Donna Trevino, the birth 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.
Trevino, a Middletown woman whose son had been removed from her home because of allegations of neglect, is seeking $5 million. The foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr. are jailed on charges that include involuntary manslaughter in the death of Marcus Fiesel.
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.
Prosecutors believe David Carroll burned the boy's body and may have dumped some of the remains in the Ohio River. They allege the couple made up a story about the child wandering off.
Besides the Carrolls, the defendants in the suit in Butler County Common Pleas Court are the county commissioners, the county's Children Services department and Lifeway for Youth Inc., the private agency that placed the child. Amy Baker, a woman who lived with the Carrolls and has been credited with helping investigators, also is a defendant.
Butler Children Services removed Marcus Fiesel and the two other children from Trevino's home in April.
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