The Evergreen Public Schools administrative building in Vancouver on Aug. 22, 2025.
Erik Neumann / OPB
The State of Washington and Evergreen Public Schools have agreed to pay more than $49 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit involving Karreon Adams-Franks, a 15-year-old student from Vancouver who died of starvation in 2020.
The state and the school district are splitting the settlement obligation going to the estate of Adams-Franks and his two surviving brothers, according to a press release from the Davis Law Group.
Adams-Franks, who was autistic, nonverbal and legally blind, was 61 pounds when he died. His adoptive parents, his biological aunt Felicia Adams and her partner, Jesse Franks, were convicted in 2023 of homicide by abuse in his case and of criminal mistreatment of his two younger brothers. Adams was sentenced to 35 years in prison and Franks to 30 years.
Attorneys for Adams-Franks alleged all three boys suffered years of abuse in the home and were repeatedly choked and beaten with objects. They were locked in their bedroom for days and denied food as a form of punishment, according to the Davis Law Group.
In the lawsuit, Washington’s Department of Children, Youth and Families and the Department of Social and Health Services were accused of failing to take action after receiving reports of abuse about the family.
A family relative reported to the state that Adams-Franks looked like “a walking skeleton” and was falling down due to malnourishment, according to the suit. The state declined to comment on the settlement.
Evergreen Public Schools staff at Shahala Middle School and Mountain View High School were accused of failing to report abuse to the state, despite documenting concerns for the boys years before Adams-Franks died.
Under Washington law, school staff who have reasonable cause to believe a child is being hurt or neglected must report it to law enforcement or the state.
In a statement Tuesday, the school district said none of its staff failed to make mandatory reports to the state, and that district staff members are “well-trained and understand their mandatory reporting responsibilities.”
Attorneys in the case say that Washington state officials agreed to pay $25 million and Evergreen Public Schools is paying $24.3 million.
“The district recognizes the profound loss of Karreon’s life and the lasting impact on his family,” the school district said in a statement to OPB. “This was a tragic situation, and the perpetrators of these horrendous crimes are in prison for their actions. Evergreen Public Schools hopes that this settlement will allow Karreon’s brothers to continue healing without the burden of enduring a trial.”
Evergreen said the school district’s insurers made the decision to settle, to “avoid the risk of a jury verdict exceeding the district’s available insurance coverage.”
According to the Davis Law Group, the settlement money received from the school district “represented the entire insurance coverage available.”
