A police officer from Arizona and his wife officially adopts a 4-year-old child abuse survivor after meeting and comforting her while on duty.
In March 2018, Lieutenant Brian Zach of the Kingman Police Department, who was then a patrol sergeant, and his officers got a call to check the home of Kaila, a suspected victim of abuse.
Zach comforted Kaila as they wait for the detectives and child services, and the pair bonded quickly.
“We colored, we snacked … she held my hand and she was just this cute little thing,” Zach shared in an interview.
“Once detectives came, they picked her up and took her to the hospital.”
After the girl was taken to the hospital to be treated for multiple injuries, Zach went home and told his wife that he wanted the child to come live with them.
When child protective services were unable to find immediate placement for Kaila, the couple decided to take her in.
“I had a lot of child abuse cases and there’s always kids that I would bond with and I’d love to take them out of bad situations and just bring them home,” Zach said.
The image of Kaila arriving at the home can be described as “heartbreaking.”
“She came with a sippy cup, a bag of clothes that didn’t fit her and that was it,” Zach shared.
“Within the second day she was calling my wife ‘mom’ or ‘mommy,” he added.
“I was ‘guy’ for a week or two and then when she started preschool she learned who dad was.”
On August 18 of this year – 30 months after Kaila arrived at the Zach’s doorstep – the couple had officially adopted her at Mohave County Superior Court in Lake Havasu City.
“We lived each week not knowing if she was going to go back to her biological parents, or how long we were going to keep her,” said Zach.
“Our goal was to love and care for this little girl for as long as it happened.”