Lawsuit: Kern County, California-Child Death

“Last summer, a baby who was taken from her parents at only a few weeks old, died after being placed in a California City foster home soon after she was removed from her parents’ custody.

Now, her parents have filed a tort claim against Kern County and several of its employees, citing major issues including negligence, wrongful death, and breach of mandatory duties.

Those parents are also minors, and their daughter Zarah Zambrano was only two months old at the time of her death on September 1, 2023.

She was taken from her mother, identified in the claim as D.B., and her father, identified as O.Z., on August 13th, 2023.

They claim the child was taken without just cause, consent, or a warrant, and they claim the county’s negligence led to their baby’s death.

“They’re looking for what happened to their baby girl,” said Tiffany Chung, one of the attorneys representing the parents.

Along with Zarah, her mother, who was only 14 years old at the time, was taken into custody, and placed in Jamison Children’s Center, a temporary shelter.

She escaped from the detention center she was held at, and the other attorney representing the parents, Shawn McMillan, said they are still not certain of her specific whereabouts but have been in contact with her.

McMillian said they believe the county violated the 14th Amendment.

“That’s the first sort of key legal question here is, did they violate both the baby’s constitutional right to not be separated from its parent? And did they violate mom’s right to keep custody and control and care of her baby?”

“The government can’t just come in and say, ‘Oh, you’re 15, you’re in foster care. You just had a baby. So, we’re going to take the baby because either we don’t think you’re old enough to have one,’ or whatever their excuses is.”

As for why the mother was taken into custody, McMillan said that’s confidential.

Eyewitness News reached out to the county and human services, but both said they were unable to comment.

On September 1, 2023, Zarah died in the care of the foster home.

“Our gut feeling is that the baby probably died because of neglectful or improper care,” he said.

Both Chung and McMillan said the family is just looking for answers.

“Why did they take her baby? It doesn’t seem like there was really any reason for it. And if you look at it retrospectively, had they not taken her baby, the baby would probably still be alive.”

McMillan said this tort claim is just a notice to the government that a lawsuit is incoming, however, there are still a couple more steps before that happens, which will likely be months in the future.

Eyewitness News also reached out to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, but they were also not able to provide more information.”

Parents file tort claim against county after baby’s death in California City foster home

[Bakersfield Now 3/14/24 by Celine Stevens]

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