Lawsuit Charges Child Welfare Agency With Negligence After 8-Year-Old Boy Found Dead in Cooler

A lawsuit filed late last year in Los Angeles County charges the Department of Children and Family Services and a local school district with negligence following the death of an 8-year-old boy whose body was found in a cooler in October.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the siblings of Isaiah Harrison, The Patch reported.

Police were called about a dead child at a Lynwood apartment on October 28 and found young Harrison’s body in a cooler inside the apartment, as CrimeOnline reported. The boy’s mother, 25-year-old Destiny Harrison, was arrested and charged with murder. His father, 25-year-old Daniel Monzon, and grandmother, 46-year-old Ana Zarceno-Caramo, were each charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Three other children found at the apartment — ages 16, 13, and 9 months — were taken into custody by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Officials said there had been no calls for service at the address.

The lawsuit claims that DCFS “failed to abide by their mandatory duties causing the physical and emotional abuse” of Harrison’s siblings and Harrison’s death. The alleged neglect took place from 2017 to 2025, the suit claims. The Patch did not provide the name of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the siblings.

DFCS said it could not comment on the suit because of “confidentiality laws.”

Destiny Harrison, Monzon, and Zarceno Caramo are due in court again on January 20.

For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.