The West Hartford Town Council is expected to vote Tuesday night on a proposed settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of a 5-year-old boy who collapsed on a school playground in 2022. The family previously offered to settle the case for $25 million. The council has scheduled a special meeting at […]
The West Hartford Town Council is expected to vote Tuesday night on a proposed settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of a 5-year-old boy who collapsed on a school playground in 2022.
The family previously offered to settle the case for $25 million.
The council has scheduled a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. to consider a resolution authorizing the town’s corporation counsel to settle the litigation. The council has scheduled an executive session to discuss legal strategy before it votes in open session.
Corporation Counsel Dallas Dodge said the settlement amount will not be disclosed until the meeting.
The lawsuit stems from the death of Romeo D. Pierre Louis, a kindergartner at Charter Oak International Academy. On April 5, 2022, Romeo collapsed while playing with classmates during morning recess.
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.
His parents, Chantel and D’Meza Shultz Pierre Louis, sued the town and Board of Education in 2023, alleging school staff failed to properly supervise Romeo, ignored warnings from other children that he was in distress and delayed calling 911.
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.
The case moved closer to trial in February when 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.
If no settlement is reached, jury selection is scheduled to begin Sept. 10 in Hartford Superior Court.
Dodge said the town will issue a statement after Tuesday’s vote but will have no further comment, citing the family’s request for privacy.
