PARENTS SUE HRS, FOSTER MOTHER 2 YEARS AFTER THEIR BABY'S DEATH

Miami Herald, The (FL)

Author: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dateline: ST. PETERSBURG

The death of 4-month-old Corey Greer two years ago prompted criminal charges against his foster mother, disciplinary actions against 13 child-care workers and a scandal in the state's social-services agency. Now, a civil lawsuit has been added.

The parents of Corey Greer filed a damage suit Monday against the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and Judith Lundy, 49, who kept 12 foster children in a home licensed for four.

HRS Secretary Gregory Coler and 19 other HRS employees or agents were named in the suit, brought by Wanda Smith and Kerry Greer.

The suit was filed in Pinellas Circuit Court one day short of the anniversary of the child's death.

An HRS spokeswoman in Tallahassee declined comment, saying officials had not seen the suit, and an attorney for Lundy said his client is innocent of any wrongdoing.

The baby had been removed from his parents' apartment after Corey and his 18-month-old sister were found alone, in soiled diapers, according to records.

Corey was the 12th child placed by HRS in Lundy's home, later described by police as a "pig sty."

Corey had been classified as medically at risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and supposedly was to wear a heart monitor. Lundy had put the monitor on a shelf and reportedly had difficulty finding it for investigators, police said.

On July 21, 1985, paramedics and police summoned to the home found Corey lifeless. An autopsy revealed he died of dehydration and too much sodium in his blood.

Lundy was eventually charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. She has pleaded innocent and trial is set for Sept. 29. HRS acknowledged the agency violated its own rules and disciplined 12 employees -- nine of them supervisors or analysts -- and one volunteer.

Among the allegations in the parents' suit are that the foster mother failed to properly treat, care for, feed and give fluids to Corey and that this failure was the result of discrimination because the child was black; HRS employees failed to find a home to offer proper medical supervision, the suit said.

Ky Koch, Lundy's attorney, called the charges "absolutely not true. . . . A foster home mother who was licensed for four children never should have had 12 children all under the age of 8 placed in her home."

He denied she was discriminatory and said she was trained in using the heart monitor but later was told that it could come off.