Family of Stagg High student killed on campus by intruder files lawsuit against district
STOCKTON -- The family of 15-year-old Stagg High School student Alycia Reynaga filed a lawsuit against the Stockton Unified School District seeking damages for negligence and wrongful death claiming the teen's death could have been prevented.
The 20-page complaint filed in San Joaquin County outlines, what the complaint says, is a pattern of negligence and that safety protocols were not followed to prevent Reynaga's death.
Reynaga, a stand-out softball star who dreamed of being an orthodontist like her older sister, was "everyone's friend" and took care of others. Her mother, Monique Vallie, said Reynaga's death "should've never happened."
"We leave her in the hands of a school and she's dead? I don't want that to happen to another kid," said Manuel Reynaga, Alycia's father.
Manuel told CBS13 they hope the lawsuit will force change in safety protocols and that the outlined protocols will be consistently implemented across all campuses.
"This was a closed campus for a reason, and they failed to utilize their existing safety procedures that were already built, already in place," said the Reynaga family attorney representing them in litigation, Allen Sawyer.
Sawyer said both he and Joseph Goethals, also representing the family in litigation, have reviewed the Stockton Unified School District's safety protocols and how schools report incidents on campuses. As outlined in the complaint, in the last 10 years the Stockton Police Department received more than 30,000 calls related to reports on SUSD campuses. The calls ranged from calls related to trespassers (133 calls), shots fired (122 calls), and batteries or assaults (389 calls).
Security Guard position left vacant, gate unlocked
In the complaint, attorneys for the Reynaga family outline the incidents they say illustrate SUSD's negligence. One of those security measures is a staffed security booth at the Stagg High School entrance. This gate, according to SUSD safety protocol, is meant to be locked and monitored, but on the day Reynaga was killed, it was not locked or monitored.
The lawsuit claims that the security guard position was left vacant after the guard retired, with advanced notice, and the position was left vacant for months.
"[Anthony] Gray was able to enter Stagg High School's south parking lot through an unlocked gate, park his car, exit his car with a knife, walk through an unlocked gate, approach Alycia and another female student with the knife, grab both girls, and stab Alycia to death, without interaction. or interference by campus officials or any security mechanism."
The Reynaga lawsuit includes another stabbing before Reynaga was killed in 2022. In March 2019, a 14-year-old girl was stabbed during an incident on the campus of another SUSD school, according to the lawsuit. "SUSD chose not to increase or revise security protocols."
"It hasn't gotten any easier," said Manuel Reynaga on Tuesday, speaking about why the family chose to take legal action against SUSD. The family believes that without speaking out, and sharing Reynaga's story, there won't be change.