PARENTS OF FOSTER BOYS FILE LAWSUIT OVER DEATHS.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer Two young brothers who died last July inside a hot Cadillac Escalade The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury sport utility vehicle sold by the General Motors luxury brand, Cadillac. It was the division's first major entry into the popular SUV market. owned by their foster mother should not have been in the foster care system, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a wrongful-death suit made public Monday by the boys' parents. The lawsuit of Twila Prince and David Smith Jr. claims the county Department of Children and Family Services and Colton-based Trinity Children & Family Services Foster Family Agency failed to return the boys to the couple after Prince told authorities she believed her sons were being physically and emotionally abused. The suit alleges DCFS DCFS Department of Children and Family Services DCFS Division of Children and Family Services DCFS Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems (conference) DCFS Data Communication & Functional System and Trinity ignored complaints about foster mother Leslie Smoot, failed to supervise her and failed to conduct surprise inspections of her home, placing Dakota Denzel Prince-Smith, 5, and Nehemaiha Nate Prince-Smith, 3, at further risk of abuse and neglect, ``and ultimately, in this case, death.'' ``Just a couple of days Just a Couple of Days is the debut novel by author Tony Vigorito. Initially published by a small press in 2001, it has since achieved significant underground success (earning Independent Publisher's before the boys died, she had complained that the kids did not look right, that they were not dressed properly, that their hair was not being cared for properly and they looked very sick,'' Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. attorney Gregg Goldfarb said. ``My client expressed a great deal of fear about the safety and welfare of her two little boys.'' DCFS officials declined to comment on the suit. Trinity officials said Monday they had not been served yet and would comment once they had a chance to review the lawsuit. The boys died July 8 when Smoot left them unattended, strapped in child-safety seats, in the SUV for more than five hours outside her Lancaster day-care center day-care center: see day nursery. in 100-degree heat. Smoot has said she forgot to take the boys out of the vehicle when she arrived at the day-care center. She was sentenced in January to six months in jail after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter The act of unlawfully killing another human being unintentionally. Most unintentional killings are not murder but involuntary manslaughter. The absence of the element of intent is the key distinguishing factor between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. charges. Prince came to the attention of DCFS in 1998 after an unproven unproven Dubious, nonscientific, not proven, quack, questionable, unscientific adjective Relating to that which has not been validated by reproducible experiments or other scientific methods for determining effect or efficacy domestic violence incident at the hands of her boyfriend, according to documents. The agency opened a case on her in 2000 after she spanked one of her children for running out in the street, and she attended three years of counseling. Her boys were placed in foster care in March 2003 after Prince was sentenced to 30 days in jail for making threatening remarks to social workers over the telephone. Troy Anderson, (213) 974-8985 troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) DAKOTA (2 -- color) NEHEMAIHA |
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