A 12-year-old girl who died days after being struck on the head with a metal water bottle during an alleged bullying altercation at Reseda Charter High School, prompting an arrest and legal action by her family, died of natural causes, the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office announced Wednesday.
Khimberly Zavaleta was struck Feb. 17 in a hallway at the campus — which includes grades 6-12 — as she stepped in to defend her sister, who was being bullied by other students, relatives said.
She was sent home after being treated at a hospital, but collapsed days later and was taken to UCLA Children’s Hospital, where she was placed in an induced coma and underwent emergency brain surgery, but she died Feb. 25.
According to the medical examiner, her cause of death was a “spontaneously ruptured cerebellar arteriovenous malformation” — ruptured blood vessels from a congenital abnormality — and the manner was death was deemed to be natural.
The medical examiner did not link the ruptures to the blow on the head she suffered days earlier.
Khimberly’s family in March filed a damages claim — a precursor to a lawsuit — against the Los Angeles Unified School District, contending the girl died because the district had failed to protect her despite previous warnings that she was being bullied.
“This tragedy should never have happened,” the family’s lawyer, Robert Glassman, said at the time. “No family should lose a child because a school failed to protect them.”
Glassman told the Los Angeles Times Wednesday the medical examiner’s findings would not impact the family’s legal action.
“If Khimberly had an underlying condition that made her more vulnerable to injury, that does not excuse the conduct that led to her death,” he told The Times.
He also questioned the M.E.’s findings.
“Before this incident, Khimberly was a healthy, vibrant 12-year-old girl with no symptoms, no medical crisis, and no indication that her AVM posed any danger to her life,” Glassman said. “Then she was struck in the head at school with an aluminum water bottle, complained of serious head pain, and within days suffered catastrophic brain bleeding that took her life.”
Los Angeles Unified School District officials, while not commenting on the pending legal action, expressed sorrow for Khimberly’s death and vowed to cooperate with the police investigation.
“The Los Angeles Unified School District is deeply saddened by the death of a Reseda High School student,” the district said in a statement. “Our thoughts and condolences are with the student’s family, friends, and the entire school community. Out of respect for the family and to protect confidentiality, we cannot share details.
“The district remains committed to providing support to students, staff, and families affected by this loss, including counseling services and additional resources on campus. The district takes the safety and well-being of our students very seriously. We are currently cooperating with law enforcement in connection with this incident.”
A juvenile suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the case on April 2, according to various media reports. The status of that suspect was not immediately clear.