Noah Cuatro smiles in a photograph (GoFundMe).
Los Angeles County will pay a family $20 million after its Department of Children and Family Services failed to act on a court order that would have removed a 4-year-old boy before his parents tortured and murdered him in 2019.
California”s largest county announced the settlement on Tuesday in the lawsuit over the death of Noah Cuatro at the hands of his parents.
“It is DCFS’ hope that this resolution gives Noah’s family a sense of peace,” the agency said in a statement. “His death and other child tragedies reveal the complexities of child welfare work, which often involves helping families heal from issues of generational trauma, untreated mental health, domestic violence and drug use, among other deeply personal challenges.”
Noah’s parents lost custody of him once but he was returned to them in 2018.
Two months before he died, the boy’s social worker requested that he be removed from his parents once again — a request later approved by a judge but simply never put into action by authorities. As a result, the boy’s family filed a lawsuit against the child welfare agency.
A separate Department of Children and Family Services investigation began the month before the murder, based on a tip that he had been sexually abused and other forms of domestic violence were occurring where he lived. This time, child welfare agents were trying to interview family members when Noah died, DCFS officials told KNBC.
In response to the boy’s death, the agency hired thousands of social workers to decrease caseloads and is utilizing an electronic system to provide emergency response workers with “immediate access” to criminal background data, among other reforms.
“The death of Noah Cuatro was a heartbreaking tragedy,” L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a statement. “While nothing can undo the harm he suffered, today’s $20 million settlement provides some measure of support to his surviving family.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, Jose Maria Cuatro, Jr., 33, and Ursula Elaine Juarez, 31, in March 2024 pleaded no contest to two counts each for the July 2019 death of their son. The boy’s father accepted culpability on charges of murder in the first degree and torture. The boy’s mother accepted culpability on charges of murder in the second degree and torture.
The pair reported the child’s death as an accidental drowning that occurred in a community swimming pool at the apartments where the family lived in Palmdale. An autopsy, however, put the lie to that claim.
Though Noah died by asphyxiation, there was no water in his lungs and his hair was dry when he was found. The medical examiner also turned up evidence of blunt force trauma and sexual assault. Noah also had multiple ribs in various stages of healing, bruises all over his body, and other internal injuries — including a lacerated liver.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert G. Chu sentenced Jose Cuatro to 32 years to life in prison; Juarez received 22 years to life in prison.
As part of their plea deal, both defendants waived any right to appeal their sentences or convictions.
Noah’s great-grandmother excoriated the parents during their sentencing hearing in a statement read by a prosecutor, according to a courtroom report by City News Service, a regional wire service.
“Why, my God, why is there such evil in you, Ursula? What kind of monster are you, Jose?” Evangelina Hernandez, the great-grandmother who previously had custody of Noah, said in her statement. “You’re both very sick! You are the worst kind of sickos.”
Hernandez also said Juarez had previously told her that she did not like her own son. That sad state of affairs was amplified by the apparent disdain Jose Cuatro had for Noah. Prosecutors allege the boy’s father did not even believe Noah was his son and subsequently targeted him for brutal punishment, according to grand jury transcripts in the case obtained by NBC’s West Coast flagship KNBC.
To complicate the tragedy, authorities in the Golden State apparently knew about the abuse Noah endured for quite some time and, in the end, they failed to act — which some believe hastened the boy’s death.
“It deserves to be noted that the tragedy of Noah Cuatro has been and will continue to be felt far beyond these courtroom walls,” State Assemblymember Tom Lackey, a Republican, said during the sentencing hearing. “Noah was not only betrayed by his parents, who are sitting here today, but the network established to protect children from mistreatment also failed.”
Noah’s great aunt, in a victim impact statement, said her otherwise fond memories of Juarez had been erased by her ghastly crimes.
“She would paint a picture of her being a great mom while abusing Noah behind closed doors,” Maggie Hernandez, the boy’s great aunt, said. “I will never forget him and I will never forget the monsters who took him away from us.”
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report
