The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled against a new trial for Dubuque girl who was shot by a classmate with a B.B. gun outside school.
Lauren Herrig was shot in the back of the neck by classmate Demetrius Mintz on the sidewalk outside of Dubuque Senior High School in April of 2005.
Mintz claimed he accidentally shot Lauren with the B.B. gun — but he was expelled from school for the rest of the year. Lauren and her mother, Laura Herrig, were not satisfied and sued saying the school district was negligent in failing to protect Lauran from Mintz by not removing him from school for disciplinary problems before the shooting occurred.
In the month before Mintz shot Lauren with the B.B. gun, he was involved in three fights at school. He had been suspended for three days after the second fight, and required to be accompanied by a staff member in the school after the third. A jury found the Herrigs had not proved the district was negligent in handling Mintz.
The Herrigs filed a motion for new trial saying the verdict was contrary to law, not supported by sufficient evidence, and failed to effectuate justice between the parties. The district court denied the motion for new trial. The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the district court ruling, saying there was substantial evidence to support the jury’s finding for the school district.
A fire that destroyed an old building in downtown Sioux City over the weekend is being called suspicious. Sunday’s fire destroyed the historic Bekins Storage building, which was built in the 1890s and is now owned by State Steel.