A baby left in a hot car died in Puyallup. Now, lawyers target WA agency for negligence
The state agency responsible for protecting children has been accused of negligence after the death of a 1-year-old boy who in May 2023 was left in a hot car in Puyallup.
Steven Kopp of Graham died in the parking lot of MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital — his foster mother’s workplace — after he was forgotten in the back seat for roughly nine hours during a day when temperatures hovered in the 70s, according to a lawsuit filed March 14 in Pierce County Superior Court.
The complaint alleges that the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), which oversees foster care in the state, placed the boy in a neglectful home which DCYF knew or should have known “posed dangers to his health and safety.”
It claimed that DCYF received “information indicating the potential occurrence of abuse and neglect” at the foster home and breached its duty to protect the child by failing to remove him.
The suit on behalf of the child’s estate, identifying him by his initials, was filed by a lawyer representing the estate. An attorney for the plaintiff couldn’t be reached Friday to discuss the case and expand on the claims.
Offered an opportunity to respond to the allegations, DCYF spokesperson Nancy Gutierrez said Thursday the agency wouldn’t comment on pending litigation.
While the lawsuit raises safety concerns about the boy’s foster home, his death was ruled an accident by the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office, and prosecutors declined to press charges.
“There is no concern that the foster mother will commit this type of act again herself, and criminalizing her tragic mistake will not deter others from making similar future mistakes,” Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mary Robnett said in July 30 memo, also noting that a conviction was unlikely based on the circumstances and prior precedent.
Robnett said that she was certain that the boy was left in the car unknowingly and that the boy’s 47-year-old foster mother had taken full responsibility. She was exhausted, recovering from COVID-19 and anxious about her new job as a case manager at the time of the incident, according to the memo.
On her way to work, she dropped off multiple kids at different locations and planned to take Steven to daycare, the memo said, adding that a change in routine, anxiety over being late to her job and distraction from colleagues in the parking lot each played a role.
Puyallup police responded to a 911 call at the hospital shortly after 6 p.m., The News Tribune previously reported. Interviews with the boy’s foster parents were “heartbreaking,” the memo said.
The first-time foster parents received their license in May 2022, according to the lawsuit. Although they’re identified in the filing, The News Tribune isn’t naming them because they weren’t charged with a crime.
The suit alleged that DCYF didn’t act on issues that were purportedly present after the couple was licensed.
“Over the course of the following year, the (foster parents) repeatedly demonstrated a lack of familiarity with procedures and requirements of foster care under Washington Law, violated health and safety protocols for the care of a foster child, and showed clear signs of exhaustion and burn-out as well as a lack of communication, all concerning child safety factors that were known to DCYF yet ignored by DCYF,” the suit said.
The complaint is seeking unspecified damages to be proven at trial and legal fees, among other awards.
