The state of Iowa is facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit following the heavily publicized death of a northwestern Iowa girl. Two-year-old Shelby Duis of Spirit Lake was beaten to death in January and doctors say she’d suffered weeks of abuse. Her mother and her mother’s live-in boyfriend were charged in the slaying. The boyfriend, 26-year-old Jesse Wendelsdorf, was acquitted of all charges last week, while the mother, 29-year-old Heidi Watkins, goes to trial next week. Now the girl’s father is suing the Iowa Department of Human Services for 7-million dollars. A lawyer for Kevin Duis holds the state partly responsible for Shelby’s death. Several people claim they reported the signs of child abuse but the state allegedly failed to act quickly enough to save her life.
Iowa's Radio News Network
