Three years after the death of a teacher in Danvers, Massachusetts, her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit as they are still looking for answers as to how the murder happened. The teacher, Colleen Ritzer, was killed by her own 14-year-old student in 2013.
People reported that the wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the town where the teacher was killed. As per the lawsuit, the plaintiffs said that they are seeking for answers to many questions that have surfaced as a result of the "horrific events culminating in the death of Colleen on Oct. 22, 2013." The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday.
The teacher was only 24 years old when she was strangled, raped and killed by then-14-year-old Philip Chism. They were at the Danvers High School and Ritzer was murdered at the bathroom of the school. Chism was convicted in December and was ordered to serve at least 40 years in prison. His sentenced for rape and murder was imposed to be served one after the other.
In the lawsuit, the family is questioning how Chism was able to commit such heinous acts on campus in the afternoon without anybody being able to notice. The lawsuit also claims that the death of Ritzer resulted in negligent infliction of emotional distress.
After Ritzer was attacked into a women's restroom, she was dragged into the woods. A Danvers High School maintenance worker was allegedly told to clean up the blood in the restroom where the killing took place. However, police officials were not called. Chism was arrested only hours after the incident.
CBS also reported that there were surveillance videos working at the time that Ritzer was killed and raped. However, no one seemingly watched the cameras.
It is believed that Chism has severe mental illness and has been suffering from a psychotic disorder since he was 10. He was tried as an adult as he was deemed to be fit to stand trial. An expert for the defense said that when Chism raped and killed Ritzer, he was responding to the command of the hallucinations in his head.
If the family of Ritzer will be awarded compensation, they will use the money to enhance school safety programs. In addition, they will also contribute to third-party nonprofit organizations to continue the legacy of Ritzer.
