New Rochelle High School Stabbing Litigation Ends After 52 Months with Confidential Settlement
Ethan Jordan, Thelma Jordan v. City School District of New Rochelle, Bryan Stamps
WHITE PLAINS, NY (May 14, 2022) — The civil lawsuit filed by Ethan Jordan and Thelma Jordan, his grandmother, against the City School District of New Rochelle and Bryan Stamps came to an end Friday in Westchester Supreme Court after three and half years.
The Jordans and the District reached an undisclosed settlement in late 2021 and filed a Stipulation of Discontinuance with Prejudice to the Westchester Supreme Court on November 23, 2021. The Jordans had sought up to $750,000 according to court records, but the settlement amount and terms of the agreement were subject to a confidentiality agreement required by the District as a condition of settlement.
The Jordans, through their attorney, filed a Stipulation of Discontinuance with Prejudice to the Westchester Supreme Court on May 13, 2021, in their claim against Bryan Stamps.
Appearing before Judge Lewis J. Lubell in Room 1203 at the Westchester Supreme Court in White Plains, attorney Peter K. Overzat of Worby Vecchio Edelman LLP, told the court the Jordans believe that Stamps has no actual ability to pay and has been punished criminally and so the Jordans no longer wished to proceed against Stamps.
Judge Lubell accepted the Stipulation of Discontinuance with Prejudice in the claim against Stamps. He said the case was disposed and would be removed from the court docket.
Bryan Stamps was 16 years old when he was sentenced on January 25, 2019, as a Juvenile Offender to one to three years in state prison for Assault in the First Degree, a class B felony, related to a stabbing at New Rochelle High School in January 2018. Westchester County Court Judge Barry Warhit presided.
Stamps was remanded to Warden Woodfield Detention Cottage in Valhalla, NY. The detention facility is associated with Rising Ground, formerly known as Leake and Watts Services.
EDITOR’S NOTE: As a Juvenile Offender, Stamps was never in the public online database used to track prisoners in New York State, so we were unable to track him when he entered or left prison. We have requested further information from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office including his booking date at a state prison, which state prison, whether he has been released from prison and when, conditions of release, probation status, any orders of protection. We will update this article with any additional information.
On January 18, 2018, at approximately 8:20 a.m., while Ethan Jordan was a junior at New Rochelle High School, he was stabbed by Stamps while sitting at his desk in Spanish class, taking a midterm exam. Stamps walked past Jordan after getting a hall pass from the teacher, and stabbed Jordan twice in his left side, below his armpit. Stamps ran out of the classroom.
There were 24 other students present in classroom 151 according to court records.
A number of depositions and affidavits were taken during the course of the proceedings, including one from this reporter regarding my article summarizing the chronology of what took place at New Rochelle High School.
111 01/27/2021 Exhibit M -- Affidavit and Talk Of The Sound Article Robert Cox
Bryan Stamps Chronology: What Really Happened on January 18 at New Rochelle High School?
There is a great deal of information in the depositions. Below are excerpts from depositions of Santiago Gomez, the classroom teacher where the stabbing occurred, Christina Newman, the security guard who responded to Gomez’ calls for help, Assistant Principal Joseph Starvaggi and Dr. Brooke Balchan.
Key takeaways from the depositions is that there was only the vaguest understanding of the School Safety Plan (except for Starvaggi who was on the committee that wrote it), there is still no knowledge of what weapon was used — possibly a knife or screwdriver, no one knows who called 911 or why an ambulance arrived, Dr. Balchan denied that she ordered her staff not to call 911, and stated she knew nothing about a section of the School Safety Plan called “medical emergency/life-threatening injury or illness”, no internal investigation took place and no one was disciplined for the numerous violations of the School Safety Plan.
What follows are some highlights with links to the relevant transcripts (the full set is below), key court documents and a detailed account of the extensive litigation.
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