WEST WARWICK -- Justin DeMaio will live with a cousin in Maine.
At least for now.
A West Warwick Probate Court judge yesterday granted temporary
guardianship of 8-year-old Justin to a cousin named in a will that his
mother, Dina DeMaio, signed seven months before she was killed in The
Station nightclub fire.
On Friday, the boy who has become the emotional center of a family in
mourning will move from his grandmother's West Warwick apartment to the
home of Steven Beardsworth and his family in Norway, Maine.
Beardsworth, 33, an unemployed welder, said he and his wife, a nurse,
and their son live in a split-level with a lake and mountain view, about
two miles on the outskirts of "a Norman Rockwell town."
Yet, the decision about whether the Beardsworths' home will be Justin's
permanent home may ultimately be resolved by in Family Court.
Probate Judge Robert Rainville granted temporary, rather than permanent,
guardianship in light of claims made yesterday by the lawyer
representing a Florida man in a substance abuse program who says he is
Justin's father.
Justin is one of 56 children who lost at least one parent in The Station
fire on Feb. 20.
His mother, Dina DeMaio, was a legal secretary at Textron Financial
Corp., in Providence, and a part-time waitress at the West Warwick
nightclub.
About a year before the fire, Dina and Justin moved in with Justin's
maternal grandmother, Patricia Belanger. But the will DeMaio signed on
July 23, 2002, granted guardianship to her cousin, Steven Beardsworth.
Yesterday, the family members who have been divided over Justin's care
sat on opposite sides of the room at Town Hall.
Several of the women wore tattoos bearing DeMaio's name. Kristy Garvey,
DeMaio's 20-year-old sister, has one more dramatic than most. She hiked
up her bell bottom jeans so a reporter could have a look. On her shin
was a cross, several inches long, with a flaming heart in the middle and
the name Dina.
The matter before Rainville was Dina DeMaio's will. At a hearing before
the same judge last month, Belanger had vowed to fight to keep Justin
with her. But yesterday, Belanger told the court that she would not
pursue a guardianship claim.
The remaining challenge to DeMaio's will came from Anthony DiPetrillo, a
lawyer representing the Florida man who says he is Justin's father.
DiPetrillo tried to get the case dismissed from Probate Court, saying
his client's paternity rights "cannot be deprived" except by a Family
Court judge.
DiPetrillo's client is Perry Snead Jr., 32, who was arrested on Jan. 4
and charged with dealing in stolen property. Snead was sentenced to nine
months at the John E. Goode Pretrial Detention Facility in Jacksonville,
Fla., according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Snead is currently in the Community Corrections Division's substance
abuse treatment program, a spokeswoman for the division said, and is
scheduled to be released on Aug. 8.
DiPetrillo said that Snead wants Justin to live with Snead's mother,
Marsha Snead, of Warwick -- a claim supported by Belanger and several
members of her family.
But first, Perry Snead Jr. must prove to a court that he is Justin Perry
DeMaio's father.
Snead Jr. is not named on Justin's birth certificate, according to
Beardsworth's lawyer, John C. Revens Jr., a state senator from Warwick.
DiPetrillo presented documents to Rainville yesterday that he said show
Snead is Justin's father. He said one of the documents is a petition for
child support filed by Justin's mother.
But in the absence of paternity rights established through marriage to
Justin's mother, or birth records, Rainville ruled on the will,
appointing Beardsworth as temporary guardian.
Belanger was appointed executor of the estate, as stated in her
daughter's will. A $50,000 bond was ordered on the guardianship; a
$40,000 bond on the executor.
After the hearing, family members who had barely looked at one another
began to quietly talk and cry.
DeMaio's cousin, Tammy Belanger, 30, who wears a flaming heart with
"Dina" tattooed on the back of her neck, stood next to Beardsworth's
wife, Adele, and wept.
Nearby, Beardsworth spoke softly to Tammy's mother, Mary Belanger, and
the two embraced.
During a brief interview after yesterday's hearing, the Beardsworths
talked about their home in Maine and their plans for Justin.
Steven Beardsworth said that he has been restoring his house in Maine
after it was badly damaged in a fire last October. The cause of the
fire, he said, was never determined.
Beardsworth said he and his family had been living with relatives, and
just yesterday were planning to move back into the house.
"We've already figured his [Justin's] room out," Beardsworth said.
Justin will have his own bedroom, he said, across the hall from their
12-year-old son, Steven.
Beardsworth said he had planned to begin looking for work, but now with
Justin arriving he'll hold off for a while. Adele Beardsworth works
full-time as a nurse. She said she's looking for a psychologist for
Justin. "I got a couple of names from a social worker," she said.
And the Beardsworths said they welcomed visits from all of Justin's
family. "It's an open invitation," Beardsworth said.
The Beardsworths and Belangers talked about Justin -- what he liked and
what he would need to take with him to Maine.
"I just need time to get his stuff together," Patricia Belanger said,
her voice cracking. She turned away and cupped her hand over her mouth.
Her daughter Kristy turned and hugged her.
Then the young woman who lost her sister turned to Steven Beardsworth,
her face tear-streaked, and told him one thing he must know about
Justin: "He has a dog, a hamster and two fish."
Lynn Arditi, a staff writer, can be reached at
larditi@projo.com
