Lilia Nungaray has hired a law firm and filed a claim against LAUSD over her son’s death at Benjamin Franklin High School.
Nungaray, mother of 17-year-old Xavier Nungaray-Martinez, retained the Los Angeles firm Panish, Shea, Ravipudi and submitted the claim for damages on Oct. 19, according to a report presented to the school board at its Nov. 10 meeting. The document lists Sept. 30 as the date of damage, the day Xavier died by suicide at the Highland Park campus.
Spencer Lucas, an attorney for Nungaray, said in a statement to The Post: “No parent should have to endure the unimaginable loss that Lilia Nungaray has suffered. The circumstances surrounding the death of her 17-year-old son, Xavier, at Franklin High School raise serious questions about student safety, supervision, and whether this tragedy could have been prevented.”
California law requires families to file a claim with a public agency before suing it. LAUSD now has roughly 45 days from receipt to respond. If the district rejects the claim or fails to act by Dec. 3, the family can proceed to court.
Lucas added: “Schools have a fundamental responsibility to protect the children entrusted to their care, and that responsibility cannot be taken lightly.”
The school board’s report referred the claim to the district’s Office of Risk Management and Insurance Services without detailing the allegations.
“Lilia deserves answers about what happened to her son and why,” Lucas continued. “We are committed to uncovering the truth, holding LAUSD accountable for any failures that contributed to this tragedy, and pursuing meaningful changes to help ensure that no other family suffers such a devastating loss.”
Xavier’s father, William Amaya, 40, is not together with Nungaray, and it remains unclear whether he has retained a lawyer. Amaya, a Franklin alum, has publicly blamed the district’s 2021 decision to replace campus police with “school climate coaches,” telling The Post last month, “Things are worse at Franklin now.”
Amaya protested outside an LAUSD board meeting in October and told The Post that the alleged tormentor “should be accountable for what he did.” He maintained his son was “not suicidal” and “had plans,” adding, “Bullying was a factor. I don’t think no one in their right mind would jump off the fourth floor.” At that time, he declined to say whether the family had hired a lawyer.
The LAPD has pushed back on the bullying narrative. In October, detectives said they “have not identified evidence establishing a connection between allegations of bullying and the student’s death.” Police sources told The Post that witnesses indicated Xavier may have started the fight and that an arrest is unlikely. The other student has not been identified or charged. Investigators are awaiting a toxicology report, and sources cautioned that the preliminary assessment is not final.
Video of Xavier’s final moments showed a classmate taunting him and repeatedly punching him in a classroom while an elderly teacher attempted to intervene. Xavier then ran into an outdoor hallway with the other student following, and moments later jumped from a fourth-floor walkway. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide, citing multiple blunt traumatic injuries to his head and torso.
LAUSD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claim.
The district must respond to Nungaray’s claim by Dec. 3.