How Could You? Hall of Shame-Kendrea Johnson case-Child Death UPDATED Now Lawsuit

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 Brooklyn Park, Minnesota,foster Daughter Kendrea Johnson,6, was “found unresponsive with a jump rope around her neck in a foster-care home.”

“As recently as September, however, an advocate said the county should consider alternative housing for the girl, according to court documents.

Brooklyn Park police were called Saturday night to Kendrea Johnson’s foster home … where they found her not breathing. She later died at a hospital.”

“She and her 1-year-old brother, Charles, were at the house of Tannise Nawaqavou, who has had a foster parent’s license since 2011. Kendrea had been in foster care for about a year. She and her brother were placed in foster care after child protection said their parents repeatedly failed to comply with efforts to keep the children safe, according to documents.

Brooklyn Park police continue to say the case is not being treated as a homicide, and that they continue to investigate it.

Janine Moore, area director for the county’s Children and Family Services, declined to comment when asked if Charles or other children who may be in the foster home will be removed, or whether the county will review Kendrea’s death.

She also wouldn’t discuss if Nawaqavou’s license, which expires in 2016, could be revoked or if she will be allowed to take in other children. The Data Practices Act prevents her from talking about specific foster care cases, Moore said.

Kendrea had an outgoing personality, but the foster care provider had been having a difficult time trying to keep her safe, and the girl was acting out at school, according to a social worker’s report.

Relatives, including Kendrea’s aunt and uncle, said she never should have been taken from her grandmother’s house last December.

The county sought to place Kendrea and Charles with relatives, but none were available or appropriate for placement at the time, court documents said.

In August, a guardian ad litem said Kendrea wanted to live with her grandmother.

A month later, the guardian requested a mental-health evaluation for her and urged the county to consider an alternate housing option. She said the girl and her brother should remain together.”

 Hennepin County officials say little about death of girl in Brooklyn Park foster-care home[Star Tribune 12/30/14 by David Channen]

“Relatives say the 6-year-old girl who died in Brooklyn Park had bounced around to various foster homes after leaving her grandmother’s care about a year ago.

Kendria Johnson was found unresponsive at her foster home Saturday night. Police say the person who called for help said the girl had “somehow tangled herself in a jump rope.”

The Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/1A8dc7i ) says a social worker’s report says the girl had an “outgoing personality,” but the foster care provider (had) been having a difficult time keeping her safe.”

Police continue to investigate the girl’s death. The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office says the cause and manner of death are pending.

The child’s uncle, Willie Venzant, says he and his wife were seeking custody of the girl and her 1-year-old brother.”

Girl who died was in foster care for 11 months[KTTC 12/30/14 by Associated press]

“A Brooklyn Park girl who died after she was found unresponsive with a jump rope around her neck had been in foster care for the last 11 months, court records show.

Kendrea Johnson, 6, nicknamed “Ziggy” for her bubbly and bouncy personality, was described by her distraught family Monday night as a “sassy” and “spunky” child who somehow managed to be “a girlie girl and a tomboy at the same time.”

“She was a happy child even though things in her life weren’t going right,” said her grandmother Mary Broadus, 45, of Minneapolis.

Brooklyn Park police were called Saturday night to Kendrea’s foster home in the 9200 block of Queens Garden Avenue N., where they found Kendrea not breathing. She was taken to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbins­dale, where she died.

According to a social worker’s report, Kendrea had an “outgoing personality,” but the “foster care provider [had] been having a difficult time trying to keep her safe.”

Tannise Nawaqavou, who holds the home’s foster-care license, could not be reached for comment. Efforts to reach Kendrea’s mother on Monday were not successful.

Brooklyn Park Deputy Chief Todd Milburn said that when the call came in Saturday night, it was reported that “the victim had somehow tangled herself in a jump rope.”

Investigation goes on

Police are not handling the case as a homicide, but said they will continue to investigate Kendrea’s death.

However, Kendrea’s relatives said Monday night that Kendrea never should have been taken from her grandmother, who had been caring for her until last December.

Kendrea bounced around to different foster homes, said her aunt, Marketa Venzant, 26.

Kendrea’s grandmother “took her from a difficult situation and put her in a better situation, and they took her and put her in a worse situation,” said Willie Venzant, 27, whose sister is Kendrea’s mother. “The state didn’t do their job,” he said.

Venzant and his wife were seeking custody of Kendrea and her brother Charles.

The last time the family saw the siblings was on Thanksgiving, when they were brought to their grandmother’s house. Kendrea was excited at news that she might be returning to the care of her relatives, her family said.

