The rotating ad on an electronic billboard can be seen from the southbound lanes of I-83 just north of Emigsville.

The aunt of a 2-year-old boy who died in 2018 of abuse and neglect launched a fundraising effort to erect a scathing billboard targeting Children and Youth Services.

Sarah Mullinix started an online fundraiser to help raise the fee to run the electronic billboard just outside of York for one month starting Friday. The red billboard off Interstate-83, a half-mile north of Emigsville, shows photos of her nephew, Dante Mullinix, along with the words:

“I was murdered because York County Children Youth and Families left me to die- even though a forensic nurse told them I should be taken 4 days prior. Why didn’t my life matter?”

Sarah Mullinix said she created this billboard to draw attention to mistakes in her nephew's case.

The billboard was financed by friends, relatives, and supporters from Facebook pages devoted to his case.

Mullinix had been trying to get custody of her nephew in 2018 and still can’t get over the fact a CYS caseworker had a chance to intervene four days before he died. York Hospital records showed a nurse practitioner told the caseworker she suspected abuse and asked the caseworker to take the boy into custody.

Dante was at the hospital because his penis was painfully swollen with ulcers and his mother hadn’t applied medication the hospital previously gave her. But the caseworker released the boy back into his mother’s care. Three days later, the mother Leah Mullinix, didn’t show for a custody hearing.

The next day, Dante fell unconscious and never woke up. He had a subdural hematoma, broken ribs, a lacerated liver and pancreas and bruises and marks on his neck and the rest of his body in various stages of healing, according to a child services report

“Now everyone has to look at him! Where’s the accountability?” Sarah Mullinix said about the billboard. “They should have to explain to my family, my kids, his sisters, why they didn’t do their job.”

Mullinix said she hopes the billboard can bring forth some accountability and she also would like to see criminal charges against the involved workers at children’s services.

“Their negligence helped kill him,” she said. “They should lose their license for the fourth time! All their cases should be looked into! We want answers!”

Two years prior to Dante’s death, the York agency had been placed on provisional licensing status three times in a row, which a senator at the time said was “almost unheard of.” Two months later, the state again downgraded their license.

A request for comment from PennLive to a York County CYS spokesman on Friday was not immediately returned.

The billboard also includes a tag for a Facebook group Sarah Mullinix started to keep attention focused on problems that she believes lead to her nephew’s death and to call out prosecutors for charging a man in the death whom she believes is innocent.

The billboard’s unveiling Friday comes 10 days before a trial is expected to start against Tyree Bowie, who was charged with killing Dante. Sarah Mullinix and other relatives believe he was targeted for an easy prosecution without a full investigation because he was babysitting Dante at the time he fell unconscious.

The boy died with genital warts and apparently had been sexually abused, Sarah Mullinix said, but neither Bowie nor his mother had the sexually-transmitted disease. Bowie had known the boy and his mother for about 20 days, yet Dante had signs of abuse and healing wounds, including a fractured wrist, that happened before then, according to Sarah Mullinix.

A police spokesman previously has defended the department’s work and the district attorney’s office has declined comment on the pending prosecution.

Sarah Mullinix posed with her nephew Dante Mullinix.

Last year, Mullinix was charged for sharing medical documents about her nephew. She said her belief that York police charged the wrong man made her a target for local authorities.

York police charged her with two counts of “unauthorized release of information,” second-degree misdemeanors. The documents, which Bowie obtained through discovery and gave to her, were prohibited from public release under the Child Protective Services Law, police say.

Discovery, in legal proceedings, is an exchange of information between the parties about the witnesses and evidence they’ll present at trial.

Mullinix said that law was written to deter government officials from leaking information from their office files and databases. The law even states as a penalty for a violation that access to those files and databases would be denied, indicating that the law is intended to be enforced against people who have access to the files and databases.

“Discovery is public record, even if it’s Children and Youth records. It’s not confidential,” Mullinix said at the time.

A judge later dismissed the charges.

Pa. troopers shoot at drivers fleeing traffic stop, raising questions about controversial practice

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 5/1/2021).

© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.