Netflix’s ‘Take Care of Maya’ teenager Maya Kowalski breaks down in court as attorney details mom’s suicide after she was accused of Munchausen-by-proxy in trial against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
- Opening statements were delivered to a jury in the trial between the Kowalski family and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital on Thursday
- Jack Kowalski, on behalf of his children Maya and Kyle and the estate of his late wife Beata, is suing the facility for $220 million for alleged malpractice
- The family detailed their experience in a Netflix documentary. Now, five years later – the civil trial is underway at the South County Courthouse in Venice
Netflix teen Maya Kowalski broke down in court as her attorney detailed her mom’s suicide after she was accused of Munchausen-by-proxy in a trial between the family and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
Maya Kowalski, 17, was placed into state custody for three months after doctors at the Florida facility raised concern that her parents were faking symptoms of her debilitating complex regional pain syndrome.
Florida’s Department of Children and Families and a state judge supported hospital staff’s suspicions of ‘child medical abuse’ and placed Maya under Florida’s Department of Children and Families’ custody and she was housed at the center.
Greg Anderson, who is part of the Kowalski’s legal representation, revealed during his opening statement on Thursday, in excruciating detail, the moment Maya’s mother, Beata, took her own life.
Attempting to hold back tears, Maya could be seen releasing her anguish as Anderson described the day the family found Beata hanging in the family garage with a makeshift noose made of belts.
‘Beata was trying everything legal, social, every possible way to get her child out and her child was not coming out,’ Anderson told the jury referring, to her being housed at the hospital.
Attempting to hold back tears, Maya (left) could be seen releasing her anguish as family attorney Greg Anderson (right) described the day the family found Beata hanging in the family garage with a make-shift noose made of belts
He explained to the Jury that they’ll see evidence of two suicide notes, and pictures revealing the harrowing moments after Beata was found by her brother.
‘It took about 22 minutes according to pathologists to strangle to death, to kick the stand out from under her,’ Anderson continued as Maya silently wept behind him.
Netflix teen Maya Kowalski broke down in court as her attorney detailed her mom’s suicide after she was accused of Munchausen-by-proxy in a trial between the family and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
Anderson explained that Maya’s father, Jack, and her brother, Kyle, had thought Beata was in another room sleeping ‘because they weren’t getting along’ at the time.
It wasn’t until the next morning that Beata’s brother discovered her hanging corpse, first believing it to be a ‘Halloween decoration’ before looking closer and realizing its his sister.’
Anderson explained to the jury that they will hear evidence to support their claims and the Kowalski’s desperate attempts to bring her home from the hospital.
‘After that Jack says let my daughter go. If Beata is the big reason here, if she [has] Munchausen-by-proxy, why keep Maya [now that she’s dead],’ he stated before the court.
‘It takes another week and a half and Maya is actually told in the hospital that her mom is dead.’
Howard Hunter, who is part of the legal counsel for Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, addressed the court countering claims requesting the jury to hold back their decision until hearing ‘all the evidence.’
‘You’ll see doctors rotating as corporate representatives during the trial they’ve asked to do that for the purpose of being part of the effort to defend the hospital in this matter,’ Hunter explains.
Howard Hunter, who is part of the legal counsel for Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, addressed the court countering claims requesting the jury to hold back their decision until hearing ‘all the evidence’
The family detailed their harrowing experience in the explosive Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya that was released June 19
Maya’s mom, Beata, (right) killed herself after she was diagnosed with a depressive mood and adjustment disorder upon being separated from her then 10-year-old for 87 days
‘The hospital, after all, is not just a big pile of bricks and mortar it’s the doctors and nurses, people and professionals who run it, so we’re here representing them.’
Hunter began to detail the moment when the Kowalski’s sought out care for Maya they laid out that the defense will lay out facts that support the care was ‘reasonable, necessary and appropriate.’
‘We’re going to suggest to you the evidence that I’m going to discuss with you will show that the treatment that went before did not necessarily fall into that category, any of those three categories and that is one of the big reasons we’re here today,’ Hunter said.
‘As of the time Maya Kowalski was discharged [from JHACH] we believe that in fact she had been set on a path of therapy that has enabled her to resume function.
