The family of Kevon DeLeon has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Vallejo City Unified School District, saying the 17-year-old died in September of 2021 due to negligence from the district staff.
According to the lawsuit, DeLeon, who suffered from epilepsy, encephalopathy, diminished executive functioning and adjustment disorder with disturbant emotion, began to wander off campus from Everest Academy during school hours before suffering multiple seizures that went unnoticed and caused his death two days later.
The lawsuit, which has not been served to the school district yet, states that DeLeon was picked up by a good Samaritan and medical personnel was called after DeLeon was found unresponsive near Benicia Road and Lemon Street, two miles from the academy. DeLeon was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center and eventually became responsive hours later.
The lawsuit was filed by multiple lawyers, including Bryan Harrison and Brian Panish, part of a victorious legal team in a 1993 multi-billion dollar suit against General Motors for a defective fuel system. Lawyers are working on behalf of the DeLeon family and legal guardian, Reauchean DeLeon-Watson, Kevon’s grandmother, as well as Kevon’s father, Alexander De Leon, who is also a special needs person. The mother passed away in December 2015.
“This should have never happened. Under no circumstance was Kevon to ever leave school unattended,” said DeLeon-Watson. “That was always the biggest fear with him. We needed people to look out for him as he was known to have seizures at school a lot. The school’s first priority should have been Kevon.”
Harrison said that Kevon was supposed to be supervised all the way to the bus after school hours ended.
“Not only are they to make sure he gets on the school bus, but also make sure his seat belt is on,” Harrison said Thursday night. “So how is a child able to leave the school and not go noticed for that long? As a son of a teacher that worked in the school district for many years at Jesse Bethel, this hits home. When is the Vallejo City Unified School District going to get its act together?”
The family is suing for negligence, negligence hiring/retention/supervision/training and survival action. Harrison said the file went out Thursday, and there is no timetable yet as to when the case may go to trial.
DeLeon-Watson said Kevon, who loved singing, art, dancing and gymnastics, was looking forward to graduating in December of 2021. DeLeon-Watson says Kevon was “a loving and outgoing person” who was looking forward to college.
“My goal with this lawsuit is to make sure this never happens again to anyone,” DeLeon-Watson said. “Kevon should have had a longer, better life. He had dreams and goals that he’ll never be able to do now and fulfill.”
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