Woman whose children were killed by former Baltimore County officer gets $3 million
BALTIMORE -- There are new developments in the horrible tragedy that left two young girls dead at the hands of their father—a former Baltimore County officer.
The mother of the girls sued the York County Police Department over its handling of the case.
She had a protective order against her ex-husband, Robert Vicosa, but the chief of the York County Police Department put a halt to it.
Now, she'll receive around $3 million.
The case began when Marisa Vicosa was lured to Robert Vicosa's Pennsylvania home to celebrate a birthday with their two children, 6-year-old Aaminah and 7-year-old Gianna.
Marisa Vicosa's attorney, Harold Goodman, said his client was "raped, drugged, tied down on her wrists and legs and then drugged more" before she managed to escape—but without the kids.
She then went to the police, and within hours, a judge approved a protective order against Robert Vicosa.
But Marisa Vicosa alleged in a written complaint that the local chief of police put a stop to enforcing that protective order right away—waiting until the next day—because he thought their father would send the girls off to school, according to her lawyer.
"He thought somehow the two children, whose lives were at risk, would be picked up on a bus in the morning thus off the property and then the police could do their work," Goodman said.
Robert Vicosa went on the run and turned to Tia Bynum, a close friend and sergeant with Baltimore County Police, for help.
After Vicosa disappeared, police interviewed Bynum but never took her into custody.
Goodman alleges that was a mistake and happened despite his client's allegations that Bynum participated in her kidnapping and sexual assault.
"Think how easy it would it have been to conduct surveillance not just at Robert Vicosa's home but at Tia Bynum's, which was just 10 minutes away," Goodman said.
Bynum later went on the run with Robert Vicosa and was driving the getaway car when—according to police—Robert shot and killed them one-by-one before turning the gun on himself in Western Maryland. Goodman alleged, "There was a de-linkage between the police on one hand and the district attorney's office, which I believe would have…acted entirely differently had they been involved from the outset."