The family of a Texas high school football player is suing at least a dozen of his peers and their parents for a sum of $50 million after the teen was brutally beaten and left unconscious.
What’s a brief history here?
In what his family described as a “bizarre” and “heinous act,” 16-year-old Cole Hagan was attending a December pool party with his friends when he was reportedly lured outside by at least three teens who assaulted him and left him unconscious with multiple skull fractures.
Three teens — identified as 17-year-old Reid Mitchell, 18-year-old Logan Huber, and 17-year-old Ayden Holland — reportedly told Cole that his truck had been hit in order to summon him outside and took the opportunity to beat him to a bloody pulp after Cole left the party to inspect the purported damage.
Cole was rushed to a Houston hospital, where he was admitted with multiple brain bleeds, several skull fractures, a broken collarbone, and more. He was placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit, where he remained for a week. He was then discharged to a rehabilitation ward, where he continues to undergo intensive speech and physical therapy.
Cole’s 36-year-old brother Cory Hagan has said that the teen will likely never play football again — and the family is unsure whether Cole will even make a full recovery.
Reid, according to the report, planned the attack over a period of several days. All three teens were charged with aggravated assault.
Police documents obtained by Insider state that at least eight other students were reportedly aware of the attack before it took place.
Cole’s family has now filed a massive, multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the involved students as well as their parents and guardians, Insider reported Wednesday. The lawsuit names at least 16 people — including Cole’s peers and their parents — and seeks more than $50 million in damages.
The suit argues that the teens’ parents “knew or should have known of the plan to attack Cole Hagan.”
“The Hagan family is going to pursue justice in this case,” Loren Klitsas, the family’s attorney, said. “Their son Cole, a star football player, is permanently damaged, and they have no choice but to pursue the parties that are responsible for it. It’s horrible.”
According to the report, the parents involved who were accused of negligence include Robert Brandon Mitchell, Trista Wylde Huber, Thomas Holland, Wendi Holland, Hailey Vitek Rodd, Steven Rodd, Paul Cagle, Shelley Stroud, and Rodney Stroud.
The outlet noted that they either could not be reached or did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
What else?
Cole’s brother Cory said that when Hagan initially awoke in the ICU, he believed he and his friends had been in a car accident.
Cory said the first thing out of his mouth was to ask if his friends were OK.
“That right there killed me because that’s who he is, and that’s why it made this thing so heinous,” Cory said. “They chose the weakest link. They chose the person that they had to lure outside to fight because he was not a kid that if you called him out, he was going to come out there and fight you in the yard.”
16-year-old Brazoswood HS student unconscious after being attacked by peers, family says www.youtube.com