SAN DIEGO — A lawsuit claiming systemic failures that led to the starvation death of an 11-year-old girl, allegedly at the hands of her adoptive family, has resolved with settlements tallying $31.5 million — including $10 million each from the city and county of San Diego.

The neglect lawsuit was brought on behalf of Arabella McCormack’s two younger sisters, who were 6 and 7 years old when Arabella died in August 2022. The three children had been living with a Spring Valley couple who had taken them in as foster children a few years earlier, eventually adopting them.

The girls’ attorney, Craig McClellan, told San Diego Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney in court Friday that the city and county had agreed to settle and disclosed the amounts.

After the hearing, McClellan said the settlement money, which will go into a trust, “will help the girls throughout the rest of their lives in terms of all their needs, but it can’t do anything about the psychological damage that they’ve suffered and will continue to suffer.”

The suit accused several agencies, organizations and staffers of failing to report possible abuse of Arabella, whose cause of death was COVID-19 in a “setting of severe malnutrition/neglect” — weighing less at her death than she had when she was 5 years old. She also had cuts, bruises and 13 bone fractures. The suit says Arabella’s younger sisters were found suffering from a syndrome that presents after prolonged starvation and had to be gradually re-nourished.

A surviving sister told a grand jury last year that they had been given limited food and water, forced to exercise, ordered to stay in their beds and not allowed to go to the bathroom when they needed to. Punishments included being struck with objects.

The suit alleged that social workers closed complaints regarding Arabella as unfounded and that schoolteachers failed to report the emaciated child to law enforcement. It also alleges a San Diego police officer and family friend gave the family a wooden paddle they could use to strike the child — and supplied two more when the first one broke. The officer is also accused of not reporting suspected abuse.

The surviving sisters sued San Diego County, the San Diego Police Department, Pacific Coast Academy, where Arabella was enrolled for homeschooling, and Rock Church, where Arabella’s adoptive mother was an ordained elder and ministry leadership coordinator. The sisters also sued two teachers, two social workers, a church member and the police officer accused of supplying paddles.

Court documents indicate Pacific Coast Academy agreed to settle for $8.5 million, and Rock Church agreed to settle for $3 million. Whitney approved both settlements last week.

“Rock Church remains deeply saddened by the tragic and devastating loss of Arabella McCormack, and the injuries and losses suffered by her two younger sisters. We are hopeful that the settlement will help pave the way for healing,” the church said in a statement Friday. “The safety and well-being of our church family is of the highest priority. We will continue to uphold biblical discernment and wisdom, along with clear policies, strong safeguards, and accountability measures across all ministries as we rely on God’s grace and mercy to guide us forward.”

The county’s portion will be paid through the Public Liability Internal Service Fund, a spokesperson said Friday. “Our hearts go out to Arabella McCormack’s loved ones, and we remain committed to the safety and protection of the children in our care,” county officials said in a statement.

The city of San Diego’s settlement does not cover the police officer alleged to have known of the abuse.

“What happened to Arabella is horrific and tragic,” San Diego police said in a statement. “We take situations like this very seriously. It’s our job as mandatory reporters to identify at-risk youth who are experiencing abuse and intervene before it is too late. We offer our deepest condolences to the surviving sisters on the loss of Arabella.”

Police Officer Lawanda Fisher, who has been with the department for 25 years, settled separately for $6,000 and other non-monetary components, including 20 hours of community service at a child advocacy-focused organization.

“Our heart goes out to the girls, and I can tell you that Miss Fisher was certainly devastated by what she learned in terms of how their life had been,” her attorney, Mark Skeels, said after Friday’s hearing. “I know she has heartfelt concern for the girls and what happened, and she was devastated by the outcome.”

The girls’ adoptive mother, Leticia McCormack, and her parents, Adella and Stanley Tom, have pleaded not guilty to murder, conspiracy, child abuse and torture. The girls’ adoptive father, Brian McCormack, was a Border Patrol agent who killed himself in front of sheriff’s deputies the day Arabella died. Prosecutors say he, too, would have been charged.

Arabella, who went by Bella and whose name is also spelled Aarabella in court documents, was unresponsive when deputies and paramedics arrived at her family’s home about 2 a.m. on Aug. 30, 2022. She died at a hospital about 10 hours later.

She and her two younger sisters first moved into the McCormack home in 2017 while in foster care, and the couple later adopted them. The two older girls shared a room, according to grand jury testimony late last year.

The surviving sister told the grand jury she and Bella were not allowed to play or even talk to each other in the room. Instead, they were forced to lie still on their beds, hands at their sides, with cameras trained on them and alarms on their beds. She said they were punished for every movement — including for moving in their sleep.

The girl said neither she nor Bella were always allowed to go to the bathroom when they needed to, and when they cried about it, they were told to “shut up.” When they soiled themselves in bed, she said, they were forced to lie in it. It also brought punishments, according to her testimony.

The child testified they were struck at times with a belt, paddles and paint stirring sticks, and sometimes smacked with a ruler to the bottom of their feet.

She said they were forced to exercise by running up and down a flight of stairs 200 times. Food and water, she said, were restricted, and they were not allowed to drink until after they ate.

The sisters now live together in foster care. Last year, their foster mother told a grand jury the girls were making progress.

McClellan said Friday there has been “a definite improvement” in the girls physically and mentally. But, he said, “they’re never going to recover fully from this loss.”

Attorney David Gouzoules, who works at McClellan’s firm, said the girls “are as cute as can be.”

“They’re so spunky, they’re funny, they take joy in so much of life,” Gouzoules said. “But you can see that they’re resilient and they’re tough in a way that an 11-year-old and 9-year-old shouldn’t have to be yet at this point of life.”

No trial date has been set for the defendants in the criminal case.

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