Juvenile court records show that Kendrea and her 1-year-old brother were placed in foster care in February after child protection said her parents had repeatedly failed to comply with efforts to keep the children safe.

Child protection called

The family first came to the attention of child protection in May 2013, when Dareesha M. Waddle, Kendrea’s mother, gave birth to a boy and tested positive for marijuana, morphine and oxymorphone. The baby boy was placed in a neonatal-intensive-care unit, showing signs of substance withdrawal.

Child protection requested that Waddle submit to drug tests. The baby’s father, Charles R. Tate (he is not Kendrea’s father), also was submitting to drug tests as part of his probation for two separate convictions.”

Family tries to cope after Brooklyn Park girl dies in foster care[Star Tribune 12/30/14 by  KAREN ZAMORA, NICOLE NORFLEET and BRANDON STAHL ]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update:”The Minn. Dept. of Human Services Wednesday temporarily suspended the license of a foster care provider, days after a six-year-old girl was fatally injured in her bedroom with a jump rope.

Kendrea Johnson died at North Memorial Hospital Saturday night, shortly after a foster parent found her hanging by a jump rope tied to the support post of her bunk bed.

The suspension order sent to foster Tannise Nawaqavou of Brooklyn Park said the suspension will last at least until the investigation is finished, saying that due to the serious nature of the case the state “cannot ensure the safety of the persons served in your program.”

Nawaqavou did not answer the door Wednesday, or the previous three days when KARE reporters went to the foster home.

In the meantime, Kendrea Johnson’s biological family continues to press for answers.

“There was nothing sad about my niece. There wasn’t nothing self-destructive about her. There wasn’t nothing suicidal about her,” Willie Venzant, Kendrea’s uncle, told KARE Wednesday.

“She was a six-year-old child. She was happy. She loved life. You tell me what six year old knows about harming themselves? That’s unheard of!”

Venzant and his wife Marketa had been trying to gain custody of the girl and her brother, a toddler who was placed in the same foster home where Kendrea suffered her life ending injury. He said they had already jumped through several hoops in the process, and had a family court date scheduled for mid January.

The child had lived with her grandmother Mary Broadus – Venzant’s mother — in Minneapolis prior to being placed in foster care.

“We’ve known that girl all of her life. We wanted to take care of her, and we thought we’d be getting her soon. Now our niece is dead.”

Kendrea and two siblings were previously removed from their biological mother by Child Protective Services.

Sophisticated Knot

A search warrant application a Brooklyn Park Police detective filed with a Hennepin County judge the night of the accident provided a glimpse into the investigation.

It said Kendrea was fine and in her room coloring at 8:11 p.m. Saturday when an adult who lives in the house checked in on her. The same adult said that when he checked again at 8:30 p.m., the girl was unconscious and hanging from a jump rope tied to a support post on her bunk bed.

The detective’s affidavit said that a Hennepin County Crime Lab deputy was suspicious because the rope was tied with a “very sophisticated knot” and the deputy “didn’t believe that a six year old would be able to tie such a knot.”

The search warrant return paper work said investigators collected the jump rope, two jump rope handles, hand written notes and a white bucket with a lid on it.

The foster parents told investigators had never seen the white bucket in the girl’s room before that moment. They also told the detective that Kendrea “did not have a history of mental illness or of trying to hurt herself.”

The detective also noticed a “red blood like substance” on a blanket on the bottom bunk bed, that “could possibly be” from Kendrea.

The Brooklyn Park Police Dept. has not revealed any new details of the case, other than to report the nature of the 9-1-1 call officers responded to Saturday night.

The autopsy results are still pending.”

Foster care provider’s license suspended after death[Kare 11 12/31/14 by John Croman]

Update 2: “The manner of death of a 6-year-old girl who died with a jump rope around her neck Dec. 27 in her foster home cannot be determined,Brooklyn Park police said Wednesday. But records obtained by the Star Tribune show investigators strongly considered the possibility that Kendrea Johnson committed suicide.

Deputy Chief Mark Bruley said that the evidence kept leading investigators to the belief that she intentionally killed herself, but that the department also agreed with the Hennepin County medical examiner that such an act is “outside what a normal 6-year-old could think about.”

“We just did our due diligence to tear this case apart and look at every angle,” Bruley said. “It’s hard to believe that it was even possible. We may never know if it was suicide or an accident.”

Two child therapists who reviewed the investigative records for the Star Tribune said it is indeed possible that the girl took her own life.

