Fall River, Massachusetts — Massachusetts has agreed to pay $10 million to settle claims that the Department of Children and Families pushed a 14-year-old Fall River boy back into his father’s home, where he starved to death in October 2020. The settlement was announced Oct. 21, six years to the day after his death, and still needs court approval.
What the settlement covers
The agreement resolves claims brought by the boy’s estate and his two surviving brothers, triplets who are now adults with autism, according to the Justice Law Collaborative, the firm representing the estate. The Boston Globe reported that $3.4 million of the total covers attorneys’ fees and that each brother is expected to receive a $2.9 million trust, structured so they can keep receiving state disability and mental health services.
Another $750,000 will go to the SouthCoast Community Foundation for two memorial funds: a $150,000 scholarship that gives first priority to neurodivergent children in Massachusetts foster care, and a $600,000 fund for nonprofits and schools that serve neurodivergent people.
The state defendants disputed the allegations and raised defenses including sovereign immunity, according to the Fall River Reporter. The Globe reported that DCF argued its workers did not act intentionally or with deliberate indifference and that it was not responsible for the criminal acts that led to the boy’s death.
The record
DCF took custody of the triplets in October 2017, according to the lawsuit. The Globe reported that the boys had been removed from their father’s care four times before that. A juvenile court had found the father “unfit to care” for his children, the state’s Office of the Child Advocate later noted.
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In March 2020, DCF returned the boy and one brother to the one-bedroom apartment their father, John Almond, shared with his girlfriend, Jaclyn Coleman, according to the Child Advocate’s fatality report. The lawsuit alleges the couple had told DCF they did not have enough space for the children.
On Oct. 21, 2020, Fall River police responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive male on Green Street. The boy, who stood 5 feet 10 inches, weighed about 80 pounds. He was pronounced dead at Charlton Memorial Hospital. His brother was also malnourished and battered, according to the lawsuit.
Almond and Coleman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March 2023 and were each sentenced to life in prison.
Where the system failed
The lawsuit alleges DCF ignored warning signs, rushed reunification despite the juvenile court’s finding, and failed to respond to repeated reports of abuse and neglect after the boys went home. The Globe reported that providers at the boy’s congregate care facility had raised concerns about sending him back to his father.
The Office of the Child Advocate described a multisystem failure during the confusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. It found that DCF failed the boy, and that Fall River Public Schools and the Juvenile Court also missed chances to act on red flags about his living conditions.
DCF had the warnings, the history, and the authority to protect him. They didn’t.
Carol Erskine, retired juvenile court judge, to The Boston Globe
What happens next
The settlement goes to the court for approval. In a statement, DCF said it has since created a Disability Services Unit, tightened how it evaluates whether parents are ready to reunify, and revised its supervision and family assessment policies, including guidance on assessing the safety of children with disabilities.
We must continue working to ensure that tragedies like this never happen again.
Andrea Campbell, Massachusetts attorney general, to The Boston Globe
A court finding of unfitness, prior removals and warnings from the boy’s own care providers were all on file when DCF sent him home. Six years later, the accounting has come through a civil lawsuit the state contested, including on sovereign immunity grounds. Families should not need a wrongful-death suit to learn why an agency sent a child back to a parent a court had found unfit. FAN tracks these cases to show how often the foster care system fails the children it removes and returns.
Key facts
- Massachusetts agreed to pay $10 million, pending court approval, announced Oct. 21, 2026.
- The 14-year-old starved to death in Fall River on Oct. 21, 2020, weighing about 80 pounds.
- DCF took custody of the triplets in 2017, then returned two of them to their father in March 2020 despite a court finding he was unfit, the lawsuit alleges.
- His father and the father’s girlfriend pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and were sentenced to life.
- Each surviving brother is expected to receive a $2.9 million trust; $3.4 million covers attorneys’ fees.
- $750,000 funds a scholarship and grants serving neurodivergent people.
- The state disputed the claims and raised sovereign immunity as a defense.
Sources
- The Boston Globe — David Almond death prompts $10M settlement with the state (2026-10-21)
- Fall River Reporter — Commonwealth of Massachusetts agrees to $10 million settlement in death of Fall River’s David Almond (2026-10-21)
- Boston.com — Mass. agrees to $10 million settlement over death of David Almond, 14 (2026-10-22)
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