CPS Let Parents Torture Son to Death To Avoid Being Called Racist

CPS Let Parents Torture Son to Death To Avoid Being Called Racist

Noah Alejandro Cuatro was born on August 20th, 2014, in Palmdale, California, to parents Ursula Elaine Juarez and Jose Maria Cuatro Jr. The pair met at John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills and had their first son when Ursula was 18 years old. Noah was born two years later, followed by a daughter and another son.

From very early on, the couple had already racked up a long history with social services. In fact, LA County DCFS had their eyes on the family before Noah was even born. In 2014, Ursula was accused of harming her infant half-sister, Bobby Jean, causing skull fractures. Oftentimes, skull fractures in an infant or a toddler point to shaken baby syndrome.

DCFS social worker Jennifer Montagna wasn’t going to allow Ursula to have another opportunity to harm a child. She launched a full investigation and knew that Ursula was pregnant again; as such, she arranged to have Noah taken away from his parents as soon as he was born.

During the first few weeks of his life, Noah bounced from foster home to foster home and never formed the bond that newborns have with their mothers. It later became obvious that Ursula didn’t develop any motherly feelings towards her son. However, she was already accused of harming Bobby Jean, so it was a very good possibility that she would have hurt Noah even if the two had bonded.

A Safe Haven with Great-Grandmother Evangelina

After a few weeks of bouncing around in the foster care system, Noah was placed in the temporary custody of his great-grandmother, Evangelina Hernandez, who he would go on to stay with for nine months. She was a capable, responsible, and loving caregiver.

Noah formed perhaps the most enduring bond of his life while staying with Evangelina; sometimes he called his great-grandmother “mommy.” Evangelina was getting him to all of his doctor’s appointments and kept him clean and well-fed. She made sure he had plenty of age-appropriate toys and enriching activities to do throughout the day. Noah was thriving in her care.

However, like many of the narcissistic parents we cover, Ursula and Jose wanted nothing more than to sabotage their son’s life. They felt that DCFS had robbed them of the first months of caring for their son. When DCFS couldn’t find concrete proof that Ursula was responsible for Bobby Jean’s skull fracture, the investigation was determined to be inconclusive, and Noah was subsequently returned to his parents’ care. Evangelina voiced her concerns about the safety of their son, but her concerns didn’t seem to count for much.

So one would think that once Ursula and Jose got their son back, all would be sunshine and daisies, right? It wouldn’t be long before the family was back on DCFS’s radar.

The Second Removal and Bithiah’s House

In November of 2016, when Noah was just a little over two years old, Kaiser Permanente called DCFS to let them know that Noah had missed his last eight doctor’s appointments. In fact, they had missed eight appointments in the course of just six months. Because of Noah’s young age and his history with DCFS, it was very important that he was being seen by a doctor. This isn’t just important for at-risk children in general; babies and toddlers need to reach a lot of developmental milestones. If Noah wasn’t showing up for his doctor’s appointments, there was no way for professionals to monitor his progress.

Ursula claimed it was an issue with the family’s insurance, but that was quickly proven to be a lie. A social worker verified Noah always had medical coverage; it never lapsed. And again, DCFS had to intervene.

When they visited the family’s home to investigate, they found that Noah was so weak and malnourished that he couldn’t even walk, which placed him in the first percentile for boys his age. At two years old, he weighed just 17 pounds. The average weight for a two-year-old boy should be between 27 and 30 pounds. Reports said he appeared very thin. Had they been going to his regular doctor’s appointments, this would have been a non-issue.

Ursula and Jose had hidden the little boy for a reason. Ursula said Noah ate too much, which made him vomit and thus not gain weight. She explained that he was a troublemaker and would run around the house eating everything until he couldn’t take it anymore and threw up.

Once again, Noah was removed from his parents’ custody. This time he was placed in a treatment center called Bithiah’s House in the San Gabriel Valley. There, the goal was to restore his health, which was exactly what happened. Noah didn’t have any of the issues his parents claimed, such as vomiting or naughty behavior. The administrator at Bithiah’s House, Michelle Thompson, said: “He was not quite caught up, but almost there. He was running around, he was sliding off the slide. He would call himself ‘No-No.'”

