Arguments continued Wednesday in a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit being heard in York-Poquoson Circuit Court, with the morning occupied by testimony from friends of 16-year-old Christian Taylor, a Grafton High freshman who hanged himself in 2010 and whose death is at the center of the suit, while the afternoon was spent with two of the four defendants answering questions from lawyers on both sides.
The suit was filed by Alise Williams, Taylor’s mother, who alleges the Grafton administrators did not do enough to prevent bullies from tormenting her son in the days before he was found dead from hanging in his closet in what was determined to be a suicide on Memorial Day weekend in 2010.
The suit was filed against four current and former administrators at Grafton High School in York County. They are former Principal Paul Hopkins, former Assistant Principal Craig Reed, current Assistant Principal Karen Fahringer and Counselor Joseph Erfe.
Judge R. Bruce Long is presiding, with a jury of six men and three women. The trial is expected to last through Friday.
Morning Testimony from Friends of Taylor
Kevan Crittenden, a friend of Taylor’s from Grafton High School who was living at Williams’ home with Taylor during the spring 2010 semester, testified he and Taylor’s girlfriend, Kendra Lowder, found Taylor hanging in the closet on the morning of Memorial Day. A forensic pathologist who saw the records from the death investigation testified the wounds were consistent with suicide.
Crittenden testified he instantly became best friends with Taylor when they met, which was in January 2010, days after the spring semester began and Taylor had enrolled at the school. Lowder said she met Taylor in January of that year and that a few weeks later they began dating.
They testified Taylor was found on his knees with his shorts around his ankles, though his underwear was in place. The dog collar that was used as a noose had been secured to a shelf in the closet where Taylor was found.
Crittenden and Lowder both testified Taylor seemed to be in high spirits in the days leading up to his death. Crittenden testified they had been drinking alcohol with Taylor and his mother, Williams, the night before Taylor’s death. He said Williams supplied the alcohol and that she was drunk that night. He also testified Taylor had been using prescription medication obtained through friends, not doctors.
Lowder said she was unaware of Taylor ever having seen a mental health professional. On the day of Taylor’s death, she said he told Williams he wanted to see a doctor because of a headache but that she told him to take some pain medication and lay down. Crittenden and Lowder testified Taylor never mentioned suicide.
Crittenden said Lowder and Taylor were on good terms in the days before Taylor’s death. He testified Taylor never said he was having problems with the school’s response to the alleged bullying. Both Crittenden and Lowder testified that another Grafton High student who was not a family member but living in Williams’ home also cut himself, as Taylor had. “Cutting” is a form of self-injury in which a person deliberately makes cuts or severe scratches on his or her body. A school nurse testified Tuesday that Taylor had between one and two dozen such wounds on his forearm.
Crittenden said he got into a fight with that student, whom he characterized as “mentally unstable,” when that student returned to the Williams’ home one evening with his arms covered in blood. Crittenden said there were younger children living in the home who saw the blood and that wasn’t right.
Two other students testified via deposition: one of Williams’ attorneys took the witness box and read answers from a deposition while another of her attorneys read the questions. The testimony of Abigail Roberts, who sat at the lunch table with the alleged bullies, said the name-calling peaked with Froot Loops cereal being thrown at the table where Taylor sat with his friends. She also said the alleged bullies once made fun of fingerless gloves Taylor wore, but otherwise directed their insults at the group, who Roberts said fired back with name-calling of their own. Roberts characterized the behavior of the boys at her table as stupid but typical high school boy antics.
Part of the administrators’ response to the alleged bullying was to separate the two tables to opposite corners of the cafeteria a few days after the initial investigation into the bullying on May 10. Roberts, who sat with the alleged bullies, said that was the end of the interaction between the two tables.
“We moved on with our lives and stayed away from each other,” she said in her deposition. She said that Fahringer seemed to take the bullying allegations seriously. Roberts said one day when it appeared the groups were getting close, Fahringer intervened and said, “Don’t even think about trying to sit at the table.” She said she never heard the alleged bullies tell Taylor to go cut or kill himself, and testified she didn’t even know who Taylor was until she saw a photo of him after his death.
Afternoon Testimony from Two of Four Administrators
In her suit, Williams alleges the administrators did not take sufficient action on reports they received from Taylor and one of his friends, Alec Vigil, that identified a group of boys who allegedly bullied Taylor and his friends. During testimony Tuesday from the school’s nurse and friends of Taylor, it was said Taylor cut his arms with a razor blade 12 to 24 times — the alleged bullies were then said to have told Taylor to “go in the corner and cut your wrists and kill yourself.” Vigil also said the boys referred to Taylor as “emo,” “gay,” “too poor to buy clothes” and “welfare kid.”
Reed, who in 2010 was one of two assistant principals at the school, testified he first spoke with Taylor regarding the bullying May 10. He said he sought out the students Taylor identified as bullies, who all said they didn’t know Taylor. He said his encounter with those students was “stern,” and he said if they were bullying Taylor they needed to stop and that if they weren’t they needed to never start.
He said he carried out multiple investigations into the allegations of bullying, which never yielded conclusive evidence the bullying had occurred. These investigations consisted of speaking with the alleged bullies while Assistant Principal Karen Fahringer spoke with other students who supposedly observed the bullying.
Reed testified he made the alleged bullies sign behavioral contracts and that he called their parents when the reports of bullying first surfaced and again a few days later when Taylor and Vigil went to the guidance office at lunch one day complaining of the bullies. He said he also suggested mediation between Taylor and the alleged bullies, but Taylor and Williams refused to take part in this.
At a meeting between Williams, Taylor, the administrators and other school personnel that occurred around May 13, Williams said she didn’t think enough was being done, Reed said. Williams wanted the boys arrested and charged, which Reed said was a matter solely in the hands of the school resource officer, who elected not to pursue criminal charges against the alleged bullies. The purpose of that meeting was to address academic concerns with Taylor, a 16-year-old freshman diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder who had been held back two grades.
Part of the response plan created by Reed, Fahringer and Principal Paul Hopkins around May 11 was to follow Taylor in the hallways of the school to make sure he didn’t encounter any trouble. In his testimony and in a Feb. 2011 deposition, Reed said he did this through the last day Taylor attended the school — May 27 — though a report he submitted to the York County School Board shortly after Taylor’s death indicated he had only followed Taylor for a few days.
Attorney Joseph Stellute, another one of Williams’ lawyers, questioned Hopkins, who was in his second year as principal at Grafton. His testimony discussed the response plan to the alleged bullying, with Stellute pressing Hopkins on how involved he was in the process. A series of emails between the administrators and teachers were entered into evidence that outlined the extent of their response to the alleged bullying.
Hopkins echoed Reed, saying there was not conclusive evidence to punish the alleged bullies beyond the behavioral contracts and calls to their parents. He said one of the boys eventually said he felt like he was being picked on by the administrators.
Vigil shared a class with some of the alleged bullies where they were said to have talked about Taylor. The teacher of that class emailed Hopkins after the boys had been brought before the administrators twice. His e-mail said the boys were wondering out loud who Taylor was, saying they would like to meet him so they could gain insight into why he would say they were bullying him.
Wednesday’s portion of the trial marked day two of four that have been scheduled. Check back daily for WYDaily’s coverage of the proceedings.
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Jury Hears Opening Arguments, First Testimonies in York Wrongful Death Lawsuit
