One child died. Another was removed from the home. Now a Texas family is suing

Local National admin October 7, 2026 0 Comments

One child died. Another was removed from the home. Now a Texas family is suing

A Tarrant County, Texas, family is suing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, alleging that the department wrongfully removed the family’s 2-year-old daughter after the family’s other child, a 2-month-old boy, died in 2023.

Chelsea and Timothy Ragland, as parents and on behalf of their daughter, are suing Texas DFPS and its contractor ACH Child & Family Services, operating as Our Community Our Kids, as well as seven current and former DFPS and Our Community Our Kids employees. The Raglands’ lawsuit, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, accuses the state agency, its contractor, and the current and former employees of improperly removing the Raglands’ daughter from their home after the sudden death of their 2-month-old son.

A spokesperson for Texas DFPS said the department does not comment on pending litigation. Our Community Our Kids did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Star-Telegram.

“Chelsea and Timothy Ragland lost their son on the darkest night of their lives. In that moment, they deserved compassion,” the family’s attorney Imani Maatuka said in a statement. “Instead, as we allege, Texas CPS turned their grief into a case against them, and the foundation of that case was a report that never existed.”

The lawsuit’s accusations began when Timothy Ragland, Jr. died suddenly in 2023 while being fed, according to the lawsuit. Less than 72 hours after Timothy, better known as TJ, died, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Our Community Our Kids filed a petition to remove the Raglands’ surviving daughter from their care, according to the lawsuit. The girl was a “healthy two-year-old with no injuries, no medical concerns, and no history of abuse,” according to the Raglands’ lawsuit.

The Raglands’ complaint says the sworn affidavit used to justify the girl’s removal relied on a preliminary autopsy report from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.

“That report did not exist, yet the complaint alleges it was referenced at least 52 times across the State’s records and filings,” according to a news release from the Raglands’ attorney.

TJ’s cause of death is listed as undetermined on the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office website.

The Raglands’ daughter was removed from the family’s home and placed with her maternal grandmother, the lawsuit said. Chelsea Ragland was found culpable of “neglectful supervision and physical abuse for the act of leaving her infant son in the care of his father,” according to the lawsuit.

In April 2024, a Tarrant County judge dismissed the state’s case, according to the complaint. But both parents remain on the “Texas child-abuser central registry,” the complaint said.

The lawsuit accuses the state of fabricating evidence and violating the family’s due process rights. The family is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, as well as the parents’ removal from the registry.

“Chelsea and Timothy endured a year of pain and humiliation, at enormous emotional and financial cost, and had to fight all the way to trial before a judge dismissed the State’s case in its entirety,” Maatuka said in a statement.

This story was originally published October 6, 2026 at 11:57 AM with the headline “One child died. Another was removed from the home. Now a Texas family is suing.”