Return Matthew Thaxton to Parents and Restore Family to Whole

Click here for updated disposition of this case. Petition posted Dec. 14, 2003.

Please immediately release Matthew Thaxton into the care of his parents, Dan and Carolee Thaxton, and clear the parents of all charges that have been levied against them in this matter, including those pressed after the death of their first son, Dan Thaxton Jr.

The true and clear cause of Daniel's death as well as of Matthew's illness is Carbon Monoxide poisoning from the Thaxton home furnace exhaust being situated too close to the fresh air intake (a situation that was in place at the time they purchased the home in good faith).

The Carbon Monoxide poisoning culprit was made known several months ago, yet you have not acted with due haste in correcting the false diagnosis and the charges levied because of the false diagnosis.

Please be apprised that your delay in this action to this point, and your actions in other similar situations such as in the Parker Jenson case, are grounds for a class action law suit against the state for aggravated kidnapping of a child under the color of law, when the child rightfully belongs in the care of the conscientious parents.

Furthermore, please be apprised that in the case of Matthew Thaxton, the hospital could be liable for malpractice for not administering a clearly indicated carboxy hemoglobin test, which would have identified the true cause of malaise early on.

Whether or not such legal remedies are sought by the Thaxtons and other parents similarly wronged is their decision.

We call upon them to forgive you, both in their hearts as well as legally -- but we say that that legal forgiveness should come only after a very convincing and public admission of guilt on your part, and a manifestation of resolve on your part that you will take every measure to see that such a situation is not repeated in the future.

Let us turn this tragedy into a lesson for all, that such errors may not be repeated by others.

The clear errors include:

- Situating an HVAC exhaust too close to a fresh air intake in violation of code (overlooked by the installer, and the inspectors [if the installation was done legally], and the home appraiser, and the real estate agent, and the city meter readers).
- Not administering a carboxy hemoglobin test when indicated.
- Wrongfully accusing the parents of manourishing their child by vegan diet, which is well known to be more healthy than most diets children are subjected to today.
- Busybody tattling by persons with uninformed biases against another person's way of living.
- Lawyers beholden to the state and the monies these cases generate for them rather than to the needs of their client.
- State agencies loath to acknowledge their mistakes and wrongful biases.
- State agencies immune from reprisal and restitution for wrongful decisions.
- A health care system loath to acknowledge its mistake and wrongful biases.