The family of Royce Robinson, the teen who died after an assault at a roller rink last November, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the rink and the teen charged in Royce's death. Royce, 17, died Nov. 8 of cardiac arrhythmia triggered by a seizure after he was assaulted just after midnight at a cheerleading fundraiser at Champ's Manslick Rollerdrome.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Jefferson Circuit Court by Tanya and Royce Robinson Sr., names the rink, the Central High School Cheerleading Booster Club and Corey Thompson, the teen charged with manslaughter in Robinson's death. Thompson's trial ended in a mistrial in August; a retrial is scheduled next month.
The lawsuit claims that the booster club was negligent in organizing the fundraiser and that it and the roller rink failed to provide adequate security and crowd control. An attorney for the Robinson family, said the rink was packed with children the night Royce died, with little adult supervision. "There weren't enough eyeballs on those kids," he said. Claims made in a lawsuit give only one side of the case. A call to the rink was not returned.
The lawsuit includes several unnamed parties, among them the Central High School administrator responsible for the Booster Club. Jefferson County Public Schools does not comment on pending litigation, spokeswoman Lauren Roberts said. The lawsuit claims Royce was "intentionally and unexpectedly assaulted and battered" by Thompson "without any provocation." The Robinsons' attorney said the lawsuit was filed now because the one-year statute of limitations was approaching. The suit seeks a jury trial and punitive damages.
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