Two female gang members assaulted a student at Centerville Junior High School last fall and injured her permanently, the girls' parents claim in a lawsuit filed against the school district and two teachers.
The parents claim two teachers, Lisa Love and Stephen Shin, saw the fight develop but refused to come to their daughter's aid.The 14-year-old victim was assaulted because she refused to join the gang or associate with its members, according to the suit filed last week in 2nd District Court.
Their daughter has suffered permanent eye injuries because of the fight and the incident has left her depressed, suicidal and distrustful of adults, they claim.
In addition, her grades have suffered, she had to leave the state, and she's gained 35 pounds, according to the suit, which asks for $450,000 in general damages in addition to $5,000 in medical costs and $3,000 for travel expenditures.
The incident occurred Nov. 15 at the junior high. The two high school students who assaulted the girl claim to be members of the Crips, according to the suit.
When they approached the victim at her school locker, they first pushed her down to the floor and later swung her around, into a concrete block wall.
School district officials said the district policy is that teachers or principals are to intervene to break up fights. But in this case, they said, their investigation determined there was no physical altercation and no reason for a teacher to intervene.