State Tries to Escape Justice by Claiming Abused Child’s Coma Meant He Didn’t Suffer

The State of Washington’s Child Protective Services toured the tiny apartment of two drug-addicted parents being evaluated to regain custody of their two children. Their duty was to ensure Anthony — a toddler not yet out of diapers — and his sister were placed in a safe and stable environment. Instead of continuing to entrust care to the loving, happy home of their aunt, CPS cleared the custody of the children to their neglectful parents. That reunification set in motion months of escalating abuse. Reported adult-sized bite marks on Anthony’s arm were dismissed by the CPS case worker and no investigation followed. Anthony’s condition rapidly deteriorated. Deprived of food, isolated, and subjected to ongoing abuse, he lost nearly a third of his body weight. However, the violence culminated one morning when the boy’s mother, frustrated and in a rush to leave for the methadone clinic, lifted Anthony over her head and threw him forcefully to the ground. His head smashed into the ground and he went limp. She tried to rouse him with ice water and the father called 911.

Police discovered Anthony hypothermic from the cold water, naked, unresponsive, malnourished, and covered in cuts and bruises. Paramedics rushed the boy to the hospital, where brain scans revealed tell-tale signs of traumatic brain injury, including subdural hematomas, edema, and ischemia. Tragically, the malnutrition and hypothermia eliminated any hope of healing from the blunt force trauma, and he perished at the hospital. Medical examiners discovered 134 injuries in various states of healing, indicating months of abuse. For his siblings, who had witnessed the abuse and endured neglect themselves, the loss left lasting emotional scars. The children’s aunt had described Anthony as an inquisitive “goofball” who loved to have fun and adored his sister.

The aunt sought justice against CPS for having ignored the litany of red flags. She reached out to Ressler & Tesh via their cpslawsuit.com portal and connected with attorneys Tim Tesh and Jon Barash. Ressler & Tesh were one of the few firms in Washington that specialized in wrongful death and child abuse cases against CPS and the State. They assessed the publicly available fatality review report and felt the surviving children (the sister and a newborn in the household) had a case. The attorneys entered probate so they could be retained to represent them, and facilitated a second guardian ad litem’s appointment for the sister.

The State denied all liability as the two children were never formally wards of CPS. The placement of Anthony and his sister with the aunt had been entirely voluntary. The State argued that they could only be held to a gross negligence standard and did not have an affirmative duty to ensure safety. To establish liability, the team of attorneys requested every document with either the children’s or the parents’ names on them from CPS, schools, and medical providers, which amounted to tens of thousands of pages. They deposed everyone involved and interviewed all witnesses to the abuse. However, the defense complicated the wrongful death suit by claiming that Anthony had suffered no conscious pain or suffering due to the quick onset of his brain trauma.

Tim and Jon needed to establish that Anthony's death involved ongoing abuse factors and was not solely caused by the mother’s violent throw. The attorneys hired a forensic pathologist, a child abuse pediatrician, and a liability expert to establish the three months of starvation and ongoing torture, which rendered Anthony susceptible to death. To synthesize the overwhelming amount of medical data, the attorneys reached out to DK Global to produce a 3D visualization of Anthony’s entire medical picture. They knew the defense would have no excuse to not review a 10-minute video.

The DK Global animation opened with a 3D model of Anthony that demonstrated his profound weight loss. Police footage of the father demonstrating the mother's violent throw was then shown, followed by a 3D reenactment of the entire scene within the messy apartment. Medical cross-sections of the TBI illustrated how the damage was dealt to his brain. The mother's 911 call was played followed by a photo of Anthony’s unconscious body at the scene. His CT scans were seen alongside 3D cross-sections. The full scope of Anthony’s 134 injuries found at autopsy were illustrated on a 3D model of him.

Early on, mediation had broken down and the defense’s initial offer froze at an insufficient number. However, after months of negotiation, mediation was attempted again. Tim and Jon played the DK Global animation, which signaled their readiness to take the case to trial. The defense realized how horrifying the injuries would be if shown before a jury and moved to settle the case. The attorneys were able to disinherit both the mother and the father, allowing the two surviving children and their older half-siblings to receive the proceeds. The settlement funds were structured into a trust to ensure all the children would be taken care of for life.

Tim Tesh is a partner at Ressler & Tesh and has fought for victims of abuse and sexual abuse in the state of Washington and nationwide. His firm solely focuses on helping children where the victims of physical and sexual abuse were the result of negligence of persons or entities charged with protecting them. He is a member of the Washington State Association for Justice and has been selected as a Super Lawyer from 2019-2025.

As an attorney at Ressler & Tesh, Jon Barash has specialized in representing child victims against schools, charities, hospitals, and the state of Washington. His cases have involved wrongful death, neglect, and physical and sexual abuse. He is a member of the Washington Bar Association and the Washington State Association for Justice. In 2010, he was selected as a "Rising Star" in his field.