Court rejects DeLeon suit
Adoptive siblings filed death claim
OLYMPIA – The adoptive siblings of a 7-year-old boy who died of starvation in the care of his adoptive mother can’t sue for wrongful death, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The estate of Tyler DeLeon had filed wrongful death claims against the boy’s primary care physician and his psychiatrist and also alleged they were aware of the boy’s injuries but failed to report them under the state’s mandatory reporting law.
The high court affirmed a Spokane County Superior Court decision to dismiss a portion of the case against Dr. David Fregeau, the Rockwood Clinic and psychiatrist Sandra Bremner-Dexter. But the Supreme Court said the doctors could be sued for failing to report the abuse.
The state Department of Social and Health Services and three employees also were sued, but the agency separately agreed to pay more than $6 million to Tyler’s estate and other foster children in a 2008 settlement.
Tyler weighed only 28 pounds when he died Jan. 13, 2005, the day he turned 7. His adoptive mother, Carole DeLeon, was sentenced to six years in prison after entering a plea to criminally mistreating Tyler and another boy in her care. She was released last year after serving half of her sentence.
The lawsuit on behalf of the boy and his adoptive siblings cites an extensive history of abuse complaints and health concerns regarding foster children at the DeLeon home, including broken bones, knocked-out teeth and withholding of food and water.
Tyler’s adoptive siblings are considered second-tier beneficiaries under the state’s wrongful death law, which means they can recover damages under that law only if they were dependent upon him for support. Their lawsuit against the doctors argued that they did depend upon him because DSHS provided $717 month in adoption support to Carole DeLeon for Tyler.
The doctors argued, and the Supreme Court agreed, that Tyler’s estate and his adoptive siblings were not financially dependent upon them. The high court said “DSHS provided separate payments to Carole DeLeon to supplement her support of other children in her home.”