Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare, especially if it could have been prevented. Back in 2016, relatives of a three-year-old toddler found out just how devastating the loss of a child can be when the toddler, Jaden Jordan, died from injuries related to a physical assault incident. Now, nearly two years later, Jordan’s family filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that the “Administration for Children’s Services is partly to blame for the child’s death.”
Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare, especially if it could have been prevented. Back in 2016, relatives of a three-year-old toddler found out just how devastating the loss of a child can be when the toddler, Jaden Jordan, died from injuries related to a physical assault incident. Now, nearly two years later, Jordan’s family filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that the “Administration for Children’s Services is partly to blame for the child’s death.”
According to the lawsuit, Jordan was rushed “to the hospital in November 2016 with severe injuries” that left him in a coma. Tragically, he passed away five days later. What happened, though? For starters, the incident occurred while Jordan was in the care of his mother’s boyfriend, Salvatore Lucchesse. While in the boyfriend’s care, he was allegedly assaulted and injured. While Jordan was being transported to the hospital, Lucchesse was “arrested and charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child.”
A week before the fatal incident, the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) “had been called to the house where Jordan lived the weekend before the incident happened.” They never showed up to Jordan’s house, though, because they had the wrong address. According to a 2-17 Department of Investigation (DOI) report, the ACS weekend staff, “part of the Emergency Children’s Services Unit, was never trained on how to access databases that could have helped” prevent the toddler’s untimely death.
One of Jordan’s relatives has so far been more vocal than others about the lawsuit. Guseyn Aliyed, Jordan’s biological father, claims “he never met Lucchesse or lived at the house” and argues that his son’s death could have been prevented if proper protocol had been followed by the ACS.
As part of the lawsuit, Aliyed, along with his lawyer, are seeking “financial compensation from the city and a change in protocol to prevent future similar incidents.”
So how has the ACS responded to the lawsuit? Well, so far the department issued a statement saying, “ACS takes these matters seriously but will not comment while litigation is pending…The legal matter has been referred to the law department for review.”
In addition to the statement, the ACS also said it has and is continuing to make changes to its protocols and “programs as a result of the DOI report.” On top of implementing a “new pilot program that flags the highest risk for cases for follow-up,” it also “created and filled almost 40 new jobs for employees trained on database usage and has upped the minimum salary for child protective managers in the emergency unit.”
A trial regarding the lawsuit isn’t expected to start until sometime next year.
Sources:
Relatives of toddler beaten to death file lawsuit against city
Brooklyn boy, 3, dies after allegedly being beaten into coma by mother’s boyfriend
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