‘Superhero to a little girl’ will witness happy ending to her tragic tale
Steve Hiltz is one of the good guys, a children’s advocate who recently was honored with a national award for his work. But this Thursday, he will attend an event that equals any award.
The Las Vegas attorney will be in a judge’s chambers to witness Brittney Bergeron’s adoption by her foster parents, Judy and Bill Himel, the culmination of five years of legal work by Hiltz and the happy ending to the tragic story that began in 2003.
“I’m as proud of that as of anything I’ve ever done,” Hiltz said Friday.
Brittney was 10 when two teenage thugs, a brother and sister, decided to punish Brittney’s mother, Tamara Schmidt, for selling them white powder instead of meth. They decided to hurt the mother by slaughtering her two children, left alone in a Mesquite trailer. Brittney tried to protect her 3-year-old half-sister, Kristyanna Cowan, but the toddler was slashed to death, and Brittney’s spinal cord was severed. She was stabbed 20 times, paralyzed below the waist.
Hiltz, an attorney with the Clark County Legal Services’ Children’s Attorneys Project, became Brittney’s lawyer.
Hiltz was there to represent not the prosecution, not even what he thought might be best for the child, but to represent Brittney’s wishes.
Now he has another high-profile case. He represents the wishes of the four Rimer boys, ages 9, 12, 14 and 15, who were taken into protective custody after their brother, Jason, died June 9 after 17 hours in the family’s SUV.
Brittney’s case was the most complicated and high-profile case Hiltz has handled. She wanted her mother’s parental rights terminated so the Himels could adopt her. But her mother, even after she was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison for neglecting her children, didn’t want to give up her maternal rights.
A Family Court judge refused to terminate the mother’s parental rights, so Hiltz took the case to the Nevada Supreme Court. The mother voluntarily surrendered her rights just before the case was to be argued.
Hiltz had to fend off efforts by Brittney’s natural father, Kevin Bergeron, from naming a guardian for her, a guardian who would control any money she received.
Bergeron and his Las Vegas attorney, William Errico, tried to make money off Brittney’s pain by suing the casino company that owned the trailer park. That lawsuit would have threatened a $5.5 million no-fault settlement negotiated with the CasaBlanca.
“Legally, it was so complicated, with so many facets,” Hiltz said.
Widowed and with no children of his own, Hiltz said the best part of the job is talking to the children themselves. They appreciate being treated with respect and are open with him.
When he was nominated for the Child Advocacy Award from the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, his boss Barbara Buckley summarized other efforts by Hiltz to help kids.
Children can be thankful that Hiltz noticed that many of his young clients were being housed in a mental health facility and overmedicated.
“Steve was outraged that there was absolutely no court review of the child’s prolonged institutionalization,” Buckley wrote.
He pushed the Nevada Legislature, which changed the law so a judge reviews such cases.
He was behind a bill that allowed children such as the Rimers to be placed together and not parceled out to different foster homes.
One letter nominating him for the award was particularly moving. The Himels addressed how patient he was answering their questions as well as Brittney’s. They called him “a godsend to our family and a superhero to a little girl who needed one.”
Brittney wrote: “He was always there when I needed him.”
Let’s contrast Hiltz with Tom Morton, the beleaguered head of the Clark County Division of Family Services, who panned Nevada recently.
Morton said if families share his vision of raising safe, healthy, hopeful children, Nevada is not the place to be. “If we were honest, we would put large billboards at the state line in Nevada and basically say, ‘If you share this vision, do not bring your children to Nevada because the likelihood of it happening is pretty slim.’ “
We’re fortunate Steve Hiltz doesn’t hold that attitude. And that he came out of retirement nine years ago to help children.
Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275.