LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - The treatment of a two-month-old in foster care is at the center of a wrongful death lawsuit against Los Angeles County.
A lawsuit was filed against the County of Los Angeles and several individuals, including social workers and a foster mother, by the estate of a deceased minor identified as "CMW" on Dec. 22.
The case was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court but was recently removed to federal court by the defendants.
Mom Sydney Watkins says CMW was taken from her shortly after birth on Nov. 12, 2022, and placed by the county in foster care. Grandmother Lisa Lewis had tried unsuccessfully to gain custody of the child.
CMW was placed with Candler Griffin, who had allegations of abuse against her biological child, the suit says. But county officials either did not know or disregarded these allegations, the suit says.
On Jan. 11, 2023, Griffin put CMW in a bassinet in a living room and left CMW alone, the suit says, and never checked on CMW during the night.
"When Candler Griffin encountered the infant the next morning, he was lying on his back, stiff and not breathing," the suit says.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Michael J. Curls and Nichelle D. Jordan from the Law Office of Michael J. Curls.
The plaintiffs accuse the defendants of wrongful death, negligence, negligent hiring, training and supervision and other claims.