How Could You? Hall of Shame-Xion Thomas case-Child Death

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Bowling Green, Ohio, foster child Xion Thomas,6, “drowned while in the temporary custody of Lucas County Children Services, and she is demanding to know how it happened.

Xion Thomas, who had just completed kindergarten, died at Wood County Hospital after he was pulled from a swimming pool at a Bowling Green home on July 30.

He had been placed with an out-of-network foster family.

Xion’s mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said her son had been in foster care since November 2025. She said she was following her case plan and visiting her four children weekly while working to bring them home.

She said she told caseworkers before Xion was ever placed that he could not swim and should not be near swimming pools.

“I want to know what happened. How did he end up in the pool after I warned them? I warned them about my baby around swimming pools — and he still drowned in a swimming pool. That makes no sense to me,” she told WTVG.

Two 911 calls were made from the Bowling Green home on July 30. In one call, a dispatcher asked how long the child had been underwater.

“Probably like 10, 15 minutes,” the caller responded.

In a second call, a woman performing CPR on Xion told dispatchers: “He was in the pool, and he slipped under. We called 911.”

Dispatchers confirmed that deputies, fire, and EMS were en route.”

“Lucas County Children Services said in a statement that Xion was placed in a home operated by a private foster care agency due to the shortage of foster homes in Lucas County.

Read the full statement from LCCS below.

“It is with great sadness that we learned of Xion’s passing. Our sympathies are with his entire family. We are doing everything we can to help his parents and siblings cope with their loss.

As the agency responsible for the protection of Lucas County’s children, we care for children with all different kinds of needs. In most cases, if children must come into care, we first look to place them with kin. If no suitable relatives are available, we then turn to our own network of foster homes. We oversee them and ensure that they meet all child welfare standards. Each LCCS foster home is assigned to a caseworker who is responsible for monitoring their activity and providing ongoing support.

If there is no foster home available in LCCS’ own network of foster homes to meet the child’s needs, it becomes necessary to place the child in a home operated by a private foster care agency. These companies maintain networks of their own private foster care homes that are licensed by the State of Ohio and are held to the same licensing standards as LCCS homes. The difference is that the assessment, management and supervision of these homes is the responsibility of the private provider, not Lucas County. In Xion’s case he was placed with a private provider due to the shortage of foster homes in Lucas County.

In the coming days and weeks, we will be conducting an investigation into the circumstances of this case, in conjunction with the Wood County Sheriff’s Department.

Again, we extend our sympathies to Xion’s family.”

Lucas County Children Services”

Mother demands answers after 6-year-old son drowns while in foster care

[KPTV 8/4/26]

No arrests have been made!

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