Mother's parenting skills will be reviewed

The judge in the case of Semaj Booker — an 11-year-old Tacoma boy known for two airport misadventures and a growing criminal history — is questioning the parenting abilities of Semaj's mother.

In an action that appeared to surprise both prosecutors and defense attorneys Thursday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson ordered the court's probation officer to file a dependency petition with the state, which would look into whether Semaj and his siblings are being responsibly cared for.

That means Semaj's mother could potentially lose custody of Semaj and his four siblings, said Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor Fred Wist.

The judge said he ordered the review after reading the reports from child-welfare services in Texas, Illinois and Washington, and finding "a pattern of behavior" that disturbed him, but he didn't elaborate.

But Sakinah Booker, 30, said she's confident her children will remain with her. She said that despite Semaj's penchant for media-grabbing behavior, she is a good mother.

And Nola Renz, executive director of Helping Hand House, a Puyallup nonprofit for single mothers that has been working with the family, praised Booker's parenting skills.

"She's doing an amazing job," Renz said in an interview late last month.

Booker also noted that several of the child-welfare calls were made by her when she was overwhelmed by Semaj's rebellion.

"People act like they never heard of a kid who didn't behave before," she said.

She said she has told child-welfare workers that they can come to her house anytime and they do.

"Believe me, if they could take them, they would have them by now," she said.

Semaj was 9 when he eluded police in a stolen car and first traveled alone to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where he made it past security checkpoints and conned his way onto a plane to Texas.

He was 10 when he tried unsuccessfully to hitch another plane ride in May.

He turned 11 in June. Then July 5, he allegedly broke into a neighborhood home.

The judge's order interrupted what was scheduled to be a routine capacity hearing to determine whether Semaj understood the difference between right and wrong during the alleged break-in.

Semaj was released to 24-hour house arrest this week after spending more than three weeks in juvenile detention.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com