Syderia Peck, Administrator of the Estate of Tyler Averhart v. Anthony J. Annucci, Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision; Bureau Chief Mark Parker; Senior Parole Officer Clarence R. Neely; and Parole Officer Lindsy Osouna

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 29, 2025
Docket7:21-cv-00383
StatusUnknown

This text of Syderia Peck, Administrator of the Estate of Tyler Averhart v. Anthony J. Annucci, Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision; Bureau Chief Mark Parker; Senior Parole Officer Clarence R. Neely; and Parole Officer Lindsy Osouna (Syderia Peck, Administrator of the Estate of Tyler Averhart v. Anthony J. Annucci, Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision; Bureau Chief Mark Parker; Senior Parole Officer Clarence R. Neely; and Parole Officer Lindsy Osouna) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Syderia Peck, Administrator of the Estate of Tyler Averhart v. Anthony J. Annucci, Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision; Bureau Chief Mark Parker; Senior Parole Officer Clarence R. Neely; and Parole Officer Lindsy Osouna, (S.D.N.Y. 2025).

Opinion

DOCUMENT ELECTRONICALLY FILED UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DOC #: SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DATE FILED: 10/29/2025 □□ SYDERIA PECK, Administrator of the Estate of Tyler Averhart, Plaintiff, -against- No. 21-CV-00383 (NSR)

ANTHONY J. ANNUCCI, Acting Commissioner of OPINION & ORDER the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision; Bureau Chief MARK PARKER; Senior Parole Officer CLARENCE R. NEELY;; and Parole Officer LINDSY OSOUNA, Defendants.

NELSON S. ROMAN, United States District Judge: Plaintiff Syderia Peck, Administrator of the Estate of Tyler Averhart, (“Plaintiff’) brings this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Anthony J. Annucci, Acting Commissioner of the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Bureau Chief Mark Parker, Senior Parole Officer Clarence R. Neely, and Parole Officer Lindsy Osouna (collectively, the “Defendants”). Plaintiff alleges that a condition of post-release supervision that prohibited Mr. Averhart from seeing his then 16-month-old daughter violated his substantive and procedural due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. Pending before the Court is Defendants’ motion to dismiss. (ECF No. 61.) Defendants seek to dismiss the Complaint pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). For the following reasons, Defendants’ motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

BACKGROUND

The following facts are drawn from Plaintiff’s Complaint (ECF No. 1) and are assumed as true for purposes of this motion. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). I. Mr. Averhart’s Conviction

Over twenty years ago, on November 19, 2004, Mr. Averhart pled guilty and was convicted of Rape in the First Degree pursuant to N.Y. Penal Law § 130.35(1). (Compl. ¶ 13.) Mr. Averhart’s conviction stemmed from an incident in which he engaged in forced sexual relations with a 14- year-old girl. (Id.) Mr. Averhart was sentenced to a 12-year term of incarceration and 5-year term of post-release supervision. (Id.) II. Mr. Averhart’s Incarceration and Conditions of Release Mr. Averhart remained incarcerated for 13 years. (Id. ¶¶ 13, 15.) During that time, Mr. Averhart participated in a sex offender counseling and treatment program. (Id. ¶ 14.) Mr. Averhart was ultimately adjudicated as a Level 3 offender in November 2017. (Id.) On December 13, 2017, Mr. Averhart began parole supervision overseen by New York State’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (“DOCCS”). (Id. ¶ 15.) A special condition of his parole prohibited him from having any “contact with any person under the age of eighteen, without the written permission of [his parole officer].” (Id.) Nor could Mr. Averhart live within 1,000 feet of a school during his supervision period, in accordance with the Sexual Assault Reform Act (“SARA”) pursuant to N.Y. Exec. Law § 259-c (14). (Id.) Prior to release, Mr. Averhart requested to live with Ms. Watson and Ms. Peck, his mother and sister, respectively, in Jamaica, Queens. (Id. ¶ 16.) DOCCS approved this request as SARA- compliant. (Id.) III. Mr. Averhart’s Release from Prison and Rehabilitation

