Legal News for Florida Wrongful Death Attorneys. The parents of a girl who was fatally shot at Dillard High School have filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
News for Florida wrongful death attorneys- A wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the Broward County Public Schools district in connection with a fatal shooting.
Fort Lauderdale, FL—A wrongful death lawsuit was filed in connection with a tragic in-school shooting that left a 15-year-old student fatally injured in 2008. The victim’s parents filed the wrongful death suit against Broward County Public Schools district on Thursday, April 8, 2010, alleging their daughter’s death could have been prevented, as reported by the Miami Herald.
On November 12, 2008, 16-year-old Teah Wimberly, armed with a .22-caliber chrome pistol, reported to Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where she went on shoot 15-year-old Amanda Collette to death. Although the performing arts school was apparently equipped with hand-held metal detectors, they were not used on the day of the fatal shooting. According to reports, Collette “rejected Wimberly’s romantic advances”, which seemingly angered Wimberly enough for her to slay her friend and fellow student while classes were in progress. Wimberly was charged with murder and sentenced to 25 years in state prison for the offense.
Collette’s parents, Joyce Collette and Anthony Thompson, claimed the school was negligent with regard to the incident and subsequently hired a wrongful death attorney to file the suit. Reports noted that Wimberly informed a student of her intentions to harm Collette, who then went on to inform a teacher of Wimberly’s plans. Upon doing so however, the student was told to “sit back down”. Although a district investigation cleared the teacher, who was not named as a defendant in the suit, the attorney representing Collette’s parents allegedly contended the teacher failed to protect the student upon receiving a warning that Collette’s safety was potentially at risk.
Collette’s parents are seeking unspecified compensatory damages and want the school district, which has been plagued with several violent occurrences in the last year, to improve security.
Legal News Reporter: Sandra Quinlan- Legal News for Florida Wrongful Death Lawyers.
