Los Angeles County supervisors approved a $20 million settlement Tuesday with the family of a 4-year-old Palmdale boy whose 2019 death was originally reported as a drowning and later led to a criminal conviction of his parents.
Noah Cuatro died July 6, 2019, a day after his parents reported a drowning at the family’s home north of Los Angeles. The boy’s injuries later raised investigators’ suspicions about how the died.
Noah was taken first to Palmdale Regional Medical Center and then to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he died. His parents were arrested and later convicted at trial before they were sentenced to prison.
His death came after multiple reports of abuse had already been made to the Department of Children and Family Services, according to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Evangelina Hernandez, the boy’s great-grandmother.
“I’ll never forget him,” Hernandez said. “I’ll always love him and I hope to see him someday in the future.”
The lawsuit was filed against the county in July 2020 on behalf of Noah’s 6-year-old sister and two brothers, ages 5 and 11, criticizing the actions of employees of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.
“This $20 million settlement is important,” said Brian Claypool, the family’s attorney. “We want it to signify to the board of supervisors and LA County DCFS that there are 20 million reasons now for a young boy like Noah Cuatro to never die again.”
In December, Hernandez’s attorneys filed court papers with Pomona Superior Court Judge Christian Gullon notifying him of a “conditional” settlement with the county that is subject to approval by the county Claims Board and the Board of Supervisors. No terms were divulged at the time, but the county Board of Supervisors agenda for Tuesday’s meeting states that the settlement is $20 million.
“The death of Noah Cuatro was a heartbreaking tragedy,” Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a statement. “While nothing can undo the harm he suffered, today’s $20 million settlement awarded to his surviving siblings and grandmother provides some measure of support as they continue to heal.”
In April 2024, Lancaster Superior Court Judge Robert Chu sentenced Jose Maria Cuatro Jr. to 32 years to life in prison, and Ursula Elaine Juarez to 22 years to life for Noah’s July 2019 death. Cuatro pleaded no contest on March 29, 2024, to one count each of first-degree murder and torture, and Juarez pleaded no contest to one count each of second-degree murder and torture.
In an amended complaint brought in 2023, the plaintiffs’ lawyers stated that new information was obtained in February and March of that year showing that Noah’s siblings also were subjected to abuse and neglect by Jose Cuatro and that county workers breached their mandatory duty to report their “reasonable suspicion” of such conduct.
In late March 2023, the oldest of the siblings told Evangelina Hernandez that he was often forced by Jose Cuatro to “physically fight and beat up” Noah, the plaintiffs’ attorneys stated. The same sibling also told Matthew Hernandez that he and Noah were always hungry, that he saw his parents slapping his surviving brother in the face when he was an infant, that he observed his parents fight a lot and that he was “scared of his dad because he would beat him up” by punching him and hitting him with his belt, the plaintiff’s lawyers stated in their court papers.
The boy said he also saw Jose Cuatro hit Noah and the other two siblings, according to the amended suit.
In February 2023, county social worker Lizbeth Hernandez Aviles testified during a deposition about the alleged abuses of Noah’s siblings, stating that the property manager of the Cuatro apartment told her he heard crying from outside the unit and that there were “concerns over domestic violence” between the parents, according to the amended complaint. Aviles also testified that the Cuatro home had no beds or mattresses in the bedroom where the children slept, only a mattress in the living room, the revised suits stated.
Aviles also testified that the home had a foul odor and that when she entered it was “cluttered and filthy” with trash on the floor and counter tops, according to the amended suit, which alleged that Aviles had an obligation to report her suspicions that Noah’s siblings also were being abused.
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