Settlement reached in death of boy housed at Louisville foster care facility

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A wrongful death lawsuit reveals new details about the death of a 7-year-old boy in state custody at a Louisville foster care facility.

In May, the estate of Ja'Ceon Terry and Uspiritus-Brooklawn reached a private settlement — meaning it's unknown how much money is involved or what any other terms of the agreement are.

Terry died on July 17, 2022. According to court documents, he was rushed to Norton Children's Hospital after two employees at Brooklawn Child and Family Services placed him in a physical restraint for five to six minutes. The position he was put in prevented him from breathing and ultimately caused his death.

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office said Terry died from positional asphyxia. Positional asphyxia occurs when someone's body position interferes with their ability to breathe, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Terry's death was ruled a homicide. However, no one has been criminally charged.

Court records show at least one employee testified she had the situation under control and the child didn't need to be restrained. The employees who put Terry in the physical restraint were fired. They later asserted their Fifth Amendment rights and declined to testify during a deposition.

Attorneys for Terry's estate also subpoenaed a former Brooklawn employee who could establish a pattern of abuse at the facility.

Nicole Richardson claims she was fired for reporting emotional and physical abuse by staff that she witnessed, including: Dragging juveniles naked on the floor and yelling loudly; Waterboarding a juvenile in the hallway with a cooler full of water; Threats of violence from staff members to juveniles. She also claimed she was aware of another co-worker breaking the elbow of a juvenile, and more.

Richardson later settled a lawful termination lawsuit against the facility. Just days after a judge ruled she could testify about the abuse she witnessed, Uspiritus-Brooklawn settled with Terry's estate.

The child's biological mother told WDRB's partner station, LEX18 News, that she isn't involved in the lawsuit and believes it was filed by the child's former foster family.

"They said my child would be safer in foster care than with me, but see the outcome of what happened," Dominique Terry told the news outlet in September 2022.

Following an investigation by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the state removed children from Brooklawn facilities in December 2022. At the time, the CHFS said that prior to Terry's death, there weren't any complaints or patterns of abusive behavior at Brooklawn, but said it was still investigating "additional allegations."

The Kentucky Office of Inspector General, Cabinet for Health and Family Services, also conducted an investigation and revoked three Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities licenses held by Uspiritus, which appealed the revocation.

The office's report cited Uspiritus' "failure to maintain direct care staffing ratios;" "Failure to prohibit cruel and unusual disciplinary measures, including verbal abuse, ridicule or humiliation;" "Failure to record and retain the records for all incidents or accidents that present a direct or immediate threat to the health, safety or security of any resident or staff member;" and for "Failure to properly use emergency safety interventions" as the reasoning behind the revocation.

"These areas of non-compliance ultimately led to the death of a child," the report continued.

But the state started sending some children back to the facilities just a few weeks ago.

In a statement to WDRB News on Thursday, the CHFS said Uspiritus conducted an internal investigation after Terry's death, and has taken steps to address issues — such as dismissing staff, re-training other employees and increasing supervision. On May 16, the cabinet told Uspiritus that it could resume some services "at some of the levels of care" around May 19.

"The state will resume referrals for therapeutic foster care, residential treatment and independent living placements. The cabinet has set forth requirements that the campus must comply with in order for this to remain in effect. The state is not placing children in Uspiritus Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities," the cabinet said.

The facility declined to comment on the case on Thursday, and attorneys for the child's estate have not yet returned WDRB's request for comment.

The Louisville Metro Police Department's investigation into Terry's death is still ongoing.

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