Mother awarded $750,000 settlement for her daughter’s suicide
The mother of a 17-year-old who left school and drowned herself in the Hudson River in 2014 has been awarded a $750,000 settlement from New York City.
Omotayo Adeoye killed herself being accused of cheating on a practice test. She went to the river, handed her belongings to a stranger and went into the water. She had written a note on a German language test.
“What am I doing? Why am I doing it? This is not me. I’m losing my hard earned credibility for some meaningless quiz. I am better than this. This is beyond stupid,” she wrote.
On the back of the paper, she added, “I just want to go away forever on the bottom of the river.”
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James d’Auguste wrote that the settlement was “an excellent outcome” due to the “serious legal obstacles” facing Adeoye’s mother, Mounsurat Adeoye.
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The lawsuit alleged that the teacher “publicly shamed and humiliated” the teen and staff didn’t follow protocol as they should have in regards to a student with suicidal thoughts.
Adeoye became suicidal when the teacher caught her looking at her cellphone while she was writing the quiz. She said to the teen, “you are only hurting yourself if you cheat,” said sources.
Even though the school employees read the note, they failed to keep her from leaving school grounds. Staff was aware that the teen had previously attempted suicide and that she had other mental health struggles.
After an inquiry, investigators cleared the staff at the school of any wrongdoing.
“The loss of a child is something no family should endure. Under the circumstances presented in this tragic case, the settlement approved by the Court is a fair resolution of the legal matter and in the best interests of the parties,” a Law Department spokesman stated.
