Mother of slain Oregon City girl to sue state
02:51 PM PDT on Friday, August 22, 2003
By DOUG IRVING/ KGW.com Staff
OREGON CITY - The mother of a murdered Oregon City girl plans to file a $1.5 million lawsuit Friday against the state, claiming its negligence contributed to the girls death.
Michelle Duffey said earlier Friday that her daughter, Miranda Gaddis, would still be here had state caseworkers responded properly to abuse allegations against a neighbor. That neighbor, Ward Weaver, has been charged with aggravated murder in the deaths of Miranda and 12-year-old Ashley Pond.

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Duffeys attorney, Michael Wise, said he would file the lawsuit Friday afternoon in Multnomah County court. It comes almost exactly a year after federal investigators discovered the remains of the two girls on Weavers Oregon City property.
Duffey said she decided to file the lawsuit so no one else has to go through what Miranda did. We want to make sure this doesnt happen to another child.
The lawsuit names Oregons Department of Human Services, the agency that has admitted it mishandled allegations that Weaver abused Ashley. It seeks $1 million for pain and suffering and $500,000 for the income that Miranda may have earned in her lifetime, Wise said.
Under state law, however, the human-services department likely could only be held liable for $200,000 total, Wise said. The lawsuit seeks such a sizable judgment to get the attention of the state of Oregon, he said.
Ashleys mother, Lori Pond, also has considered pursuing a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Department of Human Services. Wise said he has been in contact with Ponds attorneys but expected any suit from Pond to proceed separately from Duffeys.
Duffey emphasized that the lawsuit was meant to force changes in the department, but declined to give details. Wise said the lawsuit would include specific allegations of negligence.
The state demoted two child-welfare workers late last month for their handling of the abuse allegations involving Weaver. State officials said the workers had failed to properly follow up on three reports that Ashley had been abused.

Murder suspect Ward Weaver in jail. (KGW File Photo)
The agency at first fired both workers. It hired one back on a technicality; an administrative law judge ruled that the conduct of the other worker did not justify her firing.
Duffey had filed notice earlier this year that she also might sue Multnomah Countys Department of Human Services, the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office and the Oregon City Police Department. Wise said she still may file other lawsuits, but that the state human-services department seemed like the most culpable entity of them all.
Ashley vanished from her Oregon City apartment in January 2002; Miranda disappeared from the same apartment complex two months later. The missing-girls case drew national attention; billboards set up around the Portland area publicized the faces of both girls.
The investigation soon began to focus on Ward Weaver, who rented a house near the apartment complex. Investigators began searching the property on Aug. 24, 2002; they found Mirandas body in a rusted backyard shed and Ashleys body in a barrel buried under a concrete slab.
Weaver has been charged with aggravated murder and is scheduled to go to trial next summer.
Its the most terrible thing, Duffey said. I cannot even imagine anyone else having to go through what we have I hear it gets better, but Im still having a hard time dealing with what happened. I want to believe shes still here.
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