Luke Ellenberger comforted his partner, Samantha Buchinsky, late Thursday afternoon as she wept on a courtroom bench.
Just moments earlier, a jury had convicted their son’s adoptive mother of third-degree murder.
The couple sat apart from other family members, mourning the final chapter of a tragedy that began when the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau removed their son from their care years ago.
Samantha Buchinsky gave birth in early 2017 to their son, Mason, a 6-pound, 20-inch-long baby who was born with two teeth already in his mouth. She and Ellenberger said they loved but struggled to comfort and care for their child, who was taken from them months later by the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau.
Lauren Maloberti, Buchinsky’s cousin, initially served as the foster parent and two years later adopted the boy, whom she later renamed Landon.
Conviction and trial
Following a nine-day trial in Westmoreland County, Maloberti, 36, of Delmont, was convicted of third-degree murder and related offenses. Prosecutors said she engaged in a prolonged period of physical and emotional abuse, torture and failure to protect the 5-year-old child, who died a week after he was hospitalized in late January 2023.
“We tried so hard to see him in the hospital. They told us we were not allowed to visit,” Ellenberger said.
Maloberti faces a minimum of 15 years and potentially up to 80 years in prison when she is sentenced later this year.
“I believe she should spend the rest of her life in prison, both of them,” Buchinsky said of Maloberti and her husband, Jacob, who also is charged with the homicide of her son. Jacob Maloberti is being prosecuted separately and his case is pending.
Buchinsky, 29, and Ellenberger, 35, were among the more than a dozen family members and friends who attended Maloberti’s trial over the past two weeks. They sat by themselves in the back row of the courtroom as more than 40 witnesses testified about what prosecutors said was years of abuse and neglect inflicted on Landon by the Malobertis.
Witnesses said the boy had more than 100 injuries, including dozens and dozens of bruises and fatal brain trauma.
Landon’s biological parents maintain accusations that led to the loss of custody of their son were false, but conceded their child suffered injuries they insist were caused by others.
Children’s Bureau records are sealed from public view, and as a result their claims cannot be verified through official records.
“Everyone in our family was disappointed in us, and now our family has disowned us. They thought we hurt him,” Buchinsky said.
Buchinsky and Ellenberger said they tried to be good parents and worked to regain custody. They claimed they attended supervised visits with their son until Lauren Maloberti, then a single parent of three older children of her own, formally adopted the boy.
Ellenberger said they initially believed Maloberti would be a good parent to their son. After her adoption of Landon was finalized, they said they were barred from having contact with both Lauren and Landon.
Kinship foster system
Lauren Maloberti initially received custody of Landon through the county’s kinship foster program, where family members are identified and trained to assume parental duties of a child after they are removed from a relative’s home by the county’s child welfare agency.
Kinship foster parenting is fairly common in Westmoreland County, said Greensburg family court attorney Patricia Elliott.
Maloberti, during her testimony, said she completed a series of parenting classes and home inspections as part of the foster care program. She received subsidies to care for Landon while state insurance benefits covered his medical care.
She said she took in Landon with the intent to eventually adopt him.
“Biological parents have input but don’t have veto power over foster parents. These families are strongly vetted,” Elliott said.
Vetting and oversight
Westmoreland County officials said the process to become foster parents is substantive. Prospective foster parents are intensely screened through home inspections and interviews with friends and family members. Caseworkers make monthly in-home visits to foster parents and their charges, according to Human Services Director Rob Hamilton.
Elliott has worked in the foster and adoption systems for years. She said the inspection and vetting process is designed to ensure foster parents, and eventually parents who adopt children, provide safe environments and can adequately protect and care for their new family member.
Maloberti was married when she initially took in Landon as a foster parent. Her marriage at that time was nearing an end. She testified this week that her eventual decision to adopt the renamed Landon contributed to the end of her first marriage.
Just two months before she married her second husband, Jacob, the new couple agreed to serve as foster parents for another infant, according to trial testimony.
Maloberti said her Delmont home continued to be open to monthly visits from caseworkers as part of the foster parent program. Prosecutors contend that at the same time, the Malobertis were abusing Landon.
Elliott said home visits likely include routine observations of living conditions in the home and talks with the foster child.
“They rarely talk to siblings in a foster home,” Elliott said.
Buchinsky and Ellenberger continue to believe the foster care and child welfare systems failed them.
“We’re here to see there is justice for him,” Buchinsky said.
“It’s just so difficult to sit here and hearing everything that was done to our son,” Ellenberger added.