“I think all of those factors were in place here,” said George Realmuto, a University of Minnesota psychiatry professor.

At a June exam, Kendrea had been assessed as having homicidal and suicidal thoughts, and she had been receiving intensive treatment, according to the police reports. The exam noted that the girl “showed severe guilt, as she does not feel lovable or acceptable and reports feeling guilty and responsible for out-of-home placement.”

Kendrea was placed in foster care in December 2013 after Hennepin County child protection accused her mother of abusing drugs and not following through with a plan to keep her children safe.

Records show that Kendrea’s behavior changed dramatically in foster care. Her most recent foster mother told Brooklyn Park police that the girl once threatened to kill her with a screwdriver. Kendrea also told her foster mother that she wanted to jump out a window and kill herself, said “Nobody likes me” and drew pictures at school of a child hanging from a rope. Police found healed ligature marks on both sides of her neck, records show.

Kendrea’s foster and biological parents were stunned when police asked them if she had ever expressed thoughts about hurting herself.

The records don’t say if her foster parents, Tannise and Adrea Nawaqavou, knew about Kendrea’s treatments at a day facility for her mental illness. Her treatment included behavior therapy for post-traumatic stress syndrome, including anxiety and anger outbursts. At first, the report said, Kendrea had suicidal thoughts seven days a week, but they were down to five days a week just before she died, the report said.

A case to learn from

Jim Koppel, assistant commissioner of the state’s Child and Family Services, said the Department of Human Services will do an expedited mortality review of Kendrea’s case and look “as broadly as possible” at how the “system served and did not serve the child.”

The case emphasizes a need to ensure that children removed from an unsafe environment are placed in “one that improves their lives,” Koppel said.

Kendrea and her 1-year-old brother, Charles, had been under Nawaqavou’s care since March. The foster mother also cared for a 15-year-old boy who was developmentally challenged, the police reports say.

Just hours before her death, the girl appeared to be in a good mood, the reports say. She had seconds at dinner and went to her bedroom to color and watch cartoons. She had expressed excitement about a church dance she was to attend the next day.

Her foster father told police that he checked on Kendrea about 8 p.m. and that she appeared to be standing on her bed and watching television, the report said. He checked on her 10 minutes later and she was still in the same position, but this time hanging in a noose made from a jump rope. In their initial report, police said the rope’s knots appeared too sophisticated for a child to tie.

A white, three-gallon bucket was nearby. On the floor, a note written by a child in purple marker on a page torn from a book started with, “I’m sorry.” Another note said, “I’m sad for what I do.”

Family incredulous

Mary Lee Broadus, Kendrea’s grandmother, told the Star Tribune that she did not believe that the girl hanged herself. “Somebody did it,” Broadus said Wednesday.

Kendrea knew not to put anything around her neck or any bags over her head, Broadus said. She was a “happy-go-lucky kid” and “a normal 6-year-old” who didn’t exhibit signs of mental illness, she said.

Reached Wednesday, Dareesha Waddle, the girl’s birth mother — whose children were removed from her care by the county — said, “You can talk to my lawyer,” then hung up.

Before the girl’s death, Nawaqavou told county social workers that she wanted to adopt Kendrea and her brother. Relatives also tried to get custody, but the county didn’t find any appropriate place for placement, child protection records show.

Nawaqavou’s foster care license was temporarily suspended after Kendrea’s death. The state has 90 days to reinstate, revoke or permanently suspend her license.

Realmuto, the U psychology professor, said that suicides among children Kendrea’s age are rare, but that they can occur when severe mental illness combines with impulsiveness, a lack of supervision and a trigger.

A 6-year-old cannot comprehend that death is permanent, but could try to self-punish, he said. She might, he said, have thought, “ ‘My life is awful, I’ve been a bad girl, nobody cares about me. I will punish myself by hanging myself.’ ””

Did 6-year-old Brooklyn Park girl kill herself? Police wonder[Star Tribune 1/14/15 by DAVID CHANEN and BRANDON STAHL]

Update 3:”The state has taken the unprecedented step of revoking the license of a foster care placement agency following the death of a 6-year-old girl in one of its foster homes late last year.

Announced Friday, the Department of Human Services (DHS) action against Family Alternatives, a Minneapolis nonprofit, could affect foster children in all 69 homes that the agency oversees. Family Alternatives supervised the Brooklyn Park foster home where 6-year-old Kendrea Johnson was found hanging from a jump rope tied to her bunkbed.

