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Proposed $10 million settlement would support David Almond’s brothers and neurodivergent residents
Massachusetts has agreed to settle claims over child-protection failures preceding 14-year-old David Almond’s death in Fall River. If approved, the $10 million agreement would provide lifelong trusts for his surviving brothers and fund scholarships and grants for neurodivergent people.
Massachusetts has agreed to pay $10 million to resolve claims brought by the estate of David Almond and his two surviving brothers over the state’s role in the 14-year-old’s death from starvation and neglect.
The proposed settlement, filed for court approval in Suffolk Superior Court, comes six years after Almond was found emaciated, bruised and unresponsive at his father’s Fall River apartment. He was pronounced dead. The medical examiner determined his death was a homicide caused by malnutrition from starvation and neglect; Almond had autism spectrum disorder.
Almond’s father, John Almond, and his father’s girlfriend, Jaclyn Coleman, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and were sentenced to life in prison in March 2023.
The lawsuit accused the state Department of Children and Families of failing to protect David. A 2021 review by the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate found that DCF missed warning signs and made a decision that was not clinically justified when it returned David and one of his brothers to a home from which they had been removed about three years earlier. The home had been affected by drug use and was later described by the agency as being in deplorable condition.
The estate and David’s brothers, who are triplets and both have autism, sued the state last year. A judge rejected the state’s attempt to dismiss the case this year. The settlement would resolve the claims without requiring a trial, subject to court approval.
Under the proposed terms, independently managed lifelong special-needs trusts would receive about $2.9 million apiece for David’s brothers. The agreement would also direct $150,000 to a memorial scholarship, with priority for neurodivergent children in Massachusetts foster care, and $600,000 to a fund supporting Massachusetts nonprofits and schools that serve neurodivergent people. Both funds would be established through the SouthCoast Community Foundation. Nearly $3.5 million would go to the lawyers representing the estate.
“This settlement ensures David’s brothers have the resources they need to build a full and productive life, and it creates a lasting legacy in David’s name for other children like him who depend on the state to keep them safe,” said Kimberly Dougherty of Justice Law Collaborative, which represents the estate.