THE BRONX — The mother of a 3-year-old boy who was beaten to death in foster care plans to sue the Administration for Children's Services for $7.5 million, claiming the agency took another one of her children away as punishment after she criticized how the city handled her son's case.
Ashley Ramirez, the mother of Poseidon Quinones, was scorching in her statements that the city put her son in harm's way when they placed him with Fernando and Madeline Yensi, his paternal grandmother, a household with a history of child abuse.
The child had been taken away from the parents after a fight, which did not involve the boy.
Fernando Yensi then beat Poseidon unconscious in his grandmother's East 163rd Street home, with the boy dying at Lincoln Hospital on Nov. 15, prosecutors said. He was charged with manslaughter.
Ramirez garnered headlines when she announced Nov. 25 she intended to sue the city over Poseidon's death, and she claimed the city quickly retaliated.
On Dec. 13, an ACS employee took another son, 2-year-old Kahleem Smalls Jr., away from Ramirez and Kahleem Smalls Sr., her husband and the child's biological father, according to a notice to sue the city.
ACS filed a petition in court claiming the boy was in danger after saying Ramirez and Kahleem Sr. took him to the hospital thinking he had ingested dye after leaving him alone for 30 minutes. The hospital confirmed he had not ingested any dye, but the agency insisted on taking the boy away, according to their lawyer Abe George.
ACS was "retaliating against these folks for filing their initial notice of claim against the city for what happened with Poseidon," George said.
Public Advocate Letitia James is investigating the issues raised in the notice of claim about ACS taking Kahleem Jr. out of his parents' custody, according to a letter sent by her office.
Ramirez described Kahleem Jr.'s removal as a particularly nerve-racking experience for her, given what she had just gone through with Poseidon.
"You never know what could happen. You never know what type of people your kid is with," she said.
"I just lost my son not even a month ago," she continued, "and then they just came and removed Kahleem Jr. out of nowhere."
The court ruled that Kahleem Jr. should return to his parents in January, but ACS appealed this decision, "demonstrating their animus toward Kahleem Sr. and Ashley Ramirez," according to the notice of claim.
In a May 28 hearing, a family court judge dismissed ACS's petition, ruling that Kahleem Jr. had not eaten dye and that there was no evidence of Ramirez and Kahleem Sr. leaving Kahleem Jr. alone for half an hour.
"The judge specifically stated that Kahleem Sr. and Ashley Ramirez did what any prudent parent would do given the circumstances," the notice of claim reads.
Kahleem Jr. was returned to his parents May 28, and the couple is now seeking $7.5 million from the city for psychological, mental and emotional injuries.
The Public Advocate's office filed a class-action lawsuit against the agency on behalf of 10 foster children July 8 claiming that it has failed to ensure appropriate placements and protect children from poor treatment.
The New York City Law Department referred questions about Ramirez's notice of claim to the comptroller's office, which did not respond to a request for comment.
An ACS spokesman said the agency is required to investigate reports of child abuse it receives from the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment and that family court is responsible for reviewing removal decisions.
The agency described James' class action suit as "a simplistic approach to a complex system" and maintained that it would not help improve the well-being of children in foster care.
