September 6, 2006
SPRINGBORO, Ohio (AP) - The mother of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled child who died in foster care filed a $5 million lawsuit on Tuesday against county officials, the agency that placed the boy and the foster parents charged in his death.

Donna Trevino, a Middletown woman whose son had been removed from her home because of allegations of neglect, is seeking $5 million.

Liz and David Carroll Jr. are jailed on charges that include involuntary manslaughter in the death of Marcus Fiesel. The couple, who have pleaded not guilty, are being held at the Hamilton County Jail in Cincinnati on $10.1 million bond each. Prosecutors said they would seek murder indictments Wednesday in Clermont County, where the Carrolls lived at the time of the boy's death.

The lawsuit claims the defendants were negligent in failing to adequately supervise the placement and treatment of the boy.

Prosecutors say the Carrolls wrapped the boy in a blanket and packing tape, and left him in a closet while they went to a family reunion in August. The boy, Marcus Fiesel, was dead when the Carrolls returned two days later.

Prosecutors believe David Carroll burned the boy's body and may have dumped some of the remains in the Ohio River. They allege the couple made up a story about the child wandering off.

Besides the Carrolls, the defendants in the suit in Butler County Common Pleas Court are the county commissioners, the county's Children Services department and Lifeway for Youth Inc., the private agency that placed the child.

Amy Baker, a woman who lived with the Carrolls and has been credited with helping investigators, also is a defendant.

On Aug. 15, Liz Carroll, 30, took her 2-year-old son, a 1-year-old foster child and another 1-year-old she was baby-sitting to a park in Hamilton County. She told sheriff's deputies that Marcus Fiesel had been with her and apparently wandered away when she fainted because of a heart condition.

Hundreds of searchers helped authorities look for the boy for four days. The Carrolls were arrested Aug. 28.

"The Carrolls did this for the money; that's why they were watching Marcus," Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Friday. "I'm just sick that people keep using Marcus for a check."

Trevino lashed out at critics who suggested she was trying to cash in on Marcus Fiesel after his death, saying they didn't know what it was like to be in her shoes.

Butler Children Services removed Marcus Fiesel and the two other children from Trevino's home in April. Middletown police had responded to the home at least twice earlier, including in January when the boy fell from a roof after he climbed through a second-floor window.

"If she would have paid attention half as much to Marcus as she's doing now, we wouldn't be in this situation today," Deters said Friday. "She should mourn her child, but to angle this for money, I think, is outrageous."

Trevino's lawyer, Kevin Hughes, said she shouldn't be vilified for suing.

"She is, unfortunately, the only one with the ability to bring the claim. She has lost the life and affection of her son," Hughes said.

Dawn Grady, a Children Services spokeswoman, said officials had not seen the lawsuit and had no comment.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has asked all 88 county children services boards to check on children placed in foster homes through Lifeway for Youth.

Michael Berner, executive director of Lifeway for Youth, has said the Carrolls lied and misled his organization.

 

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)