Lawsuit filed against Denver Public Schools by Luis Garcia's family over alleged negligence and lack of environment's safety

The family of a Denver teenager who was sitting in his car outside his school last year when he was shot and eventually died has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school district.

In the lawsuit, the family of 16-year-old Luis Garcia claims Denver Public Schools, the school board and East High School failed to protect him in February 2023.  

The complaint highlights that under the Claire Davis School Safety Act, the district and school weakened the environment's safety by removing school resource officers in 2020. Denver Public Schools removed all Denver police school resource officers from their buildings by the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. In wake of the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests, and calls to defund police departments, the Denver school board unanimously voted to remove 17 Denver police officers from their buildings.

Garcia was shot in the head multiple times by another juvenile. His family has been searching for answers since then and wondering why more was not done to protect their son.

Vernon Jones is a parent of five and CEO of Faithbridge, an organization that supports youth and their parents by guiding them through community issues.

"As a father of five, I can't imagine what it feels like to lose a son living vibrantly, who was a star soccer player," said Jones.

The organization has been encouraging parents of East High School to use their voices for change, especially after tragic events.

"And to amplify their voices so they felt like they were being heard and understood," said Jones.

The Garcia family is doing that and using their voice as they continue their search for answers.

Auon'tai Anderson and Jennifer Bacon -- DPS board members at the time -- said the district's choice to remove SROs from schools could halt the school-to-prison pipeline. While the vote for removal by the school board was unanimous, many members of the public vocalized concern. Some parents of current students accused the board of being reckless and jeopardizing the safety of their children.

Heather Lamm, a community advocate and a mother of DPS students, criticized the school board for its handling of student safety, citing the death of Garcia, the shooting of two deans, and other incidents in the 2022-2023 school year. She called for the resignation of all seven board members, noting that only three seats were replaced. Issues included the removal of SROs, changes to the discipline matrix without public notice, and a lack of a chief of safety for over a year. She highlighted the alarming number of weapons found in schools and the impact on families, including the Garcia family.

"It's been a year-and-a-half. My heart goes out to the Garcia family and the other families impacted by this," said Lamm, "I hope there's some peace for them, as well as some facts that come out because there's more to this story, and I do think that the families of DPS deserve to know. You know, not only the culpability of DPS, and to see some of that but also to try to get some resolution."

John Castillo shared his support for the Garcia family, having lost his son in a tragic school event.

"Our hearts are with the Garcia family because we know what that kind of loss feels like," said Castillo.

The Castillo family lost their son Kendrick in the STEM school shooting in Highlands Ranch in 2019. The family filed a lawsuit three years ago with similar allegations, saying the school had a duty to maintain a safe environment and claims the school breached that duty in many ways.

"People were not reaching out to us after the shooting and providing us with information -- without the Claire Davis Act we would have never had a chance to get depositions, have investigations, it would have quietly gone away," said Castillo.

Now that the Garcia family is doing the same in their search for answers, Castillo shares support.

"I am glad to see that they're pursuing truths that normally they would not get answers to," said Castillo.

The lawsuit states Garcia's parents know the person responsible for Garcia's death, identifying the juvenile as "A.A." in the lawsuit. However, no one has been charged with his death.

DPS says it will not comment on pending litigation.