L.A. County welfare failed toddler who OD'd on fentanyl, family says

Montise Bulley holds a photo of him with his 1-year-old son Justin

By Grace TooheyStaff Writer

June 26, 2024 6:14 PM PT

Justin Bulley had been in the custody of Los Angeles County’s child welfare system, but during an approved visit with his mom, the toddler somehow came into contact with the county’s most deadly drug.

Within hours, the 1-year-old was dead.

The cause: A lethal dose of fentanyl — the synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin — was found in the toddler’s bloodstream.

“They robbed me,” said Montise Bulley, Justin’s father. He and the toddler’s mother were estranged, he said, but when she lost custody of Justin to the Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services, so did he. At the time of the boy’s death, Bulley had been fighting to gain full custody of his son, he said.

Bulley, a truck driver, said at a news conference Wednesday he was still in shock over Justin’s death in February.

“I just miss my boy,” Bulley, 51, said. “I cry every day almost.”

He blames the Department of Children and Family Services for failing to protect his son.

Brian Claypool, an attorney representing Bulley and two of Justin’s siblings, filed a notice of claims this week with L.A. County for damages of $65 million, with an intent to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Department of Children and Family Services.

“How in the world did this happen?” Claypool said. “There’s one answer: because we have a pathetic L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services in Lancaster. It’s absolutely horrific.”

Claypool called Justin’s death the latest in a string of tragedies in which children in the Antelope Valley have died on the department’s watch. Despite several tragic cases, which sparked investigations and leadership changes, Claypool said Justin’s death shows that needed changes at the nation’s largest child welfare system still have not occurred.

“What happened that day shouldn’t have happened,” Claypool said. “They toss underserved kids under the bus.”

Claypool also represents the family members of Noah Cuatro, the Palmdale 4-year-old whose parents tortured and killed him in 2019, and 10-year-old Anthony Avalos, who died after enduring torture and prolonged abuse at his Lancaster home, despite many warnings to DCFS.

But the attorney called Justin’s death “the worst case of malfeasance I’ve ever seen in my entire lifetime.”

The Los Angeles County medical examiner found this month that Justin’s Feb. 18 death was caused by the “effects of fentanyl,” ruling it accidental. The toddler died at the Antelope Valley Medical Center in Lancaster, where he was taken after family found him unconscious at his mother’s house and called 911, according to the autopsy report.

Paramedics who responded to the home attempted to use naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug, on the child, the report said.

According to the medical examiner’s investigation, his mother told officials she had been drinking alcohol while Justin and his two siblings, ages 3 and 5, were visiting the home, and their grandfather had been smoking fentanyl. The report noted there were “several versions as to what occurred at the scene,” but the grandfather told officials that the child had an “interaction with fentanyl at some point,” the report said.

The autopsy found no other trauma. The toxicology report found Justin had 25 nanograms per milliliter in his blood. A Delaware medical examiner’s report noted that just 4 nanograms per milliliter can cause an overdose death in an otherwise healthy person.

Deputies who searched the home found “glass pipes, baggies with unknown substances and other drug paraphernalia,” including some in “areas reachable by the children,” according to the medical examiner’s report.

No arrests have been made in Justin’s death, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department continues to investigate the case, according to Lt. Michael Gomez, who leads the agency’s homicide division. Gomez said detectives were working with the district attorney’s office to make a determination on whether charges would be filed.

In Claypool’s notice of damages, he alleged that a DCFS worker had been at the home supervising the visit the day of Justin’s death but that the staffer fled the scene when the toddler was found unconscious. The document — filed with the county Board of Supervisors, a required first step before a civil suit — claims that Justin’s siblings also had ingested fentanyl.

According to Lt. Gomez, the other children in the home at the time of Justin’s death were tested for fentanyl by the DCFS, but he declined to share those results. He said he was unaware of a DCFS worker being at the home the day of Justin’s death.

Shiara Davila-Morales, a DCFS spokesperson, declined to comment or respond to any allegations in the case, citing the pending litigation. The Times was unable to reach Justin’s mother, Jessica Darthard, for comment.

As Bulley spoke Wednesday about the forthcoming lawsuit, he held up a photo of himself with his son and kissed the image of the child’s face.

“I don’t care about the money, I want my son,” Bulley said.

Claypool maintains that Justin and his siblings should not have been allowed to visit their mother, given her past, which includes convictions for drunk driving and child endangerment in 2023, according to court records. He also cited the grandfather’s criminal history, which includes drug-related arrests.

“For years, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services was aware of the danger the children were in and allowed their mother and grandfather continued access,” Claypool wrote in the damages notice.

“There were massive red flags in this case,” Claypool said. “In this matter, DCFS played Russian roulette with the lives of Justin” and his siblings.