Jury Orders State to Pay $26 Million for Injuries

A jury in West Palm Beach has ordered the state child protection agency to pay $26 million for failing to protect an abused girl who was once beaten unconscious and is unable to eat, walk or talk clearly.

The adoptive parents of 6-year-old Marissa Amora, who attended the trial in her wheelchair, sued for lifetime medical care. The jury found that the state Department of Children and Families was largely to blame for the botched child abuse investigation.

The boyfriend of the girl's mother is the prime suspect, child protection officials said during the trial, but he is believed to have fled to Haiti and has not been charged.