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[badboy78660]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/08/22/iowa-couple-gets-3-25-million-after-adopted-son-killed-by-birth-father/588994001/

DES MOINES --- An Ankeny, Iowa, couple whose adopted baby was killed after his birth parents regained custody in 2014 was awarded $3.25 million last week in a lawsuit against their adoption lawyer.

The lawsuit filed by Rachel and Heidi McFarland in August 2014 said that their adoption attorney, Jason Rieper, allowed the couple to believe that he'd gotten the baby's birth mother's signature on a crucial release-of-custody document — but he actually had failed to get the signature.

The baby was later returned to his birth mother and was killed by his birth father.

A jury unanimously decided on Tuesday that Rieper's actions caused $3.25 million worth of emotional distress to the McFarlands, court records show.

This verdict doesn't fix everything, as the McFarlands can never get their son back — but the jury's decision reassured the couple that they did everything they could for their first child, they said in an interview Wednesday.

"I don't know exactly what moving forward is, but I know both Heidi and I feel a lightening. A weight has been lifted," Rachel McFarland said.

The 3-month-old baby, Gabriel McFarland, died April 22, 2014, about five weeks after his birth mother, Markeya Atkins, got him back from from the McFarlands, whom he had lived with since birth. Police charged the child's father, Drew James Weehler-Smith, 17, with murder after Atkins found the baby "alone, pale, wet and foaming from his mouth and nose" in her apartment.

Weehler-Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in January 2015 and received a 50-year prison sentence.

Rachel and Heidi McFarland, who had adopted Gabriel King McFarland before he was returned to his birth mother's custody, say the infant's death is "a life sentence for all of us." The boy's father was sentenced to 50 years for his death.

The trial for the couple's civil lawsuit against Rieper unfolded in the last two weeks, bringing up painful memories, they said. And the couple said they found it frustrating that they were not allowed to testify about their son being killed, because the civil case focused solely on Rieper's actions, not the aftermath.

"His negligence set our baby up on a course that was irreversible," Rachel McFarland said in the interview.

But the McFarlands are grateful for the jury's decision, saying that it brings them a feeling of validation.

"We weren't wrong," Heidi McFarland said. "We were totally correct in being concerned for our child."

Rieper did not respond to a reporter's call seeking comment on Wednesday morning.

"God bless the civil justice system for holding people accountable for the damage they do to others, and to this jury who came to the right conclusion even without all of the evidence," Roxanne Conlin, who represented the McFarlands in the civil lawsuit, said in a statement after Tuesday's verdict.

After Gabriel's death, the McFarlands adopted a daughter, and Heidi gave birth to their youngest daughter. London McFarland is now 3 years old, and Vienna McFarland is 2.

But the couple will forever remember Gabriel, and they frequently tell their daughters about their older brother, they said.

"He is the baby that made us mothers," Rachel said.

 

[finowns]

Jesus, what a horrible story.

 

[see5harp]

I'm sure the money is nice and all but the damn headline should be that the father got 50 years.

 

[otapnam]

No winners here.

Poor child.

 

[badboy78660]

I'm sure the money is nice and all but the damn headline should be that the father got 50 years.

I forgot to bold that part. Thank you for reminding me.

 

[SecretMoblin]

Parents who adopt are heroes.

That description of the infant when he was found...

 

[zeemumu]

I don't understand how you can put in the amount of effort needed for a custody battle and then kill the baby with negligence in less than two months. I feel terrible for his adopted parents

 

[QuantumZebra]

Parents who adopt are heroes.

That description of the infant when he was found...

I want to adopt at least one child with my wife, and reading that made me physically ill.

I pray we don't experience anything like that.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

I don't understand how you can put in the amount of effort needed for a custody battle and then kill the baby with negligence in less than two months. I feel terrible for his adopted parents

He wasn't really a part of the "custody battle." The biomom had second thoughts and was able to revoke the adoption because the adoption attorney was incompetent.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Jesus that is a sad story

 

[Flying Toaster]

Parents who adopt are heroes.

That description of the infant when he was found...

This cannot be stated enough. Family does not need to be blood related. This entire situation is absolutely disgusting.

 

[Vagabundo]

My family fostered for years when I was growing up. Around a hundred kids came and went in short term and longer term placements.

The insane stuff some kids go through would break your heart.

 

[entremet]

17-year-old father. Usually not a great sign. RIP to the child. Horrific story.

 

[Varjis]

Man, just when I get a nice does of good humanity with the little league world series stories I make the mistake of reading this.

 

[ShyMel]

It's not made clear in the posted article, but another linked article confirms that the baby died from head trauma. At first I thought the birth father was ignorantly neglectful, but what kind of monster hits a baby? That attorney screwed up royally and will have to live the rest of their life knowing that they led to the baby's death.

 

[entremet]

It's not made clear in the posted article, but another linked article confirms that the baby died from head trauma. At first I thought the birth father was ignorantly neglectful, but what kind of monster hits a baby? That attorney screwed up royally and will have to live the rest of their life knowing that they led to the baby's death.

Yeah, it wasn't clear in the OP article. Yeesh. Poor baby.

 

[andythinkpad]

What a horrible story.

 

[IggyChooChoo]

It's not made clear in the posted article, but another linked article confirms that the baby died from head trauma. At first I thought the birth father was ignorantly neglectful, but what kind of monster hits a baby? That attorney screwed up royally and will have to live the rest of their life knowing that they led to the baby's death.

Jesus. Thanks for clearing that up, at least.

 

[Panthalassic]

What an awful story. I regret reading about it.