Grandparents say DCF shares blame for 14-year-old's death in Fall River
BOSTON - David Almond was living with autism and doing well when the state returned him to his abusive parent. Within months, the 14-year-old was dead.
By the time John Almond called 911 for help on October 21, 2020, it was too late. John told the dispatcher he had just woken up, David was not moving, and he thought he was dead. First responders found David barely breathing, starved, beaten, and covered in feces. He was rushed to Charlton Memorial Hospital where he later died.
Boy Dawes, David's maternal grandfather, tells the I-Team he saw a photo of David's body. "It was horrendous it was a picture I wish I had never seen," he said.
Investigator photos obtained by the I-Team show some of the filthy conditions in the one-bedroom Fall River apartment where David was living with one of his triplet brothers, his father, his dad's girlfriend, her mother, and their baby.
"The apartment was not big enough for four children and three adults. Nobody would have allowed the size of the apartment let alone what was happening in there," Boy Dawes said. "Disgusting, just disgusting."
Father, girlfriend charged in David's death
Police charged John and his live-in girlfriend, Jaclyn Coleman with David's death, the couple eventually pleaded guilty. Boy says he believes if John had not been using drugs, "I don't think this would have happened."
The couple who has 10 grandchildren says they have forgiven John so they can go on with their lives. "I don't hate him," Boy Dawes said. "I can't."
Linda and Boy Dawes point the finger at the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families or DCF for reuniting the boys with their father who had a long-documented history of abuse and neglect.
Linda tells the I-Team, "I don't know why he wanted his kids. I can only guess. He certainly didn't take care of them we would have. Just one phone call."
The brothers were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as toddlers. Removed from their parents years ago, the triplets had been in the custody of DCF and were doing well in a congregate care setting.
Their grandparents had no input on DCF's decision to send them back to John. Boy says, "They have never contacted us and if they would have contacted us, this would not have happened. We had no rights."
Brothers separated
After David's death, the grandparents thought the boys would go home with them, instead they say DCF kept custody and separated the brothers in different group homes.
Linda tells the I-Team, the two brothers only see each other when they come up from South Carolina to visit once a month. She believes they belong together either with them or another family member.
The grandparents say DCF never apologized to them for David's death. Over the years, Linda and Boy say DCF did not make it easy for them to see the boys. "You're responsible for this, we're not," Boy said. "At least say you're sorry. Look us in the eye and say you know we screwed up. Nobody's done that you know that."
Linda tells the I-Team, "we just want to be grandparents."
"We've never understood it, why they've treated us like we are the enemy," Boy said.
DCF years behind implementing new policies
The Department of Children and Families did not respond to the allegations made by the Dawes and said it cannot provide any information about the Almond case citing state and federal privacy requirements. DCF also says it is nearly two years behind in implementing new policies designed to prevent another tragedy.
In a statement DCF tells the I-Team: "The Department of Children and Families is dedicated to safely reunifying families and children and remains fully committed to implementing the reunification tool. Because of the depth and breadth of the training curriculum, staff training is being broken into two phases to allow for careful and more robust learning and adaption into case practice by DCF staff."