The family of a 9-year-old student who suffered deadly injuries outside a D.C. public charter school last year is suing the school and its security company.
Kaidyn Green, 9, was hit by a car outside the KIPP DC Honor Academy, on Wheeler Road in Southeast, on Dec. 10, 2021. He was in Children’s National Hospital until February of this year and was rendered a quadriplegic; he was later discharged from a rehab facility but died June 2.
The lawsuit, filed against KIPP and LGC Security, as well as the driver and the owner of the car, says Kaidyn’s mother arranged with the school to pick him up early, at about 1:30 p.m. She was told to wait in the front office, and Kaidyn would be brought to her – the usual procedure, the lawsuit said.
But the suit claims that’s not what happened. Green was told his mother was waiting for him, but wasn’t taken to the office, the family says: Instead, he was “released from his 4th grade classroom, then left unattended and unsupervised by employees.”
Green didn’t know his mother was in the office, the suit says; he went out the back door – the usual spot for kids to exit at the end of the day – then “walked unnoticed in excess of 143 yards around the outside perimeter” of the school’s property to the front.
When he saw his mother’s car parked in front of the school, he looked both ways and tried to cross the street, but was hit by the car, the lawsuit said.
“All people coming in or out of the school should come through the rear; the front entrance should be closed permanently,” said Keith Watters, who is representing the Green family. “Because the rear takes you away from Wheeler Road and all that thunderous traffic going back and forth. They have the protocols for pickups and monitoring, they just have to enforce those protocols.”
The lawsuit details three instances in which pedestrians were hit by cars in the immediate area, including two in the preceding two months.
“Our community continues to mourn Kaidyn’s passing and our thoughts are with his family and the classmates that knew him so well. Given the pending legal matter, we’re unable to say more at this time,” a KIPP DC spokesperson said.
The suit is seeking a total of $50 million.
The D.C. police said the driver has not been charged, and that the case is still under investigation.
