Georgia’s Department of Family and Children’s Services faces a $1 million wrongful death suit, filed by the estate of a 16-year-old disabled girl.
The administrator of Markea Berry’s estate recently filed a seven page complaint, outlining all the things the estate claims DFCS did wrong in the girl’s case, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Markea died June 15, 2012, from starvation. At the time of her death the girl weighed 43 pounds, according to police. Hours after her body was found, her mother, Ebony Espree Berry, 35, was arrested on charges of murder and child cruelty.
The state has a 150-page case file on Markea, according to Channel 2. Included in that file is an account of the teen hiding in a Wal-Mart because she didn't want to go home.
The last time the DFCS had contact with the family was a couple of months after the Walmart escapade in 2010. At the time, the caseworker and supervisor noted their concerns that Markea was undernourished. But the agency closed the case after Berry sidestepped efforts to compel her to get medical attention for Markea and her siblings.
Berry remains in Cobb County Jail, in lieu of a $82,720 bond.
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