Three former staff members at a Louisville, Kentucky foster care facility have been indicted after a child in their care died during a physical restraint, according to a state investigation.
Ja’Ceon Terry, 7, died on July 17, 2022, while under the supervision of a residential foster care provider, according to a 122-page report from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Nearly four years later, three former employees were indicted on charges of complicity to manslaughter, the Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office confirmed. None of the three appeared at a scheduled arraignment this week.
The report states that on the morning of the incident, only two staff members were supervising nine children, below the required staffing ratio. Ja’Ceon had reportedly been left alone in his room for an extended period before the events that led to his death.
Investigators say the boy had an accident and was mocked by a supervising staff member in front of other residents, which appeared to escalate tension for the rest of the day. Later that afternoon, after another incident, staff physically restrained the child, eventually pinning him face-down with his legs extended in front of him for several minutes.
According to witness accounts in the report, the child vomited during the restraint and eventually lost consciousness. Staff reportedly attempted to revive him with cold water and CPR before calling emergency services. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office ruled the cause of death as positional asphyxia — a condition in which body positioning restricts normal breathing, leading to suffocation.
The three fired employees previously declined to testify in a related civil wrongful-death case that was settled years earlier. A new arraignment date is expected to be set.