The department also revoked the license of Kendrea’s foster mother, Tannise Nawaqavou, saying it found “serious and chronic” licensing violations at the home. DHS had suspended her license after Kendrea’s death.

A DHS investigation determined that Family Alternatives repeatedly failed to investigate complaints about Kendrea’s foster mother since 2012, including several reports while the girl lived with her. Those reports included an incident where the girl was locked in her room, and another when she was found with her pants down with another foster child.

The department blamed Nawaqavou for failing to arrange background studies for household members; neglecting to report an incident regarding possible sexual contact of a foster child; failing to provide “consistent adult supervision” in the home, and providing false and misleading information, according to DHS.

However, the DHS investigation determined that there was not “a preponderance of the evidence that there was a failure to provide [Kendrea] with necessary supervision” the night she died, so it could not substantiate any maltreatment.

Nawaqavou and Family Alternatives did not respond to requests for comment.

‘Just didn’t get shared’

In January, the Star Tribune reported how child protection workers and care providers failed to work together for more than a year to safeguard Kendrea, despite knowing she was severely mentally ill, thought about suicide every day and lived in a chaotic foster home.

Kendrea was placed in foster care in December 2013. Records show her behavior then changed dramatically. Nawaqavou told Brooklyn Park police that the girl once threatened to kill her with a screwdriver. Kendrea also told her foster mother that she wanted to jump out a window and kill herself, said “Nobody likes me” and drew pictures at school of a child hanging from a rope.

Her foster father told police that on Dec. 27, he checked on Kendrea about 8 p.m. and that she appeared to be standing on her bed and watching television, a police report said. He checked on her 10 minutes later and she was still in the same position, but this time hanging in a noose made from a jump rope.

A white three-gallon bucket was nearby. On the floor, a note written by a child in purple marker on a page torn from a book started with, “I’m sorry.” Another note said, “I’m sad for what I do.”

Although the Hennepin County medical examiner couldn’t determine the manner of Kendrea’s death, investigators strongly considered the possibility of suicide.

Brooklyn Park Deputy Police Chief Mark Bruley had said that the evidence kept leading investigators to the belief that she intentionally killed herself, but that the department also agreed with the medical examiner that such an act is “outside what a normal 6-year-old could think about.”

DHS Inspector General Jerry Kerber said the DHS investigation found that Kendrea’s death was likely an accident, and could not link it directly to failed oversight by Family Alternatives. Still, the DHS reports concluded that Kendrea’s care providers were not communicating with one another about the girl’s needs.

The girl’s day treatment facility, Shoreview-based LifeSpan, did not tell Nawaqavou that the girl was suicidal, DHS said.

“They were silos of people that knew information about this child, and that just didn’t get shared,” Kerber said Friday. Family Alternatives “had a responsibility from our perspective to really coordinate that communication.”

Family Alternatives oversees 69 homes in nine Minnesota counties, with more than half in Hennepin, records show. DHS records show that Family Alternatives has been cited for 38 licensing violations since 2011, including a lack of required documentation in the files of homes or children, missing background checks and failure to take action against homes found in violation of foster care rules.

Kerber said DHS was already investigating Family Alternatives when the girl died. The department found that Family Alternatives failed to investigate numerous reports at other foster homes it oversees, including a report that a foster child was sexually assaulted.

Family Alternatives was “not taking their role seriously enough as having the oversight responsibilities for the foster care providers that were under them,” Kerber said.

Family Alternatives can operate until at least April 10. If the agency appeals, it can operate for another 90 days. Having reviewed the organization’s records, Kerber said, DHS will investigate other homes overseen by Family Alternatives, and move children if violations are found. But DHS and Hennepin County said they want to keep children in their current foster homes if possible.

“We are following up immediately to determine how many Hennepin County youths we have in all Family Alternative foster homes and to conduct contingency planning, as appropriate,” Assistant Hennepin County Administrator Rex Holzemer said Friday. “We will be making every effort to avoid moving children if it is not necessary.””

State revokes licenses of foster providers after 6-year-old’s death[Star Tribune 3/27/15 by DAVID CHANEN and BRANDON STAHL]

Update 4:‘The state has revoked the license of a second foster home overseen by an embattled placement agency, after a 12-year-old girl was raped in the home last year.

Meanwhile, the agency, Family Alternatives, on Monday appealed the state’s decision to revoke its license. The Department of Human Services took that action Friday following its investigation into the death in December of 6-year-old Kendrea Johnson, who was found hanging from a jump rope tied to a bunk bed in a Brooklyn Parkfoster home licensed by Family Alternatives.

