Amid investigation, dead student’s family asking for safety at Lexington high school
The family of a 17-year-old senior who died May 10 after falling ill in a classroom at Lexington’s Henry Clay High School is asking Fayette Superintendent Demetrus Liggins and the school board to commit “resources to improve student safety” within the school.
It’s unclear whether Emeka Emmanuel Mwakadi’s death resulted from blows the family said he received breaking up a fight shown in a video provided by his family’s attorney, Justin Peterson.
The family said in a new statement this week they agree with Liggins the fight did not occur on the day of Emmanuel’s death as they originally told the Herald-Leader based on witness reports. They said it happened in the days prior to his death.
The family said Wednesday through their attorney that a fight occurred at Henry Clay High school. Emmanuel intervened to break up the fight; and during his intervention Emmanuel was struck multiple times including a blow to the head, Peterson said.
They said Wednesday that Emmanuel complained of head and neck pain after breaking up the fight; and that preliminary autopsy findings, among other things, included a frontal lobe brain injury.. Fayette Coroner Gary Ginn told the Herald-Leader that the cause and manner of the death were pending as of Wednesday.
Fayette school’s spokesperson Dia Davidson-Smith declined to comment Wednesday on the video that the family said showed Emmanuel sustaining blows.
The Lexington law firm representing the family --Peterson and Whiteford -- have requested the school district preserve and produce all video from Henry Clay High School from the past 30 days.
The Herald-Leader has asked for school and district documents pertaining to Emmanuel under the Kentucky Open Records Act..
Fights at Henry Clay, other Lexington high schools
A heavily publicized incident at Henry Clay High School in October 2023, when school police used pepper spray to break up a fight and multiple students were charged, turned out to be one of many fighting incidents at Lexington schools since 2022
In late 2023, the Herald-Leader reviewed reports of fights at Fayette County high schools and revealed school resource officers investigated nearly 90 physical altercations since the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year.
Fourteen of the fights occurred from the beginning of this school year through Oct. 20.
Of Fayette County’s traditional high schools, Bryan Station had 17 reported fights during the time frame reviewed, followed by Henry Clay and Tates Creek with 14 each, Lafayette with nine, Dunbar with six and Frederick Douglass with four.
In many cases, students were injured and their assailants faced consequences in Fayette County’s juvenile court system. And in 23 of the incidents, school staff or school resource officers reported they were injured.
Two fights within two days of each other at Henry Clay in February resulted in injuries to staff members and multiple officers. In the first, on Feb. 21, a male teacher fell down while trying to separate two female students who were fighting, and one of the students slapped the teacher in the face.
Afterward, the teacher said he had pain in his hip, a scraped elbow and slight pain to the side of his head. The principal sustained a cut on his hand, and three officers also said they had minor injuries after that incident.
Two days later, a male student threatened the principal of Henry Clay after the principal tried to stop him to talk to him in the hall.
“The safety and well-being of our students and staff are of paramount importance to us, and any reports of these types of incidents are taken very seriously,” Davidson-Smith said in a 2023 statement.
“Addressing and mitigating conflicts and ensuring a safe learning environment for everyone remains the top priorities for the superintendent and the entire FCPS team.”
