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Butler
County dismissed from suit over child’s death
December 23, 2006
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAMILTON A judge has dismissed
Butler County and its children’s services agency from a wrongful
death lawsuit filed by the birth mother of a 3-year-old boy whose
foster parents are accused of killing him.
Donna Trevino, the mother of Marcus
Fiesel, and her attorney did not provide enough evidence to support
their claim that the county and its Children Services Board were
liable for his death, Common Pleas Judge Michael Sage ruled
Thursday.
Trevino’s suit, which seeks $5
million, also names Liz and David Carroll Jr., the Clermont County
couple who have pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in
Fiesel’s death.
Authorities say the couple wrapped
the child in a blanket and packing tape and left him in a closet
while they attended a family reunion in Kentucky. When they returned
two days later, the boy was dead, authorities said.
Butler County Prosecutor Robin
Piper filed the motion asking the judge to dismiss the county from
Trevino’s suit.
“The facts just didn’t support (the
lawsuit),” Piper said. “Even if we weren’t dismissed, we were
prepared to fight to the very end. For her to profit from this
tragedy was totally unacceptable to everyone.”
Fiesel and two other children were
removed from Trevino’s Middletown home in April after allegations of
neglect. In January, he fell off a roof after climbing out of a
second-floor window, police said.
The wrongful death suit filed in
September also names Lifeway for Youth, the agency that placed the
child with the Carrolls, and a woman who lived with the couple but
has not been charged in the case.
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