A Los Angeles medical examiner's report has determined that a schoolgirl died of 'natural causes' after she was allegedly struck in the head with a metal water bottle by a bully. Khimberly Zavaleta, 12, was hit by a female classmate while protecting her sister at Reseda High School on February 17, according to her family.
She was taken to the emergency room, treated, and released the same day. However, a week later, she suffered a brain hemorrhage and collapsed. Zavaleta was placed in an induced coma and underwent emergency surgery but died on February 25 after experiencing heart failure.
The Los Angeles Police Department launched a homicide investigation and arrested another 12-year-old girl, whose name was withheld due to her age, on suspicion of murder in April. But a bombshell report from the medical examiner's office released on Tuesday concluded that Zavaleta's death was 'natural,' caused by a spontaneously ruptured cerebellar arteriovenous malformation (AVM).
'AVMs are an assembly of fragile, tangled, high-pressure blood vessels that are prone to spontaneously rupturing, especially when located in the region of the brain, as discovered in Khimberly,' Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey Ukpo said in a statement. 'Catastrophic bleeding due to a rupture develops quickly - within seconds to minutes - and is immediately life-threatening. Unfortunately, as in Khimberly's case, spontaneous rupture is a common initial presentation of an AVM.'
It remains unclear whether the blow to her head triggered the rupture that led to her death, and how this ruling impacts the murder investigation. The Daily Mail has contacted the coroner's office, the Zavaleta family attorney, and the LAPD for comment.
Robert Glassman, the family's attorney, told the Daily Mail that the medical examiner's conclusion 'ignores the undeniable reality of what happened.' He said, 'Before this incident, Khimberly was a healthy, vibrant 12-year-old girl with no symptoms, no medical crisis, and no indication that her AVM posed any danger to her life. Then she was struck in the head at school with an aluminum water bottle, complained of serious head pain, and within days suffered catastrophic brain bleeding that took her life.'
Glassman added, 'If Khimberly had an underlying condition that made her more vulnerable to injury, that does not excuse the conduct that led to her death.'
Zavaleta's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, alleging that school officials failed to take previous reports of bullying seriously. According to a copy of their claim obtained by the LA Times, her parents said this was not the first time their daughters had been 'bullied and harassed on campus.' Their mother stated she 'had repeatedly reported bullying episodes to an LAUSD administrator. But LAUSD did nothing.'
The Daily Mail contacted the school district for comment. The district has previously declined to comment on the lawsuit but sent its condolences to the family.
