BLYTHEWOOD – Parents of a 16-year-old Richland County student stabbed five times inside Ridge View High School say the attack was preventable, according to a recently filed lawsuit.
On April 27, the unnamed parents sued the Richland Two school district and the suspect’s mother over an April 25 attack at the school.
A Richland Two spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
The parents are seeking past and future medical expenses, legal costs and other damages to be determined at trial.
Richland County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested another Ridge View student in connection with the stabbing.
Tony Abrams, 17, who will be tried as an adult, has been charged with attempted murder, according to Richland County court records. Bond information was unavailable.
The litigation stems from a series of incidents that the suit says occurred during the current school year, culminating with the stabbing of the 16-year-old student.
According to the suit, the suspect has “continued a pattern of harassing, threatening, physically assaulting, and robbing” the victim.
On or about April 24, the suspect lured the victim into a restroom, where he punched him and beat him with brass knuckles until the victim was unconscious. The suspect then robbed the victim, taking jewelry and other items, leaving the victim unconscious, the complaint states.
Later, the suspect posted images to social media depicting him wearing the victim’s jewelry and the victim’s blood on his clothes, according to the suit.
On the following day, when the two students passed each other in a hallway, the victim demanded the suspect return his stolen jewelry.
“You can get it in blood,” the suspect replied, and then he started stabbing the victim, according to the suit.
Neither staff nor faculty intervened and the victim fled in search of help. He suffered stab wounds to his right arm, stomach and back, the suit continues.
Richland Two is liable, the suit states, because it failed to properly train staff and provide a safe school environment.
Documents included with the suit state the sheriff’s office has responded to over 25 assaults at Ridge View High since Jan. 1, 2018.
There have been nine documented cases of weapons brought on campus in that same time period, including four this school year, according to the litigation.
“Defendant Richland School District Two owed and undertook—among other duties—a duty of care to Plaintiffs to properly train and supervise RVHS in a manner such that RVHS would not create an unreasonable risk of harm to students within its district,” the suit states.
As for the suspect’s mother, referred to only as “Mother Abrams” in the lawsuit, the suit says she’s “jointly and severally liable” for the victim’s injuries and for the theft of his jewelry.
“Plaintiffs are entitled to recover actual damages from the ‘parent or legal guardian of a minor under the age of eighteen years who maliciously or willfully causes personal injury to the individual or destroys, damages or steals property,’” the suit states.
Such relief is proper provided “the minor would have been liable for the injury or the destruction, damage or theft … if the minor had been an adult,” according to the suit.
