The Shreveport Times has reported that a mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit naming the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, DCFS, as negligent due to its failure in supervising her five year-old daughter’s home life prior to the child’s death.
Attorney Charles Kincade is representing the mother, J.M., in the lawsuit. It was filed last month in the Bossier Parish.
J.M. has attested that the suit isn’t about money, but rather, she hopes to bring about change within the DCFS and other agencies.
Kincade said, “Given (J.M.’s) loss, she could never be made whole, she is just trying to hold the responsible parties accountable.”
Celeste, five-years-old at the time of her death on January 13, 2011, had been residing with father, W.L., and stepmother, C.L. The couple had brought her to a Shreveport hospital where doctors determined that she had died several hours earlier. Among her injuries, doctors noted signs of physical abuse that included the child’s intestines having been torn away from her stomach.
Sheriffs arrested W.L. and C.L. and charged them with negligent homicide. Both have upcoming court dates.
Along with the DCFS, also named in the suit are: the Bossier Parish Sheriff, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, the Louisiana Office of Risk Management, W.L. and C.L.
The DCFS gave custody of Celeste to W.L. in September of 2011 – in what J.M. referred to in the suit as “de facto” custody – as W.L. had told the DCFS that J.M. was sexually abusing the little girl.
J.M. further claims that the DCFS failed to investigate C.L.’s allegations in an adequate or expeditious manner. Instead, while the complaint sat without investigation, Celeste had been living with her father and stepmother for months.
The complaint also states that W.L. and C.L. were not properly screened by the DCFS before Celeste was handed over to them.
Trey Williams, the spokesman for the DCFS, did not respond to any of the allegations made in the suit and only commented, “State law prohibits us from speaking publicly regarding child abuse investigations and it is the policy of DCFS not to comment on pending litigation, but will wait until the appropriate time in court to relay the facts around this case.”
Within the Bossier Sheriff’s Office, J.M. named Detective D.M. for not properly investigating a complaint of suspected child abuse that was made against W.L. and C.L. in December of 2011. Allegedly the detective only interviewed W.L. and someone in the DCFS – which resulted in J.M. being blamed for the complaint.
Detective D.M., according to the suit, failed to interview Celeste herself or J.M.
J.M. had not seen Celeste since October of 2011.
The Bossier Sheriff’s office spokesman, Lt. B.D., said, “Our ultimate objective for this matter is that justice prevail for young (Celeste). Therefore, our response must be severely limited during the adjudication process.”
Do you suspect that someone you loved lost his or her life in a wrongful death scenario? Contact a personal injury lawyer that specializes in wrongful death cases for help today!