GOSHEN, Calif. – A father whose baby was killed in a mass shooting earlier this year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Tulare County.
On January 16, 2023 six people were killed in a gang-related murder at a home in the small town of Goshen. Sixteen-year-old Alissa Parraz and her 10-month-old son Nycholas Parraz were murdered execution style alongside four family members. The gruesome massacre captured national audiences. Weeks later, two rival gang members were arrested.
Nycholas’s father, Shayne Maupin, has filed a complaint in Tulare County Superior Court alleging negligence on behalf of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. Court documents allege officers knew the home in Goshen had gang affiliations and that Child Welfare Services knowingly allowed the minor and her son to be there.
Just days before the murder, officers at the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office conducted a parole compliance check at the household. According to the lawsuit, during that visit a member of the household confessed to being part of a gang. Law enforcement officials also found thirteen rounds of ammunition in an unlocked shed, methamphetamine and pipes, various guns, body armor and bullet holes in the wall.
Parraz was reportedly at the home with her infant son at the time of the search. She was living there part of the time and officers would have seen the crib and baby’s belongings, Maupin’s attorney alleged in the complaint. Attorneys argue law enforcement should have reported the home as not safe for the baby or the mother.
“Nycholas Parraz’s placement in the Goshen household put him at grave risk of suffering harm, injury, and/or death due to the potential for gang violence,” court documents say.
Maupin’s attorneys also place blame on employees with Child Welfare Services who had been assigned Parraz’s case.
Parraz was just 15 years old when she delivered her baby in March 2022. Child services almost immediately intervened when a Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act referral was filed over concerns regarding Parraz’s ability to care for her son. Child services took custody of Nycholas in April. The decision was mandated by the Tulare County Juvenile Court until Parraz had secured “appropriate housing.” CWS was also encouraged to make Alissa a dependent of the court so she could be in foster care with her son, but that did not happen according to the court documents.
Parraz was reunited with her son on Jan. 13, 2023 — just three days before the shooting Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux called a “horrific massacre.”
Maupin’s attorneys allege neglect by a child services employee who completed a reunification reassessment for Parraz, ultimately testifying in court her recommendation that she be reunited with her son.
The child services employee “never informs the court of the presence of gang activity in the Goshen household, and never informs the Court she has never assessed the home as required.”
“If [child services] and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office had discharged their mandatory duties, this tragedy could have been averted,” attorneys for Maupin write in their complaint.
The Tulare County Sheriff's Office and Child Welfare Services have not responded to a request for comment.
Maupin is requesting a jury trial and damages for wrongful death, emotional distress and more. A hearing has been set for Dec. 6, 2023.
