It seemed like a normal day at Reseda Charter High School. For Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa, that meant trouble.
The 12-year-old girl was at the high school on February 17 when she saw her older sister, Sharon, being bullied by a group of students, her family said. It wasn’t the first time. She and her sister have been victims of such abuse before.
Kimberly tried to mediate. In the next incident, he was hit on the head with a metal water bottle – causing injuries so severe that he was hospitalized, and later died.
His death left his family devastated and searching for answers.
“He wanted to be a doctor, and he always told me that he would take care of me,” said his mother, Elma Chuquipa Sanchez, wiping away tears.
On Wednesday, the family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, alleging that school officials failed to investigate reports of bullying, properly supervise student interactions or implement effective safety measures.
An LAUSD spokeswoman said the district does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.
“When violence escalates, that’s a breakdown in student safety, and that’s exactly what’s happening here with LAUSD,” said Robert Glassman. The attorney, who is a partner in one of the three law firms representing the family, said at a press conference Wednesday morning that “this tragedy really highlights and underscores the very real and devastating consequences of uncontrolled abuse.”
In their lawsuit, a preliminary to the lawsuit, Khimberly’s family says the February 17 incident was not the first time their girls were “harassed and harassed at school.” It is said that their mother, “had repeatedly reported episodes of bullying to the superintendent of LAUSD. But LAUSD did nothing.”
Glassman, of Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, said the same group of students harassed other children at the school and assaulted another female student in the weeks leading up to February 17.
He said the attack on the girl was captured on video and posted on social media with the text, “Happy Tuesday.”
The video that captured this incident with Kimberly and her sister has also spread on social media.
Glassman and family said Khimberly was taken to Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys after the incident on February 17. She was evaluated and sent home.
However, three days later, he underwent emergency brain surgery at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. He was put into a medically induced coma and died on Feb. 25.
Glassman said the family’s legal team is looking into whether Khimberly was properly examined while in the hospital. But he says the tragedy nonetheless casts a spotlight on bullying issues at LAUSD, the nation’s second-largest public school.
“The reports of bullying in this school district, frankly, are off the charts,” Glassman said. “According to recent research, one in three middle school students like Kimberly have been bullied at an LAUSD school.”
LAUSD officials declined to comment or confirm that estimate. But in 2017, an internal study found that 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 4 elementary school students said they had been bullied in the past school year.
“There’s no excuse for that,” Glassman said. “This is something the school district needs to take seriously.”
In December, UCLA and UC Riverside researchers surveyed 606 high school principals to find out how the Trump administration’s deportations affected students.
About 36% of principals, who were surveyed from May to August, said that students from immigrant families were abused, 64% said that their quality has decreased.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Glassman played a video of the time Khimberly and her 15-year-old sister were attacked by bullies. He did not elaborate on the context but said it was taken before Khimberly was hit with a metal water bottle.
The 49-second video begins with a girl in green pants picking up a metal water bottle from the floor and throwing it at another girl. Soon after, a tall boy in a skull cap grabs him in what appears to be a choke hold while a student in the back shouts, “Fight, fight, fight.”
The girl managed to break free but was attacked by the same girl who threw a bottle of water at her. Another, a little girl in pink pants is seen walking next to a girl in blue.
In an interview with Tier Talk – a podcast program on YouTube – the girls’ uncle Guy Gazit identified the girl in blue as Sharon and the girl in pink pants as Khimberly. Unlike Glassman, Gazit said the video was taken after Khimberly had already been hit with a water bottle, while Sharon threw the bottle at another student.
“As you can see, she is attached to her older sister and walks behind her because she arrived before that. [to the] earlier he was hit on the head,” said Gazit.
“You’re holding on because you’re already injured, right?” The questioner asked.
“He’s already injured; he’s already complaining that he’s dizzy,” Gazit replied.
In the interview, Gazit says that the school police were present at the school during the fight and some of the students involved were not disciplined.
During Wednesday’s press conference, Kimberly’s parents stood together, crying as they remembered their daughter as an outgoing little girl who loved to sing, dance and learn to cook.
Among them were two large statues of Kimberly. In another, she and her sister hugged their mother, who was kneeling over Hollywood star actor Christopher Reeve.
In another, 9-year-old Khimberly held drawings and photos for a school project.
“I helped him with it,” said his father with a small smile. “He got good marks on it.”
Khimberly’s death brings more scrutiny to LAUSD at a time when the district is already reeling from other controversies.
Last week, a Carson High School employee was installed leave with the suspicion of removing many wars from the center.
Two weeks ago, Supt. Alberto Carvalho has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation The FBI raided his home and district office.
This is not the first time LAUSD has been accused of a student’s death as there are allegations of abuse.
In March 2024, 16-year-old Shaylee Mejia died after suffering a brain hemorrhage. The family says he was arrested in a fight related to bullying at school.
But the final autopsy report ruled there was no connection between the fight – in which Mejia was seen hitting his head against a wall – and his death. Instead, the report revealed the injuries he sustained after falling down the stairs days after the fight.
