By PERRY CHIARAMONTE
May 22, 2008
LANCASTER, Pa. - The biological mother of the 6-year-old East Harlem girl who died after her foster mother applied an opiate pain patch to her neck said yesterday she plans to "bring my daughter back home" for burial.
Michelle Gochenaur, 28, told The Post from her home that she and the Administration for Children's Services had been in a two-year tug-of-war as she tried to regain custody of Taylor Webster.
Taylor died Sunday after Joanne Alvarez allegedly applied an adult fentanyl patch on her after aspirin failed to relieve the little girl's neck and back pain.
"I didn't know Joanne was capable of doing something like this," said Gochenaur.
"I just can't believe people can be this stupid."
Gochenaur, who abandoned the child when she was 18 months old, has a rap sheet that includes theft and forgery arrests dating back to 1999.
But she said that now, "I'm in no trouble with the law." She is a day-care worker, records show.
