Local
Washington, Evergreen schools face $49.3 million payment after Vancouver teen’s death
Washington state and Evergreen Public Schools are to pay $49.3 million in connection with the 2020 starvation death of Karreon Adams-Franks, a 15-year-old autistic boy from Vancouver. His younger brothers sued the state and district for negligence.
Washington state and Evergreen Public Schools are to pay $49.3 million in connection with the death of Karreon Adams-Franks, a 15-year-old autistic boy who died of starvation in November 2020.
Adams-Franks lived in Vancouver and was nonverbal. He weighed 61 pounds when he died. His younger brothers sued the state and the school district, alleging negligence.
A lawyer representing the brothers said their adoptive parents beat Adams-Franks with the cane he used to walk, withheld food from him and his siblings as punishment, and confined the children to a room for days without bathroom access.
The announced payment brings a major legal consequence for the state and district in a case involving a vulnerable student’s death. The available details do not specify how the $49.3 million will be divided or describe the settlement’s terms.