Birth mother files lawsuit in death of child

[The Straight Story]

Birth mother files lawsuit in death of child

By TERRY KINNEY
Associated Press Writer

SPRINGBORO, Ohio (AP) -- The mother of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled child who died in foster care filed a $5 million lawsuit on Tuesday against county officials, the agency that placed the boy and the foster parents charged in his death.

Donna Trevino, a Middletown woman whose son had been removed from her home because of allegations of neglect, is seeking $5 million.

Liz and David Carroll Jr. are jailed on charges that include involuntary manslaughter in the death of Marcus Fiesel. The couple, who have pleaded not guilty, are being held at the Hamilton County Jail in Cincinnati on $10.1 million bond each. Prosecutors said they would seek murder indictments Wednesday in Clermont County, where the Carrolls lived at the time of the boy's death.

The lawsuit claims the defendants were negligent in failing to adequately supervise the placement and treatment of the boy.


Prosecutors say the Carrolls wrapped the boy in a blanket and packing tape, and left him in a closet while they went to a family reunion in August. The boy, Marcus Fiesel, was dead when the Carrolls returned two days later.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OH_FOSTER_DEATH_LAWSUIT_OHOL-?SITE=WBNSTV&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Erika]

1. and yet some disagree with birth control or abortion

The poor little guy. The horrors he must have suffered.

[madmusic]

21. Yeah, the "poor little guy."

Better to kill him before he was born.

It seems rather obvious the mother chose not to have an abortion. Are you saying that choice should be taken away?

[Nevernose]

2. And the bological mother who wants 5 million dollars?

I'm sure that the reason the State took her child in the first place was her overprotective nature.
:sarcasm:

[Erika]

4. Huh

The state might have well given the mother the benefits it gave to the foster parents.

[REP]

6. Allegations of Neglect

She was probably poor; he was alive when he was in her care. The foster family neglected him beyond a shadow of a doubt; he died tied up in a closet so they could go out and fun.

[malaise]

13. Bingo n/t

[MissB]

24. Allegations of neglect does not mean that

they had started proceedings to sever parental rights. There is generally a process here - the child is removed based on a complaint and then investigations into the parent(s) takes place. The parent(s) have to prove that they are good and can raise their children. Often times, the states will make the parent(s) go through some serious hoops to get their children back.

I didn't read the whole article, so I do not know whether she tried or not. Just thought I'd mention that allegations do not always stand.

[azurnoir]

3. Situations like this are tragic for both the children

and birth parents but, are all to common. Many not all, of the people doing foster care do it for the money involved, for some reason states are willing to "pay" strangers more to raise a child than they are the children's birth parents. If states were to even this out a bit they might find that the number of children needing foster care would drop.

[Erika]

5. It's strange...

The "state" sees paying the parent to care for the child as evil welfare, but pays strangers for the care.

In Europe, many nations pay the mother's full salary for the first two years so she may stay at home and bond with the child.

[cigsandcoffee]

7. I have a hard time believing any country could afford that.

Which ones have this remarkable benefit? I admit to doubting it, but would love to be wrong about it.

[Violet_Crumble]

10. Believe it. It's true...

Sweden and most of the northern European countries do it....

http://www.ifo.de/pls/guestci/download/CESifo%20DICE%20Report%202003/CESifo%20DICE%20Report%204/2003/dicereport4-03-forum-3.pdf

[cigsandcoffee]

14. Actually, it isn't.

According to your link, not a single country comes close to paying a full salary to a woman while she takes off an entire year, let alone two.

[Violet_Crumble]

17. Sorry, but it is...

In Figure 1 in the link I posted, two countries have 42 weeks of maternity leave. Though if you go to Wikipedia and take a look it says 'An example of generous parental leave is Sweden, where all working parents are entitled to 18 months' paid leave per child, the cost being shared between employer and State.' And one country does give a full two years paid leave: 'The system in Bulgaria is even more generous, providing mothers with 45 days 100% paid sick leave prior the due date, 2 years paid leave, and 1 additional year of unpaid leave. The employeer is obliged to restore the mother to the same position upon return to work. In addition, pregnant women and single mothers cannot be fired.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave

[cigsandcoffee]

19. Still different from what was said.

Bulgaria is a red herring, really.

If Sweden is the best example, that's up to a year and a half with the costs shouldered between the state and the employer. The state alone just couldn't cover the cost.