Return to Evangelina and the Failed Reunification Plan

Afterward, Noah was returned to the care of his great-grandmother, Evangelina. During this time, the two lit up each other’s lives. By now, Noah was walking, talking, and singing—his favorite song was Old MacDonald. He loved cuddles, and he would hug his great-grandmother and say: “You know what time it is, Grandma? It’s time for you to hold me and tell me you love me.”

Even though Evangelina had temporary custody of Noah, his parents were granted visitation. They were allowed to take him for a few hours at a time, which broke Evangelina’s heart. Noah would scream and cry for up to 45 minutes before and after each visit and kept telling her that he did not want to go. It didn’t really even seem like Ursula and Jose were that enthusiastic about being with Noah either. The couple never made their son a priority; oftentimes they bailed on visitation, much to Noah’s benefit. But when it came to the DCFS investigations against them, the couple made it seem like they really wanted Noah back and fought to get their way.

In 2017, the DCFS investigation that had Noah removed for the second time lasted a year and a half. Noah would be returned to his parents, but Ursula and Jose were given stipulations, including enrolling Noah in daycare and therapy. He needed to show up at his doctor’s appointments, and the couple needed to complete a parenting program with a focus on parent-child bonding. All of this would be arranged with the help of DCFS, and they would have a specific social worker to help them oversee this process.

Since Evangelina no longer had legal custody, all she could do was stand by her great-grandson and try to advocate for him. There were a lot of new social workers coming in and out of the picture, so she made it her duty to make sure they were all informed about what was going on with Noah.

Eventually, DCFS social worker Susan Johnson was assigned to Noah’s case. She was the person who fought harder for the boy than anyone else did. Her job as a continuing services child social worker required her to oversee the reunification of the family and report back to the courts. Her colleagues had warned her that Ursula and Jose were manipulators and proven liars.

Ms. Johnson read through all of Noah’s case files and made it a point to listen to the concerns of Evangelina, who at this point felt pretty dismissed by the system. In addition, Ms. Johnson made a number of visits to the family home where she was able to make contact with Noah. Ms. Johnson expressed a lot of concern regarding Noah; he seemed to exhibit telltale signs of child abuse and neglect. She noticed this in some of the other children as well, but no one really seemed to be as bad off as Noah was.

The Family Scapegoat and Persistent Lies

Ms. Johnson was worried that Noah was being used as a scapegoat in his family. According to psychologists, some families will adopt the method of a scapegoat to cope with their dysfunctional family relationships. Whether it be consciously or subconsciously, they will sometimes choose one member of the family to inherit all of the blame for their problems. Anything bad that happens within the family is assigned to one of the children; they take the biggest punishment, mental and physical.

Several months into the reunification plan, Ursula and Jose failed to enroll Noah in therapy or daycare. They never completed the parenting classes they were supposed to take; in fact, they ignored everything the court was requiring them to do. Noah was telling family members and social workers that he did not want to be with his parents. Despite Ursula and Jose’s unwillingness to cooperate, the courts decided to keep moving forward with the reunification plan.

Ms. Johnson told the court that Ursula and Jose had lied to her multiple times. They continually lied about obtaining medical insurance, and they still weren’t getting Noah the medical attention that he needed. Ursula even lied about being pregnant; she denied two pregnancies only to give birth both times. Allegedly, Ursula tried to sneak out of the hospital with her baby because she knew that DCFS was going to be called and that would open a new investigation.

Susan Johnson would try to make unannounced home visits to the family, but most of the time they wouldn’t answer their door. They would make excuses, such as claiming they weren’t home. It was impossible for Susan to enter the home as she did not have an official warrant.

Escalating Abuse and the Fight for a Removal Order

By the spring of 2019, when Noah was just four years old, his life hadn’t gotten any better whatsoever. He was no closer to a normal childhood, and the few advocates he had looking out for him seemed to be meeting constant obstacles.

In March of 2019, Ms. Johnson showed up at the address Ursula and Jose claimed to live at, only to find that they didn’t live there at all. Jose’s sister answered the door and said her brother and his kids had not lived there for at least four months. His mother, Nuvia Barrios, said the family occasionally stayed there and confessed to being worried about her grandkids. Noah was always hungry, according to Ms. Barrios, who also worried about her grandchildren not being in school.

In March 2019, Noah’s aunt, Maggie Hernandez, called the hotline to report a troubling conversation that she had with her nephew. In this conversation, Noah told her some things that led her to believe that he was not only the victim of child abuse, but sexual assault as well. She said it wasn’t just this conversation that made her think that he was experiencing sexual assault, but also a change in his entire personality. His demeanor was different. During an overnight stay, Noah had night terrors and complained that his butt was hurting. Above all, Noah changed from an exuberant boy to a fearful one. She said she was very worried that nobody else would be willing to advocate for him.

Susan Johnson learned about this report when she read it. She immediately paid a visit to the home to investigate. What she found on this visit was the last straw for her: Noah’s arms and neck were covered in bruises, and his back was completely lathered in some thick white cream that she couldn’t identify. Ursula tried to explain the bruising on his neck and upper arms was just because Noah was clumsy. She also said that the cream on his back was for eczema.

This visit raised every red flag, and Ms. Johnson immediately shared the information with her superiors. She told them about his extensive bruising and that it seemed like Noah was being coached about what was happening to him. He told Ms. Johnson that he was being hit, but then later recanted his statement, which is something often seen in victims of child abuse and domestic violence. His parents had also been given countless opportunities to get him medical attention and to enroll him in school and therapy, which they were court-ordered to do. However, they weren’t doing anything to help Noah, and his condition was only getting worse.

Ms. Johnson argued that Noah needed to be taken away from his parents for a third time, but when she brought this up, she was told that she needed a warrant, which wasn’t going to be easy. It seemed that her superiors were not paying much attention to her concerns. The only thing Ms. Johnson could do was file a report and let investigators look into the case.

Bureaucratic Negligence and the Fear of Being Called “Racist”

However, as we’ve seen in other cases—most recently that of Anthony Avalos—as soon as investigators get involved, a new caseworker is brought in to take the lead on the case. This new caseworker was Maggie Vasquez-Ducos. If you’re familiar with Anthony’s case or the case of Gabriel Fernandez, then you’ll remember how their social worker, Barbara Dixon, was dismissive, uncaring, and downright negligent as it pertained to both of them. Unfortunately for Noah, Ms. Ducos was a real Barbara Dixon.

As soon as she entered the picture, she started to undo all of Ms. Johnson’s work. She did not read any of Noah’s reports. The very first time she showed up at the residence, she found a smiling Ursula and Noah covered in bruises. Ursula and Jose immediately began explaining that he had fallen from his bunk bed. Ms. Ducos believed them right away.

They went on to explain how the previous social worker, Susan Johnson, and the rest of DCFS were out to get them. They told her they were being targeted due to racism and that DCFS had already done enough to break her family apart. Ursula had also said: “Why would we hurt our baby when we just got him back? I have had this case open for four years and I have been told I’m good enough to only have my two kids, but not Noah. How does that make sense?”

It didn’t take much to fool Ms. Ducos into believing that they were honest. When she talked to Noah, he denied any claims of child abuse or sexual assault; as such, she decided that none of the previous reports were truthful either and closed her investigation as inconclusive.

At the same time, Susan Johnson still hadn’t given up on Noah and was desperately working to get him out of his toxic household. She filed a complaint with the courts, which resulted in a petition to remove Noah from his parents’ custody for a third time. She also followed through on her superior’s challenge to get the warrant. The juvenile court granted the order to remove Noah and to have him examined to determine if sexual assault had occurred. The petition was signed by a juvenile court judge in the early summer of 2019.

When her superiors heard that she had actually gone ahead and obtained a warrant to remove him from his household, they called their own emergency meeting where Susan Johnson, Maggie Vasquez-Ducos, and DCFS leaders discussed Noah’s case and whether or not they were going to follow through. Ms. Johnson later recalled trying to advocate for Noah in this meeting; she tried to warn everyone that if they didn’t act on this court order, they could have a dead child on their hands. One of the members told Ms. Johnson to stop talking, while Ms. Ducos said she believed the boy was fine and there was nothing wrong with the family.

