Judge Dismisses Civil Case Against Fall River Schools in David Almond Starvation Death

The civil case against co-defendants the Fall River School Department and former Superintendent Maria Pontes related to a child abuse case that occurred in 2020, was dismissed by a Suffolk Superior Court judge last month.

It was likely the most shocking and disturbing case of child neglect seen in the South Coast after first responders found a starved and deceased 14-year-old triplet David Almond and his emaciated brother, in a small apartment on Green Street.

Both David Almond and his brother were diagnosed with severe autism, as was the third triplet brother who lived in a special-needs residential facility located in Rutland. The two abused triplets had been living and thriving there, until the Department of Children and Family Services returned them to their father and his girlfriend, both drug addicts, after removing them from the home.

A toddler in the residence and the boy’s half-sibling, tested positive for fentanyl after the discovery of the severe abuse and starvation of the Almond brothers.

The boys’ father, John Almond, and his girlfriend, Jaclyn Marie Coleman, both pleaded guilty to second degree murder in 2023. The pair were each sentenced to life imprison with the possible release after 20 years.

The deadly child abuse resulted in a damning report after an investigation by the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate that exposed multi-system failures by state and local agencies that led to the catastrophic abuse. 

The lawsuit

The School Department and Pontes were co-defendants in the lawsuit filed in February 2025 by Stephen J. Hanna, the conservator of the surviving triplets and represents the estate of David Almond.

The list of the other defendants includes the state Department of Child and Family Services, at least six of the agency’s social workers, Governor Maura Healey, the Secretary of Health and Human Services Katie Walsh, and the acting commissioner of DCF at the time, Staverne Miller.

The lawsuit maps out a disturbing timeline of DCF’s removal of the triplets and half-sibling and then the reunification with John Almond and Coleman who lived in the one-bedroom apartment along with his mother. According to the lawsuit, although the pair failed to follow a reunification plan, the children were sent back to them in February 2020.

Less than a month later, a COVID state-of-emergency was declared, and the state and country went on lockdown, complicating on-sight visits and students attending school in person.

As for the allegations against the School Department, the lawsuit contends “Fall River Public Schools Utterly Fails” the Almond children, and that by law due to their disabilities, it had a duty to provide them with educational services according to federal claimed negligence.

The lawsuit also claims that had the School Department taken appropriate steps to have contact with the family, they would have learned that the boys were being abused and would be obligated to take action that would likely get them removed from the home.

Defendants all request to dismiss case

The School Department, along with the social workers and the Commonwealth, all filed motions to dismiss the case, but only the city’s public-school department prevailed completely.

A Superior Court judge in his ruling filed May 5 said that “nothing in the complaint leads to a reasonable inference that the Schools either purposefully engaged in these failures “based on” the fact that the children suffered from autism.” 

While the judge allowed some of the counts against the Commonwealth and the social workers dismissed, he denied the dismissal of other legal allegations.

Mayor Paul Coogan, a retired Fall River vice principal and now School Committee chairman, weighed in on the May ruling and dismissal of the case against the School Department in a statement:

 “Although pleased that all claims against the City of Fall River have been dismissed, nothing can diminish the profound sadness associated with the loss of a young life. We extend our deepest condolences to all affected by this tragedy.  The City of Fall River remains committed to providing a safe, supportive, and caring environment for every student entrusted to our schools.”