In the Interest of H.H., Minor Child

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA _______________ No. 26-0841 Filed September 2, 2026 _______________ In the Interest of H.H., Minor Child, C.B., Mother, Appellant. _______________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, The Honorable Elizabeth Batey, Judge. _______________ AFFIRMED _______________ Matthew B. De Jong, Rochester, Minnesota, attorney for appellant mother. Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Natalie Hedberg, Assistant Attorney General, attorneys for appellee State. Danielle M. Ellingson of Noah, Smith, Sloter & Ellingson PLC, Charles City, attorney and guardian ad litem for minor child. _______________ Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Buller, JJ. Opinion by Buller, J. 1 BULLER, Judge. The mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to a child born in March 2022, asserting termination was not in the child’s best interests. The father’s rights were also terminated but are not at issue in this appeal. We affirm; the record establishes—at the very least—that the mother stood idly by while the child was beat nearly to death by another adult. In February 2025, the mother was feeding the then-two-year-old child Cheerios in the kitchen. The scene included what most would describe as normal toddler behavior: the child spit out some cereal at the mother’s roommate and threw some on the floor. The roommate’s reaction was anything but normal—she force-fed the child and violently assaulted her for more than an hour until the child was near death. In her version of events, the mother stood nearby and did not say or do anything to stop the assault, despite the child looking to her for help. The roommate’s mother came to the home after the assault and called 911 “[t]he second she walked in th[e] door.” The child required multiple surgeries, including the partial removal and reconstruction of her skull. She will have significant long-term physical and neurological deficits, and she will never be able to take care of herself. The child was removed from the mother’s custody, and a no-contact order prohibits contact between the mother and child. The maternal grandparents have been by the child’s side essentially since the assault and are hoping to provide a long-term home for as long as they can care for her. The juvenile court terminated the mother’s parental rights pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) and (i) (2025). The mother appeals, challenging only whether termination of her parental rights was in the child’s 2 best interests. We review de novo. In re M.W., 876 N.W.2d 212, 219 (Iowa 2016). In assessing best interests, we “give primary consideration to the child’s safety, to the best placement for furthering the long-term nurturing and growth of the child, and to the physical, mental, and emotional condition and needs of the child.” Iowa Code § 232.116(2). We could say much about these horrific facts and the mother’s abject failure to protect the child from physical violence—not only during this assault but also during whatever events led to older injuries found by physicians during treatment. No written opinion could adequately capture the consequences the assault will have on the rest of this child’s life. In an Iowa Department of Health and Human Services worker’s view, the mother has “no protective capacity” with regard to the child. The child’s complex medical needs will require long-term “around the clock” care from multiple caregivers, and the mother cannot provide that care. The juvenile court found “little value in [the mother]’s testimony beyond confirmation that she is continuing to minimize, deny, and obfuscate regarding her own role in the assault of [the child], and that she continues to fail to take accountability for the abuse she perpetrated and allowed to be perpetrated against her daughter.” We agree entirely. This record speaks for itself. The mother has no protective capacity toward this child. It is not in the child’s best interests to preserve a relationship with a parent who, under the least culpable version of events available, stood by and did nothing while the child was savagely assaulted for more than an hour. AFFIRMED. 3