Foster Mother Sued After Death of Child

Uncle's Suit Claims Girl, 3, Suffocated

Guillermo Contreras

Albuquerque Journal

The maternal uncle of a 3-year-old girl who died in foster care is suing the foster mother, claiming that her actions resulted in the child's death.

Ralph Young claims that Linda Lysaght wrapped Rochelle LeMajeur so tightly in a blanket that the child suffocated, according to his lawsuit, filed in federal court by attorneys William S. Dixon, Andrew G. Schultz and F. Michael Hart.

The child died June 24, 2001, the morning after paramedics responded to Lysaght's Albuquerque home and found Rochelle not breathing.

Lysaght has not been charged with a crime. The case is under investigation and has not been presented to a grand jury, according to Bernalillo County Deputy District Attorney Lisa Traubado.

Messages seeking comment from Lysaght and her criminal defense attorney, Joseph Riggs III were not returned.

The suit said Rochelle and her younger brother were in foster care because they were prenatally affected by their biological mother's drug use. Rochelle suffered from bronchitis, asthma and Reactive Airway Disease, which is similar to asthma.

The suit said that, during the six months Lysaght was foster mother, she "repeatedly demonstrated knowing, reckless, negligent or deliberate indifference for the rights of Rochelle Lamajeur."

The suit says Lysaght was a public employee "acting under color of state law" as an agent for the state Children, Youth and Families Department. The department is not a defendant.

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

Among other things, it alleges that Lysaght spanked Rochelle and "intentionally inflicted serious trauma to her head and body" and that Lysaght contradicted the advice of doctors who had treated Rochelle since birth.

The suit also alleges that, late June 23, 2001, Rochelle was agitated and in distress but that Lysaght did not give Rochelle her medications.

"In response to Rochelle's behavior, defendant Lysaght knowingly, recklessly, negligently or with deliberate indifference and callous disregard for Rochelle's life and safety, inflicted trauma on Rochelle's head and bound Rochelle in a cotton blanket so tightly that she stopped breathing," the suit said.

According to an Albuquerque police report:

Lysaght said she wrapped Rochelle in a blanket snugly because it was late, and the girl did not want to go to sleep. She told police that the girl's arms and legs were inside the blanket but that her head was free.

"Ms. Lysaght stated when she bundles Rochelle in the blanket, she does it to calm her down, not allowing her to swing her arms and kick her legs," the report said.

Lysaght said she thought Rochelle had fallen asleep, but, after about three minutes, she noticed that the child was unresponsive, so she called 911.

Paramedics found the girl with a faint pulse, administered CPR, then took her to University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:35 a.m. June 24, 2001, according to the police report and an autopsy report by the Office of the Medical Investigator.

Lysaght told police that Rochelle was on medication for asthma, but that "she has not needed to give any medication to the child in about 3 weeks," according to the police report.