Father of boy found dead in freezer sues 13 CPS workers, alleges negligence
By Paula Wethington
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MICHIGAN (WWJ) — A federal lawsuit has been filed against multiple employees of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, citing “gross negligence and deliberate indifference” over investigations involving the case of Chayce Allen.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Juwan Allen of Detroit, filing on behalf of the child’s estate, named 13 staffers who were investigators, specialists or monitors with the DHHS Children’s Protective Services Division. The lawsuit seeks damages of at least $75,000 and a jury trial.
The remains of Chayce Allen were found June 24, 2022, after Detroit police and Child Protective Services officials followed up on a welfare request on the child at his home.
Shortly after they arrived, the boy’s body was discovered in a basement freezer. Authorities concluded that he had been dead for months. Other children found at the home that night were placed into the care of Child Protective Services.
His mother, Azuradee France, was later charged in connection with Chayce’s death. She eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced in July 2024 to 35 to 60 years in prison.
The lawsuit detailed a series of reports to, and visits by, Child Protective Services that started when Chayce, born Sept. 1, 2018, was two months old. He and his siblings were removed from France’s care at one point, then returned to her.
By the time he died at age 3, the lawsuit claimed, Chayce was the victim of repeated abuse and injuries to the point where he could no longer see.
“Defendants were entrusted with the duty of protecting this vulnerable child from harm and neglect and had the chance to intervene and diligently respond to the severity of the situation and the horrific nature of the allegations. However, each time, Defendants left Chayce with or returned him soon after to his abusive mother,” the lawsuit related. “He spent his final days of torment and abuse in complete darkness.”
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