Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge John O’Donnell has ruled in favor of Chardon Schools officials in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of the three students killed in the 2012 Chardon High School shootings.
Lawyers representing the estates of Daniel Parmertor, Russell King Jr. and Demetrius Hewlin filed the suit Feb. 27, 2014, against Chardon Schools, five Chardon Schools employees, Chardon Schools Board of Education and Lake Academy Alternative School, in Willoughby, among other defendants — exactly two years after Thomas M. “T.J.” Lane III murdered the students in the high school cafeteria.
A fourth student, Nicholas Walczak, who was left paralyzed from the shooting, also is a plaintiff in the suit.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys asserted claims of negligence and recklessness, conscious disregard, malice, and willful and wanton misconduct.
Then-Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Joe Gibson previously had dismissed the Chardon school district and Lake Academy as parties in the lawsuit, finding the harm to the victims was solely a result of Lane’s actions.
Gibson also dismissed individual school employees from the suit as to the negligence claims.
However, the judge allowed the remaining claims to proceed against former Chardon Schools employees then-Superintendent Joseph Bergant II, then-Manager of Operations Dana Stearns, then-High School Principal Andy Fetchik, and Drew Trimble and Michael Sedlak, who were both assistant high school principals.
Plaintiffs appealed Gibson’s decision to the 11th District Court of Appeals and, on Feb. 29, 2016, the appellate court upheld Gibson’s entire decision.
Plaintiffs then appealed that decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.
The case was returned to Lake County last year on the remaining claims and a jury trial was scheduled to begin Feb. 26, but O’Donnell ruled Feb. 15 in favor of the school officials as a matter of law.
O’Donnell found plaintiffs’ general allegations of conscious disregard, malice and willful and wanton conduct were legally insufficient to overcome the blanket immunity afforded school employees under state law.
“Although tragic events occurred in this case, plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that any of the school employees’ actions were undertaken with malicious purpose, in bad faith or in wanton or reckless manner,” O’Donnell wrote in his 14-page decision.
“The school employees did enact numerous security and safety measures prior to the shooting, including surveillance cameras in school buses and in school buildings, controlled access systems in the schools, participating in drills and training, engaging in ongoing review of safety measures, interacting with local law enforcement and having a frequent police presence in Chardon High School,” the judge found. “The fact they chose not to investigate employing an SRO (School Resource Officer) does not indicate that the school employees made the decision in bad faith, with malice or in a wanton and reckless manner.”
The estates of the three students killed in the shooting are each seeking more than $100,000 in damages. Walczak is seeking more than $50,000.
The Geauga County Maple Leaf has reached out to plaintiffs’ attorneys seeking comment on O’Donnell’s decision. This story will be updated accordingly.
A separate lawsuit the families filed against Lane, his parents and grandparents remains pending before O’Donnell in Lake County Common Pleas Court.
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