Joan Riebel, the executive director of Family Alternatives, said her agency is being scapegoated for ­Kendrea’s death.

“That’s the feedback I’m getting from my colleagues. [They’re saying] we’re the sacrificial lamb,” Riebel said Monday. “This is a much bigger issue than us.”

Family Alternatives, a Minneapolis nonprofit, is paid about $2.6 ­million each year from counties and the state to oversee 69 foster homes. The DHS investigation found that Family Alternatives failed to investigate numerous violations at Kendrea’s foster home, operated by Tannise Nawaqavou. Her foster license also was revoked.

The revocation order for Family Alternatives also refers to violations at another home. In that case, a 12-year-old girl was placed in a Coon Rapids foster home operated by Patricia Ann Woodard, according to juvenile court and state records. While there, 23-year-old Evans Ongera, a former foster child in the home, repeatedly raped the girl in April and May 2014, state records show.

Ongera pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in February and is expected to be sentenced in April.

In its order revoking Woodard’s license, DHS said that she allowed Ongera to stay in the home despite being investigated for rape. DHS also determined that “two additional adult individuals that visited your home had sexual contact with foster children in your care.”

Woodard was aware of the sexual contact, according to the DHS revocation, but she failed to immediately report it either to Anoka County or Family Alternatives as required.

Woodard could not be reached for comment Monday.

According to DHS records, Family Alternatives was told in May about numerous other problems in the home, including that children were taken on outings where a former foster child used drugs, and that Woodard was aware that ­children smoked marijuana.

Family Alternatives failed to investigate all but one of the complaints, DHS said.

DHS had sanctioned Family Alternatives in September for failing to investigate the reported abuse in Woodard’s home, records show. Family Alternatives then investigated, took corrective action, and in October recommended that DHS take action against Woodard’s license.

Asked why it took six months for DHS to revoke Woodard’s license, DHS spokeswoman Karen Smigielski said no foster children were living in the home after July 2014.

At a third foster home, DHS said Family Alternatives failed to investigate after two foster children used electronic devices to make contact with gang members, met with them and were sexually assaulted.

Riebel said Monday that her agency did respond to that incident, but Family Alternatives did not take any action against the home because the foster parents no longer allowed the foster children to have unsupervised access to electronic devices.

“To say we did not investigate a licensing complaint is not telling the whole story,” Riebel said.

Now that Family Alternatives has appealed its revocation, the agency can continue to operate for at least 90 days. Riebel said she is unsure what will happen to the children in the 69 homes the agency oversees.

Last week, DHS Inspector General Jerry Kerber said the agency will work with Hennepin County to ensure that children in those homes are safe and only move them if necessary.”

Second foster home tied to agency loses license[Star Tribune 3/30/15 by Brandon Stahl]

Update 5: “The Hennepin County Human Services Department allowed the placement of a foster care child into the home of a Brooklyn Park woman who had a record of substantiated child abuse, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

In December 2014, 6-year old Kendrea Johnson was found dead in that foster care mother’s home. The child was found hanging from a bunk bed in her bedroom.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reviewed the child’s welfare record cited in the lawsuit that shows that Hennepin County child protection authorities knew in December 2000 that the foster care mother, Tannise Nawaqavou, had a record of child abuse.

But because of a little-known state law, commonly known as “the look-back law,” Nawaqavou was granted a foster care license by DHS in October 2011 because a defined period of time had expired since her violation, thus allowing her to become eligible to take care of abused children. All foster care applicants must undergo a background check by the state prior to a decision being made on whether to grant a license.

A January 2011 DHS background studies memo stated that Nawaqavou “physically abused her child or a child in her care,” according to the document reviewed by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS and which is referred to in the lawsuit.

When she was asked in an interview about the DHS record, Nawaqavou denied ever having a record of child abuse.

“I don’t know about that,” Nawaqavou said. “That’s negative. That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

Jerry Kerber, DHS’ Inspector General declined to be interviewed about the look-back law and Johnson’s case.

Following Johnson’s death, Nawaqavou’s foster care license was revoked in March 2015. DHS cited the fact that she had “provided false and misleading information during the child foster care license application process,” according to state records.

The lawsuit accuses Hennepin County child protection workers, a private foster care agency, Family Alternatives Inc., and a day treatment center, Lifespan of Minnesota, of failing to adequately protect the child before she died. Hennepin County officials and Lifespan declined comment on the suit.

