Parents of foster boys file lawsuit over deaths
By Troy Anderson
Staff Writer
Article Published: Monday, April 26, 2004 - 4:30:25 PM PST

Two young brothers who died last July inside a hot Cadillac Escalade owned by their foster mother should not have been in the foster care system, according to 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 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 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 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 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 charges.

Prince came to the attention of DCFS in 1998 after an unproven 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@dailynews.com



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