Mother Sues DCF after Boy, 5, Dies in Key West
Mother of 5-year-old sues DCF over his stomping death
(The South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
The mother of a 5-year-old boy police say was stomped to death brought a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the state Department of Children & Families, arguing the state agency placed her son in harm's way.
Caseworkers recklessly placed Zachary Bennett in his father's care despite Christopher Bennett's extensive criminal history, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Miami. Zachary Bennett died April 15, 2003, after he endured such a severe beating in his father's Key West home that he suffered a ruptured liver, a bleeding brain and broken ribs, authorities say.
Christopher Bennett, 29, is awaiting trial on first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse charges in his son's death.
"This is a clear example of where DCF has failed a child, and it's tragic," said Wendell T. Locke, the lawyer representing the boy's mother, Lafadra Puyol.
A DCF spokesman said the agency hasn't been served with the lawsuit but will take appropriate action after reviewing it.
"This was a tragic case and one for which we all have a great degree of empathy for the family," DCF spokesman Bill Spann said.
Documents released by DCF in May 2003 indicate that a number of people throughout the agency knew of Bennett's criminal background, which included 11 arrests for battery, domestic violence and selling cocaine. Child welfare workers who knew about Bennett's troubles with the law failed to discuss them with other people within the agency when Zachary's case was transferred to another unit or assumed Zachary's current caseworkers knew about the arrests, records show.
Zachary's caseworker and his supervisor were allowed to resign instead of being fired.
Mother of 5-year-old sues DCF over his stomping death
(The South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
The mother of a 5-year-old boy police say was stomped to death brought a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the state Department of Children & Families, arguing the state agency placed her son in harm's way.
Caseworkers recklessly placed Zachary Bennett in his father's care despite Christopher Bennett's extensive criminal history, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Miami. Zachary Bennett died April 15, 2003, after he endured such a severe beating in his father's Key West home that he suffered a ruptured liver, a bleeding brain and broken ribs, authorities say.
Christopher Bennett, 29, is awaiting trial on first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse charges in his son's death.
"This is a clear example of where DCF has failed a child, and it's tragic," said Wendell T. Locke, the lawyer representing the boy's mother, Lafadra Puyol.
A DCF spokesman said the agency hasn't been served with the lawsuit but will take appropriate action after reviewing it.
"This was a tragic case and one for which we all have a great degree of empathy for the family," DCF spokesman Bill Spann said.
Documents released by DCF in May 2003 indicate that a number of people throughout the agency knew of Bennett's criminal background, which included 11 arrests for battery, domestic violence and selling cocaine. Child welfare workers who knew about Bennett's troubles with the law failed to discuss them with other people within the agency when Zachary's case was transferred to another unit or assumed Zachary's current caseworkers knew about the arrests, records show.
Zachary's caseworker and his supervisor were allowed to resign instead of being fired.
