State settles suit over boy's death for $2.1 million

State settles suit over boy's death for $2.1 million
The state has agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the father of a 3-year-old boy who was beaten to death by his stepfather despite complaints to Child Protective Services.

By Jill Kimball
Seattle Times staff reporter
The state on Friday agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the father of a 3-year-old boy who was beaten to death by his stepfather despite complaints to Child Protective Services.

The boy's father, Michael Ravenell, claimed in the lawsuit that Child Protective Services failed to follow up on his warnings that the child was in danger.

About a month before the death of Michael Kekoa Ravenell, the child's father reported his suspicions of abuse to the Department of Social and Human Services (DSHS), which oversees Child Protective Services.

He told DSHS he suspected Michael's stepfather, Noah Thomas, had abused the boy after finding bruises on his son's arm.

Thomas later admitted to police that on May 28, 2008, he punched, choked and threw his stepson against the wall and against a metal bed frame.

Thomas said he was frustrated that Michael would not eat his cereal.

By the time a doctor saw Michael at the hospital, he was dead from blunt-force trauma and swelling of the brain.

DSHS said the social worker in charge of the case did not alert police or investigate the abuse claims — something they are required to do after abuse is reported — due to inadequate training.

The social worker also did not run Thomas' name through the department's computer to check his criminal history, which included multiple felony arrests on child-abuse charges.

In 2009, Thomas pleaded guilty to homicide by abuse and is serving a 50-year prison sentence.

Ivory Wong, the boy's mother, did not face criminal charges but was a co-defendant in the civil case.

DSHS spokeswoman Sherry Hill said the social worker in charge of the case was new and had taken on 30 cases — more than twice the maximum amount social workers are supposed to oversee.



At the time of his death, Michael was the fifth child in six months to die under the watch of the Tacoma office of Child Protective Services and the 18th to have died under the watch of CPS in the past five years.

Hill said Child Protective Services has improved its operations in light of the recent child deaths, now taking more care to evaluate parents and other adults in children's lives.

The settlement will be divided among Michael's father, his younger sister and an estate set up in his name.

Jill Kimball: 206-464-2136 or jkimball@seattletimes.com

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012376827_dshslawsuit17m.html