‘Horrible investigation:’ Lawsuits accuse CPS of sending 5-year-old back into danger before his death

DETROIT – Approaching the three-year anniversary of 5-year-old Ethan Belcher’s heartbreaking death, his aunt, standing beside Ethan’s surviving brother, told Local 4 there’s no doubt in her mind, that her 5-year-old nephew’s life “could have been saved” and that “CPS failed him.”
Read: Neighbor says she called Detroit police to report harassment before 5-year-old boy died from child abuse
“I hope he knows that we love him — we miss him every day. It’s very hard to go on without him,” Ashley Belcher said.
Family accuses Michigan child welfare officials of neglect
Belcher, the personal representative of the 5-year-old’s estate, has filed two new lawsuits accusing Michigan child welfare officials of failing to protect Ethan and his brother, Mason Belcher, after an abuse investigation in 2021.
“I love him, and I miss him a lot, and I’ve been doing good stuff for him,” said Mason Belcher, now nine years old, who his family says also suffered horrific abuse and witnessed the shocking abuse of his younger brother.