OJAI : Family Files Suit in Man’s Fatal Stabbing

The family of an Ohio man stabbed to death over the summer has filed a $500,000 claim against Ventura County, the Sheriff’s Department and the city of Ojai, alleging that negligent officer training contributed to the man’s death.

Jasper Fitzgerald, 19, of Columbus was stabbed to death with an ice pick May 14 after a weekend party in Ojai. The victim, who spent part of his boyhood in Ojai, was on vacation from school when he was killed.

Ryan Burchell, 19, of Ojai later pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

But Fitzgerald’s father, Frank Fitzgerald of Columbus, said Thursday that his son would still be alive if officers responding to the party had acted properly.

“From what I understand of the police reports, my son was killed only a few feet from the squad car while the officer was there,” Fitzgerald said.

“There’s three or four people who say the officers were there prior to my son’s attack,” he added.

“If the officer had gotten out of the car and looked in the back yard, he would have seen (Jasper Fitzgerald). Instead, my son laid there for 20 or 30 minutes dying.”

Burchell told investigators that Jasper Fitzgerald had hit him in the face, so Burchell stabbed him with an ice pick he had brought to the party.

The claim is scheduled to be considered by supervisors within weeks, said Robi G. Klein, director of the county’s Risk Management Agency, who said he would recommend that it be denied.

The Ojai City Council will review the claim at its meeting Tuesday. Ojai City Finance Director Cyndi Reynolds has also recommended that the claim be denied.