The family of a 16-year-old who died after reportedly jumping out of a JCPS bus last summer is now suing the district, according to documents filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court Tuesday.
Dylan Hill died when he threw himself out of a moving JCPS bus last July, Louisville Metro Police Major LaVita Chavous told the Courier Journal at the time. A LMPD spokesman said the bus door was somehow forced open, and the driver was not at fault.
The incident happened on Westport Road near the Westport Village Shopping Center.
At the time, JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio said the bus was en route to a state facility and contained multiple adult monitors, along with other students. Hill was an Uspiritus-Brooklawn resident, according to initial reports.
Nearly a year later, Hill’s family is suing the district, saying Hill’s death was caused by “negligence” of the district and its employees, who were in charge of Hill at the time of the incident.
“As a result, Dylan Hill experienced pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience, then death,” the complaint read.
Defendants named in the suit include the Jefferson County Board of Education and Pollio, Director of Transportation Services Randy Frantz, Uspiritus and Anthony Madison Sr.
Shirley Pritchett, Hill’s grandmother, administrator of the estate and plaintiff in the complaint, is also asking for coverage of Hill’s medical and burial expenses. Pritchett also “has a claim against the defendants for destruction of Dylan Hill’s earning capacity,” the complaint read. The complaint did not specify how much the family is asking for.
Pritchett’s lawyer, Lucius Hawes, did not immediately return request for comment regarding the suit. A JCPS spokeswoman said JCPS does not comment on pending litigation.
Uspiritus is a psychiatric residential treatment center focused on helping children “overcome the effects of abuse, neglect or other family crisis situations,” according to a JCPS site describing state agency children’s programs. The district operates an on-site program to help students at Brooklawn transition into public school, the site said.
This story may be updated.
