California school district pays $27M to settle suit over death of teen assaulted by fellow students

MORENO VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California school district has agreed to pay $27 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of an 8th grade boy who died after being assaulted by two other students at a middle school four years ago.

The settlement with the Moreno Valley Unified School District was announced Wednesday by lawyers for relatives of 13-year-old Diego Stolz, who was was sucker-punched at Landmark Middle School in September 2019.

One of the teens struck the teenager in the head from behind and he fell, hitting his head against a pillar. The teens then continued punching Stolz, who died nine days later from a brain injury. The attack was recorded on video.

Dave Ring, an attorney for the Stolz family, said the boy’s death would have been preventable if there was an anti-bullying policy in place at the school about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.

“Schools need to realize that bullying can never be tolerated and that any complaints of bullying and assault must be taken seriously,” Ring said in a news release.

A spokesperson for the school district didn’t immediately respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment on the settlement. The district said previously that it changed its bullying reporting system and its training for employees. Also the school’s principal and vice principal were replaced.

The family’s wrongful-death lawsuit claimed that Stolz complained to the assistant principal that he was being bullied before the assault that killed him.

The assailants, who were 14 at the time of the attack, entered the equivalent of guilty pleas in juvenile court to involuntary manslaughter and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.

The teens spent 47 days in juvenile custody. A judge declined to sentence them to more jail time, but ordered that they undergo anger management therapy.