Ashley Wilson, the mother of a Georgia middle school girl who was stabbed 14 times during her gym class, has filed suit against school administrators.
Wilson claims Ola Middle School officials did nothing to ensure the safety of students despite knowing the eighth-grade assailant had a knife and intended to use it.
According to lawsuit documents, school administrators were notified of a threat on March 14, 2023. School staff were notified by a school resource officer (SRO) that a female eighth-grade student had a knife in her possession on school grounds and had made threats to injure students.
The suit alleges administrators did not investigate the matter, speak with the student who later attacked Wilson’s daughter or take action as required under school policy.
The attack happened the next day. Notably, Wilson’s daughter was not the target of threats the day before.
Adam Princenthal, an attorney and founding member of the Princenthal, May & Wilson law firm, told Fox News: “The attack resulted in 14 stab wounds and lacerations across Ashley’s daughter’s body — everything from her face to her neck to her back to her breasts. And she is, to this day, still recovering both physically and emotionally.”
“Wilson’s daughter,” Princenthal added, “has scars everywhere,” including a scar on her face that is “the primary concern of the young lady” as it “remains noticeable.”
Reportedly, the assailant approached the victim as she walked to gym class and, without provocation, began harassing her. When the victim attempted to walk away, after asking the aggressor multiple times to “leave her alone,” she was attacked. Another student recorded the attack on her phone while a group of students watched the fight but did not intervene.
According to the suit, “[T]eachers who witnessed the harassment did not [defuse] the situation. The teachers who witnessed the bullying failed to keep [the victim] safe while on school property.”
Attorney Andrew Gould said: “Of course, the administrators knew the knife was on campus and did nothing. And then the knife was brought back on the 15th to be used against [the victim’s] friend. And again, the administrators knew about it, did nothing.”
A Henry County Schools spokesperson told Fox News Digital it does not comment on open legal matters.
In a video statement recorded after the attack, Henry County Schools Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis said the district’s “schools are designed to be centers of quality education and safe havens for young people to develop, grow, and succeed.”
Davis added. “Henry County Schools makes a daily commitment to be a district where every student is valued and knows that they belong. As your superintendent, I accept the responsibility for creating the systems that ensure students learn at high levels and that students have opportunities to succeed. But my first and most significant responsibility is to ensure a safe school for every one of our nearly 44,000 students.”
Wilson family attorney Princenthal emphasized that their case is based on “the fact that there were written policies in place that govern how the administrators and the other employees of the Henry County school system should act when receiving certain types of information” and that school administrators “failed to do that here.”
Gould agreed, saying: “It’s not a choice. It’s required that the administrators conduct an investigation. And it’s required that a student who brings a dangerous weapon onto campus be expelled. These things were not done, so even the most basic initial step — an investigation — would have prevented [the attack] from occurring.”
Gould added: “Who’s to say it wouldn’t have been a teacher? So, not only are they putting all the children at risk, but by not following their mandatory rules, they put the teachers at risk and all other employees at risk. The broader goal is to create a safer environment for children in Henry County District, as well as across the state of Georgia, to make sure that each and every administrator knows what will and will not be tolerated.”
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