Father of three children who were murdered by their mother files lawsuit against the City and County of Los Angeles for failing to respond to his pleas to intervene to protect his children

For Immediate Release
April 21, 2022

On Numerous Occasions in the Months Leading to the Murder of His Children, Erik Denton Pleaded With L.A. Law Enforcement and Child Welfare Agencies to Intervene to Protect His Children from His Partner Who Was Mentally Unstable, Yet They Failed to Act, Leading to the Murder of His Children

LOS ANGELES, CA — Erik Denton, the father of three children who were murdered by their mentally-ill mother on April 10, 2021, filed a lawsuit today against the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles for repeatedly failing to intervene to protect his children after Denton did everything in his power to try and get them to help in the months leading up to the murders.

“The murders of Erik’s three children would have been prevented if law enforcement officers and child welfare workers did what they were required to do by law, which is to step in and protect children who are at risk of abuse or neglect,” said David S. Casey, Jr., managing partner, CaseyGerry. “For months prior to the murders, as Erik witnessed his partner’s deteriorating mental state, he did everything in his power to get the City and County of L.A. to intervene, yet time after time after time they failed to act. No parent should ever have to go through what Erik has experienced and the City and County of L.A. must be held accountable for their conduct.”

Starting around the end of February 2021, Erik Denton noticed his partner and the mother of their children was showing signs of a psychotic episode. When her delusions and paranoia prompted her to take the children to Los Angeles, Denton became concerned for his children’s safety and filed for an emergency custody order in Tulare County, which was granted on March 4, 2021. Meanwhile, his partner refused to disclose her location with the children and made it nearly impossible for Denton to serve her with the custody order for almost two weeks.

Throughout March, 2021, Denton and his cousin, Dr. Teri Miller, a UCLA-trained emergency physician, made repeated attempts to get the City and County of L.A. to intervene. The following are just some of the many actions they took in trying to get the authorities to take action:

• Dr. Miller called the police several times to explain that Denton’s partner was mentally unstable and a danger to the children;
• Denton and Dr. Miller met with officers from the L.A. Police Department on at least two separate occasions and begged for help, explaining that the children’s mother was experiencing a psychotic episode and might kill the children; and
• Denton and Dr. Miller repeatedly asked for help from Child Protective Services in L.A. County by calling the Child Abuse Hotline and reaching out directly to the social worker who had become involved in the case.

Under California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, public entities are required to intervene in these cases through investigation, reporting and cross-reporting with other agencies so that all necessary information is available to ensure children are being protected. None of this happened in the case of Erik Denton’s children and as a result, on April 10, 2021, the three children were murdered by their mother in Los Angeles. Erik Denton is suing for damages for wrongful death and on his children’s behalf for the pain and suffering they endured up to and upon their deaths.

For more information on the case, which was filed in Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, please contact Lisa Cohen at lisa@lisacohen.org.

About CaseyGerry
Headquartered at 110 Laurel St. in the Banker’s Hill neighborhood of San Diego, CaseyGerry is a plaintiffs’ law firm established in 1947. The firm’s attorneys practice in numerous areas, including serious personal injury, automobile, maritime, trucking, aviation, product liability, ecommerce, sexual abuse and class actions. For more information, visit www.caseygerry.com.

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