The West Hartford Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a $20 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of a 5-year-old boy who collapsed on a school playground in 2022 and later died.
The payout is the largest known wrongful death settlement paid by a Connecticut municipality, according to the family’s attorneys.
The 9-0 vote came after the council met in executive session to discuss legal strategy during a special meeting.
The settlement will be funded entirely through the town’s excess liability insurance coverage, according to a statement from the Office of Corporation Counsel. The town’s only direct cost will be roughly $250,000 in legal defense expenses already incurred.
The agreement resolves the lawsuit filed by the parents of Romeo D. Pierre Louis, a kindergartner at Charter Oak International Academy who suffered a cardiac emergency while playing with classmates during morning recess on April 5, 2022.
Surveillance video showed Romeo lying motionless for about 9 minutes before school staff came to his aid, according to a Superior Court decision issued earlier this year. He was taken to Connecticut Children’s hospital, where he died two days later.
“On behalf of the Town of West Hartford, I extend my deepest condolences to Romeo’s family, friends, classmates, and all those affected by this heartbreaking tragedy,” Mayor Shari Cantor said in a statement. “The loss of a child is unimaginable, and our thoughts remain with the Pierre Louis family and the entire Charter Oak school community.”
Romeo’s parents, Chantel T. and D’Meza Shultz Pierre Louis, sued the town and Board of Education in 2023, individually and on behalf of Romeo’s estate, alleging school staff failed to properly supervise Romeo, ignored warnings from other children that he was in distress and delayed calling 911.
The lawsuit alleged that supervising staff did not position themselves to maintain visual coverage of the entire playground and were inattentive during recess, delaying Romeo’s chance at life-saving treatment.
In May 2024, the family filed an offer of compromise seeking to settle the case for $25 million, but the town did not accept the proposal.
Corporation Counsel Dallas C. Dodge said in a statement that the settlement “does not constitute an admission of liability or wrongdoing” by the town, the Board of Education or any town employee.
“While the Town believed it had substantial legal and factual defenses, litigation inherently carries risk,” Dodge said. “After careful consideration of those risks and the potential exposure associated with a trial, the Town determined that this resolution is in the best financial interest of the community.”
“This tragedy was not simply the result of an unforeseeable event,” said Joaquin Madry, one of the family’s attorneys, in a statement. “It was the result of a failure to supervise. School districts should approach playground safety with the same seriousness they devote to every other aspect of student safety: clear policies, proper staffing, and continuous, diligent observation can save lives.”
Attorney Paul Slager said the settlement amount “reflects the extreme tragedy and magnitude of Romeo’s loss, but we certainly do not see the settlement as a victory. No one ever wins when a family loses a child in a preventable tragedy like this.”
The case had been moving toward trial. In February, Superior Court Judge Stuart Rosen denied the town’s request to dismiss the family’s negligence claims, ruling that a jury should determine whether school employees followed the district’s recess supervision policies. Rosen dismissed two recklessness claims against the town and Board of Education.
Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Sept. 10 in Hartford Superior Court. The case settled through mediation after extensive litigation, according to the family’s attorneys. Discovery took place over several years and involved numerous expert witnesses, depositions of supervising teachers, paraprofessionals and the school nurse, and analysis of playground surveillance footage documenting the events surrounding Romeo’s collapse.
The settlement resolves all claims arising from the matter, bringing the litigation to a conclusion, according to the town.
The Pierre Louis family was represented by Hartford attorney Michael L. Chambers Jr. and Joaquin Madry, Paul Slager and Nicole Coates of Stamford-based law firm Slager Madry LLC. Wethersfield law firm Howd & Ludorf represented the town and Board of Education.
Chambers, who was retained by the family in the days after Romeo’s death, secured the playground surveillance footage within the first week and retained the case’s initial experts, according to his office. He later brought in Slager Madry as co-counsel as the case headed toward suit.
“Nothing will bring Romeo back. But if this case makes our schools safer places for our children, that will mean something,” Chambers said in a statement. “It was important for me to get this result, not as an attorney, but as a father.”
