A mother has filed a lawsuit against Zion-Benton Township High School in Zion, saying that the district failed to follow its own policies, leading to her child being critically injured in a stabbing during math class.
The lawsuit was filed by parent Karen Tamez in Lake County Circuit Court on Thursday against Zion-Benton Township High School District 126.
Karen Tamez and her minor daughter are represented by attorneys David Bawcum and Sean Burke.
The complaint says Zion-Benton Township High School is responsible for “permanently disabling” injuries suffered by a 17-year-old girl who was stabbed by a fellow student during her second-period math class at the school on January 9.
The suit says the high school has mandatory safety and security procedures, including policies requiring classroom doors to remain locked during instructional periods, but alleges that those procedures were not followed on the day of the attack.
A teacher unlocked the door to the classroom to let the suspect student, who arrived late, into the room in violation of the mandatory procedures, the suit said.
The complaint said the suspect student immediately verbally confronted the victim, which escalated but there was no effort made to separate the students or summon security personnel.
The suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim multiple times, leaving her with the loss of a kidney, internal injuries, pain, emotional distress and medical expenses, the suit said.
The complaint said that the district maintained an alternative education program for students whose behavior posed a risk to others.
Bawcum said the school failed to enforce its own safety rules and failed to use its alternative program to address the risk posed by the offending student, who has a history of disciplinary issues.
“This is an outrageous betrayal of the school’s students and families,” Bawcum said.
“Parents send their kids to school with the expectation and the assurance that the school administrators and teachers will put the safety and best interests of their students first. To then find out it was an empty promise – that the policies and procedures intended to keep their children safe were not even being implemented – that is a massive abuse of parental trust, one that cannot be ignored,” he said.
Burke said that Zion-Benton administrators should have known the violent student posed a danger to her classmates and they should have taken appropriate measures to prevent the attack that they “could have easily foreseen, based on the assailant’s record at this and previous schools.”
The Zion Police Department and Zion Fire-Rescue Department responded around 8:50 a.m. that day to Zion-Benton Township High School, 3901 21st Street in Zion, for a stabbing.
Zion Deputy Police Chief Christopher Sweeting said an incident between two students led to one being stabbed.
Officers rendered aid to the 17-year-old victim until paramedics arrived and took over care.
She was transported by ambulance to a local hospital with critical injuries, Sweeting said.
The school resource officer at District 126 was able to obtain the offender information and the suspect, a 17-year-old girl, fled but was quickly arrested off campus.
Zion Police Department Lt. Paul Kehrli said Monday that the suspect, whose identity was not released because she is a minor, was referred to the juvenile justice system on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, which is a Class 3 felony.
She was transported to the Robert W. Depke Juvenile Complex Center in Vernon Hills for secure detention, Kehrli said.
Zion-Benton School District 126 said in a statement that the incident on campus was “isolated” and the school was placed on “Code Yellow” out of an abundance of caution.
The injured student and her mother are seeking a judgment against the school, the attacker and that student’s parent, along with restitution for medical expenses.