Father of Child Drowned by Mentally Ill Mother Files Lawsuit

A mentally ill mom drowned her 5-month-old baby. This happened despite numerous warnings to authorities by the father.

Southfield, MI (Law Firm Newswire) December 2, 2010 – The wrongful death lawsuit filed in this case also stated there was a violation of the 14th Amendment; where government can’t deprive citizens of life, liberty or property without due process. “The facts in this case are quite disturbing,” said Daren Monroe, of Litigation Funding Corporation, Southfield, Michigan.

“They involve a 5-month-old boy who was drowned by his mentally ill mother; the same mother who lost the same baby to child welfare when he was one month old because they feared for his safety,” he said.

Will Robert Johnson was only one month old when child welfare took him out of the mother’s home because she suffered from severe mental illness and they suspected he was in danger. Four months later, the same child welfare workers who removed him left him with his mother for a visit. He was drowned in a tub, and his dad filed the suit on behalf of his estate.

The plaintiff indicated the mother, Arkisha Johnson, had a long history of mental illness and was known to make violent threats, was emotionally unstable, didn’t take her medications and had attempted suicide several times. The suit stated the social workers knew or should have known about her history and should never have left Will alone with her.

Apparently, one senior social worker didn’t listen to a caseworker’s input and approved unsupervised visits. The end results of that mistake were painfully clear with Will’s death. Johnson pled guilty to second degree reckless homicide and is in jail for 15 years.

There will no doubt be some fallout over this case for many years to come. In the meantime, the father will need to deal with the ramifications of the death of his son. “He might have been interested to know that he could have applied online at a litigation funding site for lawsuit funding. This is an emergency loan that would have helped him get back on his feet financially until the case was heard,” Monroe said.

Once a plaintiff has the lawsuit financing in the bank, he may access it immediately and use it to do anything he wants, but the vast majority of those who get lawsuit settlement funding know they need to pay off their outstanding bills first. Once those expenses are dealt with, they can just wait until their case makes its way through the courts or receives a fair settlement offer. Plaintiffs are under no obligation to accept any offers from an insurance company.

To learn more about lawsuit funding and litigation funding, visit http://www.litigationfundingcorp.com/.

Litigation Funding Corporation
29777 Telegraph Road, Suite 1310
Southfield, MI 48034
Call: 1.866.LIT.FUND