by Bob Walsh
Diego
Stolz died at age 13. He was by all accounts a decent kid who was
beaten to death by school bullies last year at the Moreno Valley
Unified School District's Landmark Middle School in Riverside County,
CA.
The kid had apparently
been bullied for a year before his death in September of last year. He
had reported the bullying, repeatedly, including at least one physical
attack on campus. The attack by two boys that killed Stolz was on video
tape surveillance.
He
had reported an earlier attack when he got hit upside the head. The
assistant principle to who the report was made said the security footage
of that attack would be reviewed and the attackers would be suspended
and moved out of a class they shared with Stolz. None of these things
were in fact done. Three days later the bullies thumped him again, just
in front of the front gate. He was left brain damaged and died eight
days later.
Due to a quirk
in the law Stolz's guardians, his aunt and uncle were previously
prohibited from suing on his behalf because they had not legally adopted
the boy after his parents deaths. A change in the law less than ten
days ago made it possible for the aunt and uncle to file suit. They
did, for $100 million.
There had been one earlier beating death from a systemic bullying situation at this school in 1998
The
school has basically mealy-mouthed around the issue, saying they are
taking steps to address the bullying issue, which is said to be rampant
at this school.
The two boys who killed Stolz are actually in juvenile custody facing charges of assault and voluntary manslaughter.
EDITOR'S NOTE: When I left Riverside in 1969, Moreno, Edgemont and Sunnymead were just unincorporated communities of Riverside County near March Air Force Base with a combined population of 18,000. In 1984, the voters of the three communities incorporated the city of Moreno Valley. The high cost of housing in Los Angeles caused the area to swell so that it is now a city of more than 210,000 residents.
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