Danieal Kelly's last word was "water." Her 42-pound body was covered in her own feces and maggot-infested bedsores when found. Her mother, Andrea Kelly, has been charged with murder in connection with the 14-year-old disabled girl's death. Her father, Daniel Kelly, is charged with endangering Danieal's welfare.
Now, Danieal's parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, naming the state of Pennsylvania, the Department of Public Welfare, the Department of Human Services, and the city of Philadelphia, as well as the private case-management firm, MultiEthnic Behavioral Health.
The suit seeks over $50,000 in damages, to be awarded to the estate of Danieal Kelly. Danieal's parents are the administrators of her estate.
Danieal's parents allege that former DHS employees Dana Poindexter and Laura Sommerer, as well as two employees of MultiEthnic, handled Danieal's case in a "dangerous and reckless manner," resulting in Danieal's death. Poindexter is accused of ignoring five complaints of abuse or neglect of Danieal Kelly, and keeping the abuse reports in a tray filled with food wrappers and unanswered mail.
When informed of the lawsuit, Ed McCann, chief of the D.A.'s homicide unit, said: "I think it's an obscenity. I cannot imagine that people in that situation who did what they did to their own daughter are attempting to profit from it."
Filed under: lawsuit, murder, Philadelphia, pennsylvania, abuse, danieal kelly, starvation, andrea kelly, neglect, daniel kelly, wrongful death
