County Liable in Fatal Scalding of Foster Child

The parents of a 3-year-old boy who was scalded to death in a foster home were awarded $1.5 million by a civil jury Thursday.

The jury found that the county, which had offered to settle the case for $25,000, should pay 50% of the damages.

The award comes less than a year after a court absolved the foster family of criminal liability in the case.

Elijah Jamel Johnson was put into a tub of hot water as punishment for soiling his pants during potty training, said Jack Anthony, the Santa Ana attorney who represented the boy’s family at trial. Anthony said he was thrilled with the jury’s decision.

Elijah’s mother, Connie Lawrence, could not be reached for comment.

Lou Aguilar, assistant county counsel, said, “At this point, all we can tell you is we’re obviously a little bit shocked at the jury verdict in this case. We will be looking at our options including . . . a motion asking the judge to set aside the verdict. I think I want to reserve any kind of discussion for the court.”

When Elijah was 6 months old, child welfare workers removed him and his older sister from their parents, responding to allegations that his father beat the little girl.

The children were sent to different foster homes, according to the family’s attorney.

Elijah was sent to live with Brenda Craney in her West 49th Street home in Los Angeles. He was there for 2 1/2 years until he died.

Relatives repeatedly complained to his social worker that the boy was being abused in foster care, but she did not follow up, Anthony said.

Two weeks before Elijah was burned, his mother, who was fighting for reunification with her son, showed Dependency Court officers a photo of his swollen hands, injuries she claimed he received in foster care, and asked for an investigation. The county did not follow up, Anthony said.

He said he told jurors that the social worker had a motive to overlook abuse allegations: She was seeking to adopt Elijah’s half-sister at the time and didn’t want the children returned to their parents. She did eventually adopt the girl, he said.

The social worker was never reprimanded in connection with the case, Anthony said.

During the wrongful-death trial, Anthony said, attorneys representing the county called social workers to testify that policies and procedures were followed. The county also held that relatives did not complain of abuse with the frequency that they now claim and that the few complaints the county received were simply an attempt to discredit the foster family.

The attorney representing the county, John Collins, “asked the jury to find the natural parents 100% responsible,” Anthony said. “The only reason possible is that they were the reason he went into placement in the first place. I thought that was an extreme position.”

During the trial, county attorneys said Elijah’s mother had a substance abuse problem and his father, Eliott Johnson, was sent to prison for striking his daughter with a belt.

On April 25, 1999, Elijah was taken to the hospital with severe burns on his back, legs and arms.

That day, Elijah’s foster mother had left him in the care of her daughter, Leona Patrice Hightower, then 23.

Hightower told officials that as she was running a bath for herself to get ready for work, Elijah asked to use the bathroom.

A doctor who treated his burns told authorities and testified that it was impossible for the burns to have been accidental.

Prosecutors charged Hightower and Craney with child abuse. Hightower was charged with murder.

Jurors in February acquitted Hightower, but convicted her mother of misdemeanor child abuse for failing to seek immediate medical care for Elijah. In a surprise ruling, Judge Robert J. Perry tossed out the verdict against Craney, saying the evidence did not support it.