Mother Files Claim Over Son’s Death at School

The mother of the boy who was killed in a fight at a Palmdale middle school filed a $10-million wrongful death claim against the Palmdale School District on Thursday.

Mary Corson is asserting that lax safety measures on school grounds led to the fatal fight at Juniper Intermediate School on Nov. 19, in which her 13-year-old son, Stephan, died after being punched in the face and knocked to the ground, where he hit his head on the sidewalk.

“We’re not a legal family, we’re not a vengeful family,” said Corson, a single mother who moved to Palmdale three months ago in hopes of buying a home. “We’re just an average, loving, caring family that believes in right and wrong.”

Palmdale School District Supt. Nancy Smith said she had not seen the claim as of Thursday afternoon and declined comment. The district’s lawyer, Martin Carpenter of Carpenter & Rothans in West L.A., did not return phone calls Thursday.

The eight-page claim asserts that the staff and teachers at Juniper Intermediate permitted “a dangerous, violent and chaotic atmosphere to exist . . . and did not maintain proper classroom control which resulted in a free-for-all.”

Melanie E. Lomax, Corson’s lawyer and a former president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, said, “The school district may argue that two kids fighting is not their fault, but that’s been shown to be legally indefensible.”

“The school cannot create a chaotic, violent environment and then say anything that happens to the students is the students’ fault,” Lomax said.

Under state law, a party must first file a claim against a government entity before it can pursue a lawsuit. The school district has 180 days to accept or reject the claim.

The fight began as an argument in class over a spitball incident and then escalated into a full-blown slugging match once class let out, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives.

Some students who saw the fight said Stephan threw the first punch. The other boy, a 14-year-old, fought back, slugging Stephan in the face and knocking him down, witnesses told investigators.

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It’s unclear exactly how Stephan died. Initial reports implied he was killed when his head slammed the sidewalk. The county coroner’s office is still awaiting final lab results to help pinpoint the cause of death.

The 14-year-old was suspended for about two months after the incident. A high-ranking district official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times on Wednesday that the district decided last month not to expel the boy. However, that same district official, who had direct knowledge of the proceedings, clarified the district’s action on Thursday--saying the boy had in fact been expelled but that the expulsion had been suspended.

That means the boy is allowed to return to school, though he will not return to Juniper Intermediate but to an alternative school in the district, the official said.

Because of confidentiality rules, school officials have refused public comment on any of the disciplinary actions.

The 14-year-old student had left the Palmdale area shortly after the fight and was living recently with relatives in another part of the state, Smith said. His father is a teacher in the district and efforts to reach him for comment have been unsuccessful.