University of Utah to pay family of murdered track star $13.5 million, calls her death a 'preventable tragedy'
The University of Utah acknowledged for the first time that the on-campus murder of track star Lauren McCluskey was “preventable” and agreed to pay her family $13.5 million to settle a lawsuit in the case.
The 21-year-old student was fatally shot outside her dorm in 2018 after repeatedly asking campus police to investigate a man who had been harassing and blackmailing her for weeks. Police not only failed to protect her, but the cop in charge of the case bragged about having explicit photos of her and cracked jokes about them to fellow officers.
Thursday’s historic agreement, obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, comes on the anniversary of McCluskey’s death.
“The University of Utah acknowledges that the murder of Lauren McCluskey was a brutal, senseless, and preventable tragedy and acknowledges the unspeakable loss the McCluskey family has suffered and continues to suffer,” the agreement reportedly states.
The slain athlete’s family said the money will be used to support the Lauren McCluskey Foundation’s core missions, including campus safety, animal welfare and amateur athletics. The university also agreed to build an indoor track that will be named after McCluskey.
The victim’s mother, Jill McCluskey, said at a news conference Thursday morning that her family was “honored” that Lauren will “always have a presence” on the campus.
“The settlement is important for many reasons,” she told reporters. “It addresses how Lauren died, but also honors how she lived.”
The man who killed her daughter, 37-year-old Melvin Rowland, was a registered sex offender and parolee who had briefly dated her under a fake identity. He repeatedly blackmailed her, threatening to release explicit photos if she did not pay her or comply with his requests.
Lauren McCluskey reported the harassment to campus police several times and provided the images as proof of Rowland’s extortion, but authorities did not seem to take her concerns seriously.
Officer Miguel Deras, who was in charge of the case, never learned the suspect was a sex offender. He also shared the explicit photos with at least three male colleagues who were not involved in the case and made crude remarks about the images, an investigation revealed.
Deras left the university after the murder and joined the Logan City Police Department, which fired him after an internal review was completed this year. Prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges against him.
Rowland committed suicide hours after the killing two years ago.
University President Ruth Watkins, who had initially claimed the murder was not preventable, finally reversed course after the settlement was announced.
“The university acknowledges and deeply regrets that it did not handle Lauren’s case as it should have and that, at the time,” she said during Thursday’s news conference, which was livestreamed by local news station KSL.
“Its employees failed to fully understand and respond appropriately to Lauren’s situation,” Watkins said. “As a result, we failed Lauren and her family. If these employees had more complete training and protocols to guide their responses, the university believes they would have been better equipped to protect Lauren.”
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