LaKisha Swift poses with her son KeAir. (Fox 2 photo)
Now the legal battle begins.
Mitch Hotts of The Macomb Daily reports that a lawsuit was filed Thursday by LaKisha Swift, the mother of the East Detroit High School student KeAir Swift, 14, who drowned last year in the school’s swimming pool.
The paper reports that the Macomb County Circuit Court suit alleges gross negligence by school officials. The drowning happened last November.
The suit comes just two days after a substitute teacher was arraigned on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the drowning of KeAir Swift. Authorities charged that the teacher, Jonathan Sails, did far too little to help the teen.
The Macomb Daily reports:
The suit accuses school officials of recklessness by failing to verify the teacher’s credentials, employing a “grossly incompetent” teacher to act as the pool lifeguard, not training the teacher appropriately, and failing to equip the pool area with appropriate rescue equipment, among other allegations.
“The list goes on and on -- it’s fairly long,” said attorney James Craig of Geoffrey Fieger’s Southfield-based law firm.
The suit names East Detroit Public Schools, Macomb Intermediate School District, instructor Johnathan Sails, interim principal John Rizzo, and assistant principals Nicole Kirby and Scott Johnson.
Earlier coverage:
Deadly Drama: The Case Of A Swim Monitor Who Reacted Slowly In Crisis, Feb. 12
