Mother Sues County Over Son’s Foster Home Death

The mother of a 9-year-old boy who died after being taken from her and placed in a foster home filed suit against the county Monday, charging that inadequate county-supervised care led to the boy’s death.

The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Debra Reid, 40, alleges that the county failed to properly monitor the condition of Jonathan Reid, failed to properly select and supervise the personnel taking care of him and failed to properly administer needed medication.

The suit, filed just one day before the one-year anniversary of Jonathan’s death, also alleges that some of the boy’s records while in county custody were altered, lost or destroyed.

“We feel that there has been a travesty of justice inflicted on Miss Reid and that her case cries out for vindication by our justice system,” said attorney Carl Douglas, who, with attorney Steven Heimberg, filed the suit on the woman’s behalf.

“She was unfairly labeled as a bad mother,” Douglas said. “Jonathan was placed in a foster care facility that was inexperienced, unqualified and ill-equipped to care for a child with his medical needs.”

The district attorney’s office is investigating the case, and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) has asked the federal Justice Department to look into possible civil rights violations.

Jonathan was taken from his mother a year ago after county officials claimed that she had been neglecting his medical needs. Six weeks after being placed under the care of the county and just 13 days after being placed in the foster home, the boy was dead.

The coroner’s office said in its initial autopsy report that Jonathan had died from the combined effects of asthma and a lethal dose of Albuterol, an asthma medication that had been administered by his caretaker. The death was listed as a homicide.

However, three months later, Christopher Rogers, the coroner’s second in command, questioned whether the toxic levels of Albuterol found in the boy’s heart might have migrated there during last-minute attempts to save his life. The manner of death was changed to “undetermined.”

The coroner’s office subsequently acknowledged that the reports were changed after officials had learned that pediatrician Vijay Lakshmanan, the wife of the coroner, was among the physicians who had treated the boy while he was in foster care.

Attorneys for the boy’s mother later criticized the pediatrician’s care of Jonathan, saying that although the boy had been removed from his home because of his medical needs, Lakshmanan asserted that he had no special medical needs when certifying him for admission to a general-care facility, St. Harriet’s children’s shelter.

In addition, Lakshmanan changed the boy’s medication, apparently without examining him or inquiring about his medical history, attorneys said.

When Jonathan was taken from his mother, social workers complained that she was a “loudmouth” who was aggressive, uncooperative and emotionally volatile.

However, according to juvenile records, most of the social workers’ allegations against the woman subsequently were dismissed or found during hearings to be unsubstantiated.