Los Angeles County will pay $20 million to the family of a 4-year-old Palmdale boy who was tortured and killed by his parents in 2019. The payout follows a lawsuit from Noah Cuatro's great-grandmother, Eva Hernandez, who alleged the county's child welfare agency failed to act after multiple reports of abuse and a court order requiring Noah's removal from his parents' care, the Los Angeles Times reports. She filed the wrongful death suit on behalf of Noah's siblings, now ages 5, 6, and 11, ABC 7 reports.
Despite warnings and a judge's mandate that Noah be taken from his home and examined by a doctor after multiple allegations of abuse and neglect, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) did not act. Less than two months later, Noah was dead, just shy of his fifth birthday. His parents, who initially claimed he drowned, later pleaded no contest to murder and torture charges.
Noah's case drew intense criticism of DCFS. He had been under agency supervision since birth, due in part to prior abuse allegations involving his mother and a half-sibling, and the child abuse hotline and police had received more than a dozen tips from callers who feared he and his siblings were being abused. Attorney Brian Claypool, representing Noah's family, said the agency's failure to follow the removal order was a direct cause of the boy's death. He alleged that key social workers and supervisors hadn't read the abuse petition filed with the court.
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Hernandez says social workers tried to "silence" her after Noah's death, warning that her bid for guardianship of her surviving three great-grandchildren would be in jeopardy if she spoke out publicly about the case or any potential lawsuit. In response to the case, DCFS says it has hired thousands of new social workers, retrained staff, and improved procedures. "It is DCFS' hope that this resolution gives Noah's family a sense of peace," the department said, pledging continuing reforms.
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