Ms. Ducos also accused Ms. Johnson of siding with Evangelina Hernandez in an attempt to sabotage the family and keep them away from Noah. She also said that she was concerned that if DCFS had any more involvement, they would be guilty of discrimination due to Ursula and Jose being Latino.

Despite there being an active court order to remove Noah from his parents’ custody, no one ever followed through with it. Ms. Ducos, her superiors, and DCFS decided they needed to conduct a “more thorough investigation” before they could justify such drastic measures as removing Noah for a third time. At this point, Susan Johnson was completely removed from the case; Maggie Vasquez-Ducos and another social worker were once again assigned.

Social workers have 10 days to take children from their homes after a commissioner issues a removal order; otherwise, they must alert the court. But by mid-June, 29 days had passed, and no one ever told the juvenile court that he remained with his parents.

The Final Days

In the summer of 2019, the Cuatros were living in an apartment in Palmdale, California. Around this time, Maggie Vasquez-Ducos and the other social worker paid a visit to their apartment. They found Noah with a cut across his face. Ursula and Jose provided three different explanations as to how Noah received this injury. Allegedly, Noah came running up to them a number of times to announce things like: “They give me lots of food and they take good care of me.” These were obvious signs that Noah had been coached to cover up his parents’ wrongdoing.

After the visit, Ms. Ducos reported to the court that she still needed more time and was granted an additional 30 days to investigate the case. She emailed her superior saying that even though it was court-ordered, Noah didn’t need an examination because there were “no reports of sexual assault” in her opinion.

Ms. Ducos tried to visit the family several more times and was denied, and was verbally attacked by Jose and Ursula. Despite being Latina herself, they claimed she was racist and wanted to take their child away. Still, Ms. Ducos kept defending them; she went on to claim that they were just overwhelmed by their previous experiences with social services.

Sometime on June 5th, 2019, a neighbor at the Mountain Shadows Apartments in Palmdale walked by the family’s apartment and heard a child crying: “No Daddy, no Mommy!”

A Staged Scene and Tragic Death

Just after 6:00 PM, 911 dispatchers received a call from the Palmdale apartment complex. It was Ursula. She told the dispatchers that they needed an ambulance and that her son Noah had been found unresponsive in the pool. Allegedly, the four-year-old had been swimming in the pool and drowned as a result of a terrible accident. She said that they tried to revive him, but they were unsuccessful.

But when the paramedics arrived on the scene, their story didn’t add up. Noah was fully clothed; he was completely dry. He didn’t look like a boy that had just been pulled from a pool.

Noah was taken to the hospital—first to the Palmdale Regional Medical Center, and later to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. No family members made it to his bedside. Dr. John Markham, who treated Noah, said he joined a group of doctors and nurses who held the boy’s hands in his final moments. He said: “We were with him as he left the Earth.”

Noah Cuatro was pronounced dead the following morning. He was just a month shy of his fifth birthday.

Noah’s body revealed clues that were inconsistent with that of an accidental drowning, and the medical examiner would later find that he didn’t have any water in his lungs. In fact, his autopsy reported bruising all over his body. He had multiple broken ribs that were in various stages of healing, which pointed to prolonged, chronic beatings. The autopsy revealed undeniable evidence of sexual assault; they found trauma to Noah’s rectum, but could not determine what had caused it.

Noah was killed by means of extensive torture. Noah’s cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma. The manner of death was ruled a homicide. Police had their eyes on only one pair of suspects.

Eyewitness News Report & Investigation Findings

An investigation, new video, and frantic calls to 911 unfolded after the death of four-year-old Noah Cuatro last summer. Noah’s parents told police the boy drowned in a swimming pool, but according to grand jury testimony just released, the parents staged the scene to derail investigators. Armand Hernandez has the story you’re seeing first on Eyewitness News:

Four-year-old Noah Cuatro, unconscious on the living room floor. His parents telling First Responders they had just pulled him from the swimming pool.

