Earlier this month, the parents of Romeo D. Pierre Louis are suing teachers at Charter Oak International Academy and the city of West Hartford, Conn., for allowing their son to die during recess.
The boy’s parents, D’Meza Shultz Pierre Louis and Chantel Pierre Louis, blamed teachers for Romeo’s death after it was reported that the 5-year-old boy’s life could have been saved if teachers had sprung into action. Romeo’s kindergarten classmates alerted teachers to his fall, but when some teachers observed, they assumed the boy was “playing dead” for attention, a typical game, they thought.
It did not take long for the teachers to realize that Romeo’s lifeless body on the floor was not a game, and they called for medical help.
The teachers’ defense of why they did not help Romeo after students raised concerns has been criticized by police investigating the incident.
Officers at the scene took statements from teachers and students. A teacher said the “students” said the boy was “acting strangely/playing funny/teasing.”
Officers said they spoke to students and were “Advised that the child was found by other children.”
At first, the children admitted they thought Romeo was “pretending to sleep,” but they alerted the teachers when they realized he was not.
“By the time the teachers … realized that Romeo was not playing dead and needed emergency medical treatment — it was too late, and Romeo’s life could no longer be saved,” the lawsuit stated.
Romeo’s cause of death on April 7, 2022, was heart complications, specifically, “cardiac channelopathy, Brugada Syndrome (scn5a variant),” The Hartford Courant reported, and he was treated at Connecticut Children’s Hospital 35 minutes after collapsing, an 11-minute drive in regular traffic.
The lawsuit seeks more than $150,000 in damages from the school and the city of West Hartford.
Romeo’s mother, Chantel, said the lawsuit is to make sure this never happens again, Crime Online reported.
“The death of a child is a devastating and unimaginable loss, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of Romeo Pierre Louis,” Interim Superintendent Andrew Morrow said in a statement. “This tragedy has deeply affected the Charter Oak International Academy community, and the school district continues to make grief support and emotional assistance available to any student or educator who needs it.”
Dallas Dodge, a town and school district lawyer, called the death a “tragedy” and offered “Condolences to Romeo’s family and friends.
