State pays parents of son shot at West Palm school
Student was slain by classmate in 1997
Twenty years after their son was shot and killed at a Palm Beach County middle school, Ashraf Kamel and his ex-wife Marguerite Dimitri finally will get justice — and money — from the School Board.
Gov. Rick Scott signed eight bills last week that will lead to paying millions of dollars to resolve cases in which state or local government agencies played a role in people dying or being injured.
Kamel’s parents will get $360,000 from HB 6523. The School Board had already paid $200,000.
John Pierre Kamel was shot to death in 1997 by a 14-year-old schoolmate with a .38-caliber pistol at Conniston Middle School in West Palm Beach.
Tronneal Mangum had relentlessly bullied John Pierre, who wore a prosthetic right leg that the older boy would kick, according to the Kamels’ original law-
suit.
On John Pierre’s last trip to visit his mother in Egypt, she had given him an Adidas watch. A few days before the shooting, Mangum had taken it away.
On Jan. 27, 1997, as school started, John Pierre confronted Mangum and demanded his watch. The two boys shoved each other, then Mangum pulled his gun in front of a crowd of students and fired three shots.
One bullet hit John Pierre in the chest. He died at the scene, in front of Conniston Middle as his classmates were arriving for school.
Mangum became the youngest person in Palm Beach County history to be sentenced to life in prison without parole. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that juveniles could not be sentenced to life without parole for any crime except murder — and in 2012 included murder in their ruling as well. In 2016, a judge resentenced Mangum, then 32, to 40 years in prison, of which he had already served 19.
“He sent me a letter to apologize and this is the first time in 19 years he finally showed some mercy,” Ashraf Kamel told the Sun Sentinel last year. “I was not happy, but at least he realized he did some mistake and he admitted it. Because before, he never said sorry.”
In a 2002 civil case, a jury found that the Palm Beach County School Board was negligent in the killing, as John Pierre had reported bullying to school officials, but they did not alert his parents, and the school resource officer that was supposed to be stationed in front of the school was not present when the shooting occurred.
The jury awarded Ashraf Kamel and Marguerite Dimitri more than $1.6 million. Rather than go through further appeals, the school district and John Pierre’s parents settled in 2004 for $560,000, $200,000 of which was paid by the School Board, though the rest had to be approved by the Legislature.
The claim went nowhere for nine legislative sessions in a row, from 2004 to 2012, after which no legislator filed a bill to get John Pierre’s parents their settlement.
Under Florida law, when someone successfully sues a state or local government entity, any money in excess of $200,000 or $300,000, depending on the type of case, can be paid only with the approval of the Legislature.
These bills often come up year after year without the Legislature approving the money owed to victims of neglect, abuse and malfeasance blamed in some part on government employees.
Here are brief descriptions of some of the other cases:
The parents of 5-month-old Nicholas Patnode took him to a Martin County Health Department clinic in 1998 because of a fever. A blood test showed a condition that needed immediate treatment. The results of the blood test were printed but not picked up from the clinic’s printer. The childwas taken to a hospital where he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. He died. The parents won a lawsuit but could only receive $200,000 without a claim bill. The bill (HB 6501) signed last week by Scott directs the Department of Health to pay $2.4 million.
Nine weeks pregnant, Vonshelle Brothers went to the Brevard County Health Department in 2010 for an initial pre-natal checkup. Lab tests indicated Brothers had herpes simplex virus, but the health department did not report the results to her. After giving birth later that year, Brothers went to a hospital because her daughter, Iyonna Hughey, had a fever, was weak and was not eating. Tests showed that the baby had herpes simplex virus, which caused developmental delays and the need for speech and physical therapy. Brothers reached a legal settlement but was only able to receive $200,000 without a claim bill. The bill (HB 6505) signed last week by Scott directed the Department of Health to pay $1 million.
In 2002, the Department of Children and Families placed a 10-year-old boy with a history of mental illness and sexually aggressive behavior, with a foster family. The family included an 8-year-old boy . The Department was aware of J.W.’s sexually aggressive behavior but did not remove him from the home. C.M.H. later told his parents that J.W. had sexually assaulted him. The family filed a lawsuit against the department and reached a settlement but was only able to receive $100,000 without a claim bill. The bill (HB 6509) signed last week by Scott directed the department to pay nearly $5.1 million.
Ramiro Companioni Jr. was riding a motorcycle in Tampa shortly before noon on Nov. 22, 1996, when a city water-department pickup truck started crossing the lanes to make a left-hand turn. Companioni collided with the truck, was knocked unconscious and remained in an induced coma for nearly a month at Tampa General Hospital. He has undergone more than 20 surgeries stemming from the accident and filed a lawsuit against the city in 2004. Companioni was awarded $17.9 million in damages but was only able to receive $100,000 without a claim bill. The bill (HB 6545) signed last week by Scott directed the city of Tampa to pay $5 million, which reflects a settlement.