Los Angeles County will pay $20 million to the family of a four-year-old boy who was tortured to death by his parents in 2019, settling a years-long wrongful death lawsuit.
Noah Cuatro died days before his fifth birthday at the hands of his parents, Jose Maria Cuatro Jr. and Ursula Elaine Juarez, who pleaded no contest to murder and torture charges. They’ve both been sentenced to decades behind bars.
Evangelina Hernandez, the child’s great-grandmother, filed the wrongful death suit against the county in 2020 on behalf of Noah’s siblings. The suit accuses the county’s Department of Children and Family Services of ignoring a court order to remove the four-year-old from his parents’ custody, ABC7 reported.
“While nothing can undo the harm he suffered, today’s $20 million settlement provides some measure of support to his surviving family,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a statement, calling the boy’s death a “heartbreaking tragedy.”
“Noah’s life was not in vain. His case has reinforced the need for ongoing review of child welfare cases, stronger partnerships with our schools, and a stabilized child welfare workforce to better protect children in the Antelope Valley. Noah leaves behind a legacy—he will not be forgotten,” she said.
Following the settlement’s approval, the department of child services also said it hopes to make changes after the tragedy.
“It is DCFS’ hope that this resolution gives Noah’s family a sense of peace,” the department said in a statement. “DCFS remains committed to learning from the past, improving its work, and operating with transparency.”
The settlement marks the end of a five-year-long court battle. In May 2019, the removal order was authorized, but never executed; DCFS continued to investigate abuse allegations, court documents show. Cuatro died less than two months later.
His parents called 911, saying the child drowned in a pool at their apartment complex. But the four-year-old’s injuries and condition sparked suspicion, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“He always begged me not to send him to his parents,” Hernandez told the paper. “I tried to explain to him so many times, but he didn’t understand. He’d take his little hands and look into my eyes and say, ‘Don’t make me go there.’”
An amended complaint, seen by ABC7, states that Cuatro’s eldest sibling told Hernandez that their father forced him to “physically fight and beat up” the four-year-old, the plaintiffs’ attorneys stated. The suit also details additional allegations of abuse and neglect by the parents.
The children’s bedroom had no beds or mattresses. Instead, there was just a mattress in the living room, the filing stated. A social worker testified that the home smelled foul and was “cluttered and filthy,” ABC7 reported.
Multiple reports of abuse had been made prior to the child’s death, the suit states.
After the child died, social workers threatened his great-grandmother “in an attempt to silence her,” the lawsuit claimed. If Hernandez made any public statements about the case or filed a lawsuit, she would lose her bid for guardianship of her surviving three great-grandchildren, they allegedly threatened.
Hernandez told the LA Times she thinks about her great-grandson everyday: “I know that he’s not suffering anymore.”
