Mother of teen stabbing victim sues CCSD

The mother of a teenager who was stabbed in December at Cimarron-Memorial High School in Las Vegas has filed a lawsuit against the Clark County School District.

Maria Dolores De Jesus filed a complaint Tuesday in Clark County District Court against the school district, as well as a parent identified only as “Jane Doe” and a child identified only as “A.C.”

The complaint alleges negligence, a violation of civil rights and battery. De Jesus is seeking more than $15,000 in damages on behalf of her son.

In December, school police said a fistfight between two boys at Cimarron-Memorial escalated into a stabbing. A staff member broke up the fight and took the knife, police said.

Cimarron-Memorial High School was locked down as a result of the stabbing. The boys were transported to University Medical Center with survivable injuries, police said.

The school district said Thursday it does not comment on pending litigation. The Las Vegas Review-Journal was unable to reach the plaintiff’s attorney, Ryan Alexander.

Court documents allege that A.C. was caught in possession of a knife on campus in early December and that the school district was aware that he was a “volatile danger to other students.”

The plaintiff alleges that the district failed to “punish and segregate” A.C. from other students after “multiple violent incidents on the day prior to this incident,” according to court documents.

Court documents also allege that the school district failed to take precautions to ensure that students were safe in the school’s main courtyard — where the stabbing occurred — and failed to stop the attack “in time to prevent the shocking injuries inflicted.”

The complaint claims a female friend of De Jesus’ son’s was attacked by A.C. and at least one other student, and that De Jesus’ son confronted A.C. about it.

After a “brief verbal exchange,” A.C. “repeatedly stabbed and cut” the boy with a knife, according to the complaint.

Bystanders filmed the attack on their cellphones and posted videos to social media, where they “went viral and brought wider media attention,” according to the complaint.

The school district suspended De Jesus’ son and “took administrative actions against him, before permitting him to return in-person to a different high school,” the complaint alleges.

A.C. pleaded guilty in a Juvenile Court case related to the stabbing, according to court documents. A judge ruled that he would not be charged as an adult, and his name was not publicly released.

During a court hearing in February, a prosecutor said the boy stabbed his classmate nine times, leading to injuries that required surgery.

The boy who was arrested almost severed one of his own fingers, the prosecutor said.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.