Lawsuit by former teacher claims school leaders' failure to act led to teen's murder

COVINGTON, Ky. (WKRC) - A former Holmes High School teacher is suing the Covington Board of Education.

Morgan Gilvin worked at the school for more than five years as an art teacher for all grades. Gilvin alleged that school leaders did little about her reports of disturbing behavior by a student that led to the killing of 14-year-old Amani Smith and the arrest of four juveniles.

Smith was shot to death on January 23 as he walked to his grandmother’s house.

His parents told Local 12 that the shooting was sparked by an ongoing problem his older brother had with the suspect. It’s something they said that they tried to warn school leaders about, but were dismissed.

Smith’s mother was relieved to learn about the lawsuit filed by Gilvin. She said that she's glad the teacher is stepping up to expose what she believes were failures by school leaders. Smith’s parents and Gilvin believe his death could have been avoided.

Gilvin said she was forced to resign a month after Smith’s death after she suffered severe emotional distress. Gilvin said that several incidents at the school made her feel unsafe. Many of the challenges, she said, were preventable. The lawsuit, which names several people within the school’s leadership team, including principals and the superintendent, claimed that Gilvin reported threats and scary behaviors and nothing was done.

The suit claimed that some of those incidents led up to the death of Amani Smith. The teacher claimed that she reported threatening behavior in her classroom by a student involved in Smith's killing several times.

She claimed that in the days before Smith’s death, she reported that student threatening to smack another student. She said that nothing was done, until it actually happened, and he was suspended.

When he returned to school, she said that the student told her that Smith’s older brother would be “begging me not to hurt him.” She reported that to an assistant principal who then met with the suspect and sent him back to class. The teacher also claimed that she made another report because the issue still wasn’t resolved.

She said that the assistant principal told her that another member of the leadership team said “let them beat the crap out of each other." On the day of Smith's murder, the teacher said that the suspect left her class early telling her he was “going to handle business.”

Gilvin is seeking damages, citing a "forced resignation" due to a hostile work environment. The lawsuit claimed that Holmes High School never responded to her “forced resignation.”

A 17-year-old boy is charged with Amani Smith's murder. Three other juveniles were charged with complicity to murder. None of the suspects’ names have been released because of their ages.

Local 12 reached out to Covington Independent Schools, but was told they don't comment on pending litigation.