The mother of a 15-year-old girl who died of a fentanyl overdose in a campus restroom can take her lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified to trial, a judge has ruled.
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"Defendant has not shown that a proper supervision plan would not have prevented the tragedy," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Jaskol wrote in an 11-page ruling from Monday's hearing on the district's motion to dismiss plaintiff Elena Perez's case.
LAUSD lawyers contended in their court papers that the death of Perez's daughter, Melanie Ramos, was unforeseeable and that the district was not obligated to monitor Bernstein High School bathroom stalls for drug overconsumption.
But the judge wrote that LAUSD's evidence that Melanie intended to evade supervision does not show as a matter of law that the district's alleged failure to supervise did not cause or contribute to the teen's death.
Perez's attorneys stated in their court papers that Bernstein High officials knew there was a problem with drug use at the Hollywood campus, but took no action that could have saved Melanie. The attorneys cited the school principal's deposition testimony that prior to Melanie's death, he knew that "there was some drug use, possible drug use, going on and so when we came back from the pandemic, I just wanted to make sure that we address anything that were possible concerns."
The coroner's report stated that Melanie died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl on Sept. 13, 2022.
"Despite the foreseeable conduct of students being able to obtain and consume drugs while at school and the resulting foreseeable medical emergencies, a culture of complacency existed at Bernstein High School where the supervision of students was amorphous and undefined as to responsibilities, including the supervision of specific locations on the campus and the number of times they should be patrolled," Perez's attorneys write in their court papers.
Three medical emergencies involving drug use occurred six months before Melanie's death, the plaintiff's lawyers further state.
A friend of Melanie's who was with her when they took the drug had overdose symptoms, but survived. Days later, police announced the arrest of a teenage boy who allegedly sold the drug to the two students. Michael Morore, who was the chief of the Los Angeles police at that time, said the alleged dealer was a student at APEX Academy charter school, which is located on the Bernstein High School campus in the Hollywood area.
In deposition testimony, the second girl, identified only as H.W., said she and Melanie believed the dealer, who she said was named Angel, was selling them Percocet, a pain medication.
"Let me know if you need more," Angel said after the girls paid him, according to H.W.
H.W. said she and Melanie went to the restroom's handicapped stall, which had more space than the others.
"We talked a little bit and then we crushed it up and we put it in, like, the lines and we did the pills," H.W. further said, adding that a cash app card or something similar was used for crushing.
H.W. said she later fell asleep and that when she awakened, she saw a listless Melanie and touched her in an attempt to awaken her as well.
"And then I realized, like, a little bit that she was, like, gone," H.W. said.
H.W. said she crawled to an electrical outlet to charge her phone and called her mother, who H.W. said was "freaking out on the phone." She further said she shortly thereafter encountered her stepfather, who had come to the school, and that she told him about Melanie. She said her stepfather picked her up, took her to the restroom and then set her on the floor, but that she doesn't remember much about what happened in the restroom after that.
H.W. said her stepfather later brought her to his car and asked if she wanted to go to the hospital.
"I said I was fine and I was lying," according to H.W., who further said her stepfather had her taken to the hospital by ambulance anyway. H.W. said she had never heard of fentanyl before that day.
After Melanie's death, the district announced that all of its campuses would be supplied with the anti-overdose medication Narcan. Gov. Gavin Newsom subsequently signed into law SB 10, known as Melanie's Law, requiring public schools to train employees on opioid prevention techniques and response, and to increase awareness about the dangers of fentanyl.
Perez sued the district for negligence and wrongful death in December 2022. Trial of the lawsuit is scheduled Feb. 5, 2026.
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