Upon release, Mr. Averhart purportedly began making positive strides towards his integration into society. Mr. Averhart enrolled in a drug treatment program at the Fortune Society to help manage his struggle with substance abuse—an addiction he has dealt with since he was a teenager. (Id. ¶ 17.) Mr. Averhart also joined an 8-week culinary arts and industrial cooking training program, which led to full-time employment as an industrial cook at a homeless shelter. (Id. ¶ 18.) With his new employment, Mr. Averhart began contributing to rent and assisting Ms. Watson who was undergoing oral chemotherapy for chronic leukemia. (Id. ¶ 20.) Around sometime in 2018, Mr. Averhart met and began dating Jazmine McKenize. (Id. ¶ 21.) Early in their relationship, Mr. Averhart learned that Ms. McKenzie suffered from psychological episodes from a traumatic childhood and mental illness. (Id. ¶ 22.) Mr. Averhart and Ms. McKenzie eventually moved to a homeless shelter on Wards Island. (Id. ¶ 23.) They were, however, forced to sleep in different nearby shelters. (Id.) The homeless shelter was Mr. Averhart’s only option given both his lack of resources and his SARA residency restriction. (Id.)

In or around January 2019, Mr. Averhart learned that Ms. McKenzie was pregnant. (Id. ¶ 24.) Shortly after learning of the pregnancy, Mr. Averhart and Ms. McKenzie began shopping for baby supplies at the Salvation Army. (Id.) It was also around this time that Mr. Averhart lost his job and was left without income. (Id. ¶ 25.) Mr. Averhart ultimately experienced a relapse of substance abuse which resulted in two violations of his parole—occurring in February and May 2019. (Id.) Mr. Averhart was arrested and detained for both violations. (Id.) He was, however, released both times by DOCCS. (Id.) IV. Defendants’ Alleged Ban on Contact Between Mr. Averhart and his Daughter

After being released following his first parole violation in February 2019, Mr. Averhart was driven home by Defendant Osouna—his parole officer. (Id. ¶ 26.) During their drive, Mr. Averhart informed Defendant Osouna that Ms. McKenzie was pregnant. (Id.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Osouna warned Mr. Averhart that marriage “was not a good idea.” (Id.) Plaintiff also alleges that Defendant Osouna reminded Mr. Averhart of his special parole condition—that he would require written permission from his parole officer before having any contact with a minor, including his future child. (Id.) Mr. Averhart purportedly protested that other parolees with similar post-release conditions were able to see their children. (Id.) Mr. Averhart also expressed a desire to take responsibility for his daughter. (Id.) Defendant Osouna allegedly did not change her position. (Id.) Mr. Averhart was again informed after his second parole violation in May 2019 that he would be prohibited from seeing his child. (Id. ¶ 27.) Specifically, Defendants Osouna and Neely—a senior parole officer—allegedly scolded Mr. Averhart for Ms. McKenzie’s pregnancy

and warned him that he would “never be around [his] child” because of his post-release conditions. (Id.) Despite Mr. Averhart’s purported protesting, Defendants Osouna and Neely did not change their position. (Id.) On August 22, 2019, Ms. McKenzie informed Mr. Averhart that she went into labor. (Id. ¶ 28.) When arriving at the hospital, however, Mr. Averhart was denied entry by hospital staff at the direction of his parole officers. (Id.) The following day, Mr. Averhart traveled to a hospital in Midtown, Manhattan, where Ms. McKenzie was transferred, only to be denied entry again by hospital staff at the direction of his parole officers. (Id. ¶ 29.) Consequently, Mr. Averhart missed the birth of his daughter, J.C., and failed to sign her birth certificate. (Id.) After learning that Mr. Averhart was denied entrance, Ms. McKenzie suffered from a psychological episode and began acting erratically towards hospital staff. (Id. ¶ 30.) Ms. McKenzie was transferred and then admitted to the inpatient psychiatric unit. (Id.) Following this incident, Ms. Watson and Ms. Peck began taking care of J.C. (Id. ¶ 31.) J.C. was ultimately placed

with Ms. Watson and Ms.

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Syderia Peck, Administrator of the Estate of Tyler Averhart v. Anthony J. Annucci, Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision; Bureau Chief Mark Parker; Senior Parole Officer Clarence R. Neely; and Parole Officer Lindsy Osouna, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/syderia-peck-administrator-of-the-estate-of-tyler-averhart-v-anthony-j-nysd-2025.