New Mexico CYFD Agrees to Pay $5.5 Million to Settle a Lawsuit Over Wrongful Death of 8-Year-Old Girl

The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle a lawsuit stemming from the wrongful death of an eight-year-old girl, according to a settlement agreement entered in First District Court on Jan. 12.

Attorneys representing the estate of Samantha Rubino, and on behalf of her surviving sibling, filed a civil lawsuit against the agency for wrongful death. The complaint filed in 2022 states that CYFD officials breached their obligations to allow Rubino and her sibling a safe home and ignored but placed them with their father, months after the children said he was abusive.

A jury found the girl’s father, Juan Lerma, killed Rubino in August 2020. Lerma was convicted in November 2022 of intentional abuse of a child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence. He received a mandatory life sentence.

Read the source article at Source NM