James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA – The City of Philadelphia won’t face liability over the death of an 11-year-old boy who lacked a rescue inhaler for his asthma, as a federal judge has ruled the City did not increase the danger he was in.
Judge Juan Sanchez on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit brought on behalf of Nayshaun Uch Williams, despite allegations the Department of Health Services for years ignored warning signs about his home life.
A lawsuit filed in October said Williams had experienced a severe asthma attack at school a month before he died, leading a school nurse to tell DHS that Williams’ grandmother and legal guardian, Patricia Clayton, would not respond to calls or other attempts to communicate with her to discuss the need for him to have an inhaler on him at all times.
“Before DHS intervened in September 2023, (Williams) lived in Clayton’s custody, had severe asthma, and was repeatedly without his rescue inhaler,” Sanchez wrote.
“The danger alleged in the amended complaint was Clayton’s failure to ensure (Williams) had medication and attended medical appointments. DHS did not create that danger.”
In 2023, the school nurse made appointments at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for Oct. 13 and Oct. 16 but despite transportation being provided, Clayton, who later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, never sent Williams to the hospital. The complaint blames DHS for not taking action once those appointments were missed and for not removing Williams from his grandmother’s custody. An investigation of medical neglect was labeled “unfounded.”
Concerns that Clayton lived with a registered sex offender prompted a 2019 DHS investigation. He walked Williams, then 6, to school and made grooming statements to him and other children, the suit says.
The investigation was closed, but Turning Points for Children started providing in-home safety services. They ceased after less than five months, after Clayton refused to send Williams to therapy.
Over the next four years, Williams missed school to the point of chronic truancy, the suit says, while Clayton’s substance abuse and mental health conditions went ignored. DHS was again contacted in May 2023 with reports Williams was vaping at school and cut another child with a knife.
He “terrorizes the neighborhood,” one complaint says. Investigators closed their probe on July 7, 2023, citing “insufficient evidence.”
Months later, he was in the hospital for an asthma attack. On the morning of Oct. 28, 2023, he woke his grandmother because he couldn’t breathe. A nebulizer didn’t work because Williams needed a fast-acting inhaler, the suit says, but there was no medicine. He died before paramedics could get him to a hospital.
Clayton pleaded guilty to criminal charges in 2024, receiving a sentence of up to 23 months in prison.
