EAST ST. LOUIS • The father of a Williamson County, Ill., teen who committed suicide the day after an anti-bullying video was screened sued the school and others Monday, claiming that the teen’s bullying was ignored.
Bradley Lewis of Collinsville filed the suit in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis against Carterville Community Unit School District No. 5, school officials, local police, the company that presented the anti-bullying movie and the owner of the gun that 15-year-old Jordan R. Lewis used.
Jordan was a sophomore at Carterville High School, which is about 120 miles southeast of St. Louis.
The suit says that Jordan was bullied by students and athletes, and that bullying included having his head slammed into lockers and being punched and ridiculed.
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School officials did nothing, the suit says.
On Oct. 16, 2013, the school and company 3screens.com showed “Piercing the Darkness.”
The suit says, “After the video, Jordan expressed his suicidal thoughts and one student said to him, ‘You don’t have the balls to kill yourself.’”
Jordan also texted his suicidal thoughts to a friend, who contacted police. An officer talked to Jordan and his mother and reported that he was, “OK,” the suit says.
The next day, Jordan used a “negligently stored” shotgun to kill himself, the suit says, leaving a note in his room that said, “Bullying has caused me to do this those of you know who you are.” The suit says that the shotgun’s owner lived with Jordan and his mother.
The suit asks for unspecified damages and alleges that the school and officials failed to protect Jordan’s constitutional rights and failed to implement and enforce anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies. It also claims intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
A video Bradley Lewis posted on Facebook after Jordan’s death lodging the bullying accusations went viral last fall, prompting an investigation by the Williamson County Sheriff’s office.
Sheriff’s officials and school and district representatives could not be immediately reached for comment Monday afternoon.
Robert Patrick covers federal courts and federal law enforcement for the Post-Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter: @rxpatrick.
