Toddler found dead in bathtub. Grandma sues Alabama agency over handling of abuse case
A woman is suing the Alabama Department of Human Resources, saying it failed to act on reports of abuse before her 3-year-old granddaughter died.
The lawsuit filed Sept. 29 in the Circuit Court of Etowah County names the Alabama department and several employees as defendants.
The Gadsden Police Department responded to a welfare check on Aydah DiMaso on Oct. 4, 2021, shortly after her third birthday, the lawsuit says. The toddler was found dead in the bathtub.
Her immediate cause of death was ruled to be blunt force trauma, the suit says. Gadsden police found the toddler had experienced months of abuse at the hands of her father, Nikolas DiMaso, the suit says.
Allegations of abuse
DiMaso was charged with capital murder, according to the filing and AL.com. His girlfriend, Haley Metz, was charged with aggravated child abuse, jail records show. .
Both are awaiting trial.
Two years later, the girl’s grandmother, Shundra Davis, as an estate representative, is suing the DHR, DiMaso and Metz. She’s seeking monetary damages, according to the suit.
“The system failed Aydah at every turn,” Tommy James, one of the attorneys representing Davis, said in a statement shared with McClatchy News.
A spokesperson for Alabama’s DHR said the department cannot comment on pending litigation. No attorney information is listed for either DiMaso or Metz in Etowah County jail records.
“DHR Defendants breached their mandatory duty owed to Aydah by allowing her to remain in the ‘unsafe environment’ exposed to ongoing abuse and/or neglect, which proximately caused her death,” the suit says.
The lawsuit says the defendants failed to handle the reports of suspected abuse despite “existing cases with DHR and numerous complaints concerning Aydah’s safety.”
Aydah remained in the custody of her father and stepmother until her death.
James said the lawsuit serves as “a wake-up call to every individual and institution tasked with protecting our children.”
Remembering Aydah
In a Facebook group called Justice for Aydah, family members said they fought to keep custody of the young girl, but after a yearlong legal battle, custody was ultimately awarded to her father.
Davis has since promised to change the system that she said led to her granddaughter’s death.
“I’m thankful that God let us have you if only for a little while and I VOW that I will fight this system until the laws have been changed!” Davis wrote.
Davis also posted on Facebook on the day marking two years since her granddaughter’s death.
“I still ache and I still and forever will have a missing piece of my heart,” she wrote. “We loved you with everything that we had because we knew every single moment was a blessing.”
Gadsden is about 60 miles northeast of Birmingham.
This story was originally published October 6, 2023 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Toddler found dead in bathtub. Grandma sues Alabama agency over handling of abuse case."