Information given at the end of last week throws Indiana Department of Child Services Director Eric Miller in the spotlight. New documents allege Miller had recieved emails on Judah Morgan, before and after the 4-year-old's murder.
Contradicting Miller's recent court testimony just days earlier, the newest allegations filed from a cilvil suit from the child's death state that multiple emails were sent to Miller nine months prior to Judah's violent murder. The emails detailed the boy's situation, as well as concerns about his soon-to-be placement with his biological parents, Alan Morgan and Mary Yoder.
Concerns from Judah's kinship placement foster parent Jenna Hullett were also among the emails. At the time these emails were sent, Miller had been serving as chief of staff for DCS.
Judah was killed after being tortured and beaten at his home in rural LaPorte County on October 11, 2021. Last November, his biological father, Alan Morgan, plead guilty for murder charges on the boy.
Miller took the stand last week in a civil case filed by Hullett against Alan Morgan. In court Miller stated he was unclear on when exactly he became aware of Judah's case.
Court filings from the suit also state that multiple emails were sent to then-DCS Director Terry Stigdon regarding the death of Judah and prior involvement with the child welfare agency. Stigdon had stepped down from her position this past May. A court filing stated that additional reviews of these emails show Stigdon had been involved in damage control efforts relating to Judah's death.
Last week, DCS attorneys claimed that the agency has now turned over 130,316 total pages of records, after reviewing more than a million documents. According to Hullett’s attorney, these newly produced documents reveal Eric Miller also received emails about Judah Morgan after his death.
Indiana DCS defended itself against allegations of contempt in the release information for the civil suit, claiming that Director Miller’s testimony last week was “accurate and consistent" with DCS’s production of records. The agency stated allegations against Stigdon being involved with "damage control efforts" was "a mischaracterization for a false narrative in the public square."
The underlying civil suit filed by Hullett, the personal representative for Judah's estate, accuses DCS of placing Judah in the hands of his biological parents, who had a history of known abuse, and closing the case on the child, who had been in the agency's care since birth.
The suit states Judah was placed in the care of the state on June 17, 2017, just three days after his birth due to drugs being in Judah's system. At the age of four months, Judah was placed with Jenna Hullett under a kinship placement. Judah remained in Hullett's care until April 7, 2021, six months before his murder.
The suit claims that the LaPorte County prosecutor's office has since determined that from the moment Judah was placed in the home of his biological parents by Indiana DCS he was neglected and endangered. Despite the danger, in June of 2021, DCS closed its case involving Judah.
The complaint stated that as a result of the reckless, careless, negligent and wrongful acts and omissions of other persons and the intentional acts of Alan Morgan, Judah Morgan was beaten, tortured and eventually murdered on October 11, 2021. The suit further states that DCS is the state agency responsible for the safety and well being of Hoosier children who come into contact with the state's child welfare system.
The judge ended the first week of October by deciding the Indiana Department of Child Services is in civil contempt of court for failing to produce documents related to Judah's murder.
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