The family of a 15-year-old girl who overdosed at Helen Bernstein High School in Hollywood in September filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified School District Wednesday.
The family of Melanie Ramos says the district should have done more to protect her.
They spoke out at a news conference, and wanted to know why the girl hadn't been found in the restroom until 8:30 p.m. when another parent looking for his child found Melanie.
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"They failed Melanie, and we want justice for her," the victim's aunt Gladys Manriques said.
Melanie Ramos overdosed in a bathroom at the high school Sept. 13.
The lawsuit filed states the family believes LAUSD was negligent.
"The school district is responsible. They should take care of our kids," the girl's mother Elena Perez said in Spanish.
According to LAPD investigators Melanie and another teenage girl bought what they thought were Percocet painkillers at Lexington Park near the school. Investigators believe those pills were laced with the often deadly fentanyl.
The family says when Melanie didn’t show up for class after lunch. School staff called her mother who filed a missing person report with LAPD.
Melanie was found unresponsive in the school bathroom at 8:30 that night by the parent of her friend, who also overdosed, but survived.
The Ramos family questions why school staff didn’t find Melanie earlier.
"If it wasn’t for the other party’s part, my niece wouldn’t have been found til maybe the next day. That’s why we want justice," said Manriques.
Lawyers for Melanie's family allege that administrators at Bernstein High School were aware of six other student overdoses at the campus in 2022 before Melanie died.
"The LAUSD knew Bernstein High School was a drug safe haven," said Michael Carillo, the Ramos' family attorney.
In the wake of Melanie's death, LAUSD made the overdose reversal medication NARCAN available on all campuses.
In October, another Bernstein student overdosed and was revived by the use of NARCAN.
On Wednesday, LAUSD released a statement:
"Los Angeles Unified does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation. However, the safety and well-being of our students and employees remains our top priority.”
The family hopes the lawsuit will push the school district to do more to protect students from drugs.
"We don’t want another parent to suffer what we’re suffering," Manriques said.
