Portland Catholic School and Friends of Trees Facing $29 Million Lawsuit Following Death of Teenager
Portland Central Catholic High School and Friends of Trees are being sued for $29 million by the mother of a boy struck and killed by a falling tree during a thunderstorm.
Boy Struck by Falling Tree During a Thunderstorm
Filed in the Multnomah County Circuit Court on Thursday, the suit alleges that 14-year-old Christopher Robert Declan Kelly was participating in a tree-planting project on November 6, 2021, at Sandy River Delta near Troutdale when a large section of a black cottonwood tree fell from 52ft and struck him on the head.
The teenager was alive and breathing while waiting for emergency services to arrive but died on the scene, according to the lawsuit.
The suit goes on to claim that National Weather Service warnings to seek shelter during thunderstorms were not taken when about 24 Catholic school students and two members of staff participated in the project.
According to the suit, the Catholic school required Kelly to complete volunteer hours to graduate. The tree-planting project was a school event and ‘school rules applied.’
The boy’s mother claims that her son continued to plant trees when he was struck by a falling tree.
The lawsuit alleges that neither the school nor Friends of Trees provided volunteers with helmets or moved volunteers to shelter for at least 30 minutes after the last sound of thunder, as advised by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In a statement, the Central Catholic High School says its community was ‘deeply saddened’ by freshman Kelly’s death and sympathizes with his family. Both the school and a spokesperson for Friends of Trees said further comment at this stage would be inappropriate.
Two men were struck during the same storm at a homeless encampment near Sandy Boulevard and 118th Avenue. One of the men was killed.