NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The family of Menchville sophomore Kaleiah "Mo" Jones, who died after collapsing at school in February, is filing a $85 million wrongful death lawsuit against Newport News Public Schools and the City of Newport News.
The family’s attorneys announced the suit at a press conference Tuesday. They were joined by Jones’ mother, Keyonna, her sister, and other loved ones. They held pictures of Kaleiah and wiped away tears as the attorneys outlined how, allegedly, only one person rendered aid to her for 17 seconds in the 16 minutes she was down following the collapse.
"Today and forever my heart is broken. I wake up daily with the pain and sorrow that my sweet baby girl is not with me on this journey called life," Keyonna Stewart said about the loss of her 16-year-old daughter.
Ben Crump–a nationally known trial lawyer who has represented the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor–and Virginia-based lawyer Mark Krudys are representing the Jones family. Both specialize in civil rights.
Among the listed defendants are Newport News School Board Chairman Lisa Surles-Law, City Attorney Collin Owens Jr., a registered nurse, Menchville High School personnel, and school security officers.
The suit accuses many school leaders and staff members of only providing 17 seconds of CPR to Kaleiah and not retrieving one of the three AED devices in the school to utilize. The suit says state laws require licensed professionals in a school to know CPR and have experience in operating an AED.
Watch: Attorneys say school personnel 'failed to act' after Menchville student collapsed
Krudys said the prosecution has seen a video of Jones’ collapse and the aftermath. He clarified that the video hasn’t been released to the public or the prosecuting attorneys, but they were able to go to the school and view it.
He said the video allegedly shows Kaleiah collapse against a locker and fall to the ground. He claimed the video showed her twitching, then she stops moving.
Watch previous coverage: Community honors Menchville sophomore who died after passing out in school
He argued that almost immediately, word went out that a student collapsed in the hallway. A number of people responded but failed to act, he claimed.
“The evidence will show that Kaleiah is down for 16 minutes. Only for 17 seconds does anyone provide CPR to her, and nobody gets one of the three AEDs in the school to bring to the scene.”
As News 3 has previously reported, Jones suffered from Bradycardia, or a slow heart rate — something her family said the school knew.
Crump says he wants the alleged inaction from school officials and staff to serve as a learning lesson for Newport News, and the state.
“[At school], people are supposed to take care of her, make sure she’s safe, and at minimum, follow the state laws, follow the policies and regulations at the school and at most, follow common sense.”
He continued, “It’s common sense. A person passes out, you check for a pulse. You do CPR. You get a defibrillator.”
News 3 reached out to Newport News school officials for comment Thursday. We received the following response:
"Good afternoon. We have only been advised that we will be involved in defending the suit. As of this time we have not seen a copy of the pleadings, our clients have not yet been served, and the pleadings are not yet accessible on line for us to review. Accordingly, we are not in a position to comment at this time."
-Rick Matthews, Pender and Coward
News 3 had a crew at today’s press conference. This article will be updated with more information.