The attorney for Family Alternatives Inc. said the agency he represents should not be held accountable for the child’s death.

“It isn’t the result of anything Family Alternatives has done wrong or the foster parent,” said Rich Thomas. “It’s just a terrible circumstance.”

But Jeff Storms, one of the attorneys representing Johnson’s grandmother, said child protection authorities and the other named parties failed the child and her family when she was removed from her mother’s custody.

“Kendrea was alive at the time they took her,” Storms said. “She had family members who loved her, who kept her alive, who made sure she was going to school. Knowing that they are putting that child in the home of an abuser is a clear and obvious step towards potential peril for that child. Why would we take that risk? If we were going to put money, energy and resources into anything, it should be making sure that we have good foster parents. Not giving money to known abusers.”

Three months before Johnson died, a Hennepin County child protection worker allegedly expressed concerns about whether the girl had been placed in the right foster care setting, according to state records cited in the suit.

Monica Jochmans “had severe concerns about (Johnson’s) routine, supervision plan and what Nawaqavou does to ‘keep children safe that present with higher needs,” according to the state records.

Jeff Montpetit, co-counsel with Storms, said that an overall review of Johnson’s records show a continuing pattern of failure. “Nobody was in charge,” Montpetit said. “Nobody cared enough to take charge and do things in Kendrea’s best interest. I think it’s a system that in its current state is broken. In its current state it needs to be overhauled and we hope to bring some of those deficiencies to light so that things like this don’t ever have to happen again.”

Mary Broadus, Johnson’s grandmother, isn’t optimistic.

“These are babies,” she said. “And bad things are happening to them. She (Johnson) wasn’t the first and she’s not going to be the last. There’s someone who loves these kids out there. I’m not just fighting for Kendrea. I’m fighting for all the babies this has happened to.””

Lawsuit: State Gave Child Foster Care License to Known Abuser [KSTP 5/9/16 by Katherine Johnson]

Update 6: “Six-year-old Kendrea Johnson was found hanging from a jump rope in her foster home four years ago, but her death won’t be in vain, attorneys for her family said Wednesday.

Hennepin County reached a $1.5 million settlement with Johnson’s grandmother, Mary Broadus, who filed a federal wrongful-death suit claiming that the county failed to address the girl’s suicidal ideation.

The settlement amount is “one of the highest settlements against a government entity in Minnesota on claims involving the deliberate indifference to the welfare of a foster child,” the attorneys wrote.

Broadus could not be immediately reached for comment, but her attorneys — Jeff Montpetit, Jeff Storms, and Andrew Irlbeck — said the case was a victory for the family and all children in foster care.

“Obviously, they’d rather have their loved one,” Monpetit said. “There is a small amount of satisfaction and vindication in the fact that what they set to accomplish is get the county to reevaluate how they handle the … needs of kids in foster care.”

Broadus originally sought $20 million in damages. The lawsuit accused the county, Kendrea’s foster providers and her mental health treatment provider of ignoring the girl’s daily suicidal thoughts. Child protection workers and care providers knew she was severely mentally ill.

Kendrea was placed in the Brooklyn Park foster home of Tannise Nawaqavou in March 2014. She told Brooklyn Park police that the girl threatened to kill her with a screwdriver. Kendrea also said she wanted to kill herself by jumping out a window. At school, she drew pictures of a child hanging from a noose.

Kendrea was found dead on Dec. 27, 2014. While the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said the cause of her death was “undetermined,” Broadus strongly believed her granddaughter committed suicide, according to the lawsuit.

The county issued a written statement saying that settling was in the best interest of everyone involved.

“Any loss of life is tragic, but the loss of someone so young is especially tragic,” said the county’s statement. “We are here to protect children — and we do that every day. We take that charge very seriously.”

The suit originally named several additional defendants, including Nawaqavou, but they were eventually dismissed from the case until only the county remained.

The settlement was reached earlier this year, but publicly revealed in a court document filed Wednesday.

The “petition for distribution” proposed splitting the settlement, after attorney’s fees of 40 percent, as such: 50 percent to Kendrea’s half-brother, 5, for college, 25 percent to Kendrea’s mother and 25 percent to Broadus.

Kendrea’s mother lives in the Twin Cities and loved Kendrea and “infrequently” saw her while the girl was in foster care, according to the court document. Her father preceded her in death. Broadus, Kendrea’s maternal grandmother, is the trustee.”

Hennepin County reaches $1.5 million settlement with family of girl who died in foster care

[Star Tribune 6/7/18 by Chao Xiong]