Child welfare, sheriff’s office failed to protect infant killed in Goshen massacre, suit says
The father of the 10-month-old killed in a massacre in central California that left six executed has filed a lawsuit against Tulare County officials and law enforcement accusing them of failing to remove the child from an unfit home.
Nycholas was shot in the head as he was held by his 16-year-old mother, Alissa Parraz, who was attempting to flee the Jan. 16 massacre before being shot herself multiple times in Goshen, a community west of Visalia, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office has said.
The father of the baby and fiancé to Parraz, Shayne Maupin, filed the lawsuit Aug. 4, according to court records.
The lawsuit claims child welfare service workers and personnel from the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office failed to remove the infant from the home despite gang members living there and the discovery of weapons and methamphetamine.
It names seven deputies and four child welfare service workers.
Tulare County workers and deputies could have prevented the death of the child, according to Wyatt Vespermann, an attorney representing Maupin.
“The number of red flags and missed opportunities by both Tulare County Child Welfare Services and the sheriff’s office are too many to count,” Vespermann said in a news release. “What happened to this young family is simply unacceptable.”
The damages should be determined by a jury trial, the complaint says. The next hearing is Dec. 6.
The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office and Tulare County Counsel did not return requests for a comment.
Child welfare services and Goshen family
Tulare County officials have noted the 10-month-old had been returned to the young mother on Jan. 13, three days before the massacre.
Workers had taken the child because the mother — who was 15 at the time — seemed unable to care for him, officials previously said.
The lawsuit says child welfare moved forward with a protective custody warrant on March 2, 2022, but failed to complete their due diligence six days later to identify relatives for potential placement of the child and other requirements.
A county employee determined in September 2022 that one of the relatives living in the home with Parraz was an active gang member previously accused of street terrorism, assault with a deadly weapon, evading police and a number of other charges, the complaint says.
Deputies visited the home during a warrant check on Jan. 3, observing weapons, body armor, methamphetamine and bullet holes in the walls of the home, but did not report it unfit for a child, the lawsuit says.
The child was returned to his mother on Jan. 13. The lawsuit says child service workers never visited the home before signing off on the reunification.
The massacre in Goshen
Investigators arrived at a home before 4 a.m. Jan. 16 where six people were shot to death in Goshen, deputies said.
The victims included the mother and son, as well as Eladio Parraz Jr., 52; Marcos Parraz, 19; Jennifer Analla, 49; and Rosa Parraz, 72.
A 911 caller reported hearing many rounds of gunfire coming from a home on Harvest Avenue near Road 68. Some of the victims were found in the street in front of the home, while others were found in the home, investigators said.
The teen mother was found in a nearby ditch, cradling her baby. Investigators said they believe the teen fled and was hiding before a gunman stood over her and fired.
Surveillance video caught the mother running away and placing the baby over a fence before jumping over herself. A man with a gun trailed behind her, video shows.
The eldest Parraz was shot in her bed and may have been sleeping when killed, investigators said.
First responders attempted life-saving efforts on some of the victims, but were unsuccessful. One victim was taken to a local hospital, where he died.
Noah Beard, 25, and Angel Uriarte, 35, have been charged with multiple homicides in the massacre.
Authorities have said the defendants and two of the victims have Norteño and Sureño gang ties, respectively, and that the massacre was part of a rivalry.
