A $250,000 judgment  awarded to a woman  in a wrongful death lawsuit relating to her baby’s death at a Topeka, Kansas daycare is being hailed for delivering a measure of justice that the criminal justice system failed to provide. The suit may also bring pressure for criminal charges to be brought in connection with the tragic case.

In 2013, Misty Durham brought her infant son, Caleb Stewart, to his daycare center, operated by Tara Johnson. According to a possibly incomplete police report, Johnson left the center after laying Caleb on a deeply-cushioned surface, rather than a crib. Her friend, Destiny McClusky, was placed in charge. At some point, McClusky realized Caleb wasn’t breathing, and contacted Johnson. Johnson returned with her boyfriend Russell Morris, called 911 and attempted CPR, according to the report. Caleb could not be revived, and was pronounced dead at Stormont Vail Hospital.

Johnson, McClusky, and Morris were named in the wrongful death lawsuit, and the Shawnee County District Court awarded Durham $250,000 — the maximum amount allowed. All three of the named defendants are ordered to pay Durham this amount.

Caleb’s mother has said that the lawsuit was her last resort in a frustrating process that resulted in no criminal charges brought against the three individuals. She alleges that the investigating officer, detective Erin Thompson of the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, failed to competently investigate the case. Even more troubling — Thompson may have actually falsified information in her incident report.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is currently looking into incidents in which Thompson may have falsified affidavits and mishandled investigations. Durham believes the investigation into Caleb’s death is one of those cases.

In cases such as these, a civil suit brings the only measure of justice currently available to Misty Durham. It is hoped that the police investigation may one day be re-opened and result in criminal charges — largely as a result of Durham’s successful civil suit. For now, Durham can find some measure of peace knowing that the day care operator and her friends have been found responsible for Caleb’s death in the civil court system.

On April 26, 2016, Amber Jones, the mother of five children who were brutally murdered by her former husband, Timothy (Tim) Jones, Jr., in late August of 2014, filed a wrongful death suit against the state of South Carolina and the Lexington County Department of Social Services (DSS) for the deaths of her children.

The lawsuit alleges that DSS did not do enough to protect her children: Abigail, 1, Gabriel 2, Nathan, 6, Elias, 7 and Merah, 8, by placing them in their father’s care.  The lawsuit reports that Tim was a “well-documented child abuser” (2) and provides a timeline of reported investigations that began in 2011 following reports of neglect and “substantial risk of physical injury.” (2)  In 2013 and 2014, the children’s school filed reports with DSS; one of which was a report that Tim choked one of the children and threw one against the wall.  A babysitter made a report of abuse in 2014.  DSS reportedly showed negligence in 11 areas and only created safety plans in response to the investigations.

Following the murders in late August 2014, Tim was reported to be under the influence of drugs and believed his children were going “chop him up and feed him to the dogs.” (2)  Tim allegedly strangled the children to death in his home, placed them in plastic bags, put them in his vehicle, and drove around with them for six days prior to dumping their bodies in rural Alabama.  On September 11, 2014, he stopped at a traffic checkpoint in Mississippi and was taken into custody due to blood on the interior and the smell of death coming from the vehicle.  Tim is currently being held in Lexington County, SC where he waits to stand trial for five counts of murder in the deaths of his five children.

The lawsuit states, “Each child suffer[ed] a horrific, but entirely preventable death.” (1)  DSS was reported to be knowledgeable of the risks the children were in from their father and Amber is seeking damages for the “wrongful deaths and conscious pain and suffering of her children.” (2)