And as immigration rages in Sweden, look for that benefit to decrease considerably - it would cost them an absolute fortune to grant it to new citizens.

[Violet_Crumble]

22. If you insist...

I didn't realise you were going to be so pedantic about it. Most people would just be very impressed that there's such generous maternity leave provisions and want the US to introduce something that's even a fraction as generous as that...

btw, immigration has been 'raging' in Sweden for many years now and the benefit hasn't decreased considerably...

[azurnoir]

9. Why that's just plain

unAmerican, we have to keep those moms working and paying taxes.:sarcasm:

Without them the military/industrial complex might go broke, just think all those tax dollars waisted on kids rather than bombs for us and our allies:sarcasm:

[TheMadMonk]

11. The lack of which, explains how they are able to afford it.

[Odin2005]

23. That's the, Calvinistic, "the poor are morally inferior" mindset for you.

[noonwitch]

18. The vast majority of people who are foster parents do it out of love

We really don't pay them that much money. If a kid has special needs, we pay more, but still, it's enough to cover the kid's needs, not enough to make a profit off of it.

Cases like this make all foster parents look bad, when these kind of people are the exception, not the rule.

[dben88]

27. Thank you for saying that.

As a child protection social worker these stories always make me crazy. This is not the norm... everyone will always hear about the falures of this overworked and overburdened profession, but the success stories are not glamorous to make the news.

[Rosemary2205]

8. The child was autistic

By all accounts on Cincy TV last week he was a handful. His mom begged and begged social services for just a little help with him. Instead they took him away.

This whole thing is beyond awful and just more proof the social services system in this country is broken.

And yes, I agree with the others. They'll pay strangers $1000's a month to raise a child but won't help an overwhelmed mom of a special needs child with medical, psychological or daycare services. Stupid. Pure stupid.

[KamaAina]

26. This is the fourth murder of a person with autism in the past year!

that we know of... :scared: ...and all by parents or custodians :(

In Oregon, 19-year-old Christopher DeGroot was left locked in the house by his parents, who proceeded to torch the place, young adult and all. :grr:

http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/ide/crime_and_violence/002144.html

3-year-old Katie McCarron was suffocated by her mom in Peoria, Ill: :grr: :grr:

http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/ide/crime_and_violence/001924.html

And lest you think this is a symptom of a sick U.S. society, across the pond in the UK, 36-year-old Patrick Markcrow's mum admitted killing him out loud, and walked: :grr: :grr: :grr:

http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/ide//002044.html

Now you know why I live nearly 5,000 miles from my Mom... :P

edit: if someone is murdered because s/he is black, gay, Muslim, what have you, that is a hate crime. But if it is because s/he has a disability, it's rarely even front-page news.

[Philosoraptor]

12. Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away,

that boy was born healthy into a loving family.

[Beausoir]

15. I can't take it.

That poor little boy.

God...sometimes I just can't believe what torture the children go through.

I am a mom with 5 children, all of whom were adopted at birth. That little boy would have been cherished and nurtured and loved in my home. I would have given him a beautiful life. Poor little boy.

[Fierce]

16. RIP Marcus.

So very sad.

[WinkyDink]

20. "Mother", no need for the redundancy.

[Horse with no Name]

25. A friend of mine that lives in Oregon

Has a sister whose children were removed for neglect.
They were beaten repeatedly while in foster care. Some say being neglected is a little better than being beaten, but I digress.
The extended family repeatedly reported the abuse to CPS? (not sure what they call it there). Repeatedly they were given the brush off.
They wrote letters. They made visits trying to get these children away from the foster family. All to no avail. They saw the children in supervised visits. They tried to take pictures of the bruises but their cameras were confiscated by the state and they were told if they attempted to do it again, they would lose their visitation rights.
The smallest boy was 2. He was finally beaten to death by the foster father who was never prosecuted.
The extended family requested all of the records of their requests and complaints regarding the abusive situation. They mysteriously disappeared.
The remaining children were given back to the mother. She was made to sign a waiver that she could have them back ONLY if she signed a waiver that she would not seek charges against the state for the death of her youngest child. So, an unfit mother was given the children back because the state fucked up.
The kids that remain:
The oldest is a girl that is now 21. She is a drug addict.
The youngest is a boy that is 14. He is morbidly obese with significant health problems. They both still live with their mother--except on occasion when she abandons the young boy.
It is a very sad situation.
Nobody won and all of the kids lost.