DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A central Ohio couple is pressing legal
action against a university over the 2008 suicide of their son, saying
campus police could have prevented it.
The Columbus Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/KaaNOk ) that the wrongful-death
lawsuit charges that Wright State University
campus officers failed in their duty to protect the student from harm.
The suit filed by Michael and Lisa Conner of Plain City is before the
Ohio Court of Claims, the Columbus-based court that hears civil claims
against the state, its agencies and employees.
They say one of
their son Nathan’s roommates had called campus police after Nathan
threatened to kill himself. Court documents show officers responded, but
concluded that he wasn’t suicidal.
Soon after they left, the
20-year-old student followed through on the threat.
Wright State denies wrongdoing, says officers acted appropriately, and that Conner was responsible for
his own death.
The
Conners say police were negligent and "knew of a foreseeable risk of
harm." The lawsuit says two officers who responded to Conner’s apartment
had been there two months earlier after he attempted to kill himself.
Their attorney says officers
didn’t notify the campus wellness center when responding to a
mental-health crisis, as policy dictated.
"We understand that
Nathan had an issue he was dealing with, but that’s why the policy is in
place," said Paul-Michael La Fayette, a Columbus attorney.
The
Ohio attorney general’s office argues on the university’s behalf that
Conner didn’t appear suicidal and denied any intent to harm himself.
Wright State didn’t cause the death, which came from Conner’s "own
intentional actions," the university’s response states.
It says
according to his suicide note, Conner decided to kill himself after the
officers left because his roommates had called the police.
The university and its officers also claim immunity from liability because they were engaged in public
duties.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.