Staff Report

SOUTH BEND — Three Indiana Department of Child Services employees are being sued in connection with the 2021 death of a LaPorte County boy.

Four-year-old Judah Morgan was found dead, starved and beaten in the home of his biological parents in October 2021.

A civil lawsuit filed Oct. 9 in U.S. District Court Northern District of Indiana is seeking damages for the alleged negligence and misconduct of three DCS workers.

The suit alleges their actions set the stage for the boy’s death at the hands of his parents, Alan Morgan and Mary Yoder. He had been sent to live with them about six months before his body was discovered.

The boy, who was born with drugs in his system, had been in state protective custody since birth and was raised by a relative before being returned to his parents. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the relative.

Morgan was sentenced in late 2022 to 70 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to abusing and killing his son. Yoder has pleaded guilty to neglect resulting in death and other charges and could face nearly 50 years in prison.