who was – Attorneys for the family of 8-year-old Martonio Wilder, who died in June 2024, announced a wrongful-death lawsuit targeting Franklin County Children Services and related entities. The suit alleges agencies missed warning signs of ongoing abuse and failed to pr
For months, Martonio Wilder’s suffering was allegedly there—visible, escalating, and still missed. When his body was found in a trash bag in the attic of a Columbus-area home in June 2024, the questions that followed landed on the one job the agencies were supposed to do: check on him.
On Thursday, attorneys for Martonio’s family formally announced a wrongful-death lawsuit against Franklin County, among other defendants. The suit had been reported earlier in the week. and lawyers addressed it at a news conference Thursday. focusing on abuse they say Martonio endured before his death.
The lawsuit centers on the abuse Martonio suffered and the circumstances leading to his death. An autopsy revealed that Martonio died from asphyxiation caused by neck compression. It also found he had experienced severe malnutrition and dehydration.
Attorneys named Franklin County Children Services, the National Youth Advocacy Program, caseworker Haleigh Ingham, additional Franklin County officials, and Franklin County Job & Family Services. NYAP provides support for case management, and Ingham worked for the organization, the lawsuit states.
“This civil action addresses what happened outside the home,” attorney Robert Gresham said Thursday. “Who was responsible for checking on Martonio?”
In the lawsuit, attorneys argue that the agencies responsible for protecting children ignored warning signs and failed to properly monitor Martonio’s safety.
Gresham returned to the same point as the hearing unfolded: “Martonio didn’t need a system that could explain his death after the fact. He needed a system that protected him while he was alive. This lawsuit is about evaluating what happened while he was alive.”
Fellow attorney Anthony Pierson said the failure went beyond one child. “In every step of the way, the community failed this boy.” He added: “This case is larger than one child. It raises the fundamental question of. ‘Is this children’s services agency. these entities. designed to protect our children. holding up to what they are supposed to?”.
Pierson described what the family wants as accountability, not speculation. “There there were a lot of things leading up to this. There were signs all over the place. The family wants full accountability and also to make sure that this type of incident doesn’t happen to another family.”
The complaint alleges that Martonio’s condition showed clear signs of ongoing abuse and neglect that should have been discovered long before his death. It says Martonio “remained in a dangerous home environment” because agencies failed to properly monitor the family.
The allegations are stark. The complaint says Martonio’s “extreme low body weight, visible malnutrition, hunger, reported punishments, and escalating abuse” should have been identified and acted on by child welfare workers.
It also claims that Martonio’s mother, Lashanda Wilder, had previously lost custody of him before regaining custody through NYAP.
Court records. according to the complaint. add another layer to the timeline: before Martonio’s death. a relative warned Columbus police that Martonio and other children would be tortured. abused. and placed in danger if they returned home with their mother. Despite that warning, the children were allowed to leave with her.
“This wasn’t a just a surprise incident,” Pierson said. “There were a lot of things leading up to this.”
At the center of the suit is a dispute over oversight—especially whether legally required monitoring ever happened as scheduled. The complaint says the caseworker was required to personally verify Martonio’s safety and escalate concerns if his wellbeing could not be confirmed.
The lawsuit also accuses caseworker Haleigh Ingham of falsifying records to make it appear she completed legally required monthly visits to the boy’s home when those visits allegedly never happened. Ingham has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of tampering with records. On Thursday, Ingham’s attorney declined to comment on the case.
Attorneys for the Wilder family said paperwork became a substitute for real oversight.
They are seeking roughly $25,000 in financial damages, but ultimately want accountability from the county agencies. “This lawsuit asks a different question,” Pierson explained. “How does a child disappear in plain sight under the watchful eye of the entity that is there to protect him?. That’s the question. That question deserves answers. This family deserves the truth.”.
FCCS addressed Ingham’s status after the death. The agency confirmed that Ingham left NYAP shortly after Martonio’s death and has not been connected to any child welfare cases since then. “It should be noted that this caseworker left NYAP soon after Martonio’s death and has not been connected to any case or child in the care of Franklin County Children Services since that time. ” said Scott Varner with FCCS. Varner also emphasized that safety depends on more than one worker. “Because the safety of a child depends on an entire ecosystem of support. the weight of a tragedy like this should not be placed solely on the shoulders of a single caseworker. ” he said. “Keeping children safer is a shared responsibility that requires neighbors. educators. and families to look out for one another long before a crisis occurs. See something, say something.”.
The suit includes claims such as wrongful death, reckless and wanton conduct, negligence, statutory mandatory-reporter liability/negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation and negligent hiring, training, and supervising.
It also highlights the scale of the pressure placed on case management. FCCS says NYAP is assigned to roughly 480 ongoing cases each year to support families needing additional services.
In another development tied to the case, Lashanda Wilder and her girlfriend, Johnna Lowe, both pleaded guilty in Martonio’s death last year and are currently serving life sentences.
Pierson said the family isn’t only focused on what can be proved after the fact. “I think the first step and what this lawsuit is really aimed at isn’t an investigation into the facts of what was known, what wasn’t known, what should have been done,” Gresham said.
Pierson added that the Wilder family is not emotionally ready to speak with media. Still, he tried to capture the reality at the center of the filing. “I cannot imagine the type of pain and anguish this 8-year-old boy went through,” Pierson said.
For now, the case turns on a question attorneys have made impossible to ignore: whether the system built to check on children truly did—especially when warning signs, according to the lawsuit, were there to be seen.
Martonio Wilder wrongful death lawsuit Franklin County Children Services NYAP Haleigh Ingham Columbus police asphyxiation neck compression malnutrition dehydration tampering with records