Mother of student with autism killed at OC high school awarded $7.5M
Manny Perez and Micaela Sanchez Corona (Panish Shea & Boyle LLP)
ORANGE, Calif. - The mother of a student with autism who died after suffering major injuries in a golf cart accident on an Orange County high school campus last summer was awarded $7.5 million in a settlement, her attorneys announced.
Emmanuel “Manny” Perez, 15, was a student at El Modena High School in the city of Orange.
RELATED: Student with special needs dies in golf cart crash at high school in Orange County
On Sept.9, 2019, Perez, whom family attorneys said “behaved and processed information as a third-grader” was left alone in the passenger seat of an electric golf cart. Not only was Perez left alone, but attorneys said his instructional aids left the golf cart turned on with its gear activated.
(Panish Shea & Boyle LLP)
Perez then "began having a tantrum and inadvertently stomped his left foot down on the accelerator pedal, causing the golf cart to accelerate forward about 37 feet and into a horizontal metal railing," his mother's attorneys said.
He then suffered chest and abdominal trauma and died from his injuries hours later at a local hospital.
His mother, Micaela Sanchez Corona, was represented by attorneys Robert Glassman and Nathan Werksman with Panish Shea & Boyle LLP in the case against the Orange Unified School District.
The district also agreed to make changes to its policies and procedures, including implementing a yearly training program for those who operate golf carts on school grounds.
“It is our sincere hope that the District's changes to its golf cart procedures will ensure no other student or family suffers through such a horrific tragedy ever again,” Glassman said.
In addition, a memorial bench honoring Perez will be placed on the Modena High School garden.
A GoFundMe created to cover his funeral expenses raised $8,424.
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