Toledo, Ohio — The family of an 11-year-old boy who was in the custody of Lucas County Children Services has filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that the Toledo group home where he lived let him leave unsupervised, and that he was struck and killed while riding his bicycle in the dark nearly four miles away.
The suit, filed in Lucas County this month, names Lucas County Children Services (LCCS), Turning Point Residential Services and Takeyla Brown, whom the complaint identifies as Turning Point’s owner-operator. It accuses the defendants of negligence and of recklessly failing to supervise the boy, according to 13 ABC and the family’s law firm.
The night he died
Toledo police said the boy was riding his bike just before 8 p.m. on Oct. 6, 2025, when he was hit by a southbound car on Jackman Road near Marlow Road, 13 ABC reported at the time. Police said he was not in a marked crosswalk when he started to cross. The 76-year-old driver told officers he had a green light, and investigators said alcohol and drugs were not factors. The boy was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died.
The lawsuit says the boy should never have been on that road alone. According to the complaint, as described by the family’s attorneys, he lived in a group home while in the county’s custody and should have been supervised and not allowed to leave without an adult. The family says proper staffing, oversight and safety protocols would have kept him from being left on his own.
Turning Point had one job: to supervise the children in its care.
Molly Ebraheim, attorney for the family, Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy
Ebraheim said the suit is about finding out what went wrong inside the home.
The county says it had no contract with the home
LCCS denied the allegations. The agency told 13 ABC that it does not operate or license any group homes and that it “does not have a contract with Turning Point as a placement provider for children.” It said it is working with the Lucas County Civil Prosecutor’s Office to defend the case. Turning Point had not responded to 13 ABC’s request for comment as of publication.
That response leaves an obvious question the lawsuit may now force into the open: if the county had no placement contract with Turning Point, how did a child in its legal custody come to be living there, and who was checking on him? Public reporting so far does not answer it.
What happens next
The defendants will have a chance to respond in court, and the case will move into discovery, where records about the boy’s placement, staffing levels at the home and any prior incidents could surface. None of the allegations have been proven. The amount of damages sought was not reported.
Why it matters
When the state removes a child from his family, it takes on the legal duty to keep him safe. Counties routinely hand that duty to private operators and then point to the contractor when something goes wrong. Families deserve to know who was responsible for a child in custody, minute by minute, and courts are often the only place that question gets answered. FAN tracks these failures as part of a broader pattern of foster care system problems.
Key facts
- An 11-year-old in Lucas County Children Services custody was struck and killed on his bike on Oct. 6, 2025.
- The crash happened just before 8 p.m. on Jackman Road near Marlow Road in Toledo.
- The family’s suit says he left a Turning Point Residential Services group home unsupervised and was nearly four miles away.
- Defendants: LCCS, Turning Point Residential Services and Takeyla Brown.
- LCCS denies the allegations and says it had no placement contract with Turning Point.
- Turning Point had not commented as of 13 ABC’s report.
Sources
- 13 ABC (WTVG) — Lucas Co. Children Services & group home face new lawsuit over child’s death while riding bike (2026-10-15)
- 13 ABC (WTVG) — 11-year-old riding bike killed in crash on Jackman (2025-10-07)
- Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy (press release) — Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy Sues Toledo Group Home and Lucas County Children Services Over Death of Unsupervised 11-Year-Old (2026-10-15)
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