More than a year after a son died by suicide, a father has launched a wrongful death lawsuit against a Wisconsin school district for failing to stop the bullying his son endured while on campus.
Jeff Cook believes that his son, Peter Cook-Lavariega, suffered years of anguish due to the bullying he got from a classmate at the Delavan-Darien High School. The final straw took place in April 2021 when Peter was confronted to fight in the school's parking lot.
After that fight, Peter apparently handed a note to his swim coach. Minutes later, the police were called to the scene of a car crash.
Jeff believes that the bullying drove his son to ram his car onto a tree, killing him in an instant. He told Fox 6 Now that Peter wanted to die by suicide because no one from the school did anything about the constant bullying.
Intentional or Accidental Car Crash?
The father's lawyer, Michael Anderson, alleged that the school district knew of Peter's altercations with the bully amid statements from the investigators that there were no prior incident reports. Anderson said there are internal documents with the school officials yet they chose to just sit back and watch.
Jeff has a separate lawsuit against the student involved, as well as the parents. Both the school district and the defendants of the other lawsuit refused to comment on the case as it will go into active litigation soon.
When Jeff first launched a protest against the school a month after Peter's death, Jill Sorbie, the Delavan-Darien superintendent said that the father made unfounded and hurtful allegations against the school teachers. She insisted that the school district have active programs in place to address issues like bullying and teen suicide.
Sorbie also said that there has been no evidence about the bullying from 2018 when the boy started attending the high school. The superintendent added that the boy's father has been the other students as he protested on school grounds.
The father, however, has Peter's letter to his swim coach, where he stated that he felt bad about the bullying. The boy also mentioned that he thought about taking his own life but he knew how much it would hurt his father.
Jeff also relied on a preliminary police statement that indicated Peter's car crash was intentional. However, further reports suggested that the teenager might have lost control of his car when he descended from a crested hill at high speed, per the Gazette Extra.
Chicago Parents Also Blame School for Son's Suicide
Meanwhile, Rose and Robert Bronstein have also sued the Latin School of Chicago because they believe that the school officials didn't do much to stop the bullying aimed at their son, Nate Bronstein, 15 years old. He was a victim of "relentless cyberbullying" which pushed him to die by suicide, according to CBS News.
The Bronstein parents said that the school couldn't stop the toxic culture that permeated the campus. The father also said that did not have any idea of their son's struggles thus they were "completely taken off guard" when Nate took his own life.
Rose said that Nate would still be alive if the school officials have done their jobs to let them know of the bullying incidents because the school had a record. Apparently, Nate approached the school's dean of students in December 2021 to report the cyberbullying on Snapchat. One other parent was also aware of the taunting online.
There was no disciplinary action from this incident. A month after that report, Robert found his on hanging from their bathroom shower.
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