The family of a toddler who died after he was allegedly left alone by his babysitter has filed a wrongful death suit in the Island court system this week.
The parents of Frank Rodenbaugh are seeking damages from Aimee Cotton, the caretaker who was indicted in September on charges of manslaughter and reckless endangerment of a child.
Julie and Matthew Rodenbaugh filed the wrongful death suit in Dukes County Superior Court on Jan. 28. The civil suit adds to the legal complaints against Ms. Cotton, who had been hired by the Rodenbaugh family to watch the two-year-old Frank.
The Rodenbaughs say that Ms. Cotton’s negligence caused their child to suffer severe pain and the family to incur medical expenses.
“Ms. Cotton’s tortious acts and omissions included leaving Frank in a vehicle unattended for hours, strapped into a car seat outside of her residence on a March day with inadequate clothing and no food or water, until he suffered hypothermia and resulting cardiac arrest which ultimately proved fatal,” the family’s attorneys wrote in the 5-page suit.
Police and paramedics were called to Ms. Cotton’s Oak Bluffs home on March 13. When first responders arrived, they found Frank was unresponsive and turning blue, according to an arraignment report from police.
Frank Rodenbaugh was rushed to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and later flown to Boston for further treatment. Frank died on March 19 after nearly a week in intensive care.
In a statement Monday, the Rodenbaugh family said that their priority has always been and will continue to be awareness and accountability.
“This is about ensuring that what happened to our son is fully examined so that preventable failures are not ignored or repeated,” Mr. Rodenbaugh told the Gazette. “No family should ever have to experience this kind of loss, and we hope that increased awareness leads to meaningful responsibility and change. Our focus remains on honoring our son and protecting other children.”
Ms. Cotton pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, assault and battery on a child and reckless endangerment of a child initially in Edgartown District Court, before the case was moved to superior court.
According to investigators, Ms. Cotton initially told police that she had left the boy, as well as another girl she was caring for, alone in her SUV for about 15 minutes. But police have said that surveillance footage showed that the children had been left in the vehicle, unattended, for about three hours.
“Ms. Cotton then exacerbated and further breached her duties by lying to first responders about the circumstances of Frank’s distress, delaying the care he received,” the Rodenbaughs’ attorneys wrote.
Ms. Cotton’s attorney has said that Ms. Cotton did go and change Frank Rodenbaugh’s diaper at one point and feed him about an hour before he was found unresponsive.
Harrison Barrow, Ms. Cotton’s criminal attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new lawsuit Monday. The case file did not list a civil attorney for the matter.
Ms. Cotton is due back in superior court for a pretrial hearing in the criminal case on Feb. 18.
This article appears in February 6, 2026.