Parents file wrongful death suit in Montgomery High School stabbing

The parents of the 16-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed March 1 during a fight with another student in a Montgomery High School classroom have filed a wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Santa Rosa City Schools district, as well as school and district administrators, of failing to protect their son.

The 18-page complaint includes allegations and previously undisclosed details about what occurred before and after Jayden Pienta was stabbed. Among them, it contends a crucial mistake made by school staff likely contributed to the teen’s death.

In addition to the school district, the complaint filed Sept. 12 in Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa by Travis Pienta and Misty Lenwell, names as defendants: Montgomery High School, district Superintendent Anna Trunnell, Montgomery Vice Principal Tyler Ahlborn and former Montgomery Principal Adam Paulson.

It includes as many as 100 other unidentified defendants, called Does, who are also accused by the plaintiffs of failing to create a safe school environment.

School lawsuit.pdf

The lawsuit contends Jayden Pienta’s death was preventable and “occurred due to the negligence of the teachers, staff, administrators, superintendent, board members, and other personnel.”

Besides accusing school personnel of knowing that Daniel Pulido, the 15-year-old freshman who has been accused of killing Jayden Pienta, had a history of fighting and had been seen with a knife on campus, the suit contends school officials failed to provide prompt medical care to Pienta, who was stabbed three times during an altercation in an art class.

The suit contends that when emergency medical personnel arrived, school staff incorrectly told them Pienta was 15 years old.

As a result, according to the suit, paramedics did not treat him with TXA, or tranexamic acide, which prevents excessive blood loss because it is not to be used on anyone age 15 or younger.

According to the lawsuit, Pienta told paramedics, “I’m going to die, I’m going to die right now. Tell my mom and dad I love them.”

Pienta later died at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

In an email sent Monday, Michael Henderson, the parents’ attorney, said his clients are “devastated by the loss of (their son) and are struggling to understand how this could happen.

“Attendance at school through age 18 is compulsory, meaning parents are required to deliver their children into the hands of school officials for the majority of each school day,” he added. “These officials become legally and morally responsible for the children’s safety. It is clear that Santa Rosa City Schools failed in their most basic duty — to provide a safe and secure place for our children to learn.”

Paulson, who could not be reached for comment Monday, was placed on paid administrative leave following the stabbing. In August, he was permanently replaced by Principal April Santos.

The Press Democrat reached out to school officials and Daniel Pulido’s attorney about the allegations contained in the lawsuit. They did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The plaintiffs say that after the stabbing, a student helped Pienta to the front office and another student dialed 911. Once at the office, the complaint alleges, it did not appear he received timely or appropriate help.

The suit claims one or more students held Pienta as he collapsed and tried to stop the bleeding by applying pressure to his wounds.

“It also appears that an interrogation may have been initiated by school staff, rather than prompt medical care, despite the presence of school nurse(s) on campus,” the lawsuit states.

Police said Pulido ran from the school following the incident but was found by officers in the bed of Santa Rosa Creek about a mile away from the school.

The lawsuit alleges that Pulido was a gang member with a history of misbehavior on campus, but school officials never took appropriate action.

“Daniel Pulido was suspended multiple times for such conduct,” according to the complaint. “Despite this prior conduct and the failure of multiple suspensions to stop such conduct, Daniel Pulido was not expelled from Montgomery High School nor were other appropriate and necessary interventions taken to stop his violent altercations with students.”

Santa Rosa police said Jayden Pienta and another 16-year-old boy walked into an art class that was not theirs and started a fight with Pulido, who is accused of using a 4- to 5-inch folding knife to stab Pienta once in his chest and twice in his back.

The lawsuit identifies the other boy as Juan Cruz Cervantes and police said he suffered injuries that were not serious.

According to the complaint, the stabbing was preceded weeks earlier by a fight involving Pulido and Cruz Cervantes, and both were suspended. It adds Jayden Pienta was not involved in the fight.

Shortly after they returned to school, Jayden Pienta’s tires were slashed. According to the suit, Pienta was close friends with Cruz Cervantes, and the plaitiffs believe the tire slashing was in retaliation for the earlier fight.

The family alleges school officials did not take action because the vehicle was parked on a street next to campus and, therefore, not the school’s responsibility.

On the day of the stabbing, they add, Paulson and Ahlborn were doing patrols in a golf cart and passed Pulido and his friends, followed by Jayden Pienta and Cruz Cervantes.

The family believes both officials should have noticed something was amiss given that both groups had just been involved in fights and other disputes.

“Had they been acting reasonably, they would have intercepted the boys to question them, redirect them or take other action to intervene. Instead, they watched the boys walk by and did nothing,” according to the complaint.

In the aftermath of the stabbing, students across Sonoma County held walkouts demanding better safety measures on campuses.

According to the complaint, the stabbing is indicative of an unsafe environment at Montgomery High School and officials fuel it by, among other things, removing school resource officers and failing to curb repeated student violence during school hours.

“The culture of the school became one in which students expected and were allowed to settle disagreements with violence, and those students who failed to respond to provocations against them became targets for further violence,” according to the lawsuit.

It alleges there had been 664 calls for police service on campus between January 2018 and May 2023.

The lawsuit adds Montgomery High School had appeared in 47 social media videos showing fights on campus during the 2022-23 school year.

The day of the stabbing, Santa Rosa police told reporters the department had received 97 calls for response from the school in the previous 12 months. There were 945 calls for police response for all Santa Rosa schools in 2022.

In the months following the stabbing, Montgomery High School has been linked to multiple arrests involving students, as recently as last week.

A 14-year-old boy was arrested Sept. 19 on suspicion of bringing a fake gun to school. He was arrested after another student posted a video of the gun on social media and it was shared with police.

On Friday, two students were arrested after officials received a tip they were going to bring a gun to school and hurt a classmate.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi