Kansas reached a $1 million settlement Tuesday to resolve a lawsuit stemming from the 2015 murder of a 7-year-old, NBC News reports.
Adrian Jones’ death brought attention to the flaws in Kansas’ child welfare system. according to Go to NBC News. The Kansas Department of Children and Families (DCF) drew criticism for not removing him from a situation where he faced severe abuse. Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and other legislative leaders agreed to pay the settlement.
Adrian’s ordeal took place in Kansas City with his father, Michael Jones, and stepmother, Heather Jones. The two adults are currently serving life sentences for their role in his murder, NBC News reports. Adrian’s abuse includes being beaten, starved and locked up. His final months were recorded by surveillance cameras. This abuse reportedly led to his death and his body was then fed to pigs.
Kansas pays $1 million for murdering boy whose body was tortured and fed to pigs https://t.co/tcVaAaQnP9
— Associated Press (@AP) March 14, 2024
The lawsuit was filed in 2017 by Adrian’s mother, grandmother and sister, the paper said. They accused DCF of negligence and argued that DCF had ample opportunity to intervene before Adrian’s death. Despite multiple reports of abuse, the last time authorities had direct contact with Adrian was about four years before his death. (Related article: ‘Deep regret and sadness’: Vlogger mom pleads guilty over video show in which she abused and starved children)
“This has been a long journey for Adrian’s family,” Matt Birch, an attorney representing the family, said in a statement, according to NBC News. “The most important thing for the family was to hopefully make a change and prevent something like this from happening in the future.”
Democratic state Sen. and Minority Leader Dinah Sykes believed the state could face legal challenges due to certain events, according to NBC News. Kelly argues that her main concern is not the potential financial loss of litigation, but that the legal process could divert focus from the primary goal of strengthening the child welfare system.
According to NBC News, “It really has to do with wanting to resolve the issue and not spend time litigating in court, which could definitely take months, even years. ” she said.
