The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office determined Alex’s cause of death was hemorrhagic fibrinous peritonitis due to small bowel obstruction. He suffered necrosis in his bowel for at least seven days, causing diverticulitis — inflammation in the colon — sepsis and cardiac arrest, according to court records.
Care allegedly denied
The lawsuit says McIntosh had overnight visits with Alex and her daughter, which typically began on Fridays. She usually picked up her children from a parking lot in Huber Heights while under Preble County Job and Family Services supervision and took them to her Lewisburg home.
When McIntosh picked up her children for a Dec. 20, 2024, overnight visit, both were noticeably ill, according to the complaint.
That evening, Alex complained of stomach pains and vomited, and her daughter had diarrhea, the lawsuit says.
McIntosh allegedly called one of her caseworkers the next morning to report the children’s conditions, was unable to get ahold of the caseworker and called Preble County JFS’s main line. An unknown person answered and told McIntosh to monitor her children’s conditions and take them to Kettering Health Eaton if they deteriorated, according to the complaint.
Alex threw up three more times following the call, so McIntosh took the children to Kettering Health Eaton and reported it to the county, the lawsuit says.
The suit says the hospital diagnosed the children with the flu.
Another caseworker contacted McIntosh the same day and said her overnight visits were terminated for taking the children to the ER, according to court records.
McIntosh reportedly had overnight visits terminated previously for seeking medical care for her children when they were with different foster parents. Her overnight visits resumed Nov. 22, 2024, the lawsuit states.
After she took her children to the hospital on Dec. 21, 2024, a caseworker warned McIntosh she placed herself at risk of losing all parental rights, according to court records.
“Having been penalized by having her overnight visitations suspended prior to Nov. 22, 2024, and having additional overnight visitations terminated by (a caseworker) on Dec. 21, 2024, Katie thereafter refrained from seeking or procuring medical care for Alex or (her daughter) fearing that she would lose all parental rights if she did so,” the complaint read.
Her overnight visits were never reinstated with Alex after Dec. 21, 2024, according to court documents.
Mom ‘vehemently complained’
During a visit the following week, Alex said he had vomited and had stomach pains, the complaint says. Both children reportedly had bed bug bites. McIntosh reported Alex’s condition and the bed bug bites to a caseworker on the same day, according to the suit.
Alex continued to complain of stomach pain and vomiting during visits on Jan. 5, Jan. 12, Jan. 18 and Jan. 25, 2025. Bruises started appearing on Alex on Jan. 5. The skin on his lower abdomen and genital area was discolored on Jan. 18, and he reportedly couldn’t urinate comfortably. His mother also reported finding a blood clot in his urine, according to court records.
McIntosh allegedly reported Alex’s condition to a caseworker on Jan. 13, but the caseworker did not seek medical care for the boy. On Jan. 21, McIntosh spoke to a second caseworker about Alex’s health and insisted he receive treatment. She showed the caseworker photos of Alex’s bruises and the blood clot in his urine during a Jan. 22 home visit, according to the lawsuit.
McIntosh “vehemently complained that Alex was in need of medical care in order to diagnose Alex’s belly pain, vomiting and the source of the blood in Alex’s urine,” the complaint says.
Foster parents
The caseworker reported an abuse investigation was going to begin into the foster parents and their child, who lived in New Carlisle in Clark County, but did not say whether McIntosh’s children would be removed from their care nor whether Alex would receive medical treatment, according to court records.
An affidavit contained a supplemental narrative from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office that says the foster parents reported Alex had started pinching himself, resulting in the bruises.
The foster parents showed the sheriff’s office photos from a bedroom camera where Alex reportedly would sit up while sleeping and appear to pinch himself, according to the sheriff’s office.
On Jan. 28, the foster parents took McIntosh’s daughter to Dayton Children’s Hospital, where she was diagnosed with the flu. The foster parents reportedly did not seek care for Alex. McIntosh learned on Jan. 31 that her visit scheduled for the next day was canceled because her children had the flu, the lawsuit states.
During the conversation with a caseworker, McIntosh “insisted that Alex was suffering from a condition which was far more serious than the flu,” the complaint read. “She questioned why Alex had not been taken to Children’s Hospital simultaneously with (her daughter) and insisted that Alex be taken to an emergency room.” The caseworker reportedly said Alex didn’t need to go to the emergency room.
911 call
The morning of Feb. 8, McIntosh went to the pickup location for her visitation. One of the foster parents texted McIntosh she arrived late and forfeited her visitation. The lawsuit claims the statement was false and that the foster parent intended to keep McIntosh from being near her children that day.
His foster parents never sought professional medical treatment for Alex between Oct. 3, 2024, and when they made a 911 call to New Carlisle Emergency Medical Services at 2:42 p.m. the day of Alex’s death, according to court records.
“Our foster son, he actually had a little bit of a stomach issue yesterday, kind of hurting a little bit and today, he’s just like, right now he’s looking really pale,” a woman said in the 911 recording provided by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman said the child urinated on himself and was barely responsive.
“Snot is just pouring out, or is that throw up, I don’t know? It’s clear liquid. It’s coming out of his nose, I’m unsure if it’s snot or maybe throw up. … Oh my God, it’s pouring out his nose."
New Carlisle EMS took Alex to Dayton Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:37 p.m. Feb. 8.
The lawsuit
Clark County Sheriff’s Lt. Kristopher Shultz said Alex’s death led to a monthslong investigation that was closed due to the determination that Alex died of natural causes.
“There was not criminal liability in the case,” Shultz said.
The lawsuit names Preble County Board of Commissioners, Preble County Job and Family Services, two county employees involved in Alex’s case, his foster parents and Necco Inc., a foster care agency that handles child placement and employed his foster parents.
It alleges the defendants have a common law duty to provide medical care for children in their custody or in their employees’ custody and that Alex’s death and suffering was due to a breach in duty.
It also claims the foster parents inflicted severe emotional distress on McIntosh and her daughter.
Attorneys for Preble County filed a response to the complaint on Jan. 22.
The response states the lawsuit has allegations against employees who had “insubstantial or no involvement at all” in the claims made by Alex’s estate.
“Many of plaintiffs’ claims are based on facts not reasonably known until later, and are based on 20-20 hindsight for which these defendants are not liable,” the defense wrote.
An attorney for Necco Inc. also filed a response stating all or part of the damages alleged in the complaint were due to the actions and omissions of others, whose conduct Necco had no reason to anticipate and were not responsible for, according to court records.
Attorneys for Preble County JFS and Necco have not responded to requests for comment.
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