![Cuyahoga County Council approved the settlement Tuesday afternoon, resolving a lawsuit brought by Aniya Day-Garrett's father, Mickhal Garrett. [Nick Castele / ideastream]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/88a21a5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/980x551+0+0/resize/840x472!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F6%2F23%2F2019countyhq%5B1%5D%5B1%5D.jpg)
Cuyahoga County will pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the father of 4-year-old Aniya Day-Garrett, who died from abuse by her mother and mother鈥檚 boyfriend.
Mickhal Garrett, Aniya鈥檚 father, alleged in a 2019 lawsuit that the county鈥檚 Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) failed to make a full investigation into reports of Aniya鈥檚 abuse.
Cuyahoga County Council approved the settlement Tuesday afternoon.
Garrett told ideastream Tuesday that while the settlement cannot bring his daughter back, he hopes to see reforms within the child services system.
鈥淏ringing change and genuine awareness and preventing child abuse and all violence, that鈥檚 what means the most to us,鈥� Garrett said, 鈥渁nd like I said, holding those accountable who did not do their jobs properly for Aniya.鈥�
The lawsuit alleges Mickhal Garrett noticed bruises on Aniya while she was in her mother鈥檚 custody. He expressed his concerns in a police report and later in domestic relations court, according to the suit.
The suit also cites an Ohio Department of Job and Family Services investigation that faulted Cuyahoga County DCFS for failing to take into account a history of abuse reports in Aniya鈥檚 case.
After Aniya鈥檚 death, Cuyahoga County announced a series of policy changes at DCFS, including assigning a sheriff鈥檚 deputy to abuse investigations and involving entire families in case evaluations.
Garrett said he鈥檇 like to see new laws on the books to ensure county staff and sheriffs 鈥渁re just following up properly to make sure that children鈥檚 lives are actually being investigated and protected properly.鈥�
He also hopes to meet with county officials to discuss how they鈥檒l implement these reforms, according to his attorney, Hannah Klang.
Aniya鈥檚 mother, Sierra Day, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Day鈥檚 boyfriend, Deonte Lewis, received a life sentence and will be eligible for parole in 18 years. A jury found both guilty of aggravated murder in 2018.
Garrett said he plans to continue advocating for the prevention of child abuse. In 2018, he created the nonprofit Justice 4 Aniya Foundation. He and his fianc茅e now have a one-month-old daughter, he said.
鈥淎ll children鈥檚 lives matter,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I have to be a father first, and making sure that my children and my family are well taken care of.鈥�
