Family of Slain Peabody Social Worker Files Wrongful Death Suit

The parents of Stephanie Moulton, the 24-year-old mental health counselor who was allegedly murdered by a man she was treating at a Revere clinic in January, has filed a wrongful death law suit against several people in Middlesex Superior Court.

Kimberly Flynn of Peabody and Robert Moulton of Ipswich filed the court action today through their lawyer, Attorney Barry Feinstein of Peabody.

Moulton's parents are seeking punitive damages against employees who worked with Stephanie at the North Suffolk Mental Health Center in Revere and consultants who are affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital.

At issue are the policies that allowed Moulton to be alone with her alleged murderer who authorities say killed Moulton during a counseling session before he dumped her body in Lynn.

Authorities say inside her office at the North Suffolk Mental Health group home and then dumped her body behind the St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 54 South Common St. in Lynn. Chappell then allegedly drove Moulton's stolen car to his grandmother's apartment in Roxbury before police arrested him following an eight-hour manhunt.

In March a Suffolk County Superior Court judge ruled that Chappell is not competent to stand trial after he was arraigned for first-degree murder and ordered him to continue to be held at Bridgewater State Hospital.

According to court documents, the plaintiffs in the case include members of the board of directors who oversee the Revere mental health facility, two pyschiatrists with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston who served as consultants, and Chappell.

Some of the counts in the lawsuit alleged the staff failed to check Chappell's criminal history and violent background. They also alleged the facility lacked a policy that requires workers to respond when a patient stops taking their medications.

Another count alleges the facility's policies were flawed because they allowed someone like Moulton who to be alone with Chappell in the first place. The lawsuit also alleges the facility failed to train staff to handle violent situations and does not allow employees to conduct criminal background checks to determine if an individual patient should be allowed to live in the facility, which the law suit also alleges is a violation of federal law.

The law suit also alleges that even when staff at the mental health facility knew Chappell had not been taking his medication for an extended period of time, they were prohibited from doing anything about it.

The law suit also alleges the admission and operating policies of the facility financially benefitted the directors at the expense of the safety of the employees.

As many as 18 members mental health care facility's board of directors were named as plaintiffs in the law suit along with two physicians, Dr. Donald Goff and Dr. Nancy McDonnell, and Chappell.

The wrongful death law suit was also filed at the same time that Moulton's parents are trying to raise money for her burial.

Her family is holding a fundraiser Saturday and has established the Stephanie Moulton Memorial Fund. People who wish to make donations to the fund can send them to  Peabody Credit Union, 12 Washington St., Peabody, 01960, Flynn said.

The fundraiser will be held on April 23 from 7 p.m. to midnight at the and it will included entertainment and raffles, according to Moulton's mother, Kimberly Flynn of Peabody. She said she along with Moulton's father, Robert Moulton, her stepfather, David St. John, and Flynn's finance, Anthony Kerrigan, will host the event.

Flynn said it will cost about $4,000 to bury the urn that contains her daughter's ashes after the family had her cremated this winter. She said it costs $1,500 for the plot, $1,500 to allow her daughter to be buried, and $600 for a headstone. Flynn previously told Peabody Patch she hopes to bury her daughter in St. Mary's Cemetery.

Flynn said the family is accepting donations of food and prizes for the event and tickets can be bought and donations can be made by calling Flynn at 978-317-0267, Kerrigan at 978-491-0578, St. John at 978-852-6141 or Moulton at 508-572-0579, or by emailing Anthoneef@gmail.com.