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After Child's Death, Family Fights Letting Sibling Go To Mom

CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's an interstate custody fight.

An Indiana mom wants her son back from his Illinois dad. She says she's learned from a mistake that cost the young boy's brother his life.

But the dad of both boys says he's afraid to give his estranged wife a second chance, and now he's filed a restraining order against her.

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports.

"We want what's best, and I am going to fight for him no matter what. We all are," a tearful Jessie Hansen says.

Hansen is talking about Samuel Hansen, her 11-month-old grandson. She's fighting to keep him in her Bolingbrook home in the custody of her son, DJ.

Mrs. Hansen believes Sammy's life will be endangered if he's given back to his mom, Victoria Hansen. It's something she says the state of Indiana is trying to do.

Hansen and her son say that the proposed reunification would be a travesty because of what happened to Sammy's brother, Derek. In February, police say, the 20-month-old was shaken and beaten to death by his mother's boyfriend, David Golub.

Victoria Hansen says DJ shirked his childcare duties at the time of the death.

"I wouldn't have had to get anybody else to babysit or had to leave them in the care of anyone if DJ had stepped up and been the father he was supposed to be," she says.

DJ Hansen says that's a lie and that Vicki chose to leave her children in the care of a known heroin user.

"She made a grave mistake, and I no longer have a son. And I think that's enough to prove that she is unfit," the father told Puccinelli.

Vicki Hansen admitted she smoked marijuana with Golub on the day Derek was murdered. But she says, until the police told her, she had no idea Golub was on anything else.

"I thought he was done with it," Vicki Hansen says.

She says she's learned from her mistake.

"There is no worse punishment than what's already happened. So, I think I'm a lot smarter now and I sure as hell won't make the same bad decision twice," Vicki Hansen says.

DJ Hansen says both of his boys had untreated broken limbs. After Derek died, doctors put Sammy's left leg in a cast. He says he fears that Sammy could pay with his life if custody is awarded to Vicki.  

Indiana child-welfare officials say they only want to do what's in the best interest of Samuel. They say they can't comment on the specifics of the case because of privacy concerns.

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