An update from the L.A. County medical examiner raises new questions about the sudden death of 12-year-old Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa.
Khimberly was a seemingly healthy student at Reseda Charter High when she was struck in the head with a metal water bottle during an altercation with campus bullies on Feb. 17, according to her family. Days later, she was rushed to the hospital for emergency brain surgery, placed in a medically induced coma and died.
In April, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested a juvenile suspect on suspicion of murder in connection to Khimberly’s death. Khimberly’s family has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, alleging that their daughter had been repeatedly harassed on campus and staff failed to take reports of bullying seriously.
However, on Tuesday the L.A. County medical examiner ruled that Khimberly’s death was not a homicide but a result of natural causes. The medical examiner cited a “spontaneous rupture” of blood vessels in the brain caused by an underlying medical condition.
Khimberly had a cerebral arteriovenous malformation, according to the M.E. This is a rare condition present at birth where arteries in the brain are clustered tightly together, putting them at high risk of rupture.
“Arteriovenous malformations (AVM) 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,” Dr. Odey Ukpo, chief medical examiner, said in a statement. “Catastrophic bleeding due to a rupture develops quickly — within seconds to minutes — and is immediately life-threatening.”
The news release notes that Khimberly was reportedly struck on the back of the head four days days before being hospitalized, but does not draw any connection between that incident and the subsequent brain bleed.
Robert Glassman, the family’s attorney, said that the medical examiner’s determination “ignores the undeniable reality” of what happened to Khimberly.
“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,” said Glassman, a partner with Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP. “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 said the medical examiner’s update does not affect the civil case, which is about the district’s inaction in protecting a child in distress.
“If Khimberly had an underlying condition that made her more vulnerable to injury,” he stated, “that does not excuse the conduct that led to her death.”
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Unified School District did not comment directly on the medical examiner’s update Tuesday, but said that the district is deeply saddened by Khimberly’s death and that “our thoughts and condolences are with the student’s family, friends, and the entire school community.” The district does not comment on pending litigation, the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said there is no update into the investigation into Khimberly’s death.
A similar controversy played out in 2024, when 16-year-old LAUSD student Shaylee Mejia suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage days after a campus fight.
Her mother believed that the death was result of bullying at Manual Arts High School in South L.A. and also blamed school administrators for failing to respond to prior reports of campus harassment.
A video captured of the March 5, 2024, fight showed Shaylee hitting her head against a bathroom stall. However, a final autopsy report determined that there was no link between the fight and the subsequent brain bleed, instead citing injuries Shaylee suffered after falling down some stairs days after the fight took place.
Shaylee’s cause of death was ruled an accident, and the Los Angeles Police Department dropped its investigation into the incident.
The post Girl, 12, was injured in alleged bullying incident. That wasn’t what caused her death, M.E. says appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
