Inset: Tadens Joseph (Facebook). Background: News footage of the area in Kansas City, Mo., where Tadens Joseph was killed on May 4, 2026 (KCTV).
A Missouri family who lost their 4-year-old boy in an alleged hit-and-run by an Amazon delivery driver has now filed a lawsuit against the driver of the van and the company she worked for.
On May 4, on the 1800 block of East 3rd Terrace in Kansas City, Tadens Joseph was playing in a grassy area of Maple Park when he went to cross the street, as Law&Crime previously reported.
Though the park is steps away from the Joseph household, Tadens never made it home that day. As the little boy went into the street, the suspect allegedly struck him with her vehicle, according to the Kansas City Police Department. The driver initially stopped, but then drove away without calling for help or offering assistance, police said.
The lawsuit alleges the van struck the child "with sufficient force to leave an area of blood, detached hair, and the child's shoes in the roadway."
At the scene, a family member ran after the driver — who had just delivered a package in the neighborhood — to relay what happened, according to law enforcement. When the family member confronted the driver, she "denied involvement and left the area," police said.
On Tuesday, Aug. 25, the child's surviving family members filed a five-count lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by Law&Crime.
The lawsuit alleges negligence and negligence per se, vicarious liability, direct negligence, negligent entrustment and ownership liability, and joint venture liability. The litigation seeks a wide array of wrongful death damages under Missouri law.
The lawsuit names the alleged driver of the Rivian delivery van, the LLC employer engaged as a "Delivery Service Partner" for Amazon, as well as a co-owner of the van as defendants.
The lawsuit reiterates the basic allegation that the driver "drove away from the scene without stopping and without rendering aid" and contains several additional details and allegations.
The filing claims the Joseph home is "one of the only residences" on the street where the incident occurred and further describes the street as a "short, dead-end stretch of roadway."
"When Defendant [driver] arrived and parked the Amazon Van to make the delivery, the children playing in the immediate area were plainly visible," the filing reads. "Defendant [driver] saw, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have seen, that young children were present and active around her vehicle."
The original petition goes on like this:
The presence of young children playing beside a dead-end residential street next to a public park placed Defendant [driver] on heightened notice of the need to watch for children before, during, and after her delivery, and before moving the Amazon Van.
While Defendant [driver] was delivering the package, TADENS JOSEPH came to the front of the Amazon Van and stood in front of its hood. He was not underneath the van and was not hidden from view.
The forward-facing camera on the Amazon Van captured the crown of TADENS JOSEPH's head directly in front of the van. TADENS JOSEPH was there to be seen by Defendant [driver] as she returned to and re-entered the van, and on any reasonable check of the area immediately in front of the van before it was put in motion.
"Defendant [driver] returned to the Amazon Van and accelerated on E. 3rd Terrace without keeping a careful lookout for the children she had seen or should have seen, and without checking the front of the van before moving it," the lawsuit goes on.
Specifically, the lawsuit claims the driver "failed to keep a careful lookout for pedestrians, failed to keep a careful lookout for children, failed to yield the right of way to a pedestrian, failed to operate her vehicle in a safe and prudent manner, and otherwise failed to maintain proper control of the Amazon Van."
As of this week, criminal charges have not been filed against the alleged driver, according to Kansas City-based CBS affiliate KCTV.
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