Father of toddler who died from fentanyl overdose will sue LA County's DCFS

The father of a 17-month-old boy who died from a fentanyl overdose is filing a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, alleging a visitation supervisor was inside the home when the toddler ingested the lethal drug.

Montise Bulley will file a $65 million lawsuit accusing the government agency of failing to protect his son, Justin Bulley, who was allegedly inside a home with his three siblings and the three children of a woman — who was approved by the county department to be a visitation supervisor — when he died, his attorney, Brian Claypool, told reporters Wednesday. 

Claypool said the toddler's mother had only supervised visits with him so the court-ordered supervisor was allegedly at the home with her own children when Justin's mother was visiting him and his siblings on Feb. 18, 2024.

The cause of his death that day is listed by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner as "effects of fentanyl." 

Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokesperson for the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), declined to comment on the allegations being made by Justin's father.

"While we appreciate the opportunity to offer our perspective, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services does not comment on pending litigation," Morales wrote in an email to KCAL News.

Justin's father said he had unsupervised visits with his son at the time and had been "fighting" for full custody while the boy remained in foster care. He said he had been worried about Justin and was "devastated" when he learned of his death.

"I just miss my boy," Bulley said. "I was devastated. I didn't understand. Who gets a phone call like that?"

A series of alleged incidents Claypool described as "massive red flags" happened before the toddler died in what the medical examiner has ruled an accident. A man allegedly died of a fentanyl drug overdose death at Justin's mother's home a year before the 17-month-old died. Claypool said the boy's mother got into an alleged DUI crash with her children inside the car.

"It was only a matter of time before at least one child died at the hands of this mother," Claypool said.

Claypool said Justin's mother was allegedly using drugs with her own father and they had fallen asleep when the boy ingested the lethal drug. He accused the woman approved by DCFS to supervise visits of leaving the home when paramedics responded. He alleges the coroner found 25 nanograms of fentanyl in the boy's blood when just one nanogram can kill a child. 

"The woman appointed by the county is at the scene of the death," Claypool said. "She doesn't pull the kids out. She runs."

The attorney alleges the woman was later found by law enforcement officers and her children — as well as Justin's three siblings — allegedly also had fentanyl in their system. Claypool alleges Justin's grandfather was smoking fentanyl in the living room so the area was widely contaminated with the lethal drug.

The Lancaster office of DCFS had been handling Justin and his siblings' case at the time of his death, according to Claypool.

In October 2022, DCFS reached a $32 million settlement with the family of Lancaster boy Anthony Avalos, whose mother and her boyfriend were both sentenced to life in prison for the 10-year-old's torture and murder. In the days following his death, the director of DCFS said social workers were called to the home eight different times for reports of abuse before he died.

Just ten miles away, in Palmdale, two other children have been killed in child abuse cases that also led to lawsuits against DCFS. 

In 2014, the family of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez sued the LA County agency. Fernandez's mother and her boyfriend were both sentenced to life in prison for starving, torturing and murdering him. Six years later, in 2020, the great-grandmother of 4-year-old Noah Cuatro filed a lawsuit against DCFS. In March, his parents pleaded no contest to murder and torture charges in his death.

In both cases, the families of the children said social workers were aware of abuse allegations before they were killed.

Claypool said there needs to be "significant change" at DCFS — specifically the part of the agency handling cases in the region of Palmdale and Lancaster. He said trained forensic psychologists should interview children after allegations of abuse or neglect and there should be a "complete restructuring" of the agency. Justin's father said he hopes there will be changes made.

"Hopefully, they can change the system," Montise Bulley said.