Lawsuit: Agency s failure led to New Mexico boy s death
COLLEEN HEILD , Albuquerque Journal
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) At age 17, Krista Cruz was still in foster care when her second son, James Dunklee Cruz, was born.
The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department knew Krista well she had been a ward of the state for seven years after experiencing physical abuse, neglect, excessive discipline and educational neglect at home.
Yet over the next four years, her young son James lived in danger, himself a victim of abuse and neglect before he was beaten to death in late 2019, allegedly by one of his mother’s male friends, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed Tuesday by a personal representative for the boy’s estate.