Sharon Zavaleta Chuquipa struggles to sleep in the living room with her little sister. Every corner, decoration and toy holds devastating little memories of the 12-year-old whose life was suddenly ended. <\/p>\n
The grief is heavy \u2013 like the guilt. Sometimes, she says, it becomes almost impossible to bear. <\/p>\n
“I blame myself,” she said in Spanish, with tears in her eyes. “If she hadn’t gotten involved, she would be here with me.”<\/p>\n
February 17 was the day Sharon’s life changed forever. His afternoon started like any other, he said, when a group of bullies at Reseda Charter High School harassed him as he headed toward final period. But matters turned sour when his younger sister, Khimberly, came forward to defend him and was hit on the head with a metal water bottle.<\/p>\n
Khimberly underwent emergency brain surgery after being hit over the head with a metal water bottle and was placed in a medically induced coma.<\/p>\n
(Photo courtesy of Guy David Ghazzi)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n
Khimberly was taken to Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, where he was evaluated, treated and released the same day, according to his family. <\/p>\n
Three days later, major blood vessels in his brain burst, his family said. She was taken to UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, where she underwent emergency brain surgery and was placed in a medically induced coma. <\/p>\n
it was no use. Khimberly died on 25 February. The county medical examiner has not yet released the autopsy report with the girl’s cause of death. <\/p>\n
The horrific tragedy has led some, including Khimberly’s family, to question whether the Los Angeles Unified School District could have \u2014 or should have \u2014 done more to protect the girl. <\/p>\n
“The school has a lot to answer for, because, well, they did nothing,” her mother, Elma Chuquipa Sanchez, said in Spanish. \u201cI went to school every day and there was a ruckus (about the ongoing bullying).<\/p>\n
“But it was all in vain,” he continued. “Now, my baby is gone.”<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/baaa3d8\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6016x4013+0+0\/resize\/320x213!\/format\/webp\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F87%2Fab%2Ff0ba050543608fa499dc1e256cde%2F1549842-me-bullying-death-folo-0002.jpg)
<\/picture>\nKhimberly’s mother, Elma Chuquipa Sanchez, center, and aunt Liz Trugman meet with a family attorney in Los Angeles on April 9.<\/p>\n
(Jason Armand\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n
LAUSD is the second largest school district in America, Serving approximately 549,000 students<\/a> On over 1,500 different sites. <\/p>\n Each year students are asked about their experiences with bullying Results are compiled and released annually<\/a> As part of the district’s School Experience Survey. <\/p>\n Students answer questions about multiple forms of bullying, including verbal, sexual, and Internet-based harassment. During the entire past school year, 17% of middle school students and 6% of high school students said they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that they had been “pushed, pushed, slapped, hit, or kicked by someone who was not joking.”<\/p>\n Reseda Charter High’s responses were consistent with responses throughout the district \u2013 18% of middle school students agreed with the statement, and 6% of high school students agreed.<\/p>\n data from National Center for Education Statistics<\/a> Show that there has been a long-term decline in bullying in US schools since 2010. <\/p>\n California has also seen a “dramatic decline” in all forms of bullying over the past 20 years, according to Ron Avi Astor, a bullying expert and professor of social welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. A study he co-authored found 56% decline in fights<\/a> In California secondary schools from 2001 to 2019.<\/p>\n However, Khimberly’s death serves as a reminder of the devastating and disproportionate toll it takes on students and their families. <\/p>\n “Schools are more aware now than they used to be, and there are more interventions, more programs,” Astor said. “I think school sites are very serious (about addressing bullying), because it can lead to physical harm and, unfortunately, even death in this situation.”<\/p>\n She said LAUSD faces more challenges dealing with the issue than other districts \u2014 pointing to the size and diversity of its student body, as well as the high rates of teacher and administrator turnover.<\/p>\n LAUSD board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin said that although she is unable to comment on Khimberly’s case due to the pending lawsuit, she does not think bullying is a big issue throughout the district. <\/p>\n \u201cFor the family whose child is being bullied, absolutely, it’s a big problem,\u201d she said. “But if you look at the grand scheme of half a million kids in a city that has a lot of diversity, including not only different cultural upbringings but also different opinions about what’s right and what’s wrong, you can expect a lot of conflict.”<\/p>\n Ortiz Franklin, chair of the district’s School Safety and Climate Committee, said the highest rates of bullying and fights are seen at the middle school level, where students are still learning to deal with negative emotions.<\/p>\n He said the district has worked to address this through new measures, such as a cellphone ban, aimed not only at focusing on the classroom but also on face-to-face relationship building and fostering a sense of community. He also pointed to efforts to teach social and emotional learning, so students learn how to process negative emotions using words, not violence. <\/p>\n According to it, 5,636 fights and other cases of aggression were reported in LA Unified in the 2024-25 school year and 5,707 cases were reported in the previous school year. data presented<\/a> At a committee meeting in November. <\/p>\n Between July 1 and November 6, 1,786 incidents of fighting and physical aggression were recorded on LAUSD campuses \u2013 a rate of 4.5 incidents per 1,000 students. 2,506 such incidents were recorded during the same four-month period in 2024, and 2,232 incidents were recorded in that window in 2023.<\/p>\n These data are taken from the Incident System Tracking Accountability Report \u2013 an imprecise, but useful, metric that tracks incidents of fights, drugs, threats, and weapons on campus. These reports are typically prepared by school administrators, who have discretion over what is filed, but they may face consequences if an unreported incident causes problems later. <\/p>\n The overall numbers and districtwide trends mean little to Khimberly’s family. <\/p>\n She says bullying and physical violence are an accepted part of the culture at Reseda Charter High and she filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the district on Monday, alleging the school failed to take reports of bullying seriously. The principal did not respond to a request for comment, and a district spokesperson said he could not comment on pending litigation.<\/p>\n
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<\/picture>\n![\"Khimberly](\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/f4912ab\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4284x5712+0+0\/resize\/320x427!\/format\/webp\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F02%2F0a%2F9bfd402e435b8edde37c2014bc15%2Fkhimberly-3.jpg)
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