TULSA, Okla. — Eight months after a video circulated showing a 9-year-old foster child begging to come inside after being locked out in freezing temperatures, the girl's biological mother is suing the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and the foster parents.
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Christopher Brecht of Smolen Law filed two separate lawsuits on behalf of his client, Sharla Weaver. The overarching point is the same based on the same set of facts, Brecht told 2 news, that Weaver's child was failed.
WATCH: Mother of Haskell child left outside in the cold sues DHS, foster parents
"I think it's the question that everybody wants answered, is how did this happen," said Brecht. "To the Fultz's, absolutely, it's the why. And then to DHS, how could you put that child in that home?"
Because of legal framework for foster care, Brecht said Weaver found out about the incident at the same time as the rest of the state.
"She was devastated," he said. “I can’t imagine as a parent what it would be like to witness the abuse of your own child at the same time as the general public."
According to Brecht, when DHS investigated the incident, a social worker told police they had no concerns about the Fultz family's treatment of the child.
“The Fultz’s, they point blank said throughout the process, ‘we do this regularly, this is how we discipline, this is what we consider to be appropriate discipline,’" said Brecht. "I believe DHS knew that, and if they knew that and they put not only Ms. Weaver’s child but multiple foster children with that family, that is unacceptable and they should be held accountable for that.”
2 News interviewed another mother in February whose children had been in the Fultz's custody in years past.
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“They [DHS] promised us to shut the house down and when I saw that video I was like ‘my children were failed’,” said Kristin McKee. “How many more [children] is it going to take for them to do their job?”
Kaytlin Fultz faces a child neglect charge in Muscogee Creek Nation court, while her husband Andrew Fultz faces a felony child neglect charge in Muskogee County court.
While all children have since been removed from the Fultz home, Weaver's motivation extends beyond her own case. According to Brecht, his client hopes the legal action will prevent similar incidents from happening to other children.
"Ms. Weaver's hope is that real change can happen," he said. "Obviously, we can't undo what was done to her daughter. I can't make that video not exist, I can't make that incident go away, but hopefully we can make it not happen to anybody else."
In addition to these lawsuits, Kaytlin Fultz's jury trial begins on Monday, Oct. 20.
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