A $30 million federal lawsuit alleges a 9-year-old quadriplegic boy starved to death in a Detroit foster care facility supervised by the state.
Johnny Dragomir, who was born with cerebral palsy, died of malnutrition at the Monroe Foster Home on March 9, 2007, said an autopsy report from the Wayne County Medical Examiner.
The boy’s mother, Elena Andron, 32, placed her son in the care of the state Department of Human Services in 2006 after she lost her job and could no longer afford to care for him, The Detroit News reported Monday.
Andron said she was barred from visiting her son after she complained about his deterioration, said her lawyer Arnold Reed, who filed the lawsuit against operators of the home, a nurse and a dietitian. State officials are to be sued in a separate case filed next week in federal court, Reed told the News.
Documents cited in the lawsuit filed Monday charged the boy’s feeding chart had 500 blank entries between Jan. 29, 2006 and March 9, 2007, Reed said.
Department of Human Services officials said they were investigating the boy’s death but were prevented by state law from releasing any information.
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