroom, said Tuesday that the crime would have been prevented if county officials had disclosed information about the mental illness of his son’s birth mother.

John Strohmeyer made his comments after he and his wife, Winnie, appeared before the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors. The couple urged the board to require that county officials provide prospective parents with crucial information such as the mental health background of children who are up for adoption.

Jeremy Strohmeyer is in Nevada state prison for the strangulation killing of Sherrice Iverson in the bathroom of a Nevada casino two years ago.

In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, John and Winne Strohmeyer alleged that county social workers failed to inform them that Jeremy Strohmeyer’s mother had been diagnosed as a chronic schizophrenic.

Had they known of the problem, the father said Tuesday, he and his wife could have sought proper care for their son and avoided the killing of Iverson.

“In my opinion, we would have saved two children, two families from the hell they are going through. . . . Absolutely, without a doubt,” John Strohmeyer told reporters.

Supervisors passed a motion instructing the Department of Children and Family Services to report back in two weeks regarding its policy on disclosing biological problems of children who are up for adoption.

In passing the motion, the supervisors said they were not admitting any wrongdoing regarding the Strohmeyers.