Teachers ignore dying 5-year-old they thought was ‘playing dead’ at recess, lawsuit says
A 5-year-old boy collapsed while playing outside at recess — and his classmates tried warning something was wrong.
However, teachers ignored Romeo Pierre Louis — who they thought was “playing dead” — and the children’s warnings for nearly 10 minutes as the boy lay on the ground at Charter Oak International Academy in West Hartford, Connecticut, according to a lawsuit.
When they realized Romeo wasn’t playing and needed help, “it was too late,” the lawsuit filed on April 5, one year after the boy’s collapse, says.
Romeo’s “life could no longer be saved” and he died two days later on April 7, 2022, at Connecticut Children’s Hospital, according to a complaint.
His parents, Chantel Pierre Louis and D’Meza Shultz Pierre Louis, are suing the town of West Hartford and the West Hartford Board of Education. They accuse school and town officials of causing their son’s death.
“We are heartbroken that because of such a delay in care after his fall, Romeo’s life was ultimately taken,” the parents said in a statement on their website, which brings awareness to Romeo’s death.
School security footage showed Romeo on the ground for roughly nine minutes before teachers went to check his pulse, according to the Connecticut Post, which cited a West Hartford police report.
“The death of a child is a devastating and unimaginable loss, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of Romeo Pierre Louis,” Andy Morrow, the superintendent of West Hartford Public Schools, said in statements provided to McClatchy News.
The West Hartford Board of Education and Dallas Dodge, the corporation counsel for West Hartford, declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Joaquin Madry, of the Silver Golub & Teitell law firm, represents the parents in their lawsuit.
Romeo’s collapse at recess
The complaint says three teachers supervising recess didn’t check on Romeo for several minutes after his collapse because the children at school typically take part in a game called “play dead.”
Romeo wasn’t playing but was suffering a medical emergency he ultimately died from, the complaint says.
One teacher who responded to Romeo told police that other students informed her the boy “was acting strangely/playing funny/teasing,” according to the police report provided to McClatchy News. When she went to check his pulse, she didn’t “feel anything,” the police report said.
“The child was found by other children whom stated they at first believed the child to be pretending to sleep. The children later suspected he was not pretending to sleep and was unconscious,” the police report said.
Romeo died from heart complications after “significant and extensive” efforts to save his life took place at Connecticut Children’s Hospital, according to his parents’ website and the complaint.
At the hospital, he was declared brain dead and an autopsy listed his cause of death as “cardiac channelopathy, brugada syndrome” and was determined to be “natural,” according to the police report.
A vigil is held for Romeo
The day Romeo’s parents filed the lawsuit, a vigil was held in his honor on April 5 on the playground at Charter Oak International Academy, the Hartford Courant reported.
“We know that nothing will bring our son back. All we can do is keep his memory in our hearts and do what we can so this doesn’t happen to another child. Listen to our children,” Romeo’s mother, Chantel, said at the vigil, according to the newspaper.
One poster held up at the vigil described Romeo as loved, kind, gentle, helping, funny and “left alone,” according to a photo provided to McClatchy News by Madry.
Chantel Pierre Louis and D’Meza Shultz Pierre Louis’s lawsuit seeks to recover damages in connection with Romeo’s death.
“As a result of his death, Romeo’s ability to engage in and enjoy his normal life’s activities” for the rest of what may have been a longer life “was destroyed,” the complaint says.
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