Ben Crump, center, speaks at a press conference announcing a lawsuit over the death of 16-year-old Kaleiah Jones. Kaleiah’s mother, Keyonna Stewart, stands to Crump’s right (WAVY).
A Virginia mom says that a lack of action taken by school officials who stood by as her daughter had a medical emergency is responsible for the girl’s death.
Kaleiah Jones was 16 years old when she went to school on Feb. 20. According to a lawsuit filed by Kaleiah’s mother, Keyonna Stewart, Kaleiah suffered a cardiac issue and collapsed in a hallway at Menchville High School that day in Newport News, but despite having medical training — and access to potentially lifesaving machines — school officials did next to nothing for more than 16 minutes.
The school nurse, principal, assistant principals, and multiple security officers were “immediately notified by radio” of Kaleiah’s collapse, the lawsuit says, and they “promptly” arrived at the scene.
“Kaleiah’s heart had stopped and she was not breathing,” the lawsuit says. “But for nine minutes, the Defendants did nothing to aid Kaleiah.”
“No one started CPR,” the complaint continues. “And no one went to get one of the three automated external defibrillators (“AEDs”) positioned throughout the school for such a medical crisis.”
A school resources officer “spontaneously commenced CPR,” but this only lasted 17 seconds, according to the lawsuit, which notes that “no one took over” after the school resource officer stopped.
“For the next seven minutes, Kaleiah lay unaided and dying on the hallway floor,” the complaint says. Multiple school officials, including a nurse, “either stood nearby or entered and then left the scene.”
Emergency first responders arrived more than 16 minutes after Kaleiah’s collapse. At that point, the lawsuit says, an AED was retrieved and CPR was started — but it was too late.
“EMS eventually transported Kaleiah to Riverside Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 2:43 p.m.,” the complaint says.
A video allegedly backs up the version of events laid out in the lawsuit. According to the complaint, Kaleiah collapsed at 1:09 p.m.; security footage allegedly shows her pulse first being taken at 1:12 p.m. A minute later, a nurse “appeared to splash” some water on Kaleiah, and an assistant principal “continued to shake or stroke Kaleiah’s shoulders.”
A medic was requested over the radio, with a dispatcher notifying that the call had been upgraded to a “Code Blue,” the lawsuit says. For several moments afterward, multiple school officials “huddled” over Kaleiah, but did little more than rub shoulders and pat her leg. One official started CPR nine minutes after Kaleiah collapsed, but stopped chest compressions after only 17 seconds, the lawsuit says.
“For approximately ten minutes thereafter, [some defendants] milled around the unresponsive Kaleiah without retrieving any of the three AEDs located in the school,” the lawsuit says. “Kaleiah’s collapse was in a central part of the school; an AED should have been nearby.”
The complaint insinuates that a cover-up may have been attempted.
School notes about the incident allegedly “falsely suggest[ed] that CPR was promptly commenced and continued until EMS arrived,” the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, the blame for Kaleiah’s death falls directly on the school.
“The Defendants’ gross negligence and willful and wanton negligence to Kaleiah’s acute medical needs caused her death,” the lawsuit alleges. “Had the Defendants promptly commenced CPR and/or used the AED, Kaleiah would have survived.”
According to Stewart, the school was aware that Kaleiah had a medical condition.
“She had bradycardia and she recently had a surgery, so they were aware of that and given documentation for her accommodations,” Stewart said, according to a report by local NBC affiliate WAVY.
Stewart is represented by noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
“We filed this lawsuit because we can’t just let people simply say ‘oh that was unfortunate’ and sweep it under the rug. If it was your child, would that be acceptable to you?” Crump said at a press conference on Thursday. “This lawsuit is about saying Kaleiah’s life mattered. And we must do better.”
The lawsuit seeks $85 million in compensatory damages.
Neither lawyers for the plaintiff nor representatives from the Newport News school board immediately responded to Law&Crime’s request for comment.
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