Bill > S0034

Introduced Session

An act for the relief of Michael Barnett, individually and as the natural parent and legal guardian of R.B., by the Department of Children and Families; providing an appropriation to compensate Mr. Barnett and R.B. for injuries and damages sustained; providing a limitation on compensation and the payment of attorney fees; providing an effective date. WHEREAS, in September 2010, Patrick Dell entered the Riviera Beach residence of his estranged wife, Natasha Whyte Dell, where he fatally shot her and four of her children and severely wounded a fifth child by shooting him in the neck, and WHEREAS, Mr. Dell committed suicide shortly after exiting the residence, and WHEREAS, several months before the shootings, on January 26, 2010, the abuse hotline of the Department of Children and Families, hereinafter referred to as “the department,” received a phone call about an incident that occurred in December 2009, and WHEREAS, according to the police report of the December 2009 incident, while Ms. Whyte-Dell was visiting a friend, Mr. Dell charged at and threatened Ms. Whyte-Dell with a knife, verbally threatened to kill her, and flattened all four tires on her vehicle, and WHEREAS, later that same morning, Mr. Dell was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief, and WHEREAS, over the course of the following month, the department conducted an investigation but subsequently closed the case file on February 25, 2010, after concluding that Ms. Whyte-Dell’s children were not at significant risk of harm, and WHEREAS, Mr. Dell had a prior history of making threats of violence against Ms. Whyte-Dell and her children, and WHEREAS, the Riviera Beach Police Department had responded to the Whyte-Dell home 34 times in the 4 years preceding the day of the shootings, and WHEREAS, 11 of those police responses were for domestic violence disturbances, and WHEREAS, the department should have had reason to know of the threats and had numerous opportunities to remove the children from that dangerous environment, yet did not act and closed its case file, and WHEREAS, because of the investigator’s errors and omissions, the department failed to follow up on warning signs that any reasonable investigation should have evaluated, analyzed, and acted upon, and WHEREAS, Michael Barnett, individually and as the natural parent and legal guardian of R.B., and as the personal representative of the estates of D.B., D.B., and B.B., entered into a settlement agreement and release and a consent final judgment with the State of Florida and the department, and WHEREAS, per the settlement agreement and release, Michael Barnett and R.B. agree to accept the total amount of $160,000, including attorney fees and costs, and WHEREAS, through the consent final judgment, judgment was entered in favor of Michael Barnett and R.B. and against the department in the amount of $296,400, NOW, THEREFORE,

Alexis Calatayud (R)*, 

Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration (on 05/03/2025)

Official Document