Connecticut parents filed a lawsuit against their town and school board a year after their son collapsed on school property and died two days later.
D’Meza Shultz Pierre Louis and Chantel Pierre Louis maintain that their son’s death was preventable had instructors acted urgently. However, the lawsuit alleged that teachers disregarded warnings from other students regarding 5-year-old Romeo Pierre Louis’ tragic collapse.
“Romeo was allowed to collapse and lay on the ground for nearly 10 minutes without any assistance or medical treatment — despite several teachers…being in close proximity,” the lawsuit stated.
The CT Insider reported that the incident occurred at Charter Oak International Academy in West Hartford on April 5, 2022, at around 10:45 a.m. When recess arrived, the kindergartners dispersed to the playground. Classmates told police that Romeo was running and “playing freeze tag.” At one point, students noticed when Romeo dropped to the ground, seemingly not breathing.
Children told supervisors what happened to Romeo, but not one Charter Oak International Academy supervisor approached the child to see if he was okay because, according to police reports, the children often played the game “play dead.”
Security footage showed a staff member checking on Romeo 10 minutes after the fall. The staff member checked his pulse and realized he wasn’t breathing.
“By the time the teachers…realized that Romeo was not playing dead and needed emergency medical treatment — it was too late, and Romeo’s life could no longer be saved,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit claimed that if employees followed protocols, “Romeo would have received the necessary medical attention he needed and would have survived.”
A little over 30 minutes after Romeo collapsed, medical personnel transported him to a nearby hospital while performing CPR. Doctors managed to get a pulse, and police reported he was in stable condition, breathing independently. However, on April 7, Romeo died from cardiac channelopathy Brugada syndrome.
It’s unclear what caused his collapse, but the children confirmed to police that they didn’t see him bump his head, swallow or say anything.
Interim Superintendent Andrew Morrow stated that Romeo’s death “deeply affected” the school population.
“The death of a child is a devastating and unimaginable loss, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of Romeo Pierre Louis. This tragedy has deeply affected the Charter Oak International Academy community, and the school district continues to make grief support and emotional assistance available to any student or educator who needs it.”
The same day D’Meza and Chantel filed the lawsuit, they held a vigil for Romeo at the school’s playground. They requested that vigil-goers wear all white to symbolize the 5-year-old’s innocence. They also had signs that read “listen and act” and “Pay attention.”
“We know that nothing will bring our son back,” Chantel, Romeo’s mother, told CT Insider. “All we can do is keep his memory in our hearts and do what we can so thus doesn’t happen to another child. Listen to our children.”