‘To get out of a wheelchair, to be relatively pain-free and to be in a situation of participating in her school and in society as she does today.’
The family detailed their harrowing experience in the explosive Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya, which was released June 19.
The civil trial started in the South County Courthouse in Venice, Florida, last week with jury selection and is expected to take up to eight weeks.
The details covered in the widely-circulated Netflix documentary ‘Take Care of Maya’ made last week’s jury selection unique.
Rather than a courtroom full of prospective jurors, a more private selection process was taken in an effort to keep jury tainting to a minimum.
In addition to damages, Judge Hunter Carroll ruled that the jury can consider awarding punitive damages for battery and false imprisonment – if they side with the Kowalski family.
AndersonGlenn LLP, who launched the lawsuit on behalf of the Kowalski family exclusively told DailyMail.com that the family seeks $55 million in compensatory and $165 million in punitive damages.
AndersonGlenn LLP, who launched the lawsuit on behalf of the Kowalski family exclusively told DailyMail.com that the family seeks $55 million in compensatory and $165 million in punitive damages
Maya, now 17, was placed into state custody for three months after doctors accused her parents of faking symptoms of her debilitating complex regional pain syndrome
Jennifer Anderson told DailyMail.com at the start of the trial: ‘Everyone is relieved we finally get our time in court. [They have started] jury selection today.’
In a previous interview, Greg Anderson, who is also part of Kowalski’s legal team, said: ‘One of the most startling injuries which will come out at trial is the exacerbation of Maya’s CRPS as a result of Johns Hopkin’s malpractice in misdiagnosing CRPS as Munchausen-by-proxy.’
The condition is a mental illness and a form of child abuse in which the caretaker of a child, most often a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick.
During Maya’s stay at the hospital, it’s claimed she was videotaped for 48 hours and, in another occasion, stripped down to her underwear and photographed with the permission of a guardian or the dependency court.
Hospital employees also refused to let Maya’s parents take their daughter to another hospital before the state intervened, according to the lawsuit.
The hospital released a statement to DailyMail.com which read: ‘Our priority at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital is always the safety and privacy of our patients and their families.
‘Therefore, we follow strict federal privacy laws that limit the amount of information we can release regarding any particular case.
‘Our first responsibility is always to the child brought to us for care. Our staff are required by law to notify Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) if they suspect abuse or neglect.
‘It is DCF and a judge – not Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital – that investigates the situation and makes the ultimate decision about what course of action is in the best interest of the child.
‘We are determined to prevent any chilling effect on the obligation to report suspected child abuse in order to protect the most vulnerable among us.’
Catherine Bedy, a former All Children’s hospital social worker, is also named as a defendant in the case. A filing on Monday, after jury selection had already started, removed Bedy as a defendant, according to Court TV, a reason has not been given.
The hospital released a statement to DailyMail.com which read: ‘Our priority at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital is always the safety and privacy of our patients and their families’
The family detailed their harrowing experience in an explosive Netflix documentary that was released June 19
A second abuse report was made by Sally Smith, the former child protective medical director for Pinellas, who conducted an investigation into Maya’s case. She has since retired and settled with the Kowalski family
Ethen Shapiro, who is part of the hospital’s legal team, previously cited 3,000 plus partial depositions and transcripts connected to the case – which he provided to DailyMail.com – claiming they ‘contradict the Netflix narrative.’
‘There are hundreds of publicly available court documents that completely contradict the Netflix narrative,’ said Shapiro slamming the documentary.
The hospital’s defense is expected to center on staff status as mandatory reporters required by state law to call the abuse hotline if they have ‘reasonable cause’ the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Shapiro previously said that the decision to shelter Maya at the hospital was not made by the hospital but the state’s child welfare system.
The Kowalski family’s story was launched onto the national stage after the release of the damning Netflix documentary.
The documentary has also raised concern about Florida’s Department of Children’s role in the case.
A second abuse report was made by Sally Smith, the former child protective medical director for Pinellas, who conducted an investigation into Maya’s case.
Smith had been employed by Suncoast Center, a nonprofit contracted by the Florida Department of Health. She retired in July 2022.
She and the nonprofit, who were originally named as defendants, settled with the Kowalski family, according to The Cut.
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