NEW HAMPSHIRE—
Parts of a case against the Division for Children, Youth, and Families have been thrown out by the state of New Hampshire. The lawsuit says that the Division failed to protect a baby girl who died just days after she was born.
Matthewilynn Kitner’s grandparents said they were afraid something bad would happen to her and that DCYF was to blame for the baby’s death. The states didn’t agree, saying that Mattilynn’s death was sad but not intentional.
She died in January 2022, when she was only 17 days old. Asphyxia from smothering was written on the autopsy report as the cause of death.
The grandparents’ lawyer, Mike Lewis, said, “This will hurt them forever.” “They don’t have a grandchild.”
On Monday, Lewis went to Merrimack Superior Court to be heard in a case that his grandparents had made against DCYF.
“DCYF put this 2-day-old infant into the hands of people who were not able to protect her from the causes that killed her,” he said.
Mattilynn’s grandparents sued because they were afraid for her life after she was born with drugs in her system and because they thought she wouldn’t be safe with her mother because she used drugs.
Official records uncovered by News 9 Investigates show that Mattilynn’s mother took fentanyl within a week of giving birth.
The child’s grandparents said that DCYF wasn’t doing its job to protect the child when it was told about suspected abuse. The state is fighting back, though.
“The state moved to dismiss our complaint, partly,” he said. The claims of negligence and breach of fiduciary duty can go to court, and they don’t differ about that at this point. They don’t want to go to court over the breaking of the state constitution that we’ve said happened.
The state wouldn’t say anything, but in its move, it said that Mattilynn’s death was an accident and not caused by drugs or crime.
The judge has taken the matter into account.
