Inset: Leon Marrero. Background: The Indiana attorney's office handling Nicole Marrero's wrongful death lawsuit (WFIE).
A 3-year-old Indiana boy died after a mucus plug got lodged in his tracheostomy tube, with his mother alleging in a lawsuit that the child's foster parents refused to clean and maintain the blocked breathing apparatus.
"Leon was having trouble breathing and had been visibly turning blue from an intermittent lack of oxygen," a civil complaint filed by Leon's mom, Nicole Marrero, says. "While under the supervision and care of [the foster parents], Leon suffered a preventable medical emergency causing deprivation of oxygen which ultimately led to his death."
According to Marrero's complaint, Leon was born with a rare genetic mutation and required round-the-clock medical care. He was unable to speak due to "vocal cord paralysis," the complaint says.
Marrero tells local NBC affiliate WFIE that Leon was placed with a foster family, whom she is suing, in December 2025 after she was charged with child neglect. Her lawyer, Jonathan Danks, says Leon was in the hospital due to a respiratory illness and the flu, and Marrero was trying to split her time between visiting him and taking care of her other children at home.
One of the kids, a 14-year-old, got worried and called police in September 2025 after Marrero failed to come home one night. "Based on that, they decided to construe her decision to leave a child in the care of a 14-year-old as child neglect," Danks told WFIE.
The mom's complaint alleges that Leon's foster parents were "fully aware of Leon's significant medical needs and were aware or should have been aware they were not adequately prepared, trained, or capable to provide the necessary life-sustaining care."
Within days of being placed in the foster parents' care, Leon's gastrostomy feeding tube became dislodged, according to the complaint. "Upon information and belief, this was not discovered and rectified by [the foster parents] in a reasonable time and the delay resulted in Leon being readmitted for emergency medical services to replace the feeding tube," the complaint says.
Despite the early failure, Leon was returned to the foster parents — but the problems allegedly continued.
To keep Leon breathing, his tracheostomy tube required constant cleaning and a specialized humidification device to stop bodily fluids from hardening inside the pipe, while he was connected to an automatic monitor that tracked his oxygen levels set to scream an alarm the moment his oxygen dipped, the complaint explains.
On the morning of Jan. 4, 2026, the foster parents allegedly called 911 to report that Leon was struggling for air and had turned blue. A "mucus plug" had become lodged in his breathing tube and cut off his oxygen supply, the complaint says.
Danks told WFIE that Leon's breathing tube "was not properly cleaned and maintained" by his foster parents. Marrero and Danks allege that Leon's foster parents ultimately failed to do the following:
Failure to properly maintain Leon's tracheostomy tube in a timely manner.Failure to properly supervise Leon.Failure to follow medical advice for Leon.Failure to properly maintain Leon's medical equipment.Failure to obtain the proper training required to care for Leon's medical needs.Failure to prevent and/or remove the mucus plug from Leon's tracheostomy tube.Failure to take appropriate action when Leon was in distress.Agreed to take care of a medically fragile child when they knew or should have known that they were not competent to so do.
Marrero has requested a jury trial and is seeking damages for medical bills, funeral expenses, and Leon's death. The foster parents declined to comment when reached by WFIE.