NEWARK — Four-year-old Jadiel Velesquez, the Hillside boy left brain damaged from a brutal beating by his father while he was just an infant, was awarded $166 million today in what's believed to be the largest jury verdict ever against the state of New Jersey.

The jury in state Superior Court deliberated two hours before finding the state’s Division of Youth and Family Services failed to protect Jadiel from a father with a history of violent outbursts and explosive behavior and should have removed him from his custody.

“For Jadiel, I thank God,” said Neomi Escobar, the boy’s grandmother who waged a months-long battle to get DYFS to remove the boy from the Jersey City home where Jadiel was beaten on July 16, 2009.

“The jury did a great thing,” she added, her eyes welling with tears. “They did justice for Jadi. I was screaming for them to take the baby away from them every single day. I did everything possible.”

Jadiel’s father, Joshua Velesquez, 26, is serving six years in prison for aggravated assault. Escobar’s daughter, Vanessa Merchan, no longer has custody of the child. Escobar and her husband have adopted him and care for him in their home.

“I love him so much,” Escobar said. “I’m his mother now.”

Jadiel is blind and will need around-the-clock care the rest of his life. During the trial, the curly-haired youngster was wheeled into the courtroom so his lawyers could offer jurors a brief glimpse at a life in which wheelchairs and hospital beds are his constant companions. The boy’s eyes appeared unfocused as he sat in front of the jury for about a minute, incapable of speaking.

Jurors interviewed after the verdict said that during the course of the two-week trial, Jadiel’s lawyers – Beth Baldinger and David Mazie – presented a convincing case againt DYFS by cataloguing the agency’s repeated missteps and system breakdowns in the weeks leading up to the beating.

“Even as you’re crying your eyes out we knew we were going to judge it by the evidence, not this adorable, damaged little boy,” one female juror who declined to be named said today recalling the scene.

Indeed, the jury of four men and four women said they fashioned the $57 million award for pain and suffering by calculating $2,000-a-day for the rest of his life.

“And that was woefully inadequate,” said juror Chris Isidore. “They dropped the ball. There were many ways they could have found the information they needed so the kid was removed.”

Another $105 million was awarded to cover Jadiel’s future medical needs.

A DYFS spokesman declined to comment.

However, in an email obtained by the Star-Ledger, Allison Blake, the commissioner of the state Department of Children and Families, told agency personnel today that DYFS’ lawyers are reviewing the verdict “to determine if further action is appropriate.”

"The needless suffering of any child is deeply troubling, and I share the hurt and anger we all feel when a tragedy like this occurs," Blake said in the email. "This feeling is especially present among the men and women of this department and our provider community partners who have dedicated their careers to the safety and well-being of children. "



The lawsuit was filed against DYFS before its name was changed to the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

On May 28, 2009, Jadiel was taken to Newark Beth Israel after Escobar called a DYFS hotline to report her suspicion that her daughter’s boyfriend had beaten the child. Jadiel had bruises on his cheeks and blood in both eyes, according to testimony. He was released by doctors with a finding of suspected abuse.

The following week, Escobar said she found a crack pipe in the child’s diaper bag after her daughter dropped the boy off so Escobar could babysit.

And the week after that caseworkers came up with a plan – agreed to by the entire family – that prevented Joshua Velesquez from caring for the child by himself.

By then, DYFS caseworkers ran a criminal background check for Joshua Velesquez in New Jersey that came up clear, according to testimony. However, DYFS failed to discover some 20 arrests on charges that included assaults in Florida, where Velesquez lived previously, Mazie said.

Isidore said DYFS should have known such a measure would not protect the child. “No one would have thought the case plan was a good idea,” he said.

“What he (Velesquez) did here was unthinkable,” Mazie told jurors Friday. “He’s an animal. He’s a maniac. But they knew that and they didn’t act. Their responsibility was to remove the baby from the home.”

The initial jury verdict found both DYFS and Joshua Velesquez liable for the full jury award. But when asked to decide the percentage due from each party, the jury went back to the jury room and, after just five minutes, found DYFS 100 percent responsible.

DYFS’ attorney, John North, suggested to jurors that Joshua Velesquez should be tagged for at least a portion of the award.

“Joshua obviously was very troubled and had a lot of problems but it is not like he is some kind of wild animal who acts on instinct,” North told jurors. “Joshua was responsible for his own actions.”

Jadiel’s family has already settled its lawsuits against Newark Beth Israel for $4.5 million, according to court papers. Another $3 million came from settlements with two radiological firms, two of Jadiel’s treating physicians and Overlook Hospital.

The $7.5 million would be deducted from the current jury award should it stand.

In 2005, four boys who were found starving in a foster home in Camden County settled their case against DYFS for $12.5 million before the case went to trial.

In that case, DYFS was accused of failing to properly monitor the Jackson boys while they went without proper nourishment and medical care for several years.

In her note to colleagues, Blake noted the reforms the department have undertaken since July 2009, which includes reducing the workloads of caseworkers and improving training.

“No less important, we changed the culture so that our collective and individual focus is on serving the needs and ensuring the safety of New Jersey’s children and families,” Blake said.

North told jurors during the trial that caseworkers were cautious when wielding the “extraordinary power” of removing a child from his parents’ home.

Neither Merchan, nor Joshua Velesquez, will be able to share in any of the jury award, according to Jadiel’s lawyers.

The jury did not find Merchan liable. Trial testimony revealed that she, too, had been abused by Velesquez.

RELATED COVERAGE

• Lawyer for brain-damaged boy says DYFS should have removed him from father's care

• Grandmother suing NJ child welfare agency for father's beating of four-month-old boy

• Four-year-old boy beaten by father as an infant is wheeled into Newark courtroom

• Grandmother testifies DYFS workers told her to 'stop calling,' after she found drug pipe in diaper bag

FOLLOW THE STAR-LEDGER: TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOOGLE+