Washington Government Negligence

SEATTLE — Davis Law Group, P.S. today announces a $49.33 million settlement with the State of Washington, including the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), and with Evergreen School District (ESD), Clark County Superior Court #24-2-02739-06. The settlement resolves the lawsuit brought on behalf of the Estate of Karreon Adams-Franks and his two surviving brothers. Trial was scheduled for October 12, 2026, in Clark County Superior Court.

Karreon was 15 years old when he died of starvation on November 27, 2020. He was autistic, nonverbal, and legally blind. He depended entirely on the adults responsible for him. When he died, he weighed just 61 pounds.

His adoptive parents, Felicia Adams (his biological aunt) and Jesse Franks, were convicted in 2023 of homicide by abuse in Karreon’s death and of criminal mistreatment of his two younger brothers. Adams was sentenced to 35 years in prison and Franks to 30 years. In March 2026, the Washington Court of Appeals later affirmed their convictions and sentence.

Years of Warning Signs

The lawsuit alleged that all three boys suffered years of abuse in the home. Food was withheld as punishment. The boys were choked and beaten with objects including an extension cord and a cane. They were locked in their bedroom for days at a time, and after the inside doorknob was removed.

DCYF received reports about the family as early as 2017, when two referrals alleged that food was being withheld from the children as punishment. DCYF took no action. On November 20, 2020, a relative reported to DCYF that Karreon looked like a “walking skeleton” and was falling down from malnourishment. A DCYF social worker visited the home the next day, six days before Karreon died, and noted that he was “very skinny.” The social worker did not seek medical care for Karreon or remove the boys from the home. The lawsuit alleged that the State failed to properly investigate the reports it received and failed to protect the children.

All three boys attended Evergreen School District schools. Under Washington law (RCW 26.44.030), school staff who have reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused or neglected must report it to law enforcement or DCYF. The lawsuit alleged that school staff at Shahala Middle School and Mountain View High School documented concerns about the boys for years before Karreon’s death, and that the district failed to train and supervise its staff to report them.

In one instance back in May 2018, one of the boys complained to an ESD school bus driver that food was withheld from them over an entire weekend, only to see that ESD teachers then reported the boy’s complaint to his abuser Felicia Adams. The boy was then beaten by Ms. Adams in retaliation.

The settlement money received from ESD represented the entire insurance coverage available.

“No amount of money will ever make up for what happened to Karreon and what his brothers lived through,” said Chris Davis, founder and principal attorney of Davis Law Group. “These boys spent years suffering abuse. When one of the boys reported the abuse to school staff, he was severely beaten by his abusers. The boys were forced to watch their older brother slowly die. The people and agencies responsible for protecting them, at school and at the State, saw the warning signs for years and did not act. We hope this settlement gives Karreon’s brothers the stability and support to build the future they deserve. We also hope it reminds every governmental agency and school district that each warning sign must be treated as if a child’s life depends on it, because it often does.”

Media Inquires

Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers founder and principal attorney Chris Davis can be reached for comment on this case through the media relations team. For media requests, please call the front desk at (206) 727-4000 or email us at [email protected].

About Davis Law Group, P.S.

The firm was started in 1994 by Chris Davis. The firm specializes in representing victims and family members in catastrophic injury loss and wrongful death. The firm recently obtained a record jury verdict of $30.17 Million in Kitsap County on behalf of a deputy sheriff who suffered an amputated leg in a firearms training accident. Davis Law Group, P.S. is located at 2101 Fourth Avenue, Suite 1030, Seattle, Washington 98121, and can be reached at (206) 727-4000.