Parents of Boy Killed by Utility Cart Sue LAUSD

The parents of a 7-year-old boy crushed and killed by a janitor’s electric utility cart at his Sun Valley school filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Enrique and Juana Silva allege in the suit that inadequate supervision during an after-school program and a careless custodian caused the Sept. 15 death of second-grader Steve Silva at Roscoe Elementary.

The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks unspecified damages. A claim filed against the district in March, a precursor to Tuesday’s suit, asked for $84 million.

“Leaving a cart like that in a playground full of kids, what could be more careless?” said Kevin Meenan, an attorney for the Silvas. “This accident could have been avoided.”

District officials decline to comment on the lawsuit, said spokeswoman Criket Bauer.

A maintenance worker had parked the cart outside the main building about 3 p.m. when a group of children began playing on it, police said. The 1,300-pound cart began to roll down a slight incline when one of the children pulled the hand brake.

Steve jumped in front of the cart in an apparent attempt to stop it and was pinned against a wall. He suffered massive head trauma and was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived. The boy was pronounced dead at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

District officials said at the time that teachers were supervising the playground when the accident occurred. District officials have refused to reveal the findings of an internal investigation.

Five days after the accident, the district distributed chock blocks to schools with utility carts. The blocks must now be placed under the wheels of the parked vehicles as an added precaution.

An investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division found no evidence of criminal negligence.