'Parent's worst nightmare': Pima County family files $15M claim after gate kills daughter
A Pima County family filed a notice of a $15 million claim last month against a Tucson school district after a falling gate killed their 9-year-old daughter last year at a district elementary school.
Parents Sergio Chavira and Lux Encinas made the filing on April 23 against the Flowing Wells Unified School District after a rolling gate at the district’s Centennial Elementary School fell on and killed their 9-year-old daughter, Arlette Chavira. In the claim, the couple alleged that the district exhibited “egregious, negligent conduct” in their daughter’s “wrongful death,” which occurred on the afternoon of Nov. 17.
The incident took place after Arlette Chavira and her 7-year-old sister concluded the school day at Centennial Elementary, according to the claim. As they were walking to meet Encinas, the claim stated that the girls saw Ramon Gonzalez, the elementary school’s maintenance manager, by an open gate on the school grounds that was meant to be closed after school hours.
Because the two girls were accustomed to helping Centennial Elementary’s maintenance staff, the claim detailed that they asked Gonzalez if they could help him close the rolling gate, and he agreed. As the three were pulling on the gate to close it, the claim stated that it rolled past the rusty stop bar, which was “in disrepair,” and “violently” fell on Arlette, “striking her in the face and head and crushing her skull.”
Arlette’s sister was able to jump out of the way of the falling gate “just in time” but still witnessed the gate fall on Arlette’s head, according to the claim. It was believed that Gonzalez was uninjured, the claim stated.
The claim detailed that Gonzalez attempted to lift the gate off Arlette Chavira but was unable to do so alone. A witness said the girl was bleeding “profusely” from her nose and mouth and making “a choking type of noise as if she was choking on the blood that was in her mouth,” according to the claim.
After paramedics arrived, the claim detailed that Encinas, who was able to arrive at the scene quickly, rode in the ambulance with her “dying daughter” to the hospital “in hysterics.” In the meantime, the claim stated that Sergio Chavira picked up the couple’s 7-year-old, who was still at the school. While the two were on the way to the hospital, Arlette Chavira was pronounced dead there less than an hour after the gate fell on her.
Sergio Chavira was notified of the “devastating news” of Arlette Chavira’s death upon arriving at the hospital, according to the claim.
“What began as a regular Friday afternoon turned into a parent’s worst nightmare, a sister’s perpetual horror, and the last day of young Arlette’s life,” the claim stated.
‘A deadly hazard’
Chavira and Encinas allege in the claim that Gonzalez knew the stop bar was in disrepair and “posed a hazard” when he allowed their daughters to help close the gate, as he had filed a maintenance request for it to be repaired just nine days before the incident.
“FWUSD was negligent and careless by failing to repair the subject gate and its stop bar before it became a deadly hazard and/or by failing to order that the gate not be used while it was in disrepair,” the claim stated. “In addition, Mr. Gonzalez was negligent and careless by failing to ensure that the subject gate was repaired and in safe working order before allowing Arlette, her sister or any other students near the gate.”
Gonzalez confirmed to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which was investigating the incident, that he noticed the gate had a “crack” and submitted a work order, as repairing it himself was outside of his capabilities, according to the claim. However, he said “he did not realize it was that bad,” the claim detailed.
Gonzalez also told the Sheriff’s Department that “he did not even hear or see the stopper hit the stop area, it just went past the stop bar when the incident happened,” the claim stated.
In the claim, Chavira and Encinas seek $15 million from the school district due to the “entirely preventable nature of this horrific incident.” The couple argue in the claim that Gonzalez should have told their daughters to stay away from the gate, which he knew was in disrepair, instead of putting them “directly in harm’s way” by “encourag(ing)” them to pull on it with him.
The claim also detailed that Arlette Chavira’s sister endured “personal injuries,” including “emotional distress,” as a result of the incident and would be filing her own claim in the future. The 7-year-old was receiving mental health treatment, the claim stated.
Madeline Nguyen is a breaking news reporter for The Republic. Reach her at Madeline.Nguyen@gannett.com or 480-619-0285. Follow her on X @madelineynguyen.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Family files claim against Tucson district after gate crushes daughter
