Memorial for Student Prompts Class Walkout

More than 40 students walked out of classes at Reseda High School on Monday to attend an impromptu coffee-shop memorial service for a football player who mysteriously died after a game last week.

The family of the dead student, Eric Hoggatt, 18, contended that the walkout was brought on by school administrators’ hostile reception to the family’s remembrance requests--including a threat to have them arrested for trespassing on the campus--which school officials denied.

Meanwhile, the high school principal, Bob Kladifko, circulated a memo to the school faculty and staff, saying Hoggatt gave no indication of any physical problems after the game--contradicting earlier reports by Hoggatt’s teammates. That brought a sharp rejoinder from the Hoggatt family’s lawyer, who called the memo “completely contrary” to the facts.

Hoggatt, a running back who played in a rough season opener Thursday against Chatsworth High, came off the field two minutes early, complaining to a teammate of dizziness and numbness in his legs and fingers. He was found in his bed hours later, dead of still-unexplained causes.

Nicole Hoggatt, 19, Eric’s sister, said that she, her sister Tamika, 23, Eric’s twin brother, Mike, and Eric’s girlfriend showed up at the school Monday morning to pick up flowers left there for them by mourners, to ask for their brother’s football uniform as a memento and to check on plans for a campus memorial service for their brother. But school administrators told them they were trespassing and threatened to have them arrested if they did not leave, Nicole Hoggatt said.

When it became clear that the school had no set date for a memorial service for her brother, Nicole Hoggatt said she and several other people began going from classroom to classroom, announcing they were holding their own memorial gathering immediately at a nearby Denny’s restaurant, a favorite of her brother’s.

She said that when some students started following them off the campus, school officials locked the gates to prevent more of them from leaving.

School officials denied they asked any of the Hoggatt family to leave and said there was no confrontation. They were unaware of a student walkout and no gates were locked, they said.

“The school has handled things well,” said Jeff Halpern, an assistant principal who coached Eric last year in track. “You’re not going to say, ‘You don’t belong here,’ in a case like this.”

Hamid Jahannema, manager of the Denny’s at Reseda Boulevard and Saticoy Street, confirmed that a large group of students showed up there about 10:30 a.m. to hold a memorial. The group of about 40, many of them crying, ate burgers and French fries and took pictures, he said.

Many of them were the same students he saw in the restaurant with Eric after football games, he said.

Hoggatt’s girlfriend, Erin Nicholson, who flew in from Chicago to join his family, said that after the brunch concluded about 12:30, she and Nicole Hoggatt returned to the school, where they were confronted by a security guard who told them they needed to speak with the principal about their presence on campus.

“We didn’t want to talk to anyone so we just left,” Nicholson said. “Now they say they may have [a memorial service] for him on Friday, but we’re not going to attend. They made us feel like we just weren’t welcome to be here.”

Kladifko said he was unaware of any student walkout, but knew Hoggatt’s siblings were on campus and was sorry they did not go through the proper channels and speak to him.

A memo signed by Kladifko was distributed Monday to the school staff, saying that students had been given time “to grieve” last Friday and that “I expect our students to be back in all their classes on Monday.”

“When Eric left school . . . to ride the bus home, he was not complaining of any physical problems,” the memo said. “He had conversations with the coaches and team doctor. He gave no indication of any physical problems except exhaustion from playing a terrific game.”

Martha Woliung, the family’s attorney, said that “half a dozen other players . . . were aware” that Eric had reported feeling ill before the game ended. “I’m outraged that the school would pass this memo around,” she said, “because it is completely contrary to what Eric’s complaints were during the game.”

Woliung said the family will not decide whether to file a lawsuit until the cause of death is determined.

The coroner’s office said Monday that an autopsy performed over the weekend was inconclusive, and that toxicology results, and an examination of Eric’s brain and spinal cord by a neuropathologist, are still needed to make a determination.

The first thing a neuropathologist would look for is bleeding in the brain, according to Dr. Anthony Verity of the UCLA Medical Center. That bleeding could be caused by a ruptured aneurysm, he said, but in a case like this would more likely be caused by trauma.

Such bleeding from an accident, he said, can sometimes take many hours or days to make itself clinically apparent. While bleeding itself may be apparent to the normal pathologist, he added, a neuropathologist may be necessary to define the precise site of the bleeding.

If no bleeding is found, the specialist would then look for other potential causes of death, such as a tumor in a critical site in the brain--the brain stem, for example. If a seizure is suspected, the neuropathologist can pinpoint its source.

A similar examination of the spinal cord would also be made to check for bleeding or trauma, such as a fractured vertebra or dislocated discs, he added.

Eric’s death comes 3 1/2 years after the shooting death of Michael Ensley at the Reseda campus. At the time, and for years afterward, the school fought to overcome what it perceived as its damaged reputation, prompting school officials to launch an anti-violence group.

Reseda administrators said Eric’s death has recalled those days. “We’ve really still been dealing with this,” said Halpern, the assistant principal. “This is in the backs of everyone’s minds.”

Halpern said many teachers mourned Eric’s death. “Here’s a kid who has his first chance to really shine” on the football team, Halpern said. “We [administrators and some teachers] were all at that game. It’s such a shock.”

Lorrie Johnson, a school nurse and a member of Reseda High’s impact team, which counsels students and faculty during crises, said students and teachers were still seeking counseling Monday and a team of counselors was brought in. “There are a lot of people who knew him,” Johnson said. “Quite a few teachers on campus knew him real well.”

Coaches met with the football team Monday to console players and discuss whether they would proceed with the rest of the season.

“Our football coaches are not taking this very well,” Kladifko said. “At this school the team was almost like a group of their sons, so it’s very hard.”

About 15 football and basketball players joined 40 students in a student leadership class Monday morning to help plan the tribute to Hoggatt for Friday afternoon. Some students wore blue and green ribbons--Hoggatt’s favorite colors--that said “RIP.”

“He was Reseda,” said student body President Tam Do, who helped brainstorm plans for the tribute. Do, who did not know Hoggatt personally, said he was a very popular student who had several close friends at the school and would be sorely missed.

“This isn’t something that will just go away,” she said. “When football season ends and basketball season starts, his memory will still linger here.”

At the ceremony, a member of Reseda High’s football, basketball and track teams is expected to speak about Hoggatt. Alumni friends of the young player may also return to Reseda High to participate in the ceremony.

“We want the students who were closest to him to speak because we want them to talk about sincere memories of Eric,” Do said.

In addition to the Friday afternoon service, students are collecting donations for a memorial fund in Hoggatt’s honor, and the school’s yearbook staff will dedicate a page to the avid athlete. Other students spoke of electing him prom king posthumously.

Times staff writers Andrew Blankstein, Thomas Maugh and Beth Shuster contributed to this story.