Winston Protects Neglected Child from Unsafe and Unsanitary Home

In January 2019, when our client was nine years old, his diabetic and bedridden mother became unresponsive and was transported to the hospital, where she died soon afterward. The Henderson County Sheriff’s Department, which responded to the medical call for his mother, noticed obvious signs of neglect as well as shockingly unsanitary conditions in the home. Responding officers noted that the scene was “something out of a horror movie.” The officers contacted the Henderson County Department of Social Services (HCDSS), which conducted a site visit and filed a petition alleging neglect of our client. Following the visit from HCDSS, our client’s father was arrested for felony domestic neglect of a disabled or elder person and misdemeanor child abuse.

HCDSS was granted custody of our client and he was placed in foster care. During the next two years, our client’s father tested positive for methamphetamines, failed to take a parenting class, did not make proper efforts to secure employment, did not pay child support, and failed to respond to numerous HCDSS requests to conduct a home study. Consequently, the district court terminated the father’s parental rights in February 2021 on the grounds that the father had failed to make adequate progress towards remedying the circumstances leading to the prior neglect.

The father appealed the court’s decision and Winston attorneys prevailed before the Supreme Court of North Carolina in upholding the district court’s determination to terminate the father’s parental rights. The North Carolina Supreme Court agreed with all of the points from Winston’s briefing and held that the district court’s ruling was supported by clear and convincing evidence.

“We are extremely happy with this result from the North Carolina Supreme Court. This decision allows our client to put this horrific phase behind him and makes him eligible for adoption by his current foster family. Under the care of his foster family, our client has flourished—he has improved academically from being one year below grade level and consistently absent from school to being on the A/B honor roll with perfect attendance,” said a former Charlotte Associate. 

A former Charlotte Associate led the case with supervision from Charlotte Partner Jack Cobb.

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