Ursula: “We brought him upstairs because we were trying to get… we were trying to think like maybe he will wake up.” Dispatcher: “Where are you at right now?” Ursula: “In the house, in the living room.” Dispatcher: “Okay, so you’re in the living room and have laid him down?”

Noah’s father, Jose Cuatro, reenacting his desperate CPR attempts at their Palmdale apartment on July 5th last year:

Jose: “And I was just like, ‘No, no, come on son, please breathe.'”

Their story soon unraveled. Jose Cuatro and Noah’s mother, Ursula Juarez, are charged with the torture and murder of Noah. The case has the Department of Children and Family Services under fire, too. Just eight weeks before Noah’s death, a DCFS worker, Susan Johnson, had obtained a judge’s order to remove Noah from his home, but Johnson’s supervisors intervened. Noah died in a home DCFS itself had deemed high-risk.

A deputy responding to the 911 call describes how, in the hospital, the parents’ lies were exposed:

Deputy: “He was transferred to the hospital. No signs of drowning at all, no water in the lungs, but there are signs of physical trauma.”

What doctors and the coroner did find were bruises all over, healing rib fractures, brain swelling, and injuries consistent with assault. Cause of death: asphyxiation and blunt force trauma, looking like there was some sort of strangulation. Noah and his siblings had been in and out of foster care. Prosecutors allege Jose Cuatro targeted Noah, believing the boy was not his son—that at age two, back with his parents, Noah weighed 17 pounds and could not walk on his own.

Noah’s mother sent a chilling text message: “Almost killed him so many times I had to do CPR for him to wake up and stay alive, right?”

A check of security cameras at the pool showed no sign of Noah or his family that day. And about the frantic effort to revive Noah: there’s evidence that Noah was unconscious hours before the parents called 911.

Arrests, Indictments, and the Fight for Justice

The day after his death, Ursula and Jose were both arrested, and Noah’s remaining siblings were put into protective custody. Both Ursula and Jose were charged with child abuse and homicide. Bail was set at $4 million for Jose and $3 million for Ursula. Their case was brought to a grand jury in 2020.

The two of them were indicted on counts of homicide and torture, and Jose was charged with sexual assault against a minor resulting in death. If convicted as charged, Jose faces a possible maximum sentence of 47 years to life in state prison, and Ursula could face up to 32 years. Sadly, the death penalty is off the table thanks to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, who didn’t do any favors for Anthony Avalos either. Jose and Ursula are still awaiting trial in their criminal case.

In 2020, Evangelina Hernandez filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of herself and Noah’s surviving siblings. It stated that instead of protecting Noah and his siblings, DCFS continued to place the children with their abusive parents, where the children continued to be abused over the course of several years. It also claims that after Noah’s death, DCFS social workers made threats against Evangelina in an attempt to silence her. They told her that if she made any public statements about Noah’s case or mentioned any potential lawsuits, she would lose her request for guardianship of her other three great-grandchildren and would never see them again. The lawsuit has yet to be resolved, but is expected to be sometime in 2023.

Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services is named as an additional defendant. Hathaway-Sycamores knew of or suspected the misconduct occurring in Noah Cuatro’s home after the boy was sent to the agency by DCFS, but failed to report the misconduct. You’ll remember this agency from our Anthony Avalos case; they did nothing to help him either.

Aftermath and Memorial

In the wake of Noah’s death, Deputy D.A. Jonathan Hatami summoned several DCFS staffers who worked on Noah’s case, including Maggie Vasquez-Ducos and her supervisor. Both acknowledged they had not actually read Susan Johnson’s 26-page filing to the juvenile court to remove Noah, despite opposing it.

When the prosecutor asked Ms. Ducos: “You’re telling this jury that you decided not to follow the removal order that you never read, is that accurate?” she said she had, but then further explained that she read it after Noah passed away. None of the high-ranking DCFS administrators testified.

Noah Alejandro Cuatro was laid to rest at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California, during a private service. Loved ones remembered the little boy who loved Spider-Man, ponies, and PJ Masks, and who was excited about starting school. His gravestone, decorated with a little boy’s picture and a guitar, bears the inscription:

“A hug, a kiss, in Heaven’s bliss. Gone too soon, our baby.”