Lawsuit Resolved In Lyons Township HS Attack That Seriously Hurt Teen, Led To Attempted Murder Charge

LA GRANGE, IL – A lawsuit in a 2023 attack just outside the doors of Lyons Township High School's North Campus has been resolved, according to a court.

The May 1, 2023, violence left a student severely injured. Afterward, a youth was arrested on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery. Another was charged with battery.

In April, a Cook County Circuit Court judge dismissed the lawsuit against the high school and its former assistant principal, Darrell Mathis.

Patch obtained the court document through a public records request.

In the order, Associate Judge Barbara Flores said the court had been "fully advised" that "all matters in controversy have been resolved."

The judge said the case could not be refiled and that the court had the power to enforce a settlement.

However, Patch could find no evidence of a settlement. In response to a public records request, the high school said it had no such document.

Under state law, settlements are open records without exception. Typically, a school board approves such agreements.

The plaintiffs were two students and their mothers.

In the April order, only one student and his mother were listed. The order did not indicate the status of the other two plaintiffs.

Lee DiBiasio, the attorney for the family with the dismissed case, did not return calls for comment.

Filed in December 2023, the lawsuit alleged the assistant principal failed to take action to protect the students, knowing they had been bullied and victims of violence before.

However, the school argued it had no way of knowing that a student would be attacked outside North Campus.

In 2022, the high school paid out $140,000 in a settlement with the family of a 14-year-old girl who was seen in a video being pummeled by a 16-year-old girl in a hallway at South Campus.