Karreon Adams-Franks needed a lot of things during his 15-year life.
He had severe autism — his verbal skills were limited to a few words. He needed teachers trained in special education to help him reach his full potential. He was also visually impaired and needed help with his personal hygiene.
But the thing he needed most he didn’t get — an advocate to make sure his schools and his social workers were working in tandem on his behalf and following the law when it comes to intervening when they suspected abuse.
Karreon died Nov. 27, 2020, of starvation and neglect while in the care of his adoptive mother and her husband, and under the protection of the state through the Department of Children, Youth and Families and the Department of Social and Health Services.
His parents, Felicia Adams, the sister of Karreon’s biological mother, and her husband, Jesse Franks, were convicted in 2023 of homicide by abuse and criminal mistreatment in Karreon’s death and the abuse of his brothers. Adams is serving a 35-year sentence and Franks a 30-year sentence in state prisons. They withheld food from the boys as punishments.
At a medical exam in July 2019 Karreon weighed 115 pounds. When he died 16 months later he weighed just over 60 pounds.
Just six days before he died, a DCYF caseworker visited the home and interviewed the boys, who spoke of being spanked with a paddle and an extension cord and deprived of food, according to a child fatality review report by the DCYF.
“The caseworker observed the bedroom door handle had a lock on the outside. This child was very skinny but also very tall. Did not have any observable injuries on exposed skin. The caseworker encouraged the mother to look up the laws regarding acceptable discipline and said spanking with an object was not advised. She then left the home and documented that there was no present danger,” the fatality review stated.
“Given the sheer amount of problems and incidents with Karreon, we don’t believe the district made any effort to provide guidance to them (employees). Their policy says all you need is suspicion,” said attorney Chris Davis, of the Davis Law Group. The firm represented Karreon’s estate and his brothers in a civil lawsuit against the state and Evergreen School District. The case was settled recently for $49.3 million, split between the district and the state.
Evergreen Public Schools denied that any school staff failed to make a mandatory report.
A DCYF spokesperson said changes have been made since Karreon’s death. A child fatality review committee recommended that DCYF create a field guide for staff regarding malnutrition. The guide would “briefly discuss intersectionality with disabilities, food deprivation as discipline, as well as next steps (immediate medical assessment, law enforcement, etc.)”
Also, DCYF is now required, among other things, to take photographs when responding to abuse or neglect to document a child’s physical condition, if necessary.
These changes are long overdue, but better communications is needed between DCYF and school districts. The state should coordinate with school districts to annually reinforce what the law requires of mandatory reporters and the consequences of not following the law.
The state Legislature is only beginning to wrestle with ways to reduce the cost of soaring tort claims — a $614 million tab this year that includes settlements in other child abuse cases.
Karreon’s case underscores the responsibility of the state and school districts to show up for children they suspect are in danger, especially those who can’t protect themselves.
