The father of Serenity Baker, a Texas middle schooler fatally stabbed by another student in March, has sued both the school district and a technology company for failing to prevent his daughter’s death.
On March 10, an unnamed student stabbed 14-year-old Baker in the neck on campus at Roy J. Smith Middle School in Killeen, Texas, according to court documents obtained by local media. She bled out in the school hallway before any school staff or security arrived.
Her father, Thadius Baker, has filed lawsuits against the Killeen Independent School District and Evolv Technologies, the company behind the school’s weapons detection system.
The lawsuit alleges the school district had prior knowledge of bullying involving the suspect, as well as documented “lax security, inconsistent bag checks, and ineffective safety enforcement.”
It also claims that Evolv’s technology was “not functioning” the day of the stabbing. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission sued the company for allegedly deceiving users about how effective its AI-powered screening system is.
The defendants’ “combined failures, KISD’s negligence in campus security and Evolv’s defective and misrepresented product, directly and proximately caused Serenity’s preventable death,” the suit alleges.
Baker’s father is seeking damages from Evolv and the school district on behalf of her estate for “conscious pain, suffering, mental anguish and medical expenses” incurred before her death.
