Photo of Antonio Ware’s family raises further questions about the toddler’s death

MONTICELLO – The family of Antonio Ware, who died this week after being left in a car for several hours in the sweltering heat in Monticello, continues to claim the 2-year-old boy was neglected by his foster family.

On Saturday, Ware’s aunt, Georgette Howard, gave Mid-Hudson News a picture of young Antonio with a large bruise on the left side of his forehead. Howard said Ware’s father took the picture of Antonio after his death. Howard and her family claim this is further evidence of the abuse Antonio Ware suffered at the hands of foster care.

Due to the graphic nature of the photo, Mid-Hudson News will not publish the image. Ware suffered cardiac arrest Tuesday while in a vehicle outside the Sleepy Hollow Apartments on Terri Lane in Monticello for several hours.

“I was so angry when I saw that picture,” Howard said. “They abused my nephew, who was innocent and defenseless. Why did they do that to him? We all take it personally. It hurts to see what they did to a little boy and we all cried because of it.”

A Sullivan County spokesman referred all inquiries about Antonio Ware’s death to the district attorney’s office and state police. Sullivan County District Attorney Brian Conaty did not return several phone calls seeking comment on Ware’s death. No arrests have been made in the case.

According to multiple sources, Ware and his 3-year-old brother Carlos were taken from their parents’ home by Sullivan County in May and placed with the same foster family without the involvement of the Department of Family Services’ legal division. Howard said the boys were placed in foster care because their mother, Shanell Ware, and her boyfriend suffer from mental health issues.

Howard, who lives in Wichita, Kansas, said she is now trying to get custody of Carlos Ware in Sullivan County Family Court. She has had custody of Shanell Ware’s 15-year-old daughter for two years.