ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A foster family warned the courts not to send their 4-year-old foster child, Zaydian Dopirak, back to his biological father. Zaydian died in his father’s custody in January 2022 after that warning was ignored.

affiliate KTVI has covered this case from the onset and was in court Thursday for the emotional conclusion.

A prosecutor’s office therapy dog sat near foster parents Dawn and Jeff James in court. You could hear them weeping as the judge began the proceeding

Zaydian should still be alive, according to the James family, who’d fostered Zaydian for years.

“We should have never been here, if the courts would have originally listened,” Dawn James said outside the courthouse.

KTVI first introduced you to Dawn and Jeff in February 2022.

“Was he just a case number for you?” Dawn said at the time.

She’d warned the family court commissioner that it was too dangerous to send Zaydian back to his birth father, Blake Dopirak, back then. Court appointed advocates reportedly agreed.

“When you have so many people telling you that if this child is returned home, he will be killed? You need to listen to that.” Dawn said. “We were shocked when the judge said she was going to do a trial reunification.”

After reunification, Zaydian died from a reported head injury and the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Blake Dopirak in connection with the boy’s death. That family court commissioner retired shortly after our report.

“When Commissioner [Diane] Monahan stepped down and we knew that no family would be put through this again, that restored – did restore our faith,” Dawn said Thursday.

The criminal charge resulted in a plea deal for Blake Dopirak. He was sentenced Thursday to 24 years in prison for endangering the welfare of a child – death of child.

“Justice has been served. We are relieved for this family that this painful chapter is over, and they can continue on their path to healing. May this angel rest in peace,” St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith said.

“I know that Zaydian can never be brought back, but my family got justice for him today,” Dawn said. “Knowing that he’s going to go away, I have a little bit of peace.”

Blake Dopirak’s family and attorney declined to talk after sentencing. He was taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs to await transport to a Missouri prison to serve his decades-long sentence.