According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the surviving family members of 10-year-old fifth grader Aquan Lewis, who committed suicide by hanging himself in a bathroom at his elementary school last year, have sued Evanston Skokie School District 65 for wrongful death.
Todd A. Smith, the Illinois injury attorney representing the family, claims that the district was responsible for the boy's safety and well-being during school hours. The suit alleges that the school district's administrators and teachers failed to locate Aquan Lewis after he went missing; he was allegedly found by a student 30 minutes later.
He was resuscitated by paramedics shortly after being found in the bathroom, but he was pronounced dead at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago the next day. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office determined it was a suicide.
The suit also claims that several pieces of physical evidence were overlooked by police before a Feb. 17, 2009 press conference in which police stated that all physical evidence had been analyzed. Mr. Smith was quoted from the complaint by the Sun-Times where he expressed disappointment in the investigation, and what he claims is the negligence of school district's officials:
"As he left home that day, [his mother] had every reason to believe that he would come home again."
Plaintiffs have made the following four claims in the lawsuit: wrongful death negligence, survival action negligence, wrongful death related to willful and wanton conduct, and survival related to willful and wanton conduct. The family is seeking more than $50,000 for each claim.
Related Resources:
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Survival Action (Dictionary.com)
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Directory of Chicago Injury Lawyers